Just the bond. Just magic. But Teddy was looking at Rett’s hand on her arm with murderous intent.
Death whispers burst to life in the air, and Stella froze. She looked from Rett to Dixon to Christophe and Drew. All of them seemed equally menacing. The whispers crescendoed suddenly and Stella held her breath, waiting to see who would move first.
Rett ran his hand up Stella’s neck and over her cheek affectionately. “Olney hunters are a chatty bunch. I hear she heals so quickly thanks to that goddess blood. We could have a good time with her. I bet it will take her hours to die. And you’ll feel it the whole time, Savero.”
“Keep your fucking voice down,” Teddy snapped, looking over his shoulder.
They were far enough from the tent that it was unlikely the other competitors could hear them. Still, with so many warriors possessing enhanced hearing, Stella wasn’t certain that some of the more astuteof them might pick up on the fact that half of their group was missing and come poke around.
“I don’t think I will,” Rett said. “I wish I had realized sooner that you were a two-for-one deal. I could have knocked you both out in the first round.” His rat-like face pinched in delight as he pulled out his dagger and pressed the flat of the blade to Stella’s cheek.
Teddy held perfectly still, but the first tingle of storm magic crackled through the air. “You’ll be disqualified from the Games. You probably already will be. You attacked a competitor outside of a challenge.”
“Who will tell?” Rett asked.
His intent was suddenly clear. Stella and Teddy couldn’t tell the Games officials without Rett and his friends sharing loudly about their bond.
She brushed her fingers over one of the throwing knives tucked in her vest. The death whispers grew shriller and more insistent. Then, they abruptly cut off.
Stella glanced around their circle. Clearly, the whispers hadn’t been for them, but she felt no relief at that.
“It looks like we are at an impasse,” Rett said smugly.
Teddy’s gaze turned lethal as Rett nodded. Dixon released his hand from her mouth and grabbed the cuff on her wrist again. He whispered an incantation and the Unsummoner bracelet slid free.
She jerked her arm from Drew’s grip, but not before Rett nicked the skin along her jaw.
Stella clapped her hand to the cut. It was shallow. It would heal perfectly and not leave a scar, but the fact that he’d gotten away with the cheap shot after his friends had broken two of her fingers made her blind with rage.
“We’re going to have so much fun in this challenge.” Rett laughed as he and his minions retreated.
Teddy was on her in seconds, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping the blood from Stella’s face.
She swatted at his hand. “It’s fine. It won’t even scar.”
Teddy took her face firmly in his callused hand and tilted herchin up. He ran his thumb gingerly over the place where the cut had been just a moment earlier. But he wasn’t looking at the mark. He was staring at her lips.
Heat flushed Stella’s body, a thumping pulse of desire beating through the bond.
“Teddy.” Her voice was a breathless rasp.
She couldn’t decide if she wanted to shove him away or pull him closer. Everything was so confusing. All the emotions flying back and forth through their bond and the adrenaline still coursing through her blood made her desperate to release the pent-up energy in her body.
There were too many people around to be looking at each other like this, and yet Stella couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“I’m sorry,” Teddy whispered. “I should have been more strategic, but it was so much pain hitting me at once. I thought you were?—”
“It’s fine.” Stella gritted her teeth as she set her fingers. It would take the bone longer to heal and it would hurt all day, but she was still in one piece.
The bell rang in the arena, startling them both. Five-minute warning.
Teddy pulled away. “Stay close to me. We don’t know who Rett might tell about this and they’re for sure going to be coming for us now that they know.”
She nodded, adjusted her quiver and bow across her body, and brushed her hands down her leather vest. There were eight blades tucked into the soft leather, a gift of fine Novumi craftsmanship from Queen Jessamin and King Xander on her twentieth birthday. It fit snugly over her leather breastplate and fastened around her waist.
Stella remembered the way her father had looked at that vest—like he hoped she’d never have a use for it. When he saw her in it that morning, he’d gone out to his workshop immediately to work off his anxiety.
Stella felt guilty for worrying him, but after the last challenge, she’d adopted a “the more weapons the better” approach.
