Chapter 4

H is Fae opponent hit the floor of the ring with a smack, and he didn't get back up. He didn't even twitch. That was a good sign—for Torin.

It looked like his night of oblivion was just about to begin, the cheap whiskey of the underground numbing his wounds until he woke the next day, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a spear cut through the air. It hit its target, knocking a man into a table and shattering the glasses on it.

He stopped dead.

The spear had a reddish glint as it flew through the air.

It couldn't be.

He had kept his whereabouts a secret. Only Gideon and Artem knew of his extracurricular activities.

Wiping the blood from his cut eye and leaving his foe on the floor to sleep off the fight, he moved towards the ropes to get a better view. He noticed his white hand wraps were now tarnished with crimson as he placed a hand over his eyes to see out into the crowd. He realised quickly that no one was watching him anymore, their attention on the messy tornado of limbs and bodies that was causing chaos in the centre of the crowd.

Everyone seemed to be engrossed.

"Hey," he shouted over the brawl to a bystander who was taking coin from a Shifter. "Hey, who are they betting on?" he asked, still watching the crowd to see if his eyes were betraying him. They did that quite a lot in crowds. They imagined her standing amongst the crowd with her stunning tanned skin and midnight hair falling around her shoulders, tumbling down her arms. They imagined her ruby-red lips pulling into a smile, her eyes cosmic and stargazed.

"Some bitch with a spear has taken out a few men. Her two bodyguards started it, though. This lot are placing bets on who will be the first one t' die," the weasley man stated as he took a few more coin, counted them, and placed them into a pouch on his belt. "My bets are on the girl. Apparently, she is a witch who can fight. ‘Magine that," he cackled. "Covens coulda been doin' with her a few months ago before the Dark Army started stringin' them up by their necks—"

Before Torin could hear the rest, he leapt over the ropes that encaged him, already swinging punches to make his way through the violent crowd to get to where he needed to be.

The first person he saw was Artem Stryker; with his inked hands and his deadly punches, he was giving it hard to a massive Shifter Torin knew to be were-coyote.

A normal night in the pits, then.

Next, he saw Gideon's nimble frame, ducking glasses, punches, kicks, chairs.

He almost laughed.

A gleam of gold and silver whirled past his face, and then a banner of silken black hair dove past him. She was quicker than expected, but it was her. He would have known her anywhere, even if he were blindfolded. His soul could find her anywhere.

Reaching out, he caught her and clutched her to his chest. Her feisty little elbow was quick to swing into his already bruised ribs, and the power behind it could have caused a serious crack. He blew out a breath, still trying to hold on to her.

She pulled back, ready to attack him, Agnes at his throat. Her eyes had that steely fire in them, burning as bright as he remembered, and it almost undid all the numbing he had accepted into his heart.

One fucking look.

The blade almost pierced his skin, but a flicker in her eyes told him she had been so caught up in the fight to notice it was him. And that was the way it should be. He was proud of her. No distractions.

"Put down the sharp weapon, angel. I like my throat the way it is."

She didn't.

She secretly loved the chaos, thrived in it, and when he saw her like this amidst it all, it did something to him that he couldn't explain. He swallowed down another dose of numbness and hoped it travelled to his icy heart.

Their gazes burned for a minute longer than they should have as she lowered her weapon from his throat.

"Your feet are too close together, distribute your weight," he said finally as the violence still unfolded around him. No one would touch her, though, not while he was there. They wouldn't fucking dare.

Her eyes narrowed, the glittering fading to something dark and cold. It was the mask he had seen her wear around the Tower, the one she struggled to keep intact. He knew she was hurting too, and he had caused a lot of it. He had finally had the courage to pull away from her, thinking that giving her that space would allow her to give Gideon the chance that he deserved. His brother was good, through and through. She was an empress, and as much as it killed him inside, he knew Gideon could take care of her.

"In case you didn't notice, Torin Blacksteel, you are not my trainer anymore. You have no right to critique me." She sneered at him.

Why did he want to kiss her already? It had been two fucking seconds.

"I will always correct you when you are not doing something the way you should. Sloppy foot work never did anyone any favours. Or have you forgotten that?"

"Neither did fighting in the underground pits and drinking yourself into a coma every night, but here we are." She shot him a dangerous glare.

She was pissed. So entirely pissed off with him, but so fucking enticing. That scowl. Those lips…

It was incredible what she could do to him with a scowl.

He kept his mask on, keeping a casual smugness in place. He didn't move his hand from her waist, and she didn't do anything to remove it either. He leaned in, and his voice was rich with danger. "You shouldn't be here, angel. Tell me which one of my brethren I should stab first."

"I can be wherever I please." She glared back at him. "And you won't be touching either of them, you utter ass."

Just then, a large lump of a man flew through the air, almost landing on her back. Torin pulled her out from underneath the fat beast before she could hit the ground. He swept her up over his shoulder like he had in the Amethyst Palace and proceeded through the crowd, no one daring to touch them. He couldn't speak to her out here without being interrupted, and that could make him even more murderous than normal.

