“Remind me again,” Marcy said with another cough. “Why we’re using these long swords and not those short daggers hanging on the wall?”
I glanced over to the wall in question, to where all the training weapons were hung nice and pretty. The weapons themselves were legit, metal and all that jazz, but they’d put special spells on them for training. Basically, so we couldn’t kill each other for real. But other than that, they were the real thing.
“Because…Mama…didn’t raise…no bitch,” I forced out between gasps for air. Then I pointed to the small group of younger girls a few feet over. “And because…they are watching us. I refuse to use the girl sword. I want them to see we’re not afraid of a big weapon. If Noah can swing this damn thing around, then so can we.”
Marcy grimaced and rolled her shoulders. “Theoretically, right?”
I nodded. “A for effort, right?”
She got back into fighting stance and raised her sword up. The blade had bright neon orange magic coiling around it that shocked the shit out of you if it touched you. I had burn marks all over my arms and legs to prove it, even scorched through my clothes. But Marcy didn’t have a single scratch on her.
“Why the hell don’t you have battle scars?” I stood and used my sword to point at her body, then glanced down at my own. “I know I’ve hit you.”
She shrugged and tightened her grip. “Shifters heal quickly, and we have tougher skin — literally.”
“Cheater.”
“Hey, I can make myself not shift for this, but I can’t change my biological makeup.”
I sucked in a deep breath then charged for her just like we’d been taught. She braced herself, also like we’d been taught, with her sword at the ready and standing on the balls of her feet. I pushed off the ground and swung my sword down — and slammed into her blade. The orange magic hissed and sparked. Sharp energy shot into my hand and vibrated up my arms.
“Don’t throw logic at me right now,” I groaned, then spun in a tight circle and slammed the side of my blade into her hip.
She cursed and dropped to one knee as smoke billowed from her jeans. “Spin moves?!”
I wobbled and staggered back. “Trust me, I’m as surprised by that as you are.”
“OH SHIT, NOAH!” Christian shouted.
Something large flew over our heads. I gasped and turned — oh my Goddess. It was Noah. I started toward him – like I thought I’d be able to catch him or something – when a massive brown, furry animal rushed past me. My jaw dropped. A freaking grizzly bear. It sprinted across the room, then jumped in the air – and caught Noah. It wrapped its bear paws around him and pulled him into his furry chest before crashing to the ground, taking the brunt of the fall.
Noah screamed and cursed. He scrambled to get off the bear so fast he actually somersaulted across the mat. Half of the class jumped back several feet, and I knew the students who hadn’t moved were shifters and not at all afraid.
There was a flash of light and then the bear shifted…into Christian.
My jaw dropped.
“WHAT?” Noah punched the mat. “Are you effing kidding me? A damn BEAR?”
Christian shrugged and jumped to his feet. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about the toss, sometimes I forget how strong I am.”
“A BEAR?” Noah spun around, scanning the ground. “Where’s my sword? Where is it? I need a new rug.”
Christian laughed – until Noah plucked his sword up off the ground and charged after him screaming like a banshee. Christian’s eyes widened. He cursed then spun and sprinted to the other side of the massive training room with Noah hot on his heels.
I sighed and shook my head as the rest of the class resumed sparring. “Yep. That’s my boyfriend.”
Marcy chuckled but her light brown eyes were still watching Christian. “I was thinking about making Christian mine…”
“So do it.” I grinned and followed her gaze to where the two new besties were sparring at the opposite corner of the room. “Why not?”
She grimaced then dove at me, slicing her sword down by my knees. “I think he might be a little hung up on Emersyn still.”
“Oh.” I tried to block her but slipped and it scorched a path across the back of my leg. Electricity shot up my body. I cursed and hobbled away. “Well…Emersyn has a soulmate. That shit is locked down.”
The entire backside of my leg felt like it was on fire as I tried to walk it off. My two blue fluffy cats looked up from the pile they were in and watched me. My whole body was screaming and aching, but I had to keep going. Had to look strong and tough.
