House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,120

lose here. She couldn’t let her life end with him slitting her throat in the Wastes. Fordham had taught her about pain. He had told her how to survive through pain. Pain made her stronger.

“You think you’re so strong?” she croaked, feeling the knife bite into her. She ignored it and forced herself to laugh.

“What’s so funny, Red?”

“No matter what happens here, you’ve already… lost,” she got out.

“Doesn’t look like that to me.”

She grinned, going for madness. “Oh, but I’m just the distraction.”

Basem’s eyes widened.

“You never wondered why my friends didn’t come to the fight? Or why I danced around the ring until you were nearly exhausted? I was here to keep you and your goons in one place. Your house has already been… raided.” Her eyes were triumphant as she told him, “Ever is gone.”

45

The Rescue

Basem roared, slicing across her neck, “Die, leatha bitch!”

At the same second, Kerrigan used her last bit of energy to pull the amber orb to her. She grasped it in her hand, and the world returned to normal. Her awareness righted itself. Whatever the orb had done to disorient her had evaporated. Even her ears were no longer ringing. Though they were still bleeding.

Her hand went to her throat, trying to stop the blood from seeping out of her. He hadn’t pressed down hard enough to kill, just to wound, but she could see he wanted to go in for another shot.

She blasted him backward with all the air, water, fire, and earth she had in her veins, and he flew through the ring and out into the crowd. With a heave, she came unsteadily to her feet. But the fight wasn’t over.

As much as she wanted to end his life right here, that wouldn’t be justice for what he had done to Lyam. What he had tried to do to her. She needed to get him out of the Wastes. He needed to be arrested and stand trial for his crimes. Death wasn’t good enough for him.

She strode forward, still holding the orb in her hand. Basem took one look at her, a fiery red ball of vengeance, and took a step back. The crowd booed him as she advanced. True panic flicked across his features for the first time. And with a look around to see that he had lost favor, he reached into his pouch and withdrew a black orb.

“I’ll be seeing you, Red,” he said. Then, he threw the orb to the ground, shattering it into a million pieces. The ashy smoke enveloped him, and he was gone.

“No!” she screamed.

But there was nothing she could do. Basem had escaped.

Kerrigan sank to her feet as the announcer came out to declare her the winner. The crowd had a mixed reaction. No one had been killed. One competitor had fled.

She didn’t even have the energy to care what they thought. Basem was gone. She had been this close, and he had slipped out of her grasp.

Clover rushed out into the ring and helped her backstage. “What the hell, Red?”

“He escaped.”

“You’re losing a lot of blood. We need to get you to a healer.”

“No,” Kerrigan said, straightening. “We have to get to the mountain. Fordham, Darby, and Hadrian got Ever out of Basem’s house. If we have Ellerby’s nephew, then we have a witness. We have proof. We have to tell Helly.”

“Bravo,” Dozan said. He stepped into the back room and casually applauded her. “Devious… even for you.”

She glared at him. “No thanks to you. Basem escaped.”

“But you brought him down. He won’t be able to show his face in Kinkadia ever again.”

“That’s not justice.”

“It’s more than most people get,” Dozan said.

“He’s right,” Clover said. “He’s not behind bars, but he can’t come after you now. Not when we have proof of what he’s done. He’ll be hunted by the Society.”

Kerrigan sighed and nodded. “I know. It’s just… half as much as I wanted.”

“Run off to your mountain, princess, and see if they give you more justice than I did.” Dozan smirked. “Doesn’t tonight prove that you belong here… with me?”

“Just because we work well together doesn’t mean that I belong here.”

He stepped forward, exposing her ears once more. “I have never seen you look more magnificent than when you were out there tonight, proud of your heritage. Can you really say that you can do that in the mountain? Anywhere else in fact?”

Kerrigan swallowed, caught in his golden gaze. She ignored the beat of her heart at his words. The rightness in