I take her in, bloody and straddling me. “If it weren’t for my current situation,” I glance at her fist still posed to strike, “this could be a lot more fun,” I say quietly, looking her up and down before staring into those blue eyes as they widen.
Her focus slips for a moment.
Perfect.
I grab her waist and flip us over. Now I’m on top of her, pinning her wrists into the dirt beside her head. She pants beneath me, glaring up into my face. She’s covered in dirt, and I’m certain I look no different. A dark bruise is already beginning to blossom across her cheekbone, and blood leaks from her nose and mouth.
“Nicely done, Gray,” I say, close to her face. She squirms in my hold, but it does nothing to loosen my grip. “I have a few critiques.”
She stills, and I watch as a slow smile spreads across her lips. “Seeing that you’re the future Enforcer, I wasn’t sure if you were capable of showing mercy. Clearly, you are.” I stare down at her, my face morphing into its cold mask at her words. Then she lifts her head off the ground so only mere inches separate us as she breathes, “I know you went easy on me.”
Was it that obvious or did her Psychic abilities tell her that?
My gaze roams over her face, snagging on the dirt and blood splattering her skin, concealing the faint dusting of freckles I know covers her nose. “And what makes you think that?”
Her face inches impossibly closer, lashes fluttering, lips quirked into a smile and dangerously close to my own. Her voice is breathy, barely audible as she whispers, “Because if you weren’t going easy on me, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
I barely have enough time to be confused before she headbutts me.
When the crown of her head meets my nose, I see stars. She breaks my hold on her wrists and uses both legs to push me off her. A cloud of dust surrounds me as I lay in the dirt, blinking away the throbbing pain. The hit was hard but not hard enough to stop me from staggering to my feet and facing her, blood streaming from my broken nose.
She doesn’t waste a moment.
Her arms are around my neck, her knee driving into my stomach again and again. Before I have time to react, she uses my bent leg as a step stool, throwing her own legs over my shoulders in one swift movement. Using her momentum and the limbs wrapped around me, she throws us both to the ground. I sprawl into the dirt while she rolls, wasting no time before pouncing on me. And then my arms are pinned under her knees once again.
“How was my form, prince?” she pants, lips bloody. “Any critiques now?”
Her weight presses down on me and I huff out a laugh. “I have a few notes.”
“Likewise.” Her hand flashes to her boot, sliding a thin blade from the worn leather. “For starters, I don’t appreciate my opponents going easy on me.” She gently drags the knife’s tip across my cheekbone, tickling my skin.
I smirk despite the blade she trails across my face, my gaze burning into hers. And then my eyes flick to the blood dribbling down her face, leaking from the several cuts and gashes I’d given her. “Looks like I messed up your pretty face after all, despite my best efforts.”
“Oh, this is nothing.” She laughs breathlessly. “You should see the damage I did to your pretty face.”
My lips quirk into a smile as I lift my head towards hers. “Oh, darling, as long as you still think I’m pretty, I don’t give a damn what I look like.”
Those blue eyes blink at me in shock before rolling at me in annoyance. With a huff, she shifts and stands to her feet. I follow, dusting the dirt from my body as she does the same.
Before she can turn and leave, I say, “You’re far more fun to spar with then Kitt. We should do that again sometime.”
Her head tilts slightly to the side, her smile sly. “I’ll never pass up the chance to kick your ass, prince.”
And with that, she’s striding away as I watch her retreating form.
“Oh, and Kai?” she calls, her voice casual.”
And then I’m ducking.
She spun, throwing the knife so suddenly that I barely had time to dodge before it sank into the wooden target a few feet behind me.
“I don’t want your mercy. Next time we fight,” I can see her blue eyes smoldering from where I stand, “impress me.”
A low whistle sounds from the crowd—Kitt, of course. Ignoring him, I shake my head, grinning at her as she turns away from me.
Vicious, little thing, indeed.
Chapter Eighteen
Paedyn
I’m almost certain I’m not an Ordinary. My power may actually be the ability to lie effortlessly. Lie about what I am, who I trust, and how happy I am to be here.
Yes, the Trials are a series of physical games, but they are just as deadly when it comes to the mental ones. I need to win over the people, convince them that I love these Trials as much as they do. I want their votes to stay alive, but I need their votes if I want to win this bloody thing.
I glance around the dinner table, taking in the stiff shoulders and clipped conversation. The tension in the room is nearly suffocating, choking us into an awkward silence filled mostly with chewing. It’s safe to say that we’ve become antsy as of late. So much so that a fight broke out between Ace and Braxton in the training yard, one that the former unsurprisingly initiated. I can’t imagine what Ace must have done to crack Braxton’s patient composure, but the brawl took nearly four Imperials to break up, all but piling on top of the two contestants.
My eyes slide over my opponents slowly, stopping on the green gaze already staring at me. I suck in a breath, steeling myself against the rush of rage I feel every time I look at the king—
No, not the king.
Kitt stares back at me with eyes so like his father’s that I have to blink the image of the king away, forcing myself to focus on the boy in front of me instead. His smile is warm, his eyes wandering over my face. I return the action before quickly looking away, desperate to avoid his gaze as my eyes crash into a familiar pair.
I’m suddenly swallowed in the storm that is his steely gray gaze framed by dark lashes. Kai tilts his head slightly, smiling at me in a way that has me spinning the ring on my thumb nervously.
I hope he’s losing his mind trying to puzzle me out like I am him.
Kai’s gaze flicks to my thumb and the ring I’m now spinning on it. There’s a glint in his eyes when he leans across the table towards me. “Something making you nervous, Gray?”
Plagues, how can one person be so equally infuriating and infatuating?
“And what would give you the impression that I’m nervous?”
“Hmm,” he hums, running a hand over his rough jaw. “Should I start with the fact that you’re spinning that ring or the more obvious one being that you’re clutching a knife?”
I blink at him before looking down. There is, in fact, a steak knife gripped in my fist, though I’m not sure when found its way there. I stare at it, huffing out a laugh before uncurling my fingers from the handle. When my gaze finally meets his, it’s searching, softer than before.
And annoyingly enough, I’m mirroring that same look he’s giving me, though we are seeing very different things.
I see a boy who is confusing and captivating, cocky and calculating. But with every new detail I discover about him, the less I think I know. He has a soft spot only for those he loves dearly, that much is clear. But he’s built walls, guarded himself, slipped on masks, making him annoyingly difficult to decipher.