Page 126 of House of Crimson Hearts
I lower my voice and whisper, “This competition is making all of us crazy. It will be okay.”
Her shoulders sag.
Gabriel coughs, and everyone turns to face him. “I will happily step down, I have no wish to fight for the amulet. I believe I can win this competition in other ways. I will leave you to it.”
Keir glares at him, but together they step back out of the circle.
“Xavier?” Dahlia says, her eyes boring into him.
He glances at Talulla, “You know, I think this face is far too pretty to smash up with your petty sister quarrels. I’m out too.”
Talulla hesitates but then they, too, step back.
“Just leaves us three,” Sadie signs.
“Well, I’m not standing down,” Dahlia snarls.
“Neither am I,” Sadie says.
“Not a chance,” I add.
“Then I guess it’s game on,” Dahlia spits, and then she lunges for the plinth and chaos erupts.
The hunters lunge forward. Fenella dives onto Dahlia’s back. Red grabs for Lincoln. Everyone shrieks desperate pleas for everyone else to stand down.
Dahlia roars in fury. Fenella is flung backwards off her and she slams into the wall, her head colliding with a stone. The air immediately fills with the tang of iron.
Red’s head snaps to the wall. Lincoln’s eyes follow hers and it’s as if the shock of what he’s done cuts through the haze he was in.
“Fuck,” he screams and bolts to Fenella’s side. He holds his fingers to her throat, places his hands on her chest and pumps multiple times. He breathes into her mouth, but the pool of blood surrounding her head tells me everything I need to know.
I squint at her pupils, and they’re blown. She’s already gone.
Red charges Sadie. I want to scream at her to stop. But I can’t. I don’t have a chance to because Dahlia is swinging her fists at my head. She throws her leg out and it connects with my stomach.
I bend double, the air rushing out of my lungs as she pummels me with hit after hit. I drive my fist up into Dahlia’s gut hard and she stumbles back. It’s the only thing that makes her stop for long enough I can catch my breath.
But she’s back on her feet, and this time she’s using her legs and arms. Kicks fly at my head.
I am not a fighter. Not really. I can defend myself, but I’ve not trained to the extent Dahlia has. She was born fighting.
But I make a mistake. It’s Sadie I should have been looking for. Dahlia is loud and brash and all swinging fists. Sadie, though, is sly and silent. She slips between our bodies and kicks Dahlia’s legs while we aren’t watching.
Dahlia ends up on the floor, and I faceplant the ground. My nose, I’m pretty sure, is broken. Though as soon as I think it, I can sense the bone and cartilage knitting back together.
Dahlia shrieks in frustration as she stands and wipes the back of her head. A smear of blood comes away.
“You’ll pay for that, you little bitch,” Dahlia snarls. But Sadie just smiles, her sharp little fangs dangling like shark teeth.
That woman can be terrifying when she wants to be.
Dahlia steps to Sadie, but I know for all Sadie’s dancing between us, she’s thin and sinewy. She won’t be able to take Dahlia out. Not when Dahlia is solid muscle. So I launch at Dahlia instead, knocking her over before she can get to Sadie. She’ll kill Sadie if she’s given the chance—especially if it means she can secure the position of heir. It’s the only thing she wants.
And yes, maybe power is the only thing I want too. But I like to think my reasons are far more justifiable than hers.
The pair of us drop to the floor. We roll around, scratching and biting and kicking at each other. Dahlia pulls a blade. Not a normal one either. It’s silver. It will hurt, badly.
Xavier sees it too. He darts forward. “Stay back,” I shriek.
