Crush the King (Crown of Shards #3)(116)
And then again.
And then again.
Once again, I danced, spinning, turning, whirling, twirling. I landed punch after punch to Maximus’s chest, and with each blow, I battered him with my immunity as well. Every time I hit him, I felt a little bit more of his stolen power crack away, and the sensation made me even more determined to finish him.
“You think I’m a freak of nature?” I yelled. “You want to kill the last of the Blairs? The final Winter queen? Well, let me show you just how strong I am!”
At first Maximus didn’t seem to realize what I was doing, but he must have started feeling weaker, because he screamed and started punching me back. He hit me in the face, chest, and arms over and over again, putting his own stolen magic and strength into each and every one of the blows. But I’d been a Black Swan gladiator and I had taken more than one hard shot in the training ring, so I shrugged off the blows and concentrated on landing my own in return. Taking away his magic was more important than him giving me a black eye or bruised ribs.
Maximus drew back his fist for another blow, but I darted forward and kicked his leg out from under him. Maximus shrieked and crumpled to the ground. Then, before he could recover, I threw myself down on top of him and started pummeling him with my fists and my immunity.
And this time, I didn’t stop.
Punch.
Punch-punch.
Punch.
I hit him over and over again, driving the brutal force of my immunity into his body with every blow. My knuckles busted open and started bleeding, but the small stings of pain made me even more determined to finish this. So I drew back both my fists and reached for even more of my immunity.
“No!” Maximus screamed. “Don’t!”
He lifted one of his hands, and more purple lightning sparked on his fingertips, but I ignored the magic and focused on my own immunity. This was my chance to finally destroy his power once and for all.
We both struck at the same time.
Maximus blasted me in the face with his cold lightning, and I slammed my fists and my power down onto his heart as hard as I could.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
For a moment, the entire arena turned that bright, eerie electric purple that I had come to despise so much. Then the lightning streaking toward me shattered like frozen glass, and another loud, concussive boom rang out. The force threw me away from Maximus and seemed to shake the arena from top to bottom, making the crowd scream in fear and surprise.
I landed hard on my ass on the opposite side of the ring, but I forced myself to stagger back up to my feet. Across from me, Maximus did the same. He snarled and lifted his hand to blast me with his cold lightning again.
But nothing happened.
No sparks flashed on his fingertips, no power flickered in his eyes, no gusts of magic swirled in the air around him. I drew in a breath, but he didn’t even smell of magic anymore—just blood, sweat, and dust.
That’s when I knew that I had finally won.
Maximus raised his hand and tried again, and again, but with the same nothing results as before. He glanced down at his fingers, then raised his harsh, accusing gaze to me.
“What have you done?” he said, his voice rising to a scream. “What have you done to me?”
“I took away your magic,” I hissed back. “You killed all those strixes and drank their blood. Well, I crushed all that power. I crushed all the magic inside you. Just like that.”
I snapped my fingers, and he flinched at the sound.
Maximus stared at me, horror filling his eyes, along with something that I had wanted to see for a long, long time.
Complete, utter, absolute fear.
Without that stolen magic running through his veins, Maximus was nothing but a bully with a crown, and he knew it as well as I did.
But he wasn’t ready to admit defeat, and his hands slowly clenched into fists, even as fury shimmered in his eyes. “This isn’t over,” he snarled. “You haven’t won anything, Everleigh. Not one fucking thing.”
“Then let’s finish it.”
I leaned down and picked up my sword. Then I gestured at Maximus’s weapon, which was lying a few feet away. But the idea that we settle this like real gladiators, with only our swords and our fighting skills, instead of tricks and stolen magic, further infuriated him, and he made no move to pick up his own weapon.
I tightened my grip on my sword. He didn’t want to fight back with his sword? Fine by me. I would cut the bastard down where he stood with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.
More and more rage sparked in Maximus’s eyes, and he finally gave in to it.
“This isn’t over!” he screamed. “I’ll get more magic! More power! No matter who I have to slaughter—”
“No, you won’t.” A low, silky voice cut him off.
We both whirled around.
Maeven was here.
She stepped out of the same archway I had come through and strode across the arena floor, heading toward us.
Cho was hovering just outside the black ring, and he waved his hand, catching my eye. He turned his arm to the side, giving me a look at the dagger clutched in his fingertips, but I shook my head the tiniest bit, telling him not to interfere. I wanted to see if this would play out the way I hoped it would.
Instead of fighting leathers, Maeven was dressed in a lovely lilac gown, and her blond hair was pulled back into its usual sleek bun. Amethysts glittered around her throat and on her wrists and fingers. Even across the arena, I could smell the power in the jewels, but it was nothing compared to the power that Maeven herself had—power that was all hers, and not what she had stolen from others.