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7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Thea

F ucking Cassius. His damn shadow magic had me in a death grip. They tangled around me so tightly that I dropped my weapon. He stood, towering over me. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smiling, but not in a kind way. My darkness inside that had protected me all week did not stir with concern. It seemed content to be this close to their captain. My eyes shifted to the floating orb of light behind his shoulder. She was burning bright green, which I had come to learn was her being happy.

Why was she happy? Did she want me to die?

“Any last words, Captain?” He muttered softly. Fuck, his voice was perfect. Strong, cold, and indifferent—powerful. The floating orb was between us in a flash. Her color turning from green to purple. I knew I was mistaken, but I swear Cassius was watching her. He glanced around before turning his attention back to me .

“Fuck you,” I answered, but the floating orb expanded so large around us that she exploded, and he didn’t hear what I said. His shadows ripped from me as all the fae went flying from the explosion. My head pounded as I lifted myself off the ground. Sitting up, I looked around the field of dead guardsmen. Red and blue uniforms littered the field and the forest surrounding it. Shit. How many men did I just lose?

My eyes caught a movement from my left. Cassius stood in his black armor. His helmet had been lost in the explosion. Fire blazed behind him, only adding to the pure rage on his face. His black eyes flickered around him. When he faced me, I could have sworn my soul left my body.

Of course, he was a handsome bastard. His tanned skin glistened with sweat. Blood ran down the side of his face. But it was his shadows that swarmed around him that made him look like the most beautiful monster I had ever seen. Stars above, I couldn’t look away from how beautifully menacing he looked. Cassius looked like a god standing in hell.

His jaw tensed and his hands fisted so tightly that I knew I would not be able to overpower the wrath that was currently consuming him. He started to take a step toward me, then stopped for no particular reason. Something dark stirred deep inside me. It practically purred at the sight of Cassius. Fuck, I was practically drooling over my enemy. My darkness wanted him to come over here and touch us.

He took a small step toward me before stopping like he couldn’t move.

“Crimson!” His deep, terrifying voice boomed into the dead silence. “Fall back!”

I was too busy gawking at Cassius to realize some of my men had also stood, and they rushed to me. At least this damn helmet kept my face hidden from them as I admired our enemy.

“Captain, let’s get the fuck out of here.” They helped me stand. But Cassius just stared at us without attacking. Why didn’t he keep attacking us? I headed for Kaida, but the bastard grabbed her reins with his shadows and stole her. He took my damn horse, and something about it just felt like a slap in the face. Probably because she went willingly, looking happy as she nudged his black horse, he climbed on. He gave me a sneer as he turned and left.

We retreated quickly to our base camp.

★★?★★

I sent a few men to let my father know what happened and hoped he would send more guards before Cassius decided to attack us in our weakened state. That was days ago. Most of the men who survived were wounded, and I was surprisingly unharmed. My eyes darted around the woods to see if anything was lurking, but so far nothing. My mind kept replaying Cassius standing so terrifyingly in the field. Lust was consuming my thoughts, and I needed to realize Cassius was not someone to swoon over.

“Thea.”

I turned with my viper-handled dagger in my hand and nearly stabbed it through Jesper’s eyeball. The thought made me happy.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I looked around and realized I had been so distracted by that Crimson prick that I hadn’t even heard Jesper. The sun had come up, and I hadn’t noticed. I was exhausted. I was distracted by Cassius. Over Jesper's shoulder, I saw the man with brown eyes watching us concerned.

“Your men came back and said it was bad. I brought Kizar men and wanted to check on you.” His eyes looked friendly, and everything about Jesper appeared friendly, but an overwhelming sense of hatred consumed me at the sight of him. My darkness did not like him, and that made my guards go up.

The floating orb appeared behind him, her color a wisp of black. She was pissed.

“Isn’t being in a war below a king?” I raised my brow at him.

“Yes,” he agreed. “I was just worried you were hurt and needed to see for myself how bad the damage was.”

My neck prickled with uneasiness. He was here to spy on me. What was he and my father so damn worried I would do? Or find out? I glanced around at his men before turning back to him. I was in a war; what kind of trouble could I get myself into?

“I’m fine. You can go back to the safety of your castle.”

I turned from him, but he gripped my wrist and yanked me back. A memory flashed so quickly that I didn’t register it at first. Jesper beating me. His handsome face twisted like a sadistic monster as I begged him to stop.

“Thea?” Jesper’s concern pulled me out of the memory. I yanked my arm from him instantly and backed away. His eyes narrowed on the movement as his jaw clenched tightly. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like to be touched. Now leave; I have a job to do.”

He stared at me so angrily that I gripped my dagger tighter in my hand to the point of pain. I would slice him open if he thought of hurting me. His eyes fell to where my dagger was before the anger disappeared in the blink of an eye .

“I’m going.” He smiled, but it did little to comfort me. “Just remember that we're watching everything you do. So, tread carefully.”

