Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

P ain pulses through my body with every step as I limp back out of the arena and into the corridor that we came in through. I keep one arm wrapped around my fractured ribs and the other hand sliding along the wall for support. Blood still coats my forearm, dripping faintly on the floor as I move slowly down the hall.

Before we were allowed to leave, Imar told us that we now have three days to rest and heal and to let our magic recover before the next trial. As fae, we thankfully all have increased healing speed. I’m not sure how it works for the dragon shifters, but compared to humans, we heal remarkably fast. And since I’m pretty certain that my ribs are only partially fractured rather than completely broken, three days should be enough time for them to heal. Especially here where I have practically unlimited access to food. Healing consumes a lot of energy, which requires a lot of food. Which is probably another reason why the shifters have never allowed us to have too much of it. But for the first time in my life, I have an abundance of food just waiting for me.

I suck in a sharp hiss between my clenched teeth as a rough hand suddenly grabs me by the shoulder and yanks me around. Since I don’t have enough strength left to stop it, I can do nothing except let myself be spun around. My back hits the wall of the corridor with a thud. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I look up to meet the gaze of my newest attacker.

Alistair Geller looms before me. Rage burns in his orange and green eyes as he buries his fist in my collar, trapping me against the wall.

“You’ve made an enemy of me now, Soulstealer,” he growls in my face.

I furrow my brows in what I hope is believable confusion. “What? Why? We never even faced each other during this trial.”

“Don’t you fucking dare deny it.”

With that mask of bewilderment on my face, I just continue looking up at him.

“Jeb saw what you did.” He clenches his jaw and tightens his grip on my collar. “You manipulated my emotions. Made me go on a rampage like a fucking animal.”

Aw, crap.

Since there is no point in trying to deny it further, I raise my chin defiantly instead.

“You made an enemy of me first.” I shoot him a pointed glare. “When you had your friend poison me.”

“If any of you had any proof of that, those fucking asshole shifters would already have killed us.”

“It doesn’t matter that I can’t prove it. It’s still true. You know it, and so do I. So I’d say that this makes us even.”

“Even?” A vicious laugh rips from his chest. “Oh, we’re far from even.”

With one hand still buried in the collar of my shirt, he raises his other while his eyes start to glow. Fire flares to life in his palm.

My heart leaps into my throat.

I try to pry his fingers off my collar so that I can escape, but he keeps me in an iron grip.

“You wanted me to use my fire magic for your benefit?” The flames reflect in his eyes as he moves his burning hand closer to my face. “How about I use it on you instead? The shifters will never know. They’ll just think that you got burned by my flames during the trial.”

I struggle hard against his grip, fighting against his hold on me as he brings the flames towards my cheek. But I’m too weak and injured, too drained from the lingering poison and the exhaustion of the trial, to compete with his strength. Heat from the fire washes over my skin. A desperate noise escapes my throat. The flames are almost on my cheek now. A little closer and my skin will start to blister.

Alistair lets out a yelp.

I start in surprise as he is suddenly yanked backwards by a set of twisting branches.

“Are you deaf?” Lavendera demands as she strides up the hall towards us. “They said no fighting outside of the trials.”

Relief washes through me.

The other half of our group, the ones who had been standing on the other side of the arena when Imar told us that we could leave, have finally caught up with us. Several of the other contestants cast curious glances between me and Alistair, but they continue past us without stopping. Lavendera stops, though.

Standing with her hands on her hips, she glares at Alistair.

Alistair manages to untangle himself from the branches she used to yank him away from me. Fury still pulses in his eyes as he whirls towards her.

“You,” he growls. “Why the fuck do you care?”

“Following the rules is vital,” she replies. “And that means no harming each other outside of trials.”

“But inside the trials is fine?” His expression darkens and his voice drops lower. “You fucking killed Maximus.”

“Yes.”

“Why? You weren’t even among the people affected by the food poisoning.”

“It wasn’t food poisoning. It was just poison.”

“Still. You didn’t suffer from it.”

“Doesn’t matter. He broke the rules.” Her voice is flat and emotionless. “So he had to die.”

Anger flashes in Alistair’s eyes right before they begin to glow again. Fire blooms in his palm, casting flickering light over the pale stone walls. Yanking his hand up, he shoots a stream of fire towards Lavendera’s branches that still linger next to him.

But before he can burn them to ash, something flat and pale flashes through the air.

A violent hissing sound echoes between the walls.

I stare at the sheet of ice that showed up to block Alistair’s flames.

Footsteps sound from my left. Turning my head, I look towards them.

Isera strides up the corridor. She doesn’t look hurt or angry or even remotely bothered by anything. With her chin raised, she simply continues towards us as if she hadn’t just thrown a sheet of ice to extinguish Alistair’s flames.

From a few strides away, Alistair scoffs and flashes her a mocking grin. “So, the ice lady has emotions after all?”

“Of course I do,” Isera replies as she walks. But when she reaches us, she simply continues walking right past without stopping. Right as she passes Alistair, she adds, “I simply do not waste them on insecure little boys like you.”

His cheeks flush bright red, in anger or embarrassment or both. He clenches his jaw hard and flexes his hand. Right when it looks as if he’s going to summon another ball of flame and throw it at Isera’s retreating back, a dark voice cuts through the corridor.

“Is there a problem?”

I whip my head towards the source of the voice and find Draven stalking towards us.

He spreads his wings wider, blocking off the entire corridor, as he advances on us. Lavendera lets her branches vanish into thin air and slips away after Isera while Draven’s gaze is temporarily fixed on me. Alistair is about to do the same, but before he can take so much as a step, Draven slides his commanding gaze to him instead.

“I said, is there a problem?” Draven demands. Threats drip from his every word like searing poison.

“No,” Alistair quickly replies.

Draven comes to a halt between us. His massive wings flare slightly as he turns and fixes Alistair with a death stare. “No, what ?”

Alistair clenches his jaw so hard that I can almost hear his teeth crack, and he squeezes his hand into a tight fist. But we all know that no one defies the Shadow of Death. So in the end, Alistair drops his gaze to the floor in submission and forces out, “No, sir.”

“That’s right.” Draven cocks his head. “Now, do you need a reminder of what happens to people who instigate fights outside of the trials?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Then get the hell out of my sight.”

Alistair raises his head while Draven turns around to face me instead. And now that Draven can’t see his face, he locks eyes with me and flashes me a threatening smile. Then he mouths, “ Watch your back .”

I narrow my eyes at him as he slinks away. But I don’t have time to watch him leave, because Draven is now looming over me instead. Pain and exhaustion still pulse through my body, so I drag in a bracing breath before shifting my gaze to the ruthless commander in front of me.

“And you…” Lightning flickers in Draven’s eyes as his gaze drops down to the blood coating my forearm. A muscle flickers in his jaw as he locks hard eyes on me again. “Get that wound stitched up. Right now.” He lets out a sharp breath, and then adds, “Before you dirty the whole castle with your blood.”

For a brief moment, I consider rolling my eyes at him. But he looks genuinely angry, so I decide not to push my luck. Well, not push it too much , anyway. Because I simply can’t help myself, I give him a small bow that is just on the edge of being a little mocking.

My voice is laced with a slight trace of teasing as I say, “Yes, sir.”

Draven narrows his eyes at me. But he doesn’t retaliate. Instead, he simply spins on his heel and stalks back towards the arena.

And if I didn’t know better, I could have almost sworn that I saw a hint of amusement on his lips before he turned his back on me.