Page 7 of Great Falls Rogue
No.
No. No. No.Shade, all these cadets, they all think Coal’s a human soldier. But I know it’s an immortal primal predator who attacks me now. So much more wounded and dangerous than anyone in the Academy can begin to imagine. Trust him? Once, I would have. Now, after a month of the veil amulet squeezing his mind, he is nothing but a beautiful, deadly stranger who rouses my body in a primal way I can’t help.
I slam my elbow back into Coal’s ribs, the impact waking a strength inside me. Again. Again. My heart pounds against my ribs, Coal’s arm a tightening inescapable noose. When I try to take another hit, he arches me backward, reducing my resistance to no more than child’s play.
Whistles, then chuckles sound from the class.
“This isn’t the time for a sparring match, Lera,” Shade orders, a dark blur in my side vision. “Tap out, or stop it.”
I can’t think. With blackness descending, I slash my nails over Coal’s forearm so hard that I can smell the blood leaking through broken skin, its scent mixing with his older wound.
“Enough,” Shade bellows.
Coal throws me down to the sand. When our eyes meet, specs of purple dance amidst the blue of his gaze, the roused magic potent enough to show itself in the mortal world. A heartbeat passes, and the magic dies, Coal’s chest heaving in a mirror to my own. In that moment, I know that he had felt it after all, the bridge linking our fears and nightmares to each other. Our desires.
“Find a partner you trust enough to let him render you unconscious,” Coal calls to the class, struggling to corral his breath, never taking his gaze off me while the sobering crowd looks on in silence. “Or at least to release you if you tap.”
As I had not trusted him.That knowledge too is plain in Coal’s shuddering gaze as he twists away so quickly that sand flies into the air.
* * *
The tolling Academybell nips at my heels, quickening my steps through the dark grounds. A soft spring breeze makes the decorative Ostera lanterns sway almost eerily, carrying the heady scent of flowering jasmine. Despite the morning’s training disaster with Coal, the day has improved exponentially with Arisha’s news that Gavriel’s tests against my last Yocklol sample proved promising. The two caveats to the potion I’m supposed to shoot at the creatures are its long preparation time and short life span. That, and the need to hit the things in the eye.
“We can do a test tonight at nine,” Arisha had told me at dinner, her voice dropping to slide beneath the polite din of other finely dressed students, most discussing the upcoming celebration. “Taking the escape route passage into account, that will leave you a twenty-minute window to find a Yocklol and deploy the eradicant. Do you think you can do it?”
Twenty minutes. Provided the Yocklols haven’t moved far, it should be possible, though difficult. If tonight’s test works, Gavriel will have a full batch for me to use tomorrow night, at the start of Ostera—when the moon’s alignment spikes magic’s potency. Unfortunately, the flaring of Ostera-spurred magic is also likely to widen the existing rip in the fabric protecting the mortal world.
On the bright side, it means I will have a good reason for leaving the bloody ball early.
Dong. Dong. Dong.
I glare at the bell.I know, I know.Eight thirty. Just enough time to change out of my dress into leathers and use the nightly cover to get to my exit point. My blood courses quicker at the thought, the fresh air of freedom and adventure calling on the light wind. Now that I’m not fighting it, I like Lera the fae a great deal more than the cadet.
“Lera!” Despite the formal evening dress code, Tye is in his training grays, his red hair mussed with sweat. When the male falls into step beside me, the scent of his male musk mixes with the pine and citrus that is always Tye, rousing my body to his fake familiarity. The heat of recent exercise radiates from his large, lithe body, his corded arms trembling slightly in proof of heavy exertion.
Training for next month’s Prowess Trials. As if they matter.They do matter. To this Tye, they do.
“Good evening.” I give Tye a curt nod, stiffening against the blaze of desire the sight of him sends through me, my thighs clenching of their own accord. Then I remember the questions the intensity of our coupling gave rise to, and force my mind back where it belongs. “I’m surprised you aren’t still twirling around a wooden bar.”
He grins, his beautifully sharp face and emerald eyes lighting with a mischief that kindles a fire inside my chest. “It broke.” His grin widens, the male not realizing I know him well enough to read through those sparkling green eyes to the uncertainty beneath. “Speaking of breaking things, would you be doing that to my neck if I, say, asked you to accompany me to the Ostera ball tomorrow?”
I trip over my own feet. For a moment, the growing warmth inside my chest spreads south, the image of Tye’s feline grace spinning around the dance floor making more than just my mouth water. In Lunos, the five of us came together beneath the magic’s pull without true courtship—and the tingling excitement of being invited to a simple dance is both new and intoxicating.
A corner of his mouth twitches, his eyes playing over me. “Is that a yes, I’ll come with you?” he drawls. My immortal senses pick up the sweet tingle of Tye’s arousal as he leans down to whisper into my ear. “Or yes, you’ll attack me like you did Coal? I might enjoy that, though.”
My face heats, but not even the morning’s embarrassment is enough to douse the excitement. Reality, however, is. I’ve other plans for the evening, and even if I didn’t, I can’t answer the questions I know Tye wants to ask. Plus, the other plain truth is that I dance worse than I read. Calling more attention to the deficiencies of my noble upbringing will draw scrutiny. Questions. Especially when I’d have to run out on him at midnight.
No. I’ll go to the ball as expected, prop up the wall for a few hours, and retire to more pressing duties. After a month of working male-free, I finally have myself in a fighting set of mind. One that I know better than to compromise.
His eyes dim as if he’s read the change in my thoughts. Or smelled it. “You’re turning me down, lass?”
“We both agreed that our tussle in the bathhouse was for the pleasure of the moment.” I hug my books to my chest, the hurt flashing in Tye’s face squeezing my heart. “That’s all I was looking for. Weren’t you?”
His jaw tightens. “Of course.”
Turning on his heel, he strides away before I can say anything more. Not that I have anything to utter. Despite knowing I did the right thing, my stomach pulls tighter—whether in regret over hurting Tye or self-pity over stepping away from the male I love, I don’t know.
Dong. Dong. Dong.