Before I could respond, he turned and left our camp. He was threatening me. My eyes flickered at all the men in gray uniforms staring at me now. I swallowed hard. I had hardly slept and wanted to rest, but that would be impossible with them watching me. I was so uncomfortable that I went to my tent and slept with my dagger in my hand.

★★?★★

Crimson had never come to attack us, and I was thankful because I hadn’t slept well in the week that Kizar guards came here. They watched me closely—too closely. I was sick of waiting for the war to find us, so today we were looking for Crimson. The sooner I could end this war, the sooner I could get away from these lurking spies my father and Jesper had.

We had packed camp this morning and slowly made our way through the thick forest between Crimson and Falgon. I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost missed how silent the woods became. My horse stopped, and I immediately glanced around us. The stupid helmet my father gave me severely limited my sight. My eyes caught movement in the trees ahead of us. I narrowed my eyes on the men hiding .

“Fall back!” I yelled, but it was too late. A cloud of arrows cascaded down on us. I flinched, waiting for the arrows to kill me, but they never hit. When I looked up, there was some sort of barrier magic above us. Thank the gods someone here had used their magic. Crimson guards had started advancing and were already almost to us. I urged my horse to run forward as soon as Cassius came into my view.

He didn’t wear a helmet today, which sucked for me because he was still distractingly handsome. Lust instantly coiled in my stomach. His dark hair blew back in the wind, and his black eyes narrowed on me. He was fixated on me, not bothering to try and fight anyone else near him. It would be a shame to kill him. I ignored every other guard around me too, and Cassius’ focus never wavered. He gave me a smile full of hatred as he closed in on me.

He repositioned himself on his horse, but before I could understand what he was doing, he leaped from his horse and tackled me off of mine. His arms had me in a death grip as we soared through the air. Fuck, this was going to hurt. My body cushioned his fall, and his muscled body nearly crushed me to death. Wheezing, I stood as he did. He pulled out a dagger and swung it at me, not giving me a second to try and catch my breath .

Dodging it, I pulled mine from my boot and swiped at him. He almost didn’t dodge my strike. His surprised face looked at me before he made his next move. Cassius was fast for how tall and built he was. He missed me narrowly but struck again quickly with a second dagger. I groaned when the blade sliced my thigh.

Fuck.

I was panicking as blood seeped down my leg. I tossed my dagger at him, and it missed when he turned his shoulder slightly. Well, that was a stupid move. Cassius smiled at me before charging forward. I reached down and grabbed a sword from a dead fae. For fuck’s sake, this thing weighed as much as I did. I swung it as best as I could to deflect his daggers. The man was going to kill me. He was charging at me without relenting. I was too exhausted to keep up with him.

My sword tangled with his daggers, pulling me close to him. His eyes were black as night as he stared at my armored face.

A vision of Cassius and me in this same position hit me like an arrow. Only that time he smiled at me in a way that had lust pumping through me. The memory was enough to distract me from his violent shove backward. I stumbled, trying desperately to keep my balance. He moved forward and kicked me so forcefully in the chest that my feet lifted off the ground as I flew back.

My lungs lost all their air when I landed on my back. I stared up at the dark sky, feeling dazed. I could hear swords clanging, and the smell of smoke assaulted me. Cassius was moving for me quickly. He would overpower me, especially since I hadn’t been training for long. I wouldn’t go out without giving him hell. Taking a deep breath, I waited for him to get close enough to me, and when he was, I swiped my foot out, taking his legs out from under him.

He landed with a grunt, and I was crawling on top of him. I punched that handsome face twice before he shoved me off. We both stood, our breathing labored. His brow was bleeding slightly down his face.

“Why don’t you take off that helmet and face me like a man, Captain?” He sneered at me. Stars above, at least his face would give me a pretty view as I died. Neither of us had daggers. Where did his go? I glanced around, but I didn’t see them.

“You’re a gifted fighter,” he breathed heavily as he stayed in his fighting stance. “Most men don’t last ten seconds. Who trained you?”

I didn’t know who trained me. Maybe I taught myself. That damned memory of Cassius and me sword fighting hit me again .

“Fuck,” I muttered as my head became dizzy at the onslaught of the memory playing repeatedly. My broken mind was going to get me fucking killed. As I steadied myself, Cassius just watched me curiously. A moment later, the floating, colorful orb appeared between us. She was flashing bright purple. Cassius could see her too. Maybe she was his pet. His brows furrowed as he glanced at her and then at me. Something like confusion filled his features.

“I don’t feel like beating you to death. Let’s use daggers,” he sighed as he looked around the field at his men. Cassius seemed bored fighting me, and it hurt my feelings for some unknown reason. That damn purple orb was twirling in front of Cassius, and he was watching her again. Confusion filled his eyes before he glanced around like he might see someone.

“How fucking gracious of you,” I snapped. This had him twisting his body toward me quickly. His black eyes cascaded over me as if he could see through my stupid armor. Cassius tilted his head slightly to the side as if trying to decide if he heard me right.

“Where is Palo?” he questioned. “The captain of the Certhian armies?”

“I’m the captain,” I answered .

