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Back Legendborn Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. THREE MONTHS LATER
  4. PART ONE ORDER
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. PART TWO DISCORD
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. PART THREE ROOTS
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. PART FOUR SPLINTER
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. 53
  61. 54
  62. 55
  63. 56
  64. 57
  65. 58
  66. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

He hums. Then turns, shucking his jacket and tossing it onto the bench behind him as he moves to the center ring. Then he stands there in his usual black tank and loose pants, rotating his wrists and stretching until corded muscles stand out on his forearms and biceps.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve decided that watching you fail this spectacularly is too painful to bear. Get over here.”

“What?”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m offering to train you, silly thing.”

“What happened to ‘Briana’? I like that better than ‘silly thing.’ ”

“Stop stalling.”

I toss my towel into the linen basket by the door. “There’s no way I’d let you train me.”

“Why?”

“Why do you want to in the first place? You can’t want me to succeed.”

He bends to stretch one arm to an ankle, but I can still see the upturned edges of his smile. “Let’s just say that I am not particularly fond of bullies at the moment, and the way they attack others’ weaknesses. It would please me to watch yours fall tomorrow.”

I jut my chin out. “I don’t believe you.”

“Obstinate creature,” he huffs under his breath. “Come here. I am serious. I swear it.”

I swear it. A vow Nick utters too. For all their differences, there are still echoes.

I pace slowly to the ring, step over the white line, and come to stop in front of him.

He crosses his arms over his chest and fixes me with a stern gaze. “Do you know why you keep getting taken down in the ring?”

“Because the other Pages have years of experience fighting and I don’t.”

“No. It’s because the other Pages fight with singular focus. You don’t, because you’re here for more than one reason. The other reason is that they know their strengths well and use them. I’ve seen you punch a hole through a hellfox. The fact that you’re bumbling around this week tells me you still can’t control your gifts. Or aren’t trying to.” He scoffs. “If I could produce aether from my body, cook it up the way you can, I’d spend every waking moment trying to do it again.”

“We have different priorities.”

“An understatement.”

“Bye.” I turn to leave.

“Wait.” He catches my arm. When I look down at his fingers, he releases me. “I can still assist you, aether furnace or not.”

“You’re going to help me win a match?”

He snorts. “Oh no, you’re nowhere near skilled enough to win anything. I’m going to help you lose less terribly.”

“Wow. You’re a peach.”

“No,” he retorts, pulling a spinning ball of blue aether into his palm. “I’m part demon.”

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