Page 113 of The Shadow Sanctum

I see it in their faces, the relief, the hope. They want her to win.

She shakes out her arms and steadies herself. She’s still weak, I can tell, but her movements are sharper now. Angrier. Her jaw locks, her eyes focused like steel.

“Come on,” I whisper under my breath. My fists turn white against the Keepers’ arms.

They circle each other. Aurelius lunges again, but this time she sidesteps and lands a solid blow to his shoulder. He reels back. The cheers rise louder.

He doesn’t understand. His people aren’t his anymore. Not really.

Something silver glints at the edge of his sleeve as he cocks his arm in a way that draws a sharp breath into my lungs.

No.

Before she can block, he slashes it across her arm. Bright-red blood sprays against the snow-packed ground. She stumbles, clutching the wound, and collapses hard onto her side.

The crowd cries out—fearful, furious.

I roar and shove against the Keepers. “Let go of me!”

They hold firm. Two more steps in. I’m caged. Helpless. Watching her bleed on the ground while her father stands over her like a king over conquered land.

“He’s cheating!” As if they don’t already know. “Somebody fucking do something!”

Aurelius yanks her head back by her hair. “This ends now,” he bellows, loud enough for everyone to hear. He raises the shard high.

“Luna!” My knees try to buckle; my vision blurs with fury. “Get the fuck up! Get up!”

She does.

Her body jerks like some unseen hand pulled her strings. With a feral sound ripping from her throat, she twists under him, grabs his wrist, and slams it to his knees. The shard drops and skitters away.

Before Aurelius can react, she crooks an arm around his neck and squeezes. His roar cuts off and his eyes bulge. His face turns red, then purple.

The crowd erupts. Not with joy. With something rawer. Relief.

He claws at her arms, then frantically reaches behind. He finds her hair and yanks, but she doesn’t let go. Even when he manages to rake his nails down her cheek, she holds on.

And I see it, the moment he realizes he’s lost. His mouth falls open, a strangled wheeze the only sound left in him. His eyes roll. His body shudders.

Then stills.

The silence hits like a wave.

The roar of the crowd dies in an instant, snuffed out as Aurelius’s body slumps against Luna. His body falls forward and drags her down with him. They crash to the ground together, his forehead slamming into snow.

No one moves. No one breathes.

I swear I can hear the blood dripping from Luna’s arm as it paints the frozen earth.

She stays there, straddling his back, her hand still locked around his throat long after he’s gone. She’s panting so hard her whole frame trembles, and for one terrifying moment, she doesn’t look like she knows how to stop.

“Luna…” I strain against the Keepers.

Finally, her arm loosens. She rolls off and collapses onto her back. A ragged sob tears from her lungs, though her lips never part.

The Keepers release me. Maybe because the ceremony’s over. Maybe because they don’t want to be the ones to drag me away now. I stumble forward, my knees almost giving out as I cross into the circle.

I’m at her side in an instant. I rip off my coat and press fabric to the slice on her arm, but it isn’t that deep. She’s weakened by whatever Aurelius gave her but not bleeding out.