Grace and Fury (Grace and Fury #1)(52)

“Submit,” Serina growled, pressing the knife harder into Anika’s throat, hard enough to draw blood.

Anika spit in her face. “No.”

Time slowed. Serina stared at the girl. Anika wasn’t fighting to get up anymore. But her expression was still defiant, her mouth twisted and her eyes fever bright.

Serina was going to have to kill her.

All she had to do was press the knife a little harder, put her weight behind it, and she would win. Serina would be alive, and her crew would have the food they desperately needed.

Just one life. Just one death.

One murder.

Serina stared into Anika’s eyes. The girl panted. There was no other sound, save the rush of wind and the thud of Serina’s blood in her ears.

Come on, Serina. You’ve already won.

“Come on, Anika, submit,” she muttered. “I don’t want to do this.”

Anika’s eyes narrowed. “If you don’t, I will.”

It wasn’t bluster. The girl was deadly serious. But there was something haunted about her expression. Serina had assumed Anika was one of the violent ones. The ones who deserved to be here. She’d said it herself—she’d killed someone.

Just like you ‘stole’ something? Serina thought, her stomach lurching. Did any of them really deserve to be here? Did they deserve this? Her hand holding the knife trembled.

Anika tried to take advantage of Serina’s distraction, reaching along the stone, grasping toward one of the knives, just inches out of reach. Serina had only a second or two before the fight began again.

This was her chance to pick her own place. Make her own choice. Serina had won this moment.

The knife shook in her hand. But the blade never pushed deeper into flesh.

Her own horror screaming in her ears, Serina raised her hands. “I submit.”

Behind her, a collective gasp. Above, on the balcony, an ominous rumble of voices, echoed by another wave of whispers in the crowd.

Anika’s jaw went slack. Then she pushed Serina up and off of her.

Serina clutched the knife, her body going numb. But the conviction flowed through her, filling her up. She’d made the right call.

Anika grabbed for a knife, but she didn’t attack. She just stood there, staring down at Serina. It was against the rules to kill a fighter who’d submitted, but no one seemed to know what to do instead.

Then Commander Ricci’s voice boomed out over the silent crowd. “Get her out of here!”

Before the guards could obey, Oracle and Ember grabbed Serina and hauled her off the stage and out into the deepening night.





TWENTY-SIX



NOMI


NOMI PACED THE tiny room. Two low bunks lined the narrow walls, with one small round window letting in the moonlight. It already felt like a cell.

The boat’s movement twisted her stomach. She stared out at the silver horizon. For a moment, she thought she might be sick.

The door opened. Nomi whirled. A lantern threw light across the guard’s stony face. And beside him…

Asa.

Nomi’s breath caught in her throat.

“Thank you, Marcos,” Asa said, dismissing the guard. He closed the door and hung the lantern on a hook on the wall. Then he turned to Nomi. The space was small, and her voluminous dress took up most of it.

She was so relieved to see him she almost threw herself into his arms.

“Your brother saw the edge of the letter,” she said, a little breathlessly. “I told him it was part of the dress, but when the guard brought me here, I thought it was so Malachi could punish me.”

Asa closed the distance between them, his whip-thin body coiled tight with suppressed energy. “You have to be more careful, Nomi. I don’t like you risking so much. If anything happened to you…”

He was so close. Close enough that he could put his hands around her waist without needing to step closer. She felt the weight of his gaze as surely as she did that imagined embrace. Her own fingers ached to slide up the muscles of his arms, to feel his skin against her own.

The desire frightened her.

“I was stupid, I know.” Her cheeks flushed as she stared into his shadowed eyes. “But it’s worth the risk. I can’t—I can’t be Malachi’s Grace, Asa. I can’t live with my life in the Superior’s hands. And Serina… This will work, and we will all be free. I will be smarter next time, I promise.”

His hands touched her waist, just as she’d imagined. “I’ve never met anyone as passionate as you in all my life.”

Before she could stop herself, her hands were running up across his shoulders. He tightened his grip and then they were kissing, pressed up against the door. Golden sparks flashed across Nomi’s closed eyelids. She slipped her fingers into his thick hair as his mouth opened over hers, deepening the kiss. The boat rocked gently under them, urging them even closer.

If Serina were here, she would be horrified by Nomi’s behavior. But Nomi didn’t stop. She reveled in the spiced heat of Asa’s mouth, the soft-rough slide of his skin against hers, the feelings unfurling deep within her, washing the dark room in red.

With a little gasp, she drew back. A crimson light really was filtering through the dark. Through the window, she saw the vestiges of fireworks die. Another burst of gold and red exploded into the night sky.