Page 49 of Mistaken Magic

"Imeant hers," he teased, making his way over. "Hey,Bracken?Ithink the new girl needs the tour."

Themoment the instructor walked up,Iknew he was a pure-blood fae.Hishair was icy pale, even more thanAspen's.Hisskin was burnished to a gold color that didn't seem to match, and his eyes were as green asTorian's.Thenthere was his stunning beauty.Holycrap, but this guy was sexy.Fromhis muscular arms down to his impressive thighs!Itried to smile, aware my cheeks were probably a little too pink.

Theydid not make men like that whereIcame from.Youknow,Iowa.

"Liam'sprodigy," the man greeted me. "I'mBracken, the combat and defense instructor forSilverOaks.Thisis my domain."Heheld out his arms and gestured to the space around us. "Hawke, would you keepAspenout of trouble whileIshowRainaround?"

"Cando,"Hawkeagreed, his bad attitude completely gone.

Brackenjust dropped a hand on my shoulder and turned me away, leading me on a lap around the outside of the massive building. "Afterlunch, we have a few courses offered out here.Survivalskills is one.That'swhere we teach you how to spot signs of fae, track animals and people, identify warning signs of theHunt- whichLiamsaid he already explained?"

"Hedid,"Iagreed.

"Thepoint of the survival class is to help a fae learn to not only blend into the society here onEarth, but also to hide, find more of our kind, and avoid theHunt.Sadly, it's a necessary thing for most of us."

"Soundskinda interesting, actually,"Isaid.

Brackennodded, thrusting his lip out like he was impressed. "Ok.Thenwe have self-defense courses.Thoseinclude weapons and magic.Naturally, you'd be in the introductory section.Ialso offer a combat course.Again, you'd be in the introductory class, but next year you could move into a weapon specialization, a training style, or a few other options.It'sa lot of hard, physical work, though."

"Ikinda always wanted to do a sport,"Itold him.

"Andhow do you feel about fighting?" he asked.

Iwinced. "Um, it's howIended up getting moved toPlainsboro, actually.Ipunched a guy for grabbing me afterIsaid no."

Brackenchuckled. "Well, you can't do much in that skirt, but we have different uniforms for these classes.Ifyou're actually interested, just tellLiam, andI'llhave something in your size so you can get an idea of what we do.Howdoes that sound?"

"Itsounds amazing,"Itold him.

Becauseseeing the people in there bashing at each other with swords?Yeah,Iwanted to do that.Itmade the dorky fantasy nerd inside me a little too excited.Brackenturned to see whatIwas looking at, and the man chuckled again.

"Tomorrow," he decided. "Justchange into some jeans and a tee, andI'lllet you at least try.How'sthat sound?"

"Perfect,"Ibreathed. "Ithought theHistoryofMagicsounded cool, but this?"

"Youknow, if you askLiam, he can get you copies of those textbooks,"Brackensaid. "Rain, you don't always have to take the class to get the knowledge.Weactually want our students to understand all of this."

"Theproblem is going to be picking,"Iadmitted.

"Andyou still have next year," he pointed out. "Prettysure there will be a few more after that too.So, let me show you the rest of the facilities while you daydream about slaying dragons.Andno, there aren't any dragons here, butIcan make sure no thug will mug you without paying for it dearly."

Ilooked up to smile at him. "I'mthinking that sounds just as good.Iwill definitely be here tomorrow.Promise."

Chapter Twenty-Two

Thenext day,Iwent to the "gym" to check out some more ofBracken'sclasses.Iwas pretty sure that wasn't the official name of the building, but it was what everyone called it.WhenIgot there,Brackenwas going through his survival course, demonstrating something to the students.I'dchanged into a long-sleeve and jeans, plusI'dgrabbed a jacket for the walk over.Aftersitting on a bench for half an hour watching his class,Iwas gladIhad the extra layer.

Thewind wasn't too bad today, but the trees were still swaying every so often.Atone point,Ilooked up to see a bird land in the branches.Itwas black, making me think back to the insanity that had started all of this.Ifit wasn't for some crow flying into the house,Iwould be in a public school right now, probably wearing pastel plaid and khaki pants.Iowed that bird a lot.

Finally,Brackenturned the class loose to follow a set of animal prints around the gym.I'dtried to listen in as much asIcould, but sitting over here - to stay out of his way - meantImissed a lot of it.Whenthe instructor walked his very beautiful ass over to sit next to me,Iwas hopingIhadn't done anything wrong.

"So,"Brackensaid, leaning over his knees to look at the ground between us. "Italked toLiam.Soundslike you're a little overwhelmed with your class options, huh?"

"Iam,"Iadmitted. "Ialways thought fencing was the sort of thing offered..."Ipaused, then actually giggled at myself. "Insome fancy school, whichIguess this kinda is."

"Itsorta is," he agreed. "Ialso don't teach 'fencing.'Iteach offense and defense."Hepulled in a breath. "CanIbe honest with you,Rain?"

"Please?"Ibegged, decidingIliked this instructor.

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