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To use a phrase you’ll become accustomed to after Threshing, he burned out and died next to that rider.”
Something in my chest shifts, a feeling that I can’t explain and yet can’t shake.
“Yes. He died trying to save your brother, but Brennan was too far gone.”
“It won’t be like that once you leave. After graduation, you’ll find that being General Sorrengail’s daughter means others will do just about anything to keep you alive, even pleased, not because they love your mother but because they either fear her or want her favor.”
And sometimes it’s hard for a rider with a signet that powerful to accept his limits.
“But you’re smarter than both of them.”
“And not all strength is physical,
watching Rhiannon beat the ever-loving shit out of her opponent.
“He’s going to try to kill you.”
“I’m going to be fine,” I recite, because that’s my fucking mantra.
All four of my daggers are sheathed, and if my plan goes correctly, I’ll have one more to add to my collection soon.
Then she leans over her opponent and removes the dagger at his side. “Looks like this is mine now. Enjoy your nap.” She pats him on the head, which makes me laugh.
Violets are such delicate…fragile things, you know.”
He’d probably think twice about plotting your murder if you threw a few daggers at his head. I unsheathe both daggers from my ribs and flick them in his direction in one smooth movement. They land right where I intended—one nearly nicking his ear and the other an inch beneath his balls.
“He needs to realize I’m not a liability.” And I’ll be harder to kill than he thinks.
Then I take the dagger Oren dropped a few feet back as he continues to vomit. The knife is heavier and longer than my others, but it’s mine now, and I earned it. I sheathe it in an empty place at my left thigh.
He’s not in my squad. He can kill me without punishment.
“Going for blood today, are we, Violence?” he whispers. Metal hits the mat again and he kicks it past my head and out of my reach. He’s not taking my daggers to use against me; he’s disarming me just to prove he can. My blood boils. “My name is Violet,” I seethe. “I think my version fits you better.” He releases my wrist and stands, offering me a hand. “We’re not done yet.”
He tugs me to my feet, then twists my arm behind my back and yanks me against his hard chest, pinning our joined hands before I have a chance to get my balance.
There’s no use slamming my head back—he’s so tall that I’d only annoy him.
“Don’t trust a single person who faces you on this mat,” he warns in a hiss, his breath warm against the shell of my ear, and even though we’re surrounded by people, I realize he’s quiet for a reason. This lesson is just for me. “Even
“I’m the one who decides when to grant that favor. Not you.”
“Taking out your enemy before the battle is really smart; I’ll give that to you,” he whispers, his warm breath brushing the shell of my ear.
“Problem is, if you aren’t testing yourself in here”—he scrapes the dagger down my neck, but there’s no warm trickle of blood, so I know he hasn’t cut me—“then you’re not going to get any better.”
“And be denied the pleasure of your company?” he mocks.
“I fucking hate you.” The words are past my lips before I can shut my mouth. “That doesn’t make you special.”
His forearm rests against my throat, not cutting off air but definitely capable of it, and his hips have mine pinned, my legs useless on either side of his as he lies heavily between my thighs. He’s unmovable. Everything around us fades as my world narrows to the arrogant glint in his gaze. He’s all I can see, all I can feel.
You are not attracted to toxic men, I remind myself,
I swallow, refusing to think of other things that are a good fit at this angle.
“You’re not going to have time to offer tea to some Braevi gryphon rider when they come at you.”
“He cares about me.” I glare at him. “He’s holding you back.
Then he guides our hands back to my ribs and slides the ruby-hilted blade back into its sheath.
He’s had every chance, and every reason, to kill me, and now he’s let me walk away twice.
“She could use a little less protection and a little more instruction.” Xaden stares Dain down until he nods.
“Do you think he could be plotting against Navarre and still have bonded Sgaeyl?”
dragons would do anything to protect the Vale and their sacred hatching grounds. There’s no way any dragon would have bonded Riorson or any of the separatists if they weren’t honest about protecting Navarre.”
I know it’s against the rules to ask—almost everything about bonds are off-limits for discussion, given how secretive dragons are,
Dain knows me better than anyone, and if he still thinks I can’t do this after I’ve made it this far…
“I never said I don’t think you can cut it, Violet.” “You say it every day!” I snap. “You say it when you walk me from formation to class, which I know makes you late for flight line. You say it when you yell at your wingleader when he takes me to the mat—”
“He has the right to do whatever
“Yeah, well, while the riders are watching, the first-years are taking out their vendettas and eliminating any…liabilities to the wing.”
And while the first-years like Barlowe and Seifert are hunting you, we’ll have to watch. I’ll have to watch, Violet.”
“Please. If you won’t do it for yourself, then do it for me.”
This is my way out, and yet, I don’t want to take it.
Don’t underestimate the challenge of the Gauntlet, Mira. It’s designed to test your balance, strength, and agility. The times don’t matter for shit, only that you make it to the top. Reach for the ropes when you have to. Coming in last is better than coming in dead.
But you’ve already made it this far.
“You’re the only squad to remain intact since Parapet.
“Like it doesn’t bother any of you that our squad leader is fucking one of us?” Tynan throws out his hands.
It’ll cost you thirty seconds, but death costs you more.”
How could someone as smart and athletic as Sawyer not bond?