A water bottle came into my line of view, I took it and looked up to her. “Thanks.”
She nodded, her gaze still locked on Christian. “Right, but does he know that?”
I took a sip then tapped her arm with the bottle. “Only one way to find out, right?”
“Right.” She narrowed her eyes on his back. “Right? Right. Yes. Imma find out.”
While she was lost in her thoughts over a boy – a struggle I knew all too well – I drank more water and glanced around the room. Combat training was in full swing, and everyone was looking beat the hell up. There was no magic or shifting allowed in class. This was pure physical combat. All around the class, my peers were hissing at the pain of the magic on the weapons.
The classroom doors on the left opened and Deacon strolled through. It was such a sweet relief to not feel anything at the sight of him anymore. It used to be so conflicting and confusing but now it was clear and comfortable. We were friends, just the way we should be. Even if I was still proving that to Emer — whoa, what’s that?
The hairs on my arms stood tall.
The orange magic on the weapons glowed brighter and sharper, the magic extending farther away from the blades.
Marcy looked down at her body with wide eyes. “What…what is happening?” She whispered.
I don’t know. What is that?
Deacon turned back toward the door and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking completely at ease with whatever this wild energy was.
And then they walked in.
Tennessee Wildes and Tegan Bishop.
The Emperor and High Priestess of The Coven.
I gasped and stood straighter. They looked exactly like I remembered: dressed in all black, beat up combat boots, leather jackets, long black hair, and auras bright enough to blind anyone brave enough to look at them. They walked toward Deacon and a cold chill slithered down my spine. Deacon said something to them, then led them through the room with Tennessee right beside him.
Tegan’s pale green eyes sparkled like the neon signs in Times Square as she glanced around the class. Zeus suddenly landed on my shoulder and hissed like he was somehow terrifying. Gus-Gus leapt out right in front of me, like his chubby little self was going to protect me. Tegan looked at them and grinned, then she met my stare and winked.
I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“Heads up!” Someone shouted.
I looked toward the sound just as a katana sword shot across the room, shimmering with bright orange magic on the blade.
Tennessee took a step forward – and then was suddenly twenty feet across the room from where he’d just been. He reached out and grabbed the sword by the blade. Without flinching, hissing, groaning, cursing, or any single verbal sign of pain or discomfort. Everyone else had scars from these weapons grazing us, yet there he stood holding onto the magical blade like it was a damn number two pencil.
Noah’s jaw was practically unhinged it hung so far open. He smacked Christian’s arm over and over without taking his eyes off Tennessee.
Tennessee held the katana out in front of him and let the tip of the blade rest in his other hand – so that now he was touching it with both hands. Bare skin to magical blade. The orange magic slithered up his hands and coiled around his wrists and forearms. Green and blue magic swirled around it. His mismatched eyes narrowed. “Whose sword?”
One o
f the boys, maybe nine years old, came running up to him with a pale face. “It’s m-m-m-mine, s-s-s-sir. S-s-s-s-orr-rr-y-y.”
“It’s all right,” Tennessee said softly and held the sword out to him, still holding on to the blade.
The boy gripped the hilt with one hand, but when Tennessee let go, the blade crashed to the ground. The boy’s face turned red and his hands began to shake. “Sorry, it’s…it’s too big for me.”
Tennessee crouched down in front of him, then took the boy’s hands and fixed his grip on the sword. “Hold it like this — will help you keep control of it. And it’s always a good idea to train with heavier weapons so that in the real scenario, your weapon will feel light.”
The boy’s face lit up. He beamed up at him. “Thank you, Emperor.”
Tennessee nodded. “And don’t pay attention to your peers and their fancy moves, just focus on the basics for now. You will advance at the level that works for you. Now go ahead, go back and work.”
The boy smiled and ran off.
Tegan pursed her lips and looked around some more. “Soooo…are we sparring here today?”
