Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,103

fault. She’d died because of me. Because of Rafe.

Fury boiled up in my veins like acid, and I raised my sword, wanting nothing more than to run him through, but as soon as I pictured doing it, my mind went blank again, and I found myself standing there, staring at him in confusion.

“Alexa! Get away from him!”

I turned to see Damian pushing his way through the fighting, narrowly avoiding getting hit by another fireball, heading right for me — and Rafe.

No!” I shouted, terrified that Rafe’s command would make me hurt or kill the man I loved. “Go back!”

Rafe just started laughing, and then suddenly, his sword was pressed to my throat.

Damian lurched to a stop a few feet away.

Rafe shoved me at Damian, who reached out to steady me, but I jerked away, terrified of myself. The light from the fires burning all around us flickered across Damian’s face and reflected the confusion in his eyes — confusion that turned to horror when they dropped to the ground where Tanoori lay.

“Come on, Damian. Let’s play, shall we?” Rafe stepped up next to me and lifted his sword. “We have some unfinished business, you and I, seeing how you killed my sister.”

Damian’s expression hardened, and when he lifted his sword, preparing to fight Rafe, I, too, lifted mine. I couldn’t let the king hurt Rafe. I had to protect him.

Damian lunged at Rafe first, but I stepped in front of him and blocked his blow with my sword.

Damian stumbled back, his mouth opening in shock, and then he shook his head. “He got to you,” he breathed, as his eyes filled with a sudden, strange grief.

I took his moment of hesitation to my advantage and lunged at him. He managed to get a shield up in time to block me. But Rafe was there, on the other side. Damian wouldn’t be able to hold us both off for long, even with his sorcery. Damian focused on fighting Rafe, only blocking my blows but never going on the offensive against me. The three of us circled one another, lunging and parrying while Rafe and I tried to get past the shield Damian kept throwing up to block our attacks.

“Alexa, you don’t want to do this!” Damian cried out at one point, when I could tell he was tiring and losing track of both of us. We were wearing him down. “Alexa, I love you — please, stop!”

Something inside of me tilted at his words, a tiny tug of anger. But I was confused about who, or what, I was angry at. And then Damian swiped at Rafe again, and I remembered — I was mad at him for trying to hurt Rafe.

“Isn’t she marvelous?” Rafe taunted the king of Antion.

“I love you, Alex. I fought back for you — I know you can do the same for me!” Damian turned toward me, and when his eyes met mine, I paused, confused and upset.

Hope flared in Damian’s eyes when I hesitated. Because of his momentary distraction, he was a split second too late getting the shield up to stop Rafe’s blade from slicing toward him. He threw himself backward, so that the blade missed the intended target of his neck and sliced deep into his arm instead.

When he cried out in pain, my insides turned to ice for one horrible moment. I stared at him, my heart pounding as Rafe lifted his sword again. Damian pressed his bleeding arm to his body and lifted his sword to deflect Rafe’s blow with his other.

“Alexa, please! Remember who you are!”

I couldn’t bear to see him hurt. Why couldn’t I stand it? I was supposed to hurt him — to protect Rafe. But something was very wrong with him getting injured while I stood here watching.

Rafe had him backed up to a burning tree. Damian had to stop retreating or he would get burned. But instead of going for the kill, Rafe turned to me. “Would you like to do it, my dear?”

I stepped forward, gripping my sword with slick hands, my head pounding with confusion. When I came to stand next to Rafe, Damian let his sword fall to his side. His eyes met mine, and the empty resignation in their piercing blue depths struck me straight in the chest, a driving pain that made me want to cry.

You love him, a voice deep within me whispered. You love him.

“Alexa, finish the job!” Rafe urged beside me.

“I love you, no matter what,” Damian said,