"Put me down you big…not nice…prick," she screamed.

He allowed a laugh to hiss past his throat. "Someone needs to rinse their mouth out with soap. Or work on better insults. I can't believe you have spent months with me and that's the best insult you can come up with."

She used her spear to beat into his back whilst trying to knee him in the chest. "Fuck you! How about that?"

"Slightly better. A little mundane." He tried his hardest not to let a grin appear on his face.

It was cute. So feisty. And so not his to appreciate.

He frowned.

"Stop struggling," he said as he moved through a dark tunnel. "I will put you down in a second."

She punched his back this time. "I don't have a second, you absolute…"

She went quiet.

"Struggling for another swear word that won't make you feel dirty? " he jested.

She never did like profanity much. And it amused him when she used it.

The big not so nice prick was entertained.

"Just shut up!" she screamed as he made their way through an opening in the old stone that led to a preparation room. A lot of the fighters used them before a match, but Torin never did like them much. It felt more like a cage before he was unleashed. And he liked to roam before a fight, letting the vicious energy of the crowd soak into his skin.

Walking in, he slammed the door shut and placed her down.

She fixed herself before straightening and pushing the wild hair from her face. His heart crunched as the last moments they had spent together seeped into his memory; he had swept the silky hair from her beautiful face, and she had looked at him like he was the only star in a sky full of darkness.

"Why are you in the fighting pits?" he said with a little more anger this time.

She shouldn't be here; he couldn't get carried away with the fact that she was.

She ignored his question and just stared at him, her lip a little swollen from someone's blow.

White-hot anger poured into Torin's veins. and his fingers flexed before turning into a fist. The amusement of her being here passed quickly and the startling reality of the danger she was in crept in, sobering his buzz. "I will not ask again, Emara. Why are you here? Who told you about this place?"

She swallowed, the truth lying thick in her throat, not willing to come out that easy. "I—"

Just as she began to speak, the door flew open and in bounced Artem Stryker and Gideon.

Not giving another thought, he grabbed Artem by the tunic and growled, "Why is Emara Clearwater down here? Huh? Did we not have a deal?"

Artem pulled at Torin's hands, but he shoved him back against the wall. "Get the fuck off me, Blacksteel."

He heard Emara squeal something, but the buzzing rage drowned her out. Before he could hit Stryker's jaw, Gideon pulled Torin back.

"She's here because of you," his brother spat as Torin turned to face him. "Like you didn't know that. She is here because of you. No one else." A little venom washed over his tongue and then he glanced to where she stood—but only for a moment, because it was all he could bear. Her eyes. The hurt crept into her face as she tried to stand so proudly to mask it all.

He almost crumbled there and then.

But he fought it. He had to.

"Emara, you need to go," was all he said.

"I don't need to do anything I don't want to," she battled back, her voice losing the fight she had in it a few minutes prior. "I need to talk to you."

"There is nothing left to say," his ghost said to her without even looking at her face. "Why the fuck did you bring her here?" he asked his brethren, the yell vibrating off the ancient walls of the underground tunnels.

It wasn't safe. Not for her. Not here. If one of these dodgy bastards got a sniff of who she was, he had no idea what they would do to sell her, kill her, or worse.

"You know how determined she can be," Artem said, straightening his tunic sleeves that were covered in blood.

"I don't care how determined she is. It is not safe for her down here and you both fucking know that." He scowled at them both, and he could feel the veins in his neck pulling through his skin.

Emara took a few steps forward. "Let me tell you what's not safe, Torin. Only having one guard in my unit."

He shot her a cutting stare. "I told you to make the changes. Transfer someone else in."

She blinked a few times and then continued, " What's not safe is not having my guard trio in unity. Or a trio at all, in fact."

She hadn't picked another guard since poor Magin had been murdered, and one had not yet been appointed by the prime that had much more pressing matters to deal with. They were up to their balls in investigations due to the traitorous hunters who had chosen the Dark God over their oath.

"What's not safe," she added, that fire igniting in her eyes again, "is for you to be down here, in the underground of Huntswood, whilst my coven suffers the adversities of the Dark Army—"

"That is not my problem anymore." A gust of muggy air swept through the room in a blanket of silence. "Take that up with Gideon."

He shouldn't have said that. He wanted it to be his problem. He wanted her protection to be his to manage. But it wasn't. And it killed him, slowly.

She gathered herself before speaking. "You have made it abundantly clear that you choose to neglect your duty to me and my coven. It is evident that you have forgotten that you took an oath to protect my life. After you rooted your pledge to me in the soil of the Caledorna mountains—"

"I would protect your life with my own and you know it. Why do you think I want you out of here?" he snarled, feeling that horrible monster that swam around in the pools of his broken heart speak.

She bit her lip before something darker than frustration curled her lip back. "If you cut me off one more time, Torin Blacksteel, I will suck the air from your throat and make you choke on your interruption."

Artem blew out a whistle and Emara cut him to death with her stare too. Gideon, his hands behind his back, was pale, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but fucking here.

"I am here," she said, bringing his gaze back to her face, "because there has been a prime meeting called for three days' time and I need you there."

