She leapt to her feet. I really don’t want to hurt him. But if I don’t, he’ll kill me.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to stab him yet. Despite what he’d said—the part about how he’d kill her—she sort of liked the guy.
She wouldn’t be able to draw blood until he’d made the first strike. Then, self-preservation would kick in. Instead of stabbing him, she wound up for a hard left hook. But as she swung for him, Bael caught her fist in a powerful hand.
Hungry for blood, the crowd chanted: “Bael! Bael! Bael!”
“You can’t fight me, Ursula,” he growled.
What’s he doing? Drawing it out to please the crowd?
Her heart hammered against her ribs. Of course he’d gone for the easy target first. The girl with the rock for protection.
“I can fight you,” she shot back. “Maybe I can’t win. But I can fight.” Without waiting for a response, she kicked him in the chin.
His neck snapped back, his helmet flying from his head. When he looked back at her, his pale eyes had turned into black voids, sending ice through her veins.
Her victory didn’t last long. In a blur of dark magic, he gripped her arms, pulling her to him. He towered over her, all muscle.
He leaned in close, his body warm against hers. He was pure power, and terror ran up her spine.
Bael whispered, “What are you doing?”
“Trying to fight.”
“You don’t have a real weapon.” He dropped her wrists, and in the next second, he drew his katana.
Brilliant. A sword against a rock. This is bloody pointless.
At the sight of his icy eyes that had seen millennia of combat, her blood roared in her ears.
Run. Maybe I need to run. From his platform, she could hear Hothgar announcing first blood, but her eyes were locked on Bael.
Her mind raced. If she was going to get away, she’d need a diversion. The obsidian blade glinted in her hand, and she threw it at his shoulder. Effortlessly, he snatched it from the air.
Bollocks. She’d just thrown away her only weapon, but it had bought her time. She turned, scanning the arena for an escape route. Carnage assaulted her eyes—demons tearing into each other, hacking through limbs, half of them using their teeth. Two giant twins, dressed in wolf furs and metal armor, swung claymores at their opponents. Where the fuck do I run to? Romulus and Remus over there don’t look like a good bet.
Before she could pick an escape route, Bael slid a powerful arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.
“You’re unarmed,” he said. “If you run, you’re going to die.”
He pointed to a demon with blood-red eyes stalking toward them. The creature held a nasty looking broadsword. In a moment, the only possible escape path would put her within range of him.
The rabid-eyed demon grinned. He had replaced his teeth with steel spikes. Already, blood dripped from them into the sand.
Fear coiled around Ursula’s heart. It was Steel Jaws or Bael. She swallowed hard, her nails digging into Bael’s arm. She had nothing left to fight with.
From behind her, the sound of metal against metal pierced her ears. He’s drawing another weapon. She braced herself for the final blow.
Instead, Bael stabbed a katana into the sand by her feet.
Hope sparked in her chest. “What are you doing?”
“Take the blade,” he said. “I was trying to give it to you.”
“I thought you were trying to kill me.”
“Do you think I have no honor?” he growled.
“When we were in the carriage, you literally said, ‘I’m going to kill you.’”
“You deserve a fair fight. Take the blade.” He loosened his grip on her, and Ursula pulled the blade from the dirt.
With the katana in her hand, she felt like herself again, like the metal was an extension of her body.
Bael pointed to the right. “That half of the arena is yours,” he commanded. “If anyone gets close, kill them.”
He turned his back to her, facing his side of the arena. They stood, back-to-back, so close she could feel the warmth coming off his body, could smell the faint scent of sea air that wafted from his skin.
Apparently, Bael wanted her to fight defensively. It made sense. Might as well let the others take the risk while trying to go unnoticed.
Except she wasn’t really going unnoticed. Jaws raised his broadsword, grinning at her. Katana or not, she still looked like easy prey.
A few meters away, just out of range of his steel, the Gray Ghost slipped over the dirt like a phantom. As before, he’d concealed his face with a head scarf, and he gripped a dagger in each hand.
Her mouth went dry. She couldn’t tell if he was heading for Jaws, or for her.
Either way, I need to be ready. She took a step away from Bael, gripping the katana’s hilt. A part of her wanted to throw herself into the fray, to feel her blade cut through the air. Maybe that was Emerazel.