Page 161 of Death of a Mortal

“Too slow, Corren, come on!”

With a scream of fury, I ran at Drayce. If he wouldn’t shut the fuck up, I was going to shut him the fuck up.

I saw the shock on his face as my bloodied knuckles met his cheek.

There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd, followedby complete silence. Drayce slowly turned his face back to me, and I wasn’t sure what I saw in the look. It wasn’t anger, but his pride was definitely hurt.

I didn’t move, save for my heaving chest.

“Class dismissed,” was all he said, deadly calm.

Shit.

He didn’t take his eyes off me as the group, including a satisfied-looking Torin, dissipated, leaving us alone.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he said, “You lost your composure, Naci.”

“You were being a dick!”

He stepped close, but I held my ground.

“You let your emotions win,” he said with a sweep of my legs with his foot, sending me to the ground on my side, knocking the breath from me.

I looked up at him, gritting my teeth against the pain as I tried to regain my breath.

I got to my knees and saw my opportunity. Under the guise of getting to my feet, I lunged from my stance on the ground and wrapped him around his knees, taking us both to the ground.

He grunted on impact as I climbed on top of him. Before I could even consider whether I’d continue the fight and punch him, he thrust his hips up, sending me forward and over him. I caught my weight with my hands on the ground, but at the expense of Drayce wrapping an arm around my middle and flipping me onto my back with ease.

He was between my legs, his free arm pinning one of mine to the ground as I struggled to get free and pounded his back with my unbound hand. He slid his other arm out from under my back to pin my second wrist, my entire torso exposed and rendering me unable to move.

“I will not fight you in an unfair fight, Naci. You’re already hurt.”

I stopped struggling, and his grip on me loosened. With every heaving breath, my chest met his as his gaze searched mine. His facewas inches away, close enough to see every hue of brown and gold in his eyes.

My shadows had gone mysteriously quiet.

The seconds felt like hours underneath him, just staring into each other’s eyes. Something was happening here, and I didn’t know what.

His gaze dropped to my lips, making my stomach flutter.

“Dray! New intel,” Bramick gasped as he ran into the ring, as if he’d sprinted all the way from Fallorian.

Drayce finally took his eyes off me. I felt as if a bucket of water had been thrown over my head, dousing the heat that had built between us.

Bramick was ignoring the fact that Drayce was on top of me.

“What is it, Bram?” he asked, releasing my pinned arms and getting to his feet, offering me a hand in the process.

“Caedryn is moving half of his army into Vydran.”

Drayce stilled. “The purge.”

My heart dropped. We knew if Vydran was purged, Ashenholt wouldn’t be far behind.

We were out of time.

Bramick nodded, handing Drayce the missive he’d taken from a messenger bird.