could make you beg for it.”
“That only proves my point.”
“I could do it without ordering you,” he said, his tone sharpening.
“Could you do it without magic?” I said, braver than I felt.
His icy features hardened, and I let my lips curl up on one side.
“Of course.”
“Hmm,” I hummed, debating how far I could go before I incited his wrath. In the pit, the fae woman lunged, and Nathalie dove to the side, barely getting out of the way of the whip as it cracked. A bolt of lightning struck the side of the ring, and a fissure formed in the concrete siding. “I thought you were going to kill her.” Nodding toward the pit.
“The Le Fay girl?”
“Were you planning to kill the other one too?”
“At first, yes,” he said, leaning back to watch them once more. My pulse slowed a small fraction. We were treading dangerously close. “Dara Lightseeker can control lightning, though. Useful skill. Rare. I made her a deal instead. She’s now my top pit fighter.”
“And Nathalie?” I asked.
“Bait, but if she survives this fight, she’ll be sold to the highest bidder. I find slavery is worse than death in most cases. Before she just tried to summon a demon, and that warranted death. Then she helped you.” He paused as Dara closed in on Nathalie. Her whip wrapped around the witch’s ankle, tripping her. Nathalie fell face-first into the sand. “I can’t have that. It sets a poor example to simply kill her. You two have thrown off the order of things, but in selling her, and breaking you—I show my subjects what will become of them if they upset me.”
I swallowed and looked at the ceiling. High above us, cement and metal pipes lined the top of the arena. Spotlights dangled from the pipes to illuminate the pit. I had no idea how long had passed since he’d knocked me out. It could have been hours or days. Underneath the ground, though, there was no way to tell. Fortunately, not all of the Underworld was actually underground. I just needed to get free and find my way out. Well, that and find a way to stop the fight.
At the rate it was going, Nathalie didn’t have long before the fae killed her. I wouldn’t be far behind her once Lucifer’s game came to an end. He’d either take a bite and would then learn his atma was dead, or he’d rape me first, then take a bite.
I was supposed to wait for Ronan and let him take on Lucifer while Nathalie and I got away. That was the plan.
As the fae woman picked Nathalie up with one hand and slammed her against the wall, I knew in my bones that this was it.
I may not know her well, but she’d stuck her neck out for me again and again. And this fae was going to slaughter her if I did nothing.
But could I? That was a stupid question to ask myself. My racing heart said I very much could. Would I? That was a better question. A smarter one.
To change her fate would change my own. Lucifer and every other person here would see the truth of what I was.
Playing human after this wouldn’t be possible.
But being dead was worse.
Right as I shifted my weight, resigned in my decision, Dara struck.
Lightning arced from one hand straight into Nat’s chest.
She screamed, and blue light shone beneath her pale skin.
“No!” I shouted. Our eyes met.
Unbearable pain filled her expression as lightning coursed through her body.
I waited for her to lose consciousness. I waited for the pain to become too much. I waited for her skin to char and wither.
I waited for her to die.
It seemed that I was not the only one surprised when that didn’t happen.
A second suspended in time. The look of pain changed over the length of it, and her eyes never looked away from me as they started to glow. A pure, brilliant gold.
She pressed her lips together, swallowing down the last of her screams, and I knew then that something was coming.
Nathalie reached for the hand holding her pinned, and the fae woman faltered. Her pale fingers wrapped around that darker wrist. Dara’s strength waned, and Nathalie used that moment to strike. She cantered forward and grabbed for Dara’s face with her other hand. The fae stepped back, but Nathalie didn’t stop. She didn’t pause.
Her skin was glowing as she pressed her lips to Dara’s.
The crowd stopped chanting.
Everything went quiet.
Then the fae exploded