Page 136 of Rebellious Royals

"I'm down for a three-way," Hawke teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You sure Pas agrees?"

"I am not getting in the middle of the court," Pascal said. "I can, however, hold you both off, so your choice, Rain."

"Three-way," I said, flashing Hawke a little smile. "I mean, this way you can brag about it later."

"Nice," Hawke said as he lifted his stick toward the center. "Your call, Pas."

I mimicked him, touching the end of my stick to his. Pascal did the same, then said, "Go!"

Immediately, Hawke flicked an underhanded shot at my gut. I blocked that with a shadow shield and lunged for Pascal. He twisted, coming back at me, but Hawke had just shifted his focus to Pascal.

There, in the center of the room, it was almost like a merry-go-round. First, we all shifted to the left in unison. Then, we moved to the right. The clatter of our sticks was intense, but Pascal was not slacking. The guy sparred like he hadn't missed a day.

So I decided to push things a little more.

Mostly, that was because I needed the practice. Lately I'd been paired up with Aspen a bit. Everyone thought it made her more confident to see I could do this, and I'd liked having her beside me. The downside was I fought differently when protecting her than I did when I was with these two.

Pascal was good. In truth, he was nearly as good as Keir. Hawke was brutal, fighting in a style that wasn't as fancy but probably worked better. He ignored the guard positions, relying on his magic to cover his openings. Instead, he just attacked.

When they both turned on me, I was glad I had plenty of Wild magic saved up. Hawke got a face full of shadows. Pascal received a slick floor to keep him from pushing me too hard. Once, he flinched, exposing his entire abdomen, but he was too far away for me to take advantage of that - so I pushed in.

But Hawke saw it too. In unison, we both went for Pascal's head, expecting him to cover his belly after exposing it. Instead, Pascal turned his practice weapon, catching both of our sticks an inch from his nose, and then he shoved us back.

I rocked a step, using the momentum to come in for another hit. I expected Hawke to turn on me, but it seemed we were onthe same page. Pascal saw us and jumped back - right onto the dark, slick spot I'd left for him.

His foot slipped. His practice stick flew out of position, and Hawke was going for the "kill" even as Pascal fell. I saw the moment his entire body jerked, but that was the last normal thing he did.

A bright flare burst from his body. For a second, I couldn't see through the whiteness, but that didn't stop the chain reaction. Beside me, Hawke flew backwards. On either side of us, the rest of the court and the sentinels were blown off their feet, some sliding a bit on the mats. One of the mirrors behind Pascal cracked, sending spider webs across its surface.

And something rushed into me.

It felt cold.

I heard when the door to Bracken's office slammed against the wall, opening too hard. "What the fuck?" he demanded.

"White," Torian said, lifting himself up to sitting.

"That's not possible," Hawke breathed, rolling over to push himself up.

Around me, all of my friends were shifting and recovering, but the room looked like a wave had torn through it. Chairs had been pushed. Wooden swords had fallen from the racks. People were lying like they'd been flung a little too hard, and Jack was sitting up, looking at us with surprise.

"Court?" he asked.

Torian just pointed at Pascal. "That was white. Where'd you get the charm?"

"I didn't," Pascal tried to say, still sitting on his ass in the middle of my slick shadow. "I just slipped!" And he patted the floor to show what he meant.

So I waved that away, dismissing it. "Sorry."

"What do you mean, white?" Hawke demanded, staring at Pascal too intently.

"The burst," Aspen said. "I saw it too."

"Pas?" Daivon asked. "You manifested?"

"I..." He shook his head. "I thought I was Summer?"

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