Page 207 of Between Two Kings

Arousal turned to fear. Somewhere, in the course of the last few minutes, the tide had changed. Caspen was no longer winning.

Blood soaked the sand, and it was all his. Rowe’s golden scales were barbed and sharp, tearing Caspen’s to shreds.

“What’s going on?” Tem cried. “Why is this happening?”

“I do not know.” Adelaide shook her head. “Rowe is impenetrable. I have never seen that before.”

“Can you access Caspen’s mind? Can you talk to him for me?”

Adelaide shifted in her seat. “That would be…unconventional. You are not allowed to communicate with him during the tournament.”

“I wouldn’t be. You’d be communicating with him. I just need to know what’s going on—if he’s—”

Caspen let out a roar of pain as Rowe’s body struck his. Adelaide pursed her lips.

“Please, Adelaide.”

“If you will not do it, I will.”

The words came from Apollo. His eyes were on Tem, his brows furrowed.

Adelaide glanced between them before holding up her hand. “There is no need. I will do it.”

“Thank you,” Tem said.

Adelaide turned, focusing on Caspen. Far too long passed. “Caspenon says Rowe is strong—stronger than he should be.”

“Why?”

A pause.

“He does not know. But Caspenon has a higher ranking. Rowe should not be able to fight this well.”

Tem stared at Rowe—at his hard, gold scales. It was his cock. She was sure of it. He had violated the laws of nature to craft it for himself, and now it had given him some sort of power—power that matched Caspen’s.

“Tell him he needs to fight harder—he needs to end this.”

Another pause.

“He is trying. But he—”

What happened next was so fast, Tem nearly missed it.

One moment the basilisks were apart, and the next, they slammed together. Caspen pinned Rowe to the ground with his entire body, sparks flying as they writhed in the sand. Rowe’s mouth opened. He drove his fangs straight into Caspen’s neck.

Caspen let out a tortured roar, lurching backward into the wall of the arena.

“Did he just bite him?” Tem cried.

Adelaide’s mouth was open in shock. “He…did.”

“But—but you said that wasn’t allowed—”

“It is not. But Rowe did it anyway.”

Everything is allowed here. Even breaking the rules—even going against the one boundary that had been established in this fight.

Blood poured from Caspen’s neck.