Deacon nodded and leaned back on his heels. “Yup. It’s actually our most popular course here.”
Tegan giggled and the sound was so unsettling it made me want to back up against a wall and blend in so she wouldn’t see me. She dissolved into a cloud of bubbles then reappeared over at the wall of training weapons. She plucked a long sword off the wall, then chucked it right at Tennessee’s face.
He caught it without any effort whatsoever and raised one eyebrow at her. She grinned and pulled two daggers off the wall, then crossed them in an x in front of her. Tennessee flipped the sword in the air and caught the hilt in his hand.
Deacon grinned and shook his head. Red mist slithered across the classroom floor then washed over my feet and I had the sudden urge to back up., I backed several feet away before my brain caught up. This was Deacon’s magic of persuasion warning us to get out of the way…and it was somehow both exciting and terrifying at the same time.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Noah
I’d done a lot of foolish and reckless things in my teenage years, but even I had to admit this was the finest of all of them.
The late afternoon gray sky was already darkening for nighttime and the clouds seemed to hang just over our heads today. There was even a bit of fog seeping through the trees and mixing with the bitter, single-digit temperature. Snow fell in thick snowflakes. This just made what I was doing feel like even more of a bad idea than I knew it was…yet…I couldn’t stop myself. I’d had plenty of chances to turn around and leave but no… Continue I did.
I’d never in my life tried to follow someone like some CIA spy.
So naturally my first attempt would be with The Coven.
More specifically the Emperor and High Priestess.
I didn’t need to be sneaky with Deacon and Emersyn, we were friends. But Tennessee and Tegan? I wasn’t even brave enough to say hello this morning when they came into our combat class. Not that they’d given us much opportunity to engage, but still.
I hid in the back then…and I was hiding behind trees now.
To my surprise, they hadn’t noticed me here. The four of them marched right out the front doors of school and headed into Central Park without a single acknowledgment of my presence. Fortunately, Central Park had plenty of trees for me to hide behind as I trailed as close as possible without them seeing me. Deacon strolled along, whistling show tunes and looking around. Emersyn was all bundled up under a heavy coat, knee-high Ugg boots, a hoodie to cover her head, and two thick scarves – and she still had flames coiling around her wrists to keep her warm. Normally I would’ve been freezing but this espionage was keeping me warm.
That and a teeny bit of fear.
Because Tennessee and Tegan were terrifying. They marched in perfect unison in their similar busted up black combat boots, ripped black jeans, and black leather jackets. Granted, Tegan’s had a bunch of silver and gold studs all over it and Tennessee’s was plain. The snow falling from the sky hit the energy radiating off of them and melted away before getting closer.
After about fifteen minutes of walking aimlessly, finally, they turned and walked down a new sidewalk. I hung back until they seemed clear, then I ducked my head and charged after them. Then I stepped behind a massive tree trunk – and immediately realized where we were. This was the place Caroline became the mother of two fluffy blue cats and where Em and Deacon had gone through a gate and disappeared a couple weeks ago.
It was the entrance to the Old Lands. The one no one was supposed to know about because it wasn’t supposed to exist.
Bushes rustled all around me. I sucked in a deep breath, bracing myself – and then squirrels and rabbits rushed toward the Coven-members. Birds dropped low in the sky then circled over their heads, stopping to land on a branch for a second and then taking off again. Horses appeared out of nowhere and galloped up to them.
I wonder what these animals are really?
A white horse stopped right in front of Tegan. She reached out and ran her hand through its mane.
“Are you there?” An unfamiliar chipper voice said from nowhere in sight.
I frowned.
Tenn nodded then held his phone up in front of him and I saw a young-looking girl with big blue eyes and brown curly hair. “Hey Chutney. Yes, we’re here with them now,” Tenn said with his deep as hell voice that I wasn’t jealous of at all.
“GREAT!” Chutney cheered, her face lighting up his whole screen. “Now turn the screen around so I can talk to them.”
