“Thanks.”
He held my gaze another second, making sure that I knew exactly what he was feeling, then turned and went over to the Ito guard to shake hands with her.
I let out a breath, but I went over and joined him, Poppy, and the guard. Despite all my fears and worries about Devon and this thing between us, there was no place I would rather be right now than celebrating with him.
The day wore on, and the matches continued.
Blake was up next, and he used his strength Talent to slice an Ito guard’s sword in two. Even though the guard raised his hands, ceding the match, Blake still stepped forward and sliced his sword across the man’s arm just because he could. Yeah, he was a complete and total jerk that way.
Vance won his match as well, using his strength and speed Talents to easily defeat a Salazar guard. Vance had kept his cloak and hat on while fighting, and when the match was finished, he pulled his hat off his head and swept into a low bow, as though he were an old-fashioned knight. Of course, the tourists loved it, cheering, taking photos, and chanting his name. I rolled my eyes. All the rubes were doing was inflating Vance’s already enormous ego.
On his way out of the stadium, Vance stopped and smirked at me. “See? I told you that they’d be cheering for me. Try not to suck too much out there, okay, Lila?”
He swaggered past me and went over to Katia, who was standing by the fence a few feet away. Vance had been chatting up Katia all day long, although she kept ignoring him and looking over to where Felix was stationed with the healers. I even saw her wave to him a couple of times. Felix waved back, but his smile was strained.
Poppy was up next, and she used her speed Talent to run circles around a Volkov guard, easily winning the match.
Then it was Katia’s turn. Agile, cunning, always on the move. She was a good fighter, one of the best I’d seen, right up there with Deah. But one thing seemed to be missing—her speed.
Katia didn’t seem to be using any of her speed, her magic, today. Oh, she hopped up onto the rock formations and back off, leaped over the smaller stones, and skirted along the edges of the cold spring, but she didn’t do any of those things any faster than a regular mortal would have. It was odd, especially given her blazing speed on the obstacle course yesterday. Maybe she just hadn’t found her groove yet. But she still managed to slice her sword across the arm of her opponent when the Draconi guard tripped.
Katia smiled and waved, but a scowl spread over her face the second she turned away from the crowd. She stormed over to the fence and slammed her sword into the gate, shoving it open. When she realized that I was watching, she stopped, her cheeks red and her hazel eyes bright. I couldn’t tell whether she was embarrassed or angry I’d seen her mini-meltdown.
“I should have done better,” Katia growled, trying to explain her temper tantrum.
“You won. That’s all that matters, right?”
She thought about it. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Lila.”
She flashed me a smile, then moved over to her previous spot along the fence, accepting congratulations from the other Volkov guards.
Vance went over and started talking to her again. Instead of ignoring him the way she had before, Katia stared up at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she sidled a little closer and started talking animatedly to Vance, who was hanging on her every word.
Katia’s match had been right before mine, which was the last one of the opening round. To my surprise, a few nervous butterflies started flying around in my stomach. I handed my hat and cloak to Devon, who grinned.
“You’ll do great,” he said. “I know you will. Go out there and show everyone what you can do. Especially Victor Draconi.”
I’d never been a fan of pep talks, but that was exactly what I needed to hear right now. I nodded and grinned back at him. Then I drew in a breath, pushed through the gate, and made my way to the stone ring in the center of the stadium.
From what I could remember of Felix’s ramblings yesterday, my opponent was a Salazar guard around my age with a strength Talent who was holding a sword that looked more like a crowbar than a black blade. Even though it was twice as large as my sword, the guard moved the weapon from one hand to the other like it didn’t weigh anything at all, making the muscles in his biceps ripple with the smooth motions.
The announcer called out the guard’s name—Julio Salazar—and he waved to the crowd. Then it was my turn to step up and face the music, such as it was.
“And now making her tournament debut . . . Lila Merriweather!” the announcer yelled.