The words hit home.

She needed him.

"I am looking to bargain with the prime to make a few changes to my court, and as my lead guard, I need you present for it to work. I need you to support my choices."

He had no idea what changes meant; he hadn't been around enough to know. The less detail he knew, the easier it was to get over her. He looked at Stryker, but he offered him nothing.

She walked towards him again, her face a little softer than before. "I know you can't stand to be around me." The words killed him like a stab to the heart. "But I need you to suck it up until the prime meeting is concluded. I need you to remember your oath, even if it is just for a few days. I need you to remember your promises to me even if they weren't real."

He wanted to grab her, smack his lips to hers and show her that everything was real. It was so fucking real it hurt. He wanted to show her what oath he wished to instil in their lives, an oath that meant forever.

Instead, he looked over at Gideon, who had gone rigid, and said, "Take her home. That is an order. I still rank above you and you must do as I say."

Gideon drew his eyes off Torin before turning to guide Emara from the room, but she shrugged him off, trying to catch Torin's gaze. He could tell she wanted to catch a weakness, a sign that told her this was all an act. But he was great in this field. He had to pretend to protect her. He hadn't become one of the best hunters in the kingdom without knowing how to disconnect from his feelings. He could do it with ease. So, he put the final nail in his coffin when he roared, "Get her out of here! Now!"

She gasped a little, her eyes opening wide in shock. That made it all the more difficult not to sink to his knees before her and beg her to forgive him for everything.

He looked over to his longest friend and snarled, "You too. I mean it. I am the top guard in this rank. Go, and don't come back here. Don't bring her back. Ever. Or I will slit your throat myself."

Artem shot him a pitiful look, knowing how much he was going to regret this after they left. He knew him inside and out, and that was a weakness within itself.

"Now!" he roared again, almost bursting a few blood vessels in his eyes.

"Are you really that far gone?" she asked in a whisper, still too stunned to move.

Torin swallowed and gave one nod. "Give up on me. I am not worth your time."

Tears built in Emara's eyes before she shot out a blast of darkness, followed by a scream. He dodged the blast, his hair blowing into his eyes as he moved away from it. The chair that sat behind him wasn't as lucky as the gust slammed it against the wall. The wood splintered, and the broken pieces fell to the ground. She hovered for a second more and then gave him one last look. Everything that he hated was packed into her eyes; hurt, devastation, frustration, guilt, love, and weakness.

As Artem ushered Emara out of the tunnel, Gideon lingered by the door.

"If you have something to say, brother, say it and be done with it," Torin snapped.

"I thought you loved her." His eyes narrowed and his frown turned into a scowl. "I stood back and watched you take her heart into your hands. I watched her walls dissolve around you, I watched her trust you. I knew you would do this…ruin the goodness in her heart."

Torin wanted to scream and tell the whole fucking underground that he wanted what he couldn't have. That it was her and only her. That he had never felt that way about anyone or anything before. That all he wanted was her happiness, and he believed he was doing the right thing by stepping out of her life to let her move on. But instead of voicing all of that, instead of facing the crushing reality of his life, he let the ice of his fractured heart crystallise over the cracks until he couldn't breathe. Until his heart felt like it couldn't even beat. "Are you done now?" he growled.

"She won't marry me, Torin." Gideon shook his head, his emerald eyes not leaving his face. "And that puts her at serious risk. She is holding out hope that you will somehow manage to save her, that you will show up and turn shit around, make everything all right. Like always. She has every hope that, deep down, somewhere in that stubborn heart of yours, there is goodness. Light." He took a breath, and Torin watched as his eyes lost a little light when he said, "She loves you, and it's clear to anyone that takes a glance at her; but it is times like this when I question why. You can be a horrible, selfish bastard."

Torin couldn't pull his eyes from his brother's face until he noticed little drops of blood falling from Gideon's cut hands as he fisted them in anger.

His brother spoke again. "However, like me, she knows that deep down, that there is goodness. Light. Hope. And you shouldn't be stepping away from her because of me. Her heart has chosen, regardless of what fate says. And I have a feeling that fate will not get in the Empress of Air's path should she decide differently. And I used to have a brother who was exactly like that too."

Gideon didn't move his gaze from Torin's.

"Father threatened to reveal her blood, who her father is, if she doesn't sign the treaty to marry me."

Torin's heart almost stopped. His throat closed.

Gideon must have noted the shock in his eyes because he said, "Yeah, that's right. She's not even safe from your commander. But you knew that. And you would rather sit down here and get punched numb than deal with the conflict in your heart." His brother shifted. "If you are going to do anything for her, turn up to that fucking meeting and show your support for her decisions. Father will either kill her or reveal who she really is if she rejects the clan, and you know it. Do you really want the blood of the empress on your hands? Because I don't think you could live with that kind of guilt. Your heart isn't as dark as you want us all to think." Gideon moved back slowly before stopping at the threshold of the door. "Show the fuck up, Torin, or you are going to lose her in more ways than one. And that will be the one thing I will never forgive you for."