Daniel turned toward them.
Talbot rocked forward on his knee. “I’ll never submit to you!” he shouted, and flew at Daniel. Before Daniel could react, Talbot swung his arm out and knocked the sword from his hand. Daniel grabbed him, and the two began to grapple.
“Did you really think I’d ever submit to you?” Talbot asked as they fought. “Think I’d be your lapdog? Even when I was with Caleb, I pulled all the strings. And I still did after I left him. Do you really think he was smart enough to pull off that attack on the parish? Stage this here tonight? That was all me.”
“I wouldn’t sound so proud,” Daniel said, striking a blow against Talbot’s shoulder. “Caleb failed.”
“Because I wanted him to. I always knew I’d kill him in this ring, and then kill the prime challenger. Only I originally thought it would be Gabriel, not you. But I like this plan better.”
What? Talbot had been against both Caleb and us at the same time? Playing us for fools against each other? Until it led to this very moment?
It took me a minute to process, but I still wasn’t shocked. I’d always wondered why Talbot had worked for Caleb, despite knowing the man had been responsible for his parents’ death. And ever since it was revealed that he once had been a part of the Shadow Kings, I was never really able to trust him fully. But the part that didn’t ring true—the part that still confused me was the thought that Talbot had been against us the whole time. I guess, deep down, I’d believed that he thought he was in love with me. And even though I didn’t return his feelings in any way, I just couldn’t accept that the things he’d told me about the way he felt were lies.
I’d believed his professing that he’d do anything to be a part of my life—even if it meant helping Daniel become his alpha.
Talbot shifted fighting methods, and started using wing chun punches and blocks against Daniel—a style of fighting that kept your opponent at a very close range. Daniel returned the pummeling, block against hit, hit against block. Daniel was stronger and bigger than Talbot, but wing chun was designed especially for the small-sized fighter, and Talbot eventually landed an open palm blow against Daniel’s chest. But instead of hitting him backward, Talbot clutched at Daniel’s chest and screamed a great bloodcurdling roar of anger. His face angled up at the bloodred moon, and I watched as power visibly rippled through his body, into his arm, and through his hand into Daniel’s chest.
Daniel’s mouth fell open like a scream of pain should have followed, but no sound came out. His arms looked rigid at his sides—like they’d been petrified. I could see fear and confusion in his eyes, and I could tell he was paralyzed. Talbot’s face bore the look of complete concentration as he squinted up at the moon and shoved his hand against Daniel’s chest with all his might.
What was Talbot doing?
I thought I heard Daniel cry out. But then I realized I’d felt his pain rather than heard it. A red stain suddenly erupted on his shoulder, soaking through the gold fabric of his robe. I realized it was blood, and it looked like it was bleeding from where he’d been shot by that hunter with a silver bullet. I felt another one of Daniel’s screams and watched as the newly healed ragged scars on his wrist—where he’d taken the blow of the chain whip in order to save Anton—burst open.