“Thank you. Both of you.” I looked between him and Tolek, swallowing the last bit of fear that pushed at me. “I love you, guys.”
“Love you, too, Cypherion,” Malakai said, clapping a hand to my shoulder.
Tolek pulled me in for a near-strangling hug and whispered, “Let’s go get your girl back.”
As the three of us Mystique Warriors marched into the den, with revenge marking every step, the roar of the crowd faded. Shouts and jeers melted together, and all I could hear were those parting words.
You go, and then come back for me.
I’ll be back for you, Stargirl.
All I saw was the last ring I’d been in, when Vale had fallen ill, and I’d sworn I’d shred through that opponent to make sure she was okay.
A pressure settled on my shoulders as my vision tunneled into the dirt between the ropes. It was the weight of not only Vale’s life, but of the Mystique Warriors I was now helping lead. Of all those who deserved a fair and just rule, not a manipulating liar, as the Starsearchers had. But it was also the strain of my mother’s life and the Deneski legacy, the confusion from all of those fucking secrets.
I shoved them down as I had since I’d found out the truth, and I shook out my hands.
I was vaguely aware of Malakai and Tolek flanking me as I approached the ring. Of the former falling back into the shadows with Mila and the latter pressing up to the rope beside his sister with rambunctious cheers.
Of everyone sliding into place for this act.
But really, all I saw was her.
I locked it all up in my mind, ducked beneath the rope, and braced myself. Titus wanted to put on a show with Vale’s power? I’d give him an even bigger one.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tolek
“You’re hiding it well,”Lyria said, leaning against the post beside me as CK climbed into the ring. I didn’t take my eyes off my friend as he stretched, facing the back wall away from his first opponent. A wiry, lean-muscled warrior who bounced quickly on his feet.
“What?”
“It’s killing you that you’re here instead of with Ophelia,” Lyria mumbled. She watched the crowd with disinterest. Playing the part of rich, bored commander who was merely here to collect.
I braced my elbows on the rope. “Not going to deny it. But this is my role.”
I let out a rowdy cheer for Cypherion, and the crowd answered in turn.
“Your role…” Lyria turned the words over as Cypherion and the first fighter began. Over her shoulder, Malakai and Mila slipped away into the shadows.
“We all have a role.” Cypherion took a hit to his ribs, and I grimaced and called out a random insult to the warrior, though Iknew CK had allowed that one to sneak by him. “That’s his. And tonight, this is mine.”
Lyria pondered. “What’s mine?”
“What?” I asked, pulling my attention from the ring.
“What’s my role in all of this?” She sipped her drink, a strong liquor that burned even from here.
With a drastic blow, Cypherion had the first warrior down. The crowd erupted, and I used the excuse to shift toward my sister. “Lyria, you’re our commander. You’re the reason we won that war.”
“Everyone—”
“Every general, lieutenant, every damn soldier in that alliance survived because of you. Yes, they all played a pivotal role, but it was your steady direction that kept them there. That helped them all survive. Because you’re a damn good commander.”
CK’s second opponent was already climbing into the ring, the first guy dragged away to recover. The crowd was wilder, now, and Cypherion was a solid wall against them, focus solely on the fight.
“I don’t think I deserved that role,” Lyria admitted.
