AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nodded.
“Well, Ruslan, Zuriel, and I have trained you well. I do not doubt that you can hold your own these days. But we’ll watch out for you, Izidora.” Drazen’s mouth was pressed into a firm line, and reaching out with my empath magic, I read his worry.
“Thanks, Drazen.”
Liliana stepped up to the free slot on the range, and I turned my attention to my friend, watching the smooth way she notched her arrow and drew the string back, blowing out a breath as she loosed it. She sank five arrows into the center of her target, better than the two males on either side of her. With a wry grin, she winked at the Crystal Fae who gaped at her – High Lord Tukka, if I remembered correctly – and strutted away from the slot.
My eyes were still on my friend when Drazen nudged me forward again. Gripping the new bow, I trotted to the slot on the end, feeling a prickle on the back of my neck again. My eyes darted around the space, but most onlookers were focused on the contestants readying their bows. Ruslan caught my eye from across the range, giving me an encouraging nod. Drawing a deep breath, I snatched an arrow from the quiver and notched it, trying to ignore the anxiety skittering across my skin.
The arrow left a twang in its wake as it sailed across the range toward the waiting target, burying itself in the highest ring. I cursed the feeling that had me on edge and tried again. Again the arrow flew toward the target, landing just below the first. The third attempt resulted in a similar placement, and I paused my firing to center myself. I allowed the world to drop away as I focused on my breath, shutting out the sight, sound, and smell of everyone around me until I was only aware of the smooth wood of the bow in my left hand, the firm feathers brushing against my right fingers, and the string in between them.
Insidious bloom.
Lifting the bow and arrow, I drew back with all my strength, looking down the tip of the bolt to the black circle in the very center of my target. The dark dot morphed into the tangled mess of feelings I had about my choice and the burden I’d never asked for. When the surge of anger and grief rose in me, I let it fly along with my arrow, both burying themselves in the center of the target. Before I could be shaken out of my focused state, I grasped and notched the next arrow, firing it straight and true, reuniting it with its brethren in the center.
The Iron Fae manning the targets unclipped mine and wrote my number down, signaling the end of my turn. Ruslan caught my eye again as I slipped through the crowd to the waiting contestants, finding Liliana amongst a trio of males.
“Your last two shots were incredible, Izidora!” she grinned, pulling me in for an embrace.
“All five of yours hit the center,” I shrugged as I squeezed between her and the Crystal Fae. “High Lord Tukka, so nice to see you again.”
“Likewise, Princess Izidora. I’ve heard so much about you these past few months,” the male responded, smoothing his long blond hair away from his face. My stomach dropped because I knew all of his information had come from Kazimir, and thefemale he saw before him was so different from the one I had been the day I had left the Night Realm with Ruslan.
“Where are the others?” I asked Liliana.Where was Kazimir?
“Endre, Viktor, and Vadim went off with Kaztar and Domi to check out the leaderboard. I haven’t seen Kazimir since you both returned from your date.” Her voice dropped low and she tilted toward me. “How was it?”
I blew out a breath, fingers fidgeting over the bow in my hand. “Honestly, I don’t know. He’s… different. I can’t quite figure out what it is, though. The prophecy does call for ‘her mates darkness to rise’ which only makes this more confusing.” I paused for a moment, then relayed my current situation like I had to Drazen. “I feel him here, but I can’t see him. Yesterday, this morning, this afternoon… whenever I see him, I get that tug that pulls me toward him, but I also get this sick feeling in my stomach, and my skin feels like someone is driving pins and needles into it.”
“Shit,” she hissed. “That’s not good, Izidora. But you’re right, something has changed within him since Ruslan showed up. I think the males know, because when Kazimir gets the slightest bit upset, they all walk on eggshells around him until he calms down. Want me to see what I can pry from Endre?”
“Please,” I sighed. “How is that going, by the way?”
A gong sounded from somewhere nearby, breaking our conversation and drawing our attention to the stage where Ruslan rose from his seat and unrolled a scrap of paper. A hush fell over the crowd as he opened his mouth to speak. “The finalists from each realm are as follows: Lady Liliana Arzeni from the Night Realm. High Lord Tukka Raita from the Crystal Realm. King Consort Geza from the Day Realm. Artur Lovav from the Iron Realm. And this year, we have a fifth category: the world at large. Their representative is Gozzak, of Keleti.”
I whooped for my best friend, who wore the confident smile of a female who held not an ounce of self-doubt. “You will win!” I pushed her forward toward the waiting targets, and she winked at me before striding off, High Lord Tukka on her heels. His interest in her was obvious, and I covered my mouth with my hand to hide a snicker as he took his place beside her. Artur I knew from Ruslan’s personal guard, and Gozzak was the male Demon who had stood in line with us. I’d had a brief interaction with King Consort Geza at the ball the previous night.
But my allegiance lay firmly with Liliana, and as I dug my nails into my free palm to ground against that creeping feeling across my skin, I hoped she’d choose me if I accepted the mating bond with Ruslan.
“Zuriel?”I reached out to him through the mental connection shared by all Angels.
“Yes, cousin?”
“Can you come stand with me?”
“I’ll be there momentarily.”
Ruslan had just finished explaining the rules of the shootout when the Angel pushed his way past the Iron Fae surrounding me. His white hair was pulled up and away from his face, showing off the sharp lines of his brows and jaw, and his ice-blue eyes skimmed over me before facing the range where the finalists had lined up to take their first shot.
“Want to tell me why you’re so tense, cousin?”Zuriel asked in my mind.
“Kazimir, still. I don’t like that I can’t lay eyes on him.”
“No harm will come to you while I am here. Or while Ruslan is here. Or Drazen. You have so many people in your corner, Izidora. Not like you need them. You’ve grown so strong since the first day we met. Do you doubt your abilities?”
His words were like a punch to the gut because they were true. Self-doubt nearly crippled me, compounded by the impossible choice that lay before me.“Yes.”
A cheer went up from the crowd as all five fired their arrows at once. Liliana, High Lord Tukka, and Artur’s arrows sank into the center of their targets, and King Consort Geza and Gozzak each gave a friendly wave to the crowd before stepping away from the range, having been knocked out of the shootout.
