Page 134 of The Blade in the Ashes
Ishut the door with a breathless laugh, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline coursing happily through my veins. Gods, Ilivedfor that sensation—the way it left you breathless while your heart pounded in an intoxicating rush. All that existed was this singular moment in time.
No pain. No grief. No fear.
Only the task at hand and getting it done as quickly as possible.
“Well then,” I shut the door behind us, careful to keep the sound of it clicking shut as soft as possible. “If I were an ancient, magical blade where would I...”
My voice trailed off when I turned, tripping as I barely stopped myself from slamming into Nikolai’s back. He stood at attention, glowering at the two guards before us.
“Who are you?” the one on the left demanded, effortlessly pulling the sword out of the scabbard on his hip and pointing it towards the center of Nikolai’s chest.
Shifting, I pushed from behind Nikolai, taking the position at his left instead and examining the two men that stood between us and those blades.
For a moment, I was oddly taken aback by the fact that they appeared nearly identical. Same slight hitch of the nose, same mop of curling orangish-red hair, same dull brown eyes. Twins.
There were identical twin men overseeing the auction items.
I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
But then they launched toward us.
A moment of silent understanding passed between Nikolai and me as he darted to the right and I shuffled further to the left. With one hand, I tugged up my skirt while my other instinctively wrapped around the blade secured to my thigh. I latched onto it with just enough time to throw my weight sideways as one of the twins brought his sword down in a sweeping horizontal slash. Ducking under his arm, I sliced the side of my blade along his ribs, feeling the characteristic sensation of skin splitting under my steel.
He hissed through his teeth, jerking toward me wildly with a vicious elbow aimed at my head. For a moment, it felt as if the world was falling out from under me as I relaxed my legs, ducking rapidly to avoid the blow. If he was surprised by my maneuver, he didn't show it. He righted himself to stand in front of me before jabbing that sword at me once again.
Our dance continued that way for some time. He would swing, using either his sword or his fist, and I would weave, duck, and dodge, delivering purposeful slices whenever I could while I waited for that perfect opportunity to strike just the right place between his ribs to deliver a killing blow.
Admittedly, I dragged out the fight longer than I needed to. This man was large and his attacks had plenty of brute strength behind them, but his technique lacked any real beauty. He wasn’t particularly skilled or inventive, but it had been a few weeks since I’d had a proper fight and, well—as much as I loathed to admit it—I had a lot of pent-up energy from constantly maintaining this increasingly flirtatious game with Nikolai.
Almost unintentionally, I glanced over at him. Every so often, he released small grunts and growls that drew my eye. I shouldn't have allowed him to distract me, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from running quick assessments about if he needed help. If I were still training with the Order, I would have been punished mercilessly for allowing myself to be distracted.
But Nikolai was the biggest distraction I’d ever encountered.
And when I heard him inhale a quick, almost surprised gasp, it wasn’t my training or my strategic mind that drew my gaze towards him. It was the tightening of my damn heart.
That was a mistake.
While Nikolai had simply been baiting his attacker, allowing the man to think he’d nicked him, I’d sacrificed a vital moment of attention. A large hand wrapped around my head, shoving me easily to the side with such unnatural strength that I went flying. My head rebounded off the wall, my vision dimming for a quick moment before stars danced across my eyesight.
Fucking Brawn.
The blow to my head stunned me, and I sent a silent word of thanks to my Godly ancestor when I focused back in at the exact moment his sword came slicing towards my head. I dropped to the ground, shooting out mylegs to kick out his ankle. He fell heavily, and I lurched towards him, my shoes splashing in the puddle as I rushed towards—
Puddle?
Water.
He was coughing up water.
My head jerked up, seeking Nikolai.
When I took him in, I couldn’t stop my eyes from widening even as my jaw fell slack. Because even though he wore another man’s appearance, it was as if I sawhim—hands tucked in his pockets, expression grim, eyes unfeeling as he used his powers to kill the man at my feet with nothing more than a thought. The other twin already lay dead behind Nikolai.
After it was done, he extended a hand down to me, helping me to my feet.
“I was only planning to knock him out,” I mused.
Nikolai stared at that man for a long time before his eyes sought out mine. I wasn’t sure if the heat that sparked in me from that look was from concern or longing.
