by Sadie Moss
“Not quite,” he corrected me. “It’s a defense, not a retaliation. You have to be quick enough not to let me hit you at all.”
A prickle of nerves skated across my skin. I considered asking him to go easy on me until I was sure I could reliably summon a fireball in the blink of an eye, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. I’d rather get all my hair burned off.
Bending my knees slightly, I settled into a ready stance, feeling for the magic burning low in my belly. It glowed strong and steady, available for me to direct it as I pleased. I expected Jae to throw a blast of magical fire or ice at me, but instead, he straightened, cocking his head and narrowing his eyes. Then he walked slowly toward me.
He came so close I had to look up to meet his eyes. The bright green of his irises danced with humor, more playful than I’d ever seen them before.
“What?” I asked, smiling, though I wasn’t sure why.
“There’s just one thing before we begin.”
I furrowed my brow, not understanding what he was getting at, then almost jumped out of my skin when he reached down and slid his hand up the side of my upper leg, slipping it under the fabric of my dress. His fingers brushed the sheath strapped to my thigh, and he raised an eyebrow.
“No safety net.”
Oh. My daggers.
Finally understanding his meaning, I nodded.
Holding my breath, I lifted my skirt slightly, giving him better access to remove the daggers from their sheaths at my thighs. His long fingers deftly pulled the blades free, and heat burned through me everywhere his skin grazed mine. The shock of sensation was as surprising as it was pleasurable.
I swallowed so hard he could probably hear it.
After setting the daggers carefully by the door, Jae turned back to me. He raised both hands, summoning two small spheres of blue flame.
“Now. Are you ready?”
Chapter 13
“Godsdamn it!”
I ripped off my empty dagger sheath and threw it across the room, frustration burning through me. It was the only thing I had available to throw, and it wasn’t nearly satisfying enough. Jae had probably made a wise call taking away my weapons.
I pressed my hands to my face, breathing harshly as I tried to reign in my temper.
“That was better, Lana.” Jae’s voice was soft and warm, but I was too worked up to be soothed by it.
“No. No, it wasn’t. You threw the equivalent of a single lit match at me, and I barely blocked it. How am I supposed to defend against an actual fireball?”
“It takes time. That’s why we needed to continue your training. Other mages have had years of practice by the time they reach your age. You’re playing catch-up, and you’re doing it incredibly well. But you can’t expect to master everything right away.”
I dropped my hands and tilted my head back, releasing a yell of frustration, but Jae didn’t flinch. He walked toward me, studying me carefully.
“When you try to use magic to block an attack, what are you thinking of?” he asked seriously.
The last thing I wanted to do was talk through my failure, but I trusted Jae enough as a teacher to know he must have a good reason for asking. So I repressed the urge to snap out something sarcastic and considered his question.
“I don’t know. Gathering the magic inside me. Summoning fire and then trying to make the flame go where I say. I just can’t get my brain to work fast enough.”
He tilted his head, regarding me. “No, a fast-working brain isn’t your problem. Tell me—if someone throws a punch at you, what do you think about?”
My brows furrowed. “Nothing.”
Jae’s face lit up. “Of course! That’s it.”
Before I could ask what he meant, his fist snapped toward my face.
He was fast. I hadn’t been wrong about him being a fighter. My body reacted before my brain caught up, head bobbing to the side as I deflected his blow with my forearm and threw out a right hook. He danced away, barely avoiding my counterstrike.
“What the hell was that for?” I kept my hands up, narrowing my eyes at him in mock anger even as my heart pounded with excitement.
He walked back toward the center of the room, the hint of a smile dancing on his lips. “Just testing a theory.”
“Do you punch all your students?”
His smile widened. “Only the ones I know can defend themselves.” Then his expression morphed into the serious one he always wore when discussing magical theory. “I think you’re making this harder for yourself than it needs to be. Trust that you have magic. Trust that it will be there. Then stop thinking about it, and focus on the fight.”
I chewed my lip.
Stop thinking about the magic. Easier said than done, considering it had entirely upended my life, but I’d try.
Shaking out my shoulders, I dropped into a loose stance again, gesturing to Jae to let him know I was ready.
He whipped his hand out, throwing an arcing stream of fire at me. It was bigger than any of the other practice blasts he’d sent my way, and my adrenaline spiked. Without thinking, I raised both hands and hurled a large ball of orange flame toward it. The two magical blazes collided with a cracking sound, exploding into nothing.
I looked at Jae, my mouth hanging open. “Holy gods. Did you see that?”
His bright green eyes gleamed with pride. “Yes. I think I made a mistake going too easy on you at first. I should have known you could handle more. You thrive under pressure.”
My heart thrummed in my chest, excitement making my body buzz. “Do it again!”
For the next hour, Jae and I traded blasts of ice and fire. The less I thought about the magic and the more I thought about the fight, the faster and stronger my counterstrikes became.
