“Speaking from experience?”

“I’m older than Alexios,” she says with a shrug. “I’ve seen some shit.”

My breath catches when she cinches the final strap. “Why help me at all?”

She gives me a small smile. “Because I’ve known the Wolf since he was a demi baby on his mother’s knee. He’s an idiot, a pain in my ass, and about as subtle as an avalanche. But this? He doesn’t do this. Doesn’t let anyone close enough to matter. But he Chose you. Claimed you.” Her expression sharpens. “So don’t fuck it up.”

*   *   *

The crowd’s roar crashes over me as I step into the arena.

Ancient runes in the sands flare and glow blue beneath my boots. Magic burns my lungs with each inhale, an electric thrum that skates across my skin. Torches flicker along the walls of the fighting pit, illuminating the obstacles in the dirt—pillars, boulders, seared rocks. Places I’ll need to take cover and rest if I’m going to survive this.

Shouts draw my attention to the hundreds of demis packing the tiered balconies and floating platforms. Wings of every color blur together—green, blue, red, gold, black. Some are shoving each other to get a better look, others are chanting loud enough to make my ears ring.

“FUCK HER UP! FUCK HER UP!”

“Charming,” I mutter.

Fine. They can scream until their throats bleed for all I care.

My attention moves to the raised platform where Alexios lounges on his black throne with his red and black wings spread. He’s got his chin propped in his hand, watching me intently. Does he want me to win or lose?

“FUCK HER UP!”

Alexios grins slowly, and my lip curls in a snarl. Right, it probably doesn’t matter to the sick bastard. It’s all entertainment to him. I can’t believe I let him watch me suck Evander off. Bastard.

The chants are so loud that I almost miss a male voice shouting my name.

Evander.

He’s at the arena’s edge, yanking against chains bolted into the pit’s thick stone wall. And he’s beyond furious. His lips move in what I’m pretty sure is every curse in at least a dozen dead languages. Now he knows about my bargain with Alexios. The price I’ll probably pay.

“When this is over,” he mouths, “I’ll kill you myself.”

My lips curve into a smile. When this is over.

I can’t hide behind your wings forever.

A metal screech echoes through the arena. The portcullis rises at the far end of the pit, revealing nine demis stepping into flickering torchlight. Skin bared, no armor in sight. To them, I’m no threat at all. Just one more fragile human to slaughter.

Good, Amara’s voice whispers through my memories. Let them underestimate you. Use that arrogance against them.

The demis fan out in a loose semicircle. A mix of males and females, all crackling with magic that warps the surrounding air. A female with electricity jumping between her fingers. A male with fire in his hands.

“Ten gold the human pisses herself before I even touch her.”

“Twenty says she’s begging for mercy inside a minute.”

I drop into a fighting stance—Amara’s drills beaten into me after all those brutal sessions. Muscles coiled and ready to move. Ready to kill.

Amara’s words hammer through me: Get dirty. Get mean. Kill them before they kill you.

Alexios lifts a hand. The crowd goes silent, the sudden absence of sound almost as deafening as the roar had been.

The demis attack.

The lightning demigoddess strikes first, electricity leaping from her splayed fingers. I hit the ground and roll. CRACK! The air at my back explodes, and the sharp stink of ozone burns my nose.

“BREAK THAT BITCH!” the crowd chants.

No time to think. I sense the second assault coming—the crushing pressure of gathering power that makes my ears pop. Instinct has me scrambling behind a large, red-winged warrior.

The blast hits him. The impact reverberates through my bones as his body goes flying. He crashes into the sand twenty yards away, wings crumpled and neck twisted.

One down. Eight to go.

“Thanks for that,” I call out.

“Lucky dodge, little girl,” the demigoddess snarls.

Another female hurls jagged spears of ice longer than my forearm. I throw myself to the side, but I’m not fast enough. Pain radiates through my shoulder, but Zephyr’s armor absorbs the blow.

I shake it off and keep moving.

Keep. Fucking. Moving.

I make my legs pump faster, ducking and weaving between their attacks. Lightning cracks inches from my face. I leap as the ground beneath me explodes—too close. The sand’s cratered with smoking holes, patches melted into glass by the lightning demi’s onslaught. Two more demis fall in the crossfire.

“MAKE HER BLEED!”

My lungs burn. My vision blurs, and my knives are slick in my hands, but stopping means dying. I don’t have the power to meet these demis head-on, so my only chance is to be quicker. Smarter.

Make the bastards kill each other.

Searing cold slams into my hip, and my entire left side goes numb. I stumble, barely managing to roll behind a partially melted pillar.

“Hiding already?” someone shouts. “Get out here, bitch!”

I use the moment of cover to gulp down air. My legs shake as I push myself to my feet.

Create openings. Make them react to you. Amara’s lessons blare in my head.

I glance around the column. Four are still standing, the rest were blasted to pieces by their own side’s attacks.

One male is shooting flames while another female’s hands glow with dark energy that makes shadows burst from the sand in inky vines. The ice demi is hanging back to wait for a clear shot. And the last bastard? He’s sucking in power—I can feel the bite of it against my skin. A massive surge between his upraised palms, glowing blue as pure force magic forms.

I have maybe three seconds before he unleashes it.

I’m moving before I know what the hell I’m doing—just sprinting straight at him, sand flying everywhere. His jaw drops, because what kind of idiot charges to her death? This idiot, apparently.

“What the—”

Right before he lets loose his power, I dive for the ground and slide between his legs. The force wave hurtles over my head…

And slams directly into the ice demi behind me.

Her shriek cuts off as the concussive blast literally turns her inside out.

Lurching upright, I plunge my blade into the force-wielder’s back and wrench it hard. Once, twice more, taking ruthless advantage of his distraction. He tries to shove me off, but I’ve got my second knife ready. I jam it under his chin and let his corpse fall.

Two left.

The remaining demis regroup, trading looks. Reassessing the threat level of one small human who’s managed to survive this long.

“END IT! END IT!”

I bare my teeth in a feral grin. The left side of my body is still partially numb from that previous attack, but I can’t stop. Not now.

The shadow controller strikes first this time. Inky vines explode from the sand to ensnare me, one wrapping around my ankle to yank my feet out from under me. The impact knocks the wind out of me.

More black vines snare my arms and legs, pinning me down.

The demi grins. “Let’s see how pretty you are when we’re done with you.”

The flame-wielder laughs, conjuring fire between his palms. “I say we make the Wolf watch his pet human burn.”

They’re getting cocky. Overconfident.

Use it.

Teeth gritted, I strain against the shadows, scrabbling desperately for another dagger. Darkness digs into my skin, tightening, tightening. There—my fingertips brush metal.

For a heartbeat, Evander is with me. His hand on mine, steadying. When you let the knife fly, it’s not about forcing it to hit the target. It’s about trusting that all that careful preparation and intimate knowledge will guide it.