No. 5: "You better pray I don't get up this time around." | "It's broken."

Zoya hissed as Nikolai cradled her mangled hand.

"It's broken," he said, expression tight. His gaze flitted around at their predicament: locked in a large metal cage, weaponless, and with Zoya's broken hand, her powers hampered as well.

The leader of the brigands that had ambushed them rattled a club along the bars of the cage, eliciting a startled reaction. Zoya gritted her teeth in mounting ire. She had thought a quiet picnic away from civilization would be a nice break for her and Nikolai, just the two of them. She hadn't counted on being caught off guard and taken captive so easily.

"Witch," the thug sneered in derision. "And the demon bastard."

Zoya stepped up to the bars, bristling with static electricity.

The man merely leered in return. "Feisty. You'll make good sport. Maybe you both will."

"This is the Queen of Ravka," Nikolai declared. "You do not want the wrath of an entire country to come down on your heads."

"Your heads would fetch a pretty bounty," the man rejoined. "Alive or dead."

He unlocked the cage door and reached in to grab Zoya's arm. She wrenched away, but a scuffle and grunt from behind had her whirling to find Nikolai had been grabbed through the bars and a knife pressed up under his throat.

"What'll it be, Your Majesty?"

Zoya clenched her good hand and stepped out of the cage. It was locked behind her, and then Nikolai was released. His eyes met hers, afire with defiance and worry and faith.

Zoya sidestepped as she was slowly encircled by the group of thugs.

"Can't use your witchcraft, now can you?" the leader said with a grin.

Zoya took a breath and focused on summoning with one hand. If Adrik could do it, then so could she.

A man lunged at her, catching her before she could bring the ferocity of the elements. A punch to the face sent her to the ground, and she couldn't help but scream as she landed on her broken hand. A kick to the stomach flipped her over onto her back. Zoya scissor-clipped his legs with hers, knocking him down. She scrambled to her feet and attempted to summon again, but she didn't have practice doing so when hobbled like this, and so another attacker was able to get to her first.

This time she ducked the swing and spun around, but her instincts were always to rely on her summoning, and she moved her broken hand without thinking. The spike of pain from the attempt stole her breath, and she wasn't able to block the next blow that sent her crashing to the ground again.

"Zoya!" Nikolai yelled.

She turned her head to find him, latching onto his face and reminding herself what she had to fight for.

"You are more than Grisha," an inner voice said.

Clenching her jaw, she pushed herself up again.

"Don't know when to stay down, do you?" the leader derided, striding forward and delivering a vicious kick that snapped a rib.

Zoya cried out as her entire body juddered from the force of the impact, then tried to curl inward, pulling her hands close.

The leader sniffed smugly. "That's better."

Zoya cupped her good hand around her injured one, focusing her senses inward and drawing upon that inner strength and the centuries of wisdom the dragon had shared. And though she had never done it before, she felt her powers rising to her call and mending shattered bones back into place. Even the rib, located directly behind her cupped hands, fused together. With her fingers able to move, to summon even from the micro motions made beneath her, Zoya lifted her head, her eyes alight with dragon power and her hair rising up to float around her in a halo of black.

The brigands faltered, looking unsure.

"What—"

"I never stay down," she said, swinging herself upright and thrusting her hands out.

Lightning forked down from the sky, splitting off to strike multiple men at once. A column of hurricane gales spiraled up around Zoya and then rushed outward, slamming into the remaining men and sending them flying several yards through the air, only stopping when they collided with a solid object and bone-crunching snaps.

Zoya slowly rose to her feet, the air around her still fizzling with electricity. She waited a long moment to see if anyone would rise. They didn't.

She finally released the elements and turned to Nikolai, whose expression was slack in astonishment. She strode over to the cage and tapped into her Durast abilities to break the lock.

Nikolai stepped out, eyes carefully taking her in. He then dropped his gaze and reached out to cup her arm. "How's your hand?"

"I healed it."

He arched his brows. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Neither did I before now."

He broke into a proud smile. "My ruthless Zoya, you never cease to impress me."

And her enemies never ceased to underestimate her.

Which they would always rue.