When he was satisfied by my progress with those elements, he taught me how to summon wind and use it both defensively and offensively. It was a harder element for me to master, but Jae assured me that was perfectly normal. All mages had certain strengths and weaknesses, but the weaknesses could be overcome with practice.
I only managed to block a fireball with wind once, and it was a close call—the flames were so near me when they finally winked out that I could feel the heat on my face. I did, however, come up with a new tactic of summoning a blast of wind behind myself and using it to boost my speed in an attack. There were a few false starts where I accidentally bowled myself over, but once I learned the amount of pressure I could take, it became a highly effective maneuver.
“That’s good,” Jae said, his normally smooth voice a little rough as he tried to get his breath back. I’d successfully blocked his fireball with a blast of ice then used wind to propel myself toward him at lightning speed, taking him down to the mat.
“Thanks!”
I rolled off him. I was sweaty and sore, my clothes had gotten singed in a couple of places, and my hair was a wild mess. But I was having the time of my life.
I stood and extended my hand down to help him up. He accepted my grasp, but tugged me down to sit beside him instead. I plunked onto the mat, watching the patterns of light dance on the floor. They’d moved across the room as we worked, the only indication that time was passing. It had felt like the blink of an eye.
“I think we’ll leave it there for today. You’ve made a lot of progress. Keep following your instincts to integrate magic into your own fighting style. Make it serve you.”
Holding my hand up, I tossed a small ball of flame into the air in front of me, summoning it and then banishing it in the blink of an eye. It was becoming so easy, so instinctual.
After we caught our breath, I gathered my daggers and reattached them, and then followed Jae from the room. But instead of retracing our steps to the front entrance, he led me up another staircase to the second floor.
I glanced at him curiously when he pulled open a large door and gestured me through into a dimly lit room. “What now?”
He didn’t answer, just raised his hands and spread them wide, as if he were flin
“Library.”
The word fell from my lips like a whispered prayer as I took in the large space lined with shelves upon shelves of books. I could read a book a day for the rest of my life and never exhaust the contents of this library.
“Most of them are spell books, books on magical theory, or biographies of powerful historical figures. There are some classics as well.” Jae ran a long finger over the spines of several books. They were bound in leather and embossed with gold lettering.
I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in the smell of old paper and ink. “This must be where you spent all your time as a kid.”
“It was,” he murmured softly, and for the first time his voice didn’t tighten at the mention of his childhood.
“It’s incredible, Jae.” I turned to him, touched not only that he remembered my love of books, but that he wanted to share this part of himself with me. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
This was the only comfortable-looking space I’d seen in his family’s house so far. Every other room or hallway we’d passed through had felt cold and forbidding, but this room invited the occupant to sit down and stay a while. Several large chairs were spaced throughout the library, perfect for curling up in.
I ran my hand across the upholstery of one. It felt as soft as it looked.
“Well, well. Miss Lockwood.”
The cool voice made me jump, and I whipped around.
Jonas Nocturne stood in the room’s entrance, his face half in shadow. His green eyes gleamed with distaste.
“Minister of Justice.” I straightened, nodding curtly.
Jae’s father leaned against the doorframe, his movements smooth and controlled. “I didn’t see you at the palace today, and I certainly didn’t expect to see you in my home. I thought perhaps you’d realized your presence is not welcome here.”
“I brought her.” Jae’s voice was strained.
Jonas turned on him, a harsh laugh erupting from his mouth. “I thought you would’ve realized you are no longer welcome here either, my son.”
Disquiet churned in my gut at the way he twisted the word, making it sound like an insult. I’d never once seen Jonas treat his son kindly, although he had fawned over me the first couple times we’d met. Back when he thought I was someone important. Not the once-Blighted girl who brought trash into the palace.
“We were just leaving,” Jae said stiffly.
“You know, son, when I saw you with this one at the Grand Ball, I was quite surprised.” Jonas waved a dismissive hand in my direction. “But I won’t pretend I wasn’t pleased. I thought for once you had done something to make this family proud. Now I see you’ve found your perfect match.” He turned on me, lip curling in a sneer. “Or does she make you and those pathetic Touched, and the filthy Blighted man, call her Mistress?”
My hands clenched, anger coursing through me. Not because of Jonas’s words, as insulting as they were, but because of the look on Jae’s face. The color had drained from his cheeks, and his eyes were blinking too rapidly. He seemed frozen in place, unable to respond to his father but unable to walk away.
Leftover adrenaline from our training session still buzzed in my body, and I was tempted to give Jonas a firsthand demonstration of what I’d just learned. But for once, I suppressed my impulse to fight, stepping forward to take Jae’s hand.
“Your son doesn’t have a mistress. He has a partner. And he’s right, we were just leaving.”