This time I could see his body tense when he realized his worthy opponent was a woman. Through the slit of my armored helmet, I could see his chest rise and fall quickly. The purple orb calmed down now and just floated calmly between us.

“Give me my dagger and let's get this over with,” I demanded.

“Find your own,” he muttered, but it was more confused than angry. My eyes drifted to the viper-handled dagger he was holding.

“You find your own and give me my damn dagger.” I pointed to the viper-handled blade and held out my hand for it. Cassius glanced at the dagger before turning around and looking over the ground. A moment later he leaned over and plucked my dagger, which I missed him with, out of the ground. He lifted it and inspected it.

They were the same daggers. He glanced at me, and I swore I saw a smirk grace his face. What the fuck was he so happy about? An overwhelming feeling of relief and happiness flooded me, but it wasn’t my own. Cassius tossed my dagger between my feet, and I picked it up. Cassius smiled brightly at me. Something in the air shifted as he watched me. His eyes flickered to the floating orb, and I swore his smile widened at it .

He focused on me again before he charged me. I twisted away from him, but he knew what I was doing and moved from my swipe. Cassius rushed me, and we both made the same moves. Everything I did, Cassius mirrored me. What the fuck was this—some sort of weird magic?

“What’s wrong, Captain?” He smiled without hatred this time. I charged at him, and my body seemed to remember how to fight because I did things without thought. My blade stopped an inch from his ribs as his hand wrapped around my wrist, and he yanked me so I was against him. Fuck, I could feel his muscled body perfectly.

“This helmet is doing you no favors, Thea.” He had wrapped me in his shadows and ripped my helmet from me. Shit. My father said they would know me. Cassius’ handsome face looked over me like he was assessing something sacred. His eyes dropped to my mouth briefly before meeting my eyes. His hand brushed my braid over my shoulder. My heart hammered in my chest at his odd gesture. He released me, and I stumbled back.

“That’s much better.” His eyes glided across my face. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

A moment later, I heard someone else coming up behind me .

“Stop!” Cassius ordered. “She belongs to me. Go get Haden, Zade, and Leer. Tell them to come here immediately.”

The guard scurried away. While he was distracted, I stepped forward and stabbed his leg.

“Fuck!” he groaned. His wild, black eyes pinned me to my spot, but gods, he looked proud of me.

“That’s for cutting me earlier,” I breathed out with a vicious smile.

We both took our stance, and Cassius smiled as I rushed him first. Again, we did the same moves. It was like a never-ending sparring match. We both breathed heavily, but neither of us was stopping. Sweat ran down my back as I tried desperately to keep up with him. I’m sure he had worked and trained much harder than I did for this. There was no way I could win. He looked like he was hardly sweating.

“Fucking hell.” I heard from my side, and I made the mistake of turning toward the familiar voice. Haden from the scouting mission stood staring at me, but then two overly large fae appeared too.

“Shit.” One of them muttered as he looked at me.

Cassius leveled me onto my back and pinned me down. He pointed his dagger at my throat.

“Dead.” He gleamed at me .

“That’s not fair. They distracted me,” I spoke like this wasn’t a war. Cassius shifted, and I groaned under his weight. Gods, his weight felt good on top of me.

“You should know better than to get distracted, little viper.”

My heart pounded, but I wasn’t sure if it were because of how completely inappropriately attractive I found this man or because I knew he would kill me in a moment. Gods, please let Exile be free if I die. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, giving in to my fate.

“What are you doing?” Cassius asked. His warm breath fanned over my face. Stars, he smelled good, like rain and forest.

“Just kill me quickly,” I spoke.

It was so silent, besides the men still fighting around us. So, I cracked my eyes open, and Cassius was smiling at Haden. They were talking without saying a damn word. He was happy. Cassius glanced down at me. Then he leaned close to my face and gave me a chaste kiss. My heart hammered quickly as I tried not to kiss him back.

“What the fuck?” I thrashed under him so he wouldn’t know how much I liked that.

“My prize for winning this match.” His smile was so bright that I stopped moving so I could admire him. “If you win the next one, I’ll let you choose your prize.”

“How about killing you? I won’t stop; I’ll plunge that dagger into your heart.”

His face fell for a moment.

“We’ll see about that, Thea.”

He glanced over my face slowly once more before standing up. I stood up quickly and got in my fighting stance. Cassius kept his back to me as he walked to Haden. There was not a fuck given that I could stab him right now. My eyes shifted to Haden as he gave me a small wave and a friendly smile. What the fuck was this?

“Widen your stance.” Cassius looked over his shoulder at me. “That’s why you lose your footing so often. Widen it. I taught you better than that.”

He was giving me fighting advice. What the hell was happening here? I glanced around and saw our men were pretty evenly matched as they still fought.

“I look forward to sparring with you again soon, Captain.” Cassius smiled at me before his shadows burst out into the field, covering everything in sight. They caressed my face softly before they disappeared, taking all of the Crimson guards with them.

I stared at where he had been and felt confused about why I felt... sad.

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