Chapter Fourteen
Nasir paced the stone cell beneath the arena and shook out his arms, his legs, tried to relax his muscles in anticipation of what was to come.
Booms echoed from above, followed by shouts and cheers as the crowd grew more excited. His was the main event. The last fight of the day. So far, four matches had already been completed. From the sounds of the fifth, he’d be up in a matter of minutes.
“Death comes to us all at one point. You can’t stop it…”
His feet paused on the hard stones. Talah was right. He couldn’t stop it. But he could delay it…at least for Kavin.
His heart warmed when he thought of her, easing the anxiety inside, telling him no matter what, this was the right choice. The only choice.
The door to the cell pulled open just as he was remembering her fingers on his skin, her lips against his, the breathless sound of her voice last night when they’d made love. He turned to find Malik’s grim face staring at him from across the room. “They’re ready for you.”
His pulse picked up speed. He drew in a deep breath, nodded once, and stepped toward the door.
At the archway, Malik stopped him with a hand on his arm. Right over the slave marking branded into his skin. The one he’d gotten when Zoraida had first banished him to the pits. At the time, it had been the worst sentence he could imagine. Now he was so very thankful for the time he’d spent here.
“It’s all arranged,” Malik said in a low voice so the guards couldn’t hear. “After the fight, your body will be brought to me. When I have confirmation Kavin has been freed, I’ll give the opal to Zayd.”
Gratitude tightened Nasir’s throat. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be going through with this asinine plan. You do more damage to the Ghuls alive than you ever will in death.”
In that moment, Nasir knew he’d been right as to why Malik stayed in this hellhole. And why he’d taken a special interest in Nasir from the beginning. Without Malik’s training, Nasir would have been dead weeks ago.
Malik moved out of the way. Nasir’s skin tingled as he stepped out into the corridor where the guards waited to escort him to the arena. In a rush, he thought of his parents in Gannah, of his brothers—Tariq and Ashur, still imprisoned by Zoraida. He didn’t know what had happened to them after he’d been brought here, didn’t know if his kingdom was doomed to fall or if war had finally reached its gates. All he knew for sure was that Malik was wrong. His death would prove that one life was not more important than another. It didn’t matter that Kavin was Ghul, female, or a slave. Her master would forever know that her life had value.
His feet faltered when he spotted the slave girl who had repeatedly come to his cell for Kavin, and his adrenaline surged as he looked past the girl for Kavin’s red hair. But the hall behind her was empty. Only the drip of water and the muffled roar of the crowd above met his ears.
He looked back at the girl. Wary eyes met his. She chewed on her thumbnail, then turned away so he couldn’t see her face.
A shiver of worry rushed down Nasir’s spine as the guards pushed him forward. “Come on, maggot. They’re waiting for you.”
Nasir’s adrenaline surged as they forced him away from her. What was she doing there? Had she come to tell him something? Where the hell was Kavin?
His pulse was a roar in his ears by the time he reached the gate to the arena. The cheers were louder, the chant, “Marid! Marid! Marid!” echoing in his ears.
He held his chained hands in front of him, waited while the guard unlocked his cuffs, then took the two swords they held out. The gate opened. Instinctively, he stepped back as a bloodied, decapitated body was pulled through the opening.
He couldn’t be sure since he wasn’t allowed to train with the others, but he was pretty sure that was the Shaitan he’d been scheduled to fight.
Who was he? What had he done? He didn’t deserve to be condemned to this hellhole any more than Nasir did. Any more than Kavin did. Any more than any of them did.
His heart pounded hard against his ribs. The roar of the crowd grew louder. The guard to his right hollered, “Go!” and opened the gate wide.
Nasir stepped into the arena, frantically searching the stands above for Kavin. Multicolored scarves billowed in the air. Angry and excited faces stared down at him, mouths open as they screamed his name, arms raised as they pumped their fists as if they were the athletes about to fight.
He couldn’t find her.
Anxiety rippled through his veins as he turned a slow circle, looking, searching, needing to see with his own two eyes that she was alive. That she wasn’t hurt. That the son of a bitch hadn’t harmed her.
Kavin…
The crowd grew more excited at his back. Without even looking, Nasir knew the Infrit had been brought into the arena, but he couldn’t stop looking.
And then he spotted her. Five rows up, to the left of the main gate. The same gate he’d just walked through.
Relief swirled in his blood as he took her in. A lavender gown graced her curves, her red hair piled on her head in some fashionable updo, and she was wearing way more makeup than he’d ever seen—painted up like a porcelain doll. But even though her face was lined with stress and worry, to him, she’d never been more beautiful.
He drew in a deep breath. Then another. Locked eyes with her and hoped she heard his thoughts even though he couldn’t say them aloud.
I love you.
Her eyes softened, and then her face tightened, and her mouth opened to…scream his name.
It took a split second to realize she was seeing something over his shoulder. On instinct, he lifted his swords and whipped around. The Infrit was coming right at him, a menacing fury alive in his black eyes, his hatchet swinging out in an arc, ready to take Nasir’s head in one fell swoop.
The crowd exploded in exhilaration. Nasir lifted his sword to block the blow. Metal met metal, the clash echoing through the air to fuel their cheers. Nasir ducked under the Infrit’s hatchet, somersaulted across the sand of the arena, and jumped to his feet.
The Infrit was bigger than Nasir expected, at least a foot taller than him and a good fifty pounds heavier. Long dark hair hung to the middle of his back, and his skin was shades darker than Nasir’s. But he was slow, his size no advantage. Not when Nasir was so easily able to avoid each blow and dance around the giant.
“If you go down without a fight, our deal is broken.”
From the corner of his vision, Nasir caught sight of Kavin’s frightened face as his sword clapped against the Infrit’s weapon. Of the tense features of her master lounging next to her, waiting, watching, expecting.
Nasir focused on the Infrit with renewed purpose, braced his foot against the giant’s belly, and shoved hard, sending him staggering back. Before the Infrit could right himself, Nasir arced out with his blade and caught the djinni across the ribs.
The Infrit roared. His eyes widened with shock and pain, then dialed in on Nasir with a menacing rage. He found his footing and charged.
Shit. Nasir shuffled backward. The Infrit swung his weapon. Nasir deflected it with his sword, but the Infrit was stronger, and through sheer muscle strength knocked the sword right out of Nasir’s grip. The weapon flew through the arena to land on the sand some fifteen feet away.
Pain radiated up Nasir’s side. A quick look down confirmed he’d torn his wound open. He might not have to make this look good after all. Tossing his remaining sword to the other hand, Nasir eased back several steps. “Come on, you brute. Is that all you’ve got?”