Page 25 of Faerie Trials

“You’re a graceful one,” Onyx said. He was poised on his haunches, one palm pressed flat to the earth. His warm honey-colored eyes stared down an aquiline nose at me. Platinum-white hair, cut short at the sides and longer at the top, fell toward his ears and he sported a goatee and mustache of the same color. Onyx had the looks of an alpha male but the demeanor of a beta. Or so I’d thought when I first met him.

Now I knew the kind of power lurking beneath his skin and the heritage it came from.

He also looked nothing like his father, who used black magic to appear closer to me in years. As a guess I would have put Kendrick Grimaldi solidly in his late twenties or early thirties. In reality, Kendrick’s son Onyx was in his mid-twenties and not much older than me.

“When you’re right, you’re right,” I replied with one of my first genuine smiles of the week besides the ones I reserved for Mike and Melia. Although Onyx was pretty damn cute and we got along great, there was no spark. Nothing drawing me to him on the same elemental level as what Mike and I shared.

“Better get yourself together,” Onyx answered gruffly. “You’re late.”

I brushed twigs and ice off of my backside from my time on the frozen ground. “I’m sorry, I had work. I came as soon as I could.”

“I thought you told them to let you off early on Wednesdays and Fridays. It doesn’t make any sense for us to continue when we have less than our allotted time together.”

“I did tell them. That’s why I’m here now instead of two hours from now. We have to be happy for small victories.” I glanced behind me again to make sure I hadn’t been followed. One could never be too careful.

“Are you all right? You look pale.” Onyx rose and came toward me, then ran his hands along my cheeks as though he could feel out what was wrong with me.

Onyx could be dead-sexy and gruff sometimes, and mother-hen-like at others. Seemed today we were going with the latter. But this wasn’t something as simple as a fever. Pushing his hands away, I said, “Yeah, it’s been a pretty shitty week already and it’s only just started.” I sighed. “Never mind. I’m fine.”

“You should always be honest with me,” he replied.

I practically snorted. “You don’t want to hear me complain.”

One eyebrow rose independent of the other. “No, I don’t want to hear you complain, because life is too short to fall victim to a bad set of circumstances. I will, however, lend an ear if you want to explain what is making things hard on you and then we can see if I’m able to help in any way. Are you getting enough sleep?”

I rolled my eyes, resigned. “No, I’m not.” Shrugging out of my coat, my stretchy pants and black sweater allowing for better mobility, we faced each other. Neither of us was willing to waste any more time. “Along with the rest of my responsibilities, I had to start working with a tutor at the Fae Academy for Halflings school across town.”

“That’s great.”

Onyx leaped into the air and shifted as he went, his bottom legs transforming into eagle talons as he swiped at the space in front of me.

Here with him, I didn’t have to hide my powers or my true nature. I didn’t have to pretend to be anything other than what I was—or what I wanted to be.

I let my anger do the talking tonight. Everything I’d pushed down and repressed, every terrible feeling causing me to lie awake at night, I used on my mentor. I pushed my body into whatever form it wanted in order to fight off Onyx’s physical attacks. Though I bent back to avoid the first blow, his second struck me on the arm, bouncing off impenetrable scales I’d summoned in an instant to protect myself.

I told him about the rest of my troubles as we sparred. Wow, three days into the week and already things were a tight knot of complications.

“Sounds like you have a lot on your mind,” he said. His hair glowed under the light of the moon, a strange white I’d quickly come to accept. This was Faerie. Things that were abnormal in the mortal realm? Perfectly average here.

“Gee, you think?” I snarled when he landed another blow, the spot on my side where he hit already throbbing. Yup, I’d have a few bruises later. “As much as I enjoy our playtimes,” I told him, already out of breath when I moved to strike back, “I think I’m going to have to cut back on our hours.”

Onyx swung in a circle, a scorpion tail manifesting out his backside and lashing out at me. He transfigured faster than anyone I knew, and although there weren’t many of us with that power, Onyx was surely the best I’d come into contact with.

“Are you kidding me?” he said.

“I’m serious. At least until we see if I make it through the Trials. I have to put all of my focus into my studies or else there won’t be enough of me left to kick your ass. You understand, right?”

Onyx shook his head, clucking his tongue at the same time. I didn’t expect the swoop of a wing to knock me off balance. Not with my attention focused on the sharp stinger at the end of the scorpion tail he still bore.

Not only could he transfigure his shape in a snap, he had mastered the ability to change different parts of his body into different forms and held them all at the same time. I envied him that, not sure whether I would ever reach his level of skill. Maybe with a few hundred years of practice I’d be half as talented.

“You want me to survive, don’t you?” I asked softly. Timidly. Because did I really want to know the answer?

This was the son of myfated mate, after all. Maybe he really wanted me dead and this preparation was just to make sure I’d be a worthy opponent when we squared off at last.

Onyx glared at me. “Of course I want you to survive and make it through,” he growled. “Are you kidding? Why would you even ask such a stupid question?”

He spun around a second time and landed a kick. When I fell on my back, he rose above me and kept me pinned, the sole of his boot pressed to my chest. But he smiled when he looked down at me.

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