Secret Heir (Dynasty #1)(88)

His responding grin is nothing short of wicked.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

And with that, the duel begins.

I open with a tornado which I’m pretty damn proud of. But Raph makes quick work of dissipating it until it’s nothing more than a gust of wind. Bastard.

He counters with an almighty heat storm which feels like it’s about to burn through my skin. I barely manage to summon a rainstorm in time to stop myself from bursting into flames.

Then we’re really fighting. No holds barred. Any pretence of politeness falling away, and I fucking love it.

We match each other blow for blow, countering and attacking seamlessly, as if we’ve been opponents for a lifetime. As if we were created for this very purpose. The field quakes as every season, every element known to the universe is unleashed over the vast field. The sight would be terrifying, if I wasn’t so fully immersed in it.

When our powers clash, it’s raw, primal, all-consuming. Just like that night on Rockford Cape, it’s like two halves of a whole snapping together, as seamless and as ancient as day shifting into night. He is my equal and I’m his.

But there is one key advantage that Raph has over me. His skills are honed, refined. He knows his way around a duel and he executes each move with tactical precision. He knows each move I’m going to make before I make it, and he knows exactly how to neutralize and counter against it.

It’s in this that Raph really shines, and I know with certainty that raw power will never be enough to best him. Because Raph was made for this, and it’s for this reason that he is undefeated.

Still, I’m not about to let him win so easily. I don’t know how long we stay locked in battle. I lose all track of time and space as we clash against each other, but I’m certain that it’s longer than his duel with Baron.

I feel my body tiring, weakening. But gathering my last ounce of strength, I focus on the call of the darkness. That same power I felt in that duel with Layla. The sky above the field darkens and I’m not entirely sure if it’s the natural cycle of night descending on the campus grounds, or if it’s my own power bringing it forth.

Either way, tapping into that power, so potent in my own veins, feels exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Nothing can describe it. Nothing can come close to it.

I feel the shadows gathering around me and for a moment I’m scared to unleash them. But as I lock eyes with Raph across the field, the fear dissipates. The look in his eyes tells me he knows exactly what I’m about to unleash and that he’s capable of withstanding it all. He knows everything I’m capable of and he wants it all.

I let go then, the shadows rushing out of me like a tsunami covering the entire universe and for a split second, there is nothing but darkness.

Then in that darkness, I see a flash of light. Growing brighter and brighter with each passing second, until it consumes the darkness. Until not a single shadow remains.

When the darkness clears, I see Raph standing a few steps away, moving to my side of the field. He’s encased in the afterglow of the daylight he’s just unleashed, but I can feel him shielding me from the burn.

The light dims, then finally fades into the night as he holds out his hand to me.

I take it, and for a moment neither of us speaks as we stand there at the center of the decimated field, our ragged breaths filling the space between us.

There’s something like wonder in his eyes and I’m certain it’s mirrored in my own.

The silence is shattered by the sound of loud applause, ringing out through the field.

I’d been so immersed in the duel, that I hadn’t even noticed the crowd that seems to have gathered around the edges of the vast field. Raph seems equally surprised as he takes in the cluster of students surrounding us.

He turns back to me with a grin.

“Not bad, Jaz.”

“I second that,” Baron’s voice travels over to us as he jogs across the field in his soccer uniform, Lance and Keller in tow.

“So, this is why you missed soccer practice today? So that you could get your ass almost handed to you by Jazmine?” Lance adds with a smirk.

I hold back a chuckle at that, as Raph shoots Lance a look of death.

“It wasn’t that close,” Raph grumbles.

“It was pretty damn close,” Keller interjects, flashing me a wicked smile.

“Yeah, and I thought your duel with Layla was badass. This one was fucking incredible.” Baron says, grinning at me.

“It looks like Raph might finally have met his match,” Keller says to Baron, with a knowing look as they grin at each other.

Raph turns back to me, all laughter gone from his face. His eyes darken to a midnight blue as they lock onto mine.

“Yeah,” he says, quietly. “I guess I have.”

He kisses me then. In front of the other Dynasty heirs, in front of the entire crowd.

I close my eyes and kiss him back, not caring that everyone is watching and at the same time, feeling like we’re the only two people in the entire universe.

I know with an unshakeable certainty that I’ll never again stand in a room full of people and still feel alone. Because among the faceless crowd, Raph will always be there. The missing piece of my universe that I didn’t even know I’d been searching for. But now that I’ve found it, I’m certain that I’ll never again feel whole without it.