Still, I had to play this out to its inevitable conclusion, so I reached for the cool power deep inside me. Gathering it up, letting it fill every part of my being. Although I couldn’t see them, I knew my eyes were glowing a bright silver with my elemental power. All around me, the stones’ murmurs intensified, sensing my command over them.

But the dwarf wasn’t worried. If anything, my reaching for my magic amused him. Tobias Dawson grabbed hold of his own Stone magic. Power poured off him like the water sliding down the cavern wall, and his eyes glowed a dull, slate blue. The dwarf was strong, and his magic felt old and well-worn, like a horse he’d broken in over the years. No wonder he wanted to duel. One burst of magic from him would be enough to take down most elementals.

Maybe even me.

The dwarf let out a low laugh. “You have power, bitch, I’ll give you that. A lot of raw power. I’m going to enjoy this.”

“So why give me this chance, if I’m so strong? If I could beat you?”

“Because I like challenges.” Dawson grinned and spit out another stream of tobacco juice. The foul brown mixture landed at my feet.

“Do you know what I like, Tobias?” I asked.

“What?”

“Playing dirty.”

I smiled at him and threw my magic at the cavern ceiling.

———

There was no time for finesse, restraint, or even patience. One shot was all I had, and I took it. I threw everything I had at the cavern ceiling. All my Stone magic and all my Ice power, weak though it was. The water that had been dripping off the formations and sluicing down the cavern wall immediately froze. The resulting crystal droplets glistened like the diamonds embedded in the walls. The sudden surge of Ice caused bits and pieces of the cavern to crack and sheer off from the rest of the walls and ceiling.

Dust and dirt puffed up into the air.

Jo-Jo Deveraux had always told me I had more Stone magic than anyone she’d ever seen before. I hoped that meant Tobias Dawson too. But I’d been weakened by Dawson’s punches, and I wasn’t at full strength. Even if I had been, I was still hammering at stone that had been around long before I’d been born—and would be around long after I was gone. Layers and layers and layers of it. But I used my magic, my Stone power, like a hammer, smashing at everything I could feel with raw, brute force.

Across from me, Tobias Dawson frowned, not sure what the hell I was doing, why I wasn’t attacking him. I had maybe another two or three seconds before he figured it out and hit me with everything he had.