When It Reigns (Cursed Reigns, #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

"Do as you please," Bastion retorted, "you'll be doing me a favor, but Penn's only alive as long as I'm around to do the king's bidding. He's hanging her over my head to get what he wants out of me."

"And what does he want?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"You."

Zoran shifted his weight, rotating his wrists as he spun the swords in the air. "He can't have her. She's mine – my Champion," he amended, "she's my Champion and it's my duty to fight for her."

"You mean with me, not for me," I corrected.

"I meant what I said, princess."

Bastion sent curious looks from Zoran to me and back to Zoran again as his familiar grin surfaced. "Interesting," he said, smile widening as he waggled a finger at us, "I did not see this...alliance coming."

"Serene picked it for us," Zoran clipped, "I had no choice in the matter."

Minor hurt and disappointment ignited in me at the statement. I shook it off and crossed my arms over my chest, saying, "I'm still figuring out how I'm going to put up with this brood for the rest of my life."

Bastion snickered and placed a fist in front of his mouth to cover the laughter.

"Guess it's a good thing Champions don't last very long in the Force," Zoran fired back, staring me down with an intimidating scowl as if daring me to pursue the match of wits.

I shrugged, not one to back down from a fight. Hitching a thumb at Bastion, I said, "I'd always secretly hoped Bastion would be found better suited for the Force instead of the Consul. We'd have made a great bonded pair of Champions."

I winked at Bastion whose blue eyes widened and his pale cheeks darkened at my profession. It was strange to see the black blush spreading on his cheeks from his Cursed blood rather than the normal red.

"I wish I still had my Insignia to tell if you're being serious about that," he said, cheeks turning crimson.

Zoran didn't find the joke nearly as entertaining as I had. He moved both swords to his gloved hand and sent a cloud of frost at Bastion. The attack threw him against the wall and the back of his head banged against the hard limestone. He slid down the wall, crumpling in a heap as a trickle of blood dribbled down the side of his neck.

"Zoran!" I scolded, hurrying to Bastion who shooed me away, saying, "I'm fine, Aer. He's just being protective of you."

"No, he's being a jerk," I said, gingerly running my fingers up the back of his neck to the tender spot on his skull. Warm liquid coated my fingers as Bastion winced, easing my arm away from his injury.

Zoran clicked his tongue in aggravation. "That heart of yours is going to be the death of both of us," he declared, facing his back to me as he dragged a hand through his hair.

"Zoran's right," Bastion agreed, "I'm the very thing you despise the most, yet you're checking to make sure I'm alright. You need to be careful. I've sat in on enough Consul meetings to know your father well enough to assume he is dead set on marrying you off to Shade. The demon prince will take your heart and rip it right out of your chest if you let him. Now leave me and get out of here with him."

I stood, grasping his upper arms as I tried to pry him off the ground. "You're coming with us."

"I'll be killed the second I step foot back in the empire. I'm better off in Ravos trying to protect Penn. I'm sorry about the ring, but I know you'd want Penn to live, too."

I nodded and released him, following Zoran down the hall. "Goodbye, Bastion."

The scraping of claws echoed from the entrance of the tunnel as the yowling of hundreds of demons approached. I paused halfway down the tunnel and met Bastion's eyes. Offering me a smile, he said, "Relax, I'm one of them. Go."