Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(88)

Told you, said Horatio.

It took a moment for Justin to understand. He blinked a few times, tuning into those powers that danced beyond normal senses, and caught faint glimpses of what could only be described as black sparkles trailing Mae. They were hard to focus on, though, and if he hadn’t seen the same thing when she fought Golden Arrow’s worshippers, he would’ve thought he was imagining it now or had something in his eye.

Divine glamour, said Horatio, being surprisingly helpful. It happens when a god seizes someone who doesn’t have the control to handle it.

Can everyone else see that? asked Justin.

No. Only adepts. Horatio’s tone said he didn’t like giving Justin that kind of credit. Look. Her opponent isn’t alone either. Justin squinted at Eugene and could just barely make out a faint shimmer around him too.

The dancing stalemate ended as Eugene surged toward Mae, his knife aiming for her upper torso. She flowed away from him like water, her movements so fast that it seemed she must have started moving before he did. Clearly surprised, he tried again with similar failure—only this time, after evading his attack, she snaked forward with one of her own and dragged a blade across his arm. A hiss of disapproval ran through the audience, and deep red showed against Eugene’s tanned skin.

His face darkened with anger, and he returned to feinting, as though buying time to reassess her. Mae wouldn’t give him that luxury, however, and came forward to strike twice more. One of her attacks drew blood again, but the second one missed. He had finally anticipated her—though just barely. He followed through with a full-body attack, apparently deciding to push the advantage of his greater mass since he certainly wasn’t making any grounds with speed.

Mae dodged his lunge, but he still caught part of her leg and knocked her down. Her back brushed briefly against the barbed-wire ring as she fell, and Justin winced when he saw the bloody tears in her shirt. Falling to the floor, she and Eugene rolled around a moment, away from the wire, each one vying to pin the other. Justin flinched again as one of Eugene’s knives sliced at her shoulder. The crowd roared with delight, even though he couldn’t actually manage to keep Mae down.

If the injuries fazed her at all, she didn’t show it, and in an eye-blink, she jumped back on her feet again. Eugene tried to follow suit, but she was faster, and she came at him not with a knife but with a kick of staggering proportions. She executed it gracefully, packing a force that no one her size should have been able to deliver, not even a pr?torian. Eugene staggered to his knees, and then she was on him once more. He dodged her attack clumsily, avoiding her knife somewhat, though not enough to miss being swiped across the cheek. Justin could see that she’d originally been targeting the man’s neck.

Raoul Menari, standing near Justin, drew in his breath as Eugene quickly wiped at the large, bloody gash on his face, inadvertently smearing more dark blood across his skin. He sweated and breathed heavily now, clearly in the throes of physical exertion. Mae showed less distress, but it was obvious from her expression and posture that every ounce of her being was wrapped up in this fight. That glittering dark aura continued to intensify, and as it did, he saw the change in her. Her expression grew harder, her moves faster, her strikes stronger.

They paced around the ring again, with Mae now feinting, drawing him out so that he would lock up into defensive maneuvers that never followed through. His effort to keep up grew while hers stayed the same. Justin tried to gauge Eugene’s glamour but couldn’t see it anymore.

Because his goddess left, said Magnus. She recognizes a losing match, and she isn’t that well established yet.

Who? demanded Justin. The ravens didn’t answer, keeping to their policy of caution with gods’ names.

Finally, growing frustrated, Eugene rushed forward, again attempting a full-body assault. Mae met him. She avoided his attack and inflicted far more devastating damage on him. Her two knives slashed across his chest, cutting deeply through both skin and fabric. Justin heard the other man cry out, and with another swift kick, she knocked the knife from Eugene’s right hand. It flew off to the far side of the ring behind him, too far out of reach for him to easily retrieve it without exposing himself further to her.

Tired and bleeding, he switched his remaining knife to his right hand, just as Mae came at him in full force. Maybe no one else could see that dark fire, but judging by some of the faces around Justin, it was obvious that the power with which she moved wasn’t natural. Kicking and hitting, she knocked Eugene to the ground and this time, he couldn’t overcome her. Fear was written all over Eugene’s face as he looked up into Mae’s. Her expression was terrifying, filled with bloodlust and exultation. It was Mae’s face and yet not Mae’s face.

In a movie, perhaps, Mae would have spared Eugene in this moment of triumph. She would have looked up at Raoul, blade poised above his son, and made some dramatic speech about how she wasn’t going to stoop to their level, how killing wasn’t the way. Justin knew that ending wasn’t going to happen today. She was going to kill Eugene. She wanted to. Justin could see the desire in her eyes. She wrested Eugene’s other knife away from him and brought her own knife down to his throat, apparently in preparation to slit it. She froze at the last possible moment as a shrill, piercing sound suddenly tore through the crowded warehouse.

The crowd’s screaming and chanting faltered, and all turned to the sound of the noise. Mae remained paused in her killing stroke, but when Eugene attempted to use the opportunity to move, she slammed his head back against the ring’s floor and pinned her blade to the exposed vein on his throat. He didn’t move again, and she peered around, a snarl on her face, as she sought out the interruption.