Jae squeezed my hand so hard it hurt, but he roused himself to action, walking with me toward the door. Jonah watched us approach but didn’t move, forcing us to squeeze past him to exit the library. As I walked by, he grabbed my arm in a bruising grip.
“You don’t belong here,” he hissed. “Your grandmother may grant you some power for now, but she won’t be around forever, and believe me when I say I will not allow you to succeed her place on the council.”
I yanked away from his hold, fingers itching to reach for one of my daggers. I wouldn’t use magic to fight him, but maybe I could just stab him a few times.
Before I did something incredibly stupid, Jae turned around, his elegant features flushed with anger as he advanced on his father, coming nose to nose with him. “Do. Not. Speak to her like that.”
He leaned in closer with each word, and Jonas took an unconscious step back.
A scowl creased the older mage’s face as he recovered himself. “Just get out.”
I pulled Jae away, and we walked quickly down the stairs and out the front door. He only let go of my hand once we reached the car, and when I shook it out, there were red imprints in the shape of his fingers on the back. Not that I cared. He could crush all the bones in my hand if it helped him deal with the poison his father spewed.
The drive back to Beatrice’s house was tense. I probably should’ve changed into more appropriate clothes for our training session—my dress hadn’t gotten beat up too badly, but it definitely looked worse for wear than it had this morning. I didn’t help matters by twisting the fabric of the skirt around my fingers anxiously while we drove.
As we passed through the quiet streets of my grandmother’s neighborhood, I turned to Jae. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I fucking hate your father.”
His lip curled up into a slight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t think there’s a wrong way to take that.”
“He’s an asshole. And he’s obviously not someone we’ve got a shot in hell of getting on our side. I guess we should lump him in the category of ‘actively working against us.’”
Jae nodded stiffly. “That’s probably accurate.”
I rested my hand on his leg, the muscles beneath my palm so tense they felt like stone. “I’m sorry he treats you like that. I don’t understand how he can be so awful. Is there anything I can do?”
“No.” He softened the curt response by adding, “But, thank you.”
We pulled through the gate outside Beatrice’s property. It was mid-afternoon by now, and warm sunlight hit the mansion from behind, giving it a rosy, glowing aura.
As Jae drove around the fountain, the front door opened. Retta fluttered out of the house, her wild hair streaming behind her. She ran up to the car, and I rolled down my window.
“What’s going on, Retta?”
Her big eyes looked like dinner plates behind the thick lenses of her glasses, and her always soft voice was extra breathy from the exertion. “Miss Lockwood wants you to meet her at the palace. She needs to speak to you. She said it’s urgent, and you should come as soon as you can.”
My heart jumped. There was something she’d been about to tell me last night, before Rain interrupted us. Was it so important she needed to talk to me right now?
I shot a look at Jae.
“Can I borrow your car?”
Chapter 14
I ended up having one of Beatrice’s drivers take me to the palace. It was my concession to the four very anxious, very vocal men who worried about me. Plus, their argument was actually pretty solid—I’d have more mobility if I could summon Tarik to pick me up at any moment than I would if I drove myself and handed my keys over to the palace valet staff.
It was like having a very fancy getaway driver.
Jae stayed behind with the rest of the men. They’d updated Christine on the events of last night, including my talk with my grandmother, and would call again to let her know about this new development.
Retta had instructed me to meet Beatrice in her office at the palace, assuring me my grandmother would be there waiting for me. My stomach twisted with nerves as Tarik pulled up outside the imposing marble monstrosity. In my previous life as a Blighted mercenary, I’d always avoided driving too close to the People’s Palace when I came to the Capital pursuing a mark. And now that I’d been inside it a few times, the palace scared me even more.
I thanked Tarik and hopped out before he could open the door for me. I didn’t have time for that shit today.
Smoothing down the skirt of my new dress, I headed up the steps. My brain was so focused on what my grandmother might know that I lost track of my surroundings.
I didn’t even notice the man stumbling out of the palace doors until he ran into me.
He was tall and wide, and I bounced off his chest, stumbling backward a step. I looked up, opening my mouth to apologize, then froze.
No. It can’t be. What the fuck is he doing here?
It was Gerald—the hefty, surprisingly spry Gifted man I’d been paid to deliver alive the day before my birthday. The man who loved opera and threw my damned enchanted cuffs in the river. Last time I’d seen him, he’d been lying unconscious on the floor of a warehouse in the Outskirts.
And he could blow my entire cover at the palace.
I’d admitted to everyone at the ball last night that I was raised among the Blighted, but I hadn’t even told my grandmother about my past as a merc. It seemed wholly unwise, especially given the Representatives’ concerns about the Gifted abductions. If it came out that I’d been involved in any of that—even if I was working under someone else’s orders—not even Beatrice could save me from their wrath.
Those thoughts flashed through my head in a millisecond as I met Gerald’s eyes, but before I could bolt down the stairs, a guard burst through