“Does Envy know you’re studying his court?”

Alexei’s smile broadened. “Of course. It was his idea.”

Trumpets blared near the fighting pit, three short blasts that made the hair along the back of Camilla’s neck rise.

Alexei shifted his attention to Blade, a silent conversation seeming to take place between them before the latter inclined his head and stepped into the shadows.

“Relax,” Alexei murmured, “Envy will not lose.”

Relaxing in a tower full of blood-drunk vampires while one of the only allies she had in this realm battled to the death wasn’t possible. If Envy didn’t make it…

Camilla wasn’t sure there was much hope that she’d find her way back to Waverly Green. Alexei might try to bring her to House Wrath, but what chance did he stand of getting them to safety if the demon prince fell?

She perched on the edge of her seat, staring down.

Camilla fixated on the white sand below, on the two gated caverns on opposite sides from which she imagined each prince would emerge.

A giant humanoid creature wearing a crudely made wolf head helmet that completely hid its face strode out, muscled chest bare, tattooed arms and thighs the size of an elephant. It had to be at least twelve feet tall and was built like a mountain.

Camilla couldn’t imagine anyone fighting it and walking away with their life.

Alexei scoffed.

“Canidae. Unoriginal as far as taunts go. But that’s Zarus.”

“How is it a taunt?”

It certainly didn’t seem like a taunt to her. It seemed like Death walking.

“Envy’s House symbol is a double-headed wolf. A green-eyed monster. Canidae, known as the Wolf of the Western Isles, was chosen to mock the prince.”

In one meaty hand it swung a flail that had two spiked balls attached via chain. It was positively medieval—a weapon made popular in ancient blood sports, of which she’d seen many gruesome paintings throughout the years.

Camilla supposed that was exactly what this was: blood sport.

The giant creature swung its weapon at the crowd, the cheers growing impossibly louder as it swaggered around the arena.

It thrust its unoccupied hand at the stands, taunting, daring someone to come and fight.

To her horror, she realized it wasn’t wearing a helmet—the creature had a wolf’s head with a man’s body; it was barking and growling as the crowd tossed someone over the wall, directly at the monster.

Without seeing its eyes, she couldn’t tell whether the victim was a human or a vampire, but she saw how terrified he was; a steady trickle of urine glistened down his leg, earning more jeers from the raging crowd.

Everything happened quickly after that.

In a blur of metal flashing and flesh shredding, the creature had beaten the male until he was an unidentifiable mass of raw meat, his dying screams bloodcurdling as they echoed up the tower.

Blood coated the male from head to toe; part of his arm hung off, severed at the wrist, dangling by a stubborn tendon. His left eye had been bashed out, oozing something foul-looking.

Camilla squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the overwhelming urge to vomit.

The creature had been aiming for the male’s skull, and she did not need to witness what happened when that killing blow connected with its target.

Silence fell, metal cracked bone, then the crowd went wild.

Vibrations from the seats below rattled her bones.

“It’s over,” Alexei said, leaning close. “The body is gone.”

Camilla’s stomach twisted violently as she stared down at the pool of blood that had just contained someone’s life. It was beyond horrifying.

Beyond a nightmare.

And it was only just beginning.

With blood still dripping down the smooth stone walls, Envy strode into the arena looking like an indolent royal out for a stroll among his adoring court, completely unconcerned with the giant storming toward him, flail swinging, gore from its last victim splattering the mixed crowd of vampires and their human pets in the nearest stand, its muzzle nearly black with entrails.

Camilla realized with sudden horror that the body of its last victim was gone because Canidae had eaten it. No bone, no flesh remained.

Still, Envy walked out, his body language bordering on bored.

The demon prince wore a crisp suit, a stylish waistcoat, and a pair of freshly pressed trousers tailored to him exceptionally well. Not ideal fighting clothing.

Camilla wasn’t sure whether he was brilliant or mad. Perhaps a little of both.

“What’s happening?” she asked, searching for the vampire prince. “Why is he fighting that creature?”

“Zarus will strike as soon as Envy is focused on Canidae.”

“Isn’t that against the rules?”

Alexei flashed her a grim look.

“There are no rules.”

The wolf-headed creature, Canidae, descended like a storm. The way it had been fighting earlier… it had been only halfheartedly.

Canidae focused on Envy with singular brutality.

Its footsteps shook the arena, its war cry the most terrifying thing Camilla had ever heard. It sounded like all hope had been lost, like blood and death had been its only friends for millennia. And Envy threatened to take them away.

The demon prince didn’t move, didn’t tense as Canidae thundered closer, its snarls making her recoil almost a hundred feet above it.

Camilla’s heart nearly broke out of her chest, it was pounding so furiously. She stared, her attention fixed on the prince as if it had been magically stuck to the scene.

“Run,” she urged quietly, “please. Run.”

Impossibly, as if he’d heard her whisper from the pit far below, Envy raised his gaze, finding her in the crowd instantly.

He stared into her eyes, mouth curved, as his hair ruffled in the breeze of the flail sailing near his head. He’d stepped out of its path only at the last second, sending Canidae into a seething rage as it barreled past him, whirling and wild-eyed.

Its size worked against it. The creature wasn’t agile; any sudden movement from its opponent worked against it.

Camilla’s knees knocked together, her hands bouncing from where they rested on her lap. She wanted to run and scream and wake up from this horrible nightmare.

Then she realized what Alexei had said. There were no rules.

Envy could use magic.

But why doesn’t he?

Canidae had charged again, mere feet from Envy, when the prince suddenly unleashed himself. Whatever animal, whatever that uncivilized creature was that she’d sensed lived beneath his skin, it was no longer caged by propriety.

Envy was no longer a prince. He was every inch the demon.

And he was magnificent.

From one breath to the next he’d ripped his jacket and waistcoat off. The sound of his fist connecting with Canidae was audible all the way up to where she sat. The crowd, the jeers, the pounding fists and stomping feet, nothing drowned out the sound of that punch.

The creature flew backward, crashing into the wall, a crack shooting halfway up the tower from the impact. The demon had tossed the giant as if it had been nothing at all.

Camilla recalled when he’d hit Harrington—Envy must have been holding back. A lot.

Envy whirled, his House dagger drawn, as the vampire prince leapt from behind, fangs bared.

Zarus had taken the coward’s move, trying to attack from behind.

Envy was faster, more powerful, more ruthless.

The demon thrilled at violence.

Camilla watched, rapt, as he fought with the sort of brutal grace that was hauntingly beautiful despite how horrible it was.

If she could paint him now, she’d focus on the harsh lines of his face cast by shadows, the glittering promise of death in his eyes, and the violent slash of his mouth as it twisted into a vow of pain and torment.

Suddenly, it all took a terrible turn.

Canidae removed a barbed whip from its belt, cracking it more loudly than thunder.