Garroway’s swordpoint came down to rest at the hollow of my neck. His face was masked with . . . fury? Almost like he regretted what he had to do for victory.
I laid my head back, letting out a deep breath and awaiting my death. I saw the world upside down, past the pit, up to the raised dais where the most important vampires and my three friends—Jinneth, Aelin, and Helget—waited.
I’m sorry I failed,I thought.
A scream of rage rent the hall and I blinked.
Blood sprayed, and then a wet burble—
As Jinneth ripped Aelin off the vampire’s lap and plunged her small dagger up through the base of Aelin’s chin, through her mouth, and into her brain.
It had been Jinneth screaming like a banshee.
My world tipped on its axis.
Aelin dropped dead instantly, body limp and eyes rolled back. The important masked noblebloods nearest the quarreling duo stepped back, surprised.
A few of them even laughed.
The large vampire Jinneth and Aelin had been fighting over spoke in a muffled voice through his mask. “Oh, this one’s feisty. I like her, my lord.”
“She is yours, Demilord Aldion,” Skartovius replied.
The attention of my fight with Garroway had receded, shifting to the sudden murder of a potential broodstock.
“This match is over,” Lord Ashfen declared. He turned to stream past his throne, black-gold cloak billowing behind him.
The large nobleblood brought a shaking Jinneth closer to him in an embrace, while she stared down at the dagger hilt protruding out the base of Aelin’s chin.
My heart thundered.
I blinked wildly, hearing the rasps of Garroway’s blades tucking into his hip-sheaths. He reached an open hand down to help me up. “Lucky day, honey badger.” The crooked, mirthful smile returned to his face.
A separate lord motioned to Aelin’s body with a flap of his hand. “Put this one next to the big bear on the table, if she’ll fit. We’ll have double the feast tonight.”
“Might need to slide another table over, that big bastard,” said another.
The room broke out in callous laughter.
My first thought came, my brain finally realizing I was not going to die tonight—someone else had taken my place.Jinnethdid that . . . purposefully. Did she make a scene and kill Aelin in cold blood because she saw me about to die—to shift focus?
My next thought quickly after:She only had that dagger because I gave it to her. Because I trained her to fight when she asked.
And now I feared I had created a monster worse than the heartless ones laughing in this room.
Chapter 19
When I reached up to clasp Garroway’s waiting palm, all the dizzying weight of my thoughts, my wounds, caught up to me. I passed out.
I awoke in a lavish bedroom with a high ceiling, lying on the softest mattress of my life, practically sucking my body into clouds. A translucent veil hung from the elegant posts of the bed, hiding me from outsiders.
On the other side of the veil stood a shadow.
I sat up and abruptly coughed from shock, wincing in pain at the various wounds across my body—two in the arms, one in the meaty front of my thigh, and the deepest one just under my ribs. They rang out simultaneously, burning and making me inhale sharply.
The veil flipped aside and Master Lukain showed his face. “Sephania. You’re awake.”
His hand touched my arm, which I noticed was bare. My eyes trailed down my body and . . . shit,mostof me was bare. My top had been peeled away to get to my side, where the wound was bandaged. My arms were wrapped up, and even my thigh . . . I had no pants on.
