The Devil's Kiss - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,73

with Misa, let me deal with this.” His face darkened and his body tensed with the awaiting battle.

He gave me a little push and I left him in the center, made my way to stand beside Misa on the sidelines. She gave me a little smile, which I returned. “So, what happens now?” I asked her.

She nodded toward Kyden, who began his approach on Magnus. “They will declare the rules, then the challenge will commence.”

I glanced back to her. “Should I be worried?”

“Worried for whom?”

“Magnus of course,” I said, snippily. “Who else would I be worried for?”

She shrugged, as her gaze turned almost calculating.

Her look stunned me. What had she meant by that? Why hadn’t she answered my question? Then, I heard Magnus speak and my thoughts focused instantly on him.

“Azar, let’s begin,” Magnus growled in a stare down with Kyden.

“The challenge has been issued by the Guardian; therefore, he will get the first attack,” Azar instructed. “From then on, there are no restrictions. Whoever remains standing at the end will be declared the victor.”

“Well, we know who that will be,” I said, certain.

“We will just see,” Misa said under her breath.

My gaze snapped to her harshly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She shook her head, dismissed me and focused back on the impending battle. “I never said anything. You’re hearing things.”

Before I had a chance to call her on that lie, Azar shouted, “Let the challenge begin.”

Nerves shot right through me. Magnus would be fine, I didn’t doubt that. But I still felt very unsettled. Why, I wasn’t quite sure.

Kyden drew his sword, and slowly began circling Magnus. “You stole what belonged to me,” he growled.

“I stole nothing,” Magnus growled in return. “She came to me willingly and is now mine.”

Kyden snarled, punched Magnus, then quickly sliced through his stomach.

His blood spattered through the air. I screamed out as Magnus fell to the ground, gasping. He was bleeding. Oh God, he was hurt. Misa held me back as I tried frantically to get to him. As much as that gripped my thoughts, another filtered through. Why hadn’t Kyden taken the chance to kill him? The wound he gave would only injure Magnus, not kill. That made my breath whoosh back into my body. He wanted to die for me.

All the unanswered questions grew to a point where they reached their boiling point. Sometime was wrong here. It wasn’t adding up. Why was I feeling so confused? I glanced to Misa for help, she watched me with curious eyes.

Then my thoughts cleared when Magnus sucked in a deep breath, and stood. “That was your first shot. Now it is time to die.”

The second his words finished, he blasted Kyden with magic, sending him flaying back and screaming out in pain. He was doing nothing to him, not holding him in anyway, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before he was dead.

Zia was crying loudly. Talon kneeled, looking at the ground, obviously unable to watch his son die. My mind again filled with a mess of confusion. Something about this bothered me. Something urged me to yell for this to stop. Seeing Zia and Talon upset bothered me. It just sat wrong within my gut. I was too confused to act or move.

I glanced at Misa again, nearly begged her to make sense out of my scrabbled mind.

Instead of answering, she gave me a soft smile as she took my hand in hers and led me over to Azar. She placed my hand in his and he gripped it tightly. “Consider this a reminder from a friend.”

Suddenly, a blast of power rocketed through me and sent me a step back. It was like waking and stepping into a cold shower. The haze over my mind cleared, but the confusion stayed. “What the fuck?” I gasped. What the hell was going on? What was happening here?

Misa smiled, knowingly. “I told you there is more going on here than you know. I can only hope it is enough.”

With that simple reminder, the sense of myself slammed back into me. The draw to Magnus was still there, but Kyden lived strong in my heart.

The reality of this situation returned.

“Kyden,” I screamed, lunging forward, and did the only thing I could. Without a second’s consideration, I drew on Spirit and demanded that it give me everything it could. With a deep breath and a heavy push soul deep, I threw my shield around Kyden.

The instant it connected with Magnus’ magic, it deflected