Tenn did as she asked and turned his phone around. The second he did, the white horse neighed and swished his – or her – tail around like they were excited. This Chutney girl’s voice was so high-pitched and excited that it was impossible for me to understand what she was saying…however, all of the animals were huddled around Tennessee’s phone like they were talking to her.
The white horse nodded then threw its head back and neighed.
And then all the animals were gone.
Vanished into thin air.
“Well?” Tenn spun the phone back around and glared into the screen – or at least I assumed he did because that was how he looked from the back.
“Tegan, you’re good to go now as planned,” Chutney yelled.
Tegan rubbed her palms together and rainbow colored mist poured into the air around her. “Thanks, Chutney.”
“No problem! I’ll have my phone on if you need me!”
“Thank you, Chutney. See you tomorrow,” Tenn grumbled then hung up and shoved his phone in his back pocket.
Deacon rolled his shoulders then stretched his arms. “Need anything from me, boss?”
“I am definitely not your boss on this shit,” he said with a chuckle then poked Tegan in the arm. “Ask crazy pants here.”
Tegan jumped then gave Deacon and Em two thumbs-up. Then she turned to Tennessee and winked. “You know what to do.”
Wind swept through the little clearing we were in, throwing me against the tree I was trying to hide behind. The ground rumbled and the snowflakes turned to little crystals that crashed to the ground. I dropped to a crouch to crawl into a massive bush a few feet ahead.
Tegan threw her hands down to her sides and rainbow magic pooled in her palms like little orbs. She chanted words in the ancient language that I only recognized but didn’t speak. There was also some other kind of language I’d never heard. She twirled her hands around and slowly lifted them into the air, then she arched her back and used her entire bodyweight to catapult her magic into the Old Lands gate. A cloud of glittery mist exploded…then vanished.
Tegan sighed and rubbed her palms together. “This will keep curiosity from killing the cat, particularly ones hiding behind a bush who followed Coven members through central park thinking we somehow wouldn’t know they were there.”
My heart stopped.
Deacon chuckled. “He
is harmless.”
He? Shit, does he know it’s ME?
Em frowned and looked up at him. “Noah?”
WHAT? How do they know it’s me?
Tegan arched one eyebrow. “Harmless to himself even?”
And then…all four of them turned and looked right at the bush I was hiding in.
But I didn’t move. I didn’t even breathe.
“That depends…” Tennessee looked directly at me, even though I was hidden in a thick bush and was completely out of sight. He saw me. “…on whether or not he’s aware of the grizzly bear behind him or the mountain lion up in the tree. And let’s not forget the parrot about fifty feet back.”
I gasped and jumped to my feet. Wait, what? I spun around in a panic, looking for a damn grizzly bear or mountain lion when I realized I’d just busted myself. My stomach sank. Oh shit. I took a deep breath then turned back around…and found all four of them watching me.
There was probably something worth saying to save my ass, but instead I managed to wave at them like a total dork.
Tennessee shook his head and laughed. He waved back. “I don’t think we have to worry about this one.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Emersyn
I grabbed Deacon’s jacket sleeve and pulled him to a stop. “Deacon.”
He stopped and arched one eyebrow at me. “Yes?”
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” I nodded my head toward the shiny glass doors ahead of us. “That. In there.”
Deacon frowned. “Why are you asking? What’s wrong?”
I gave him a blank stare for a long few seconds, then turned around and pointed to the edge of the sidewalk. “Them.”
Them, as in, my twin sister and her soulmate who were currently fidgeting in their nice clothes like toddlers at a wedding. Tegan had borrowed my little long-sleeved black dress and thigh-high black Louboutin boots with the stiletto heels. She was alternating between pulling the hem of the dress down and peeling her hair off of her lips from the lip gloss Amelia gave her. We were the same size, so it worked out. Technically, I knew my twin and I had the exact same body shape, but I couldn’t help but think she wore that outfit much better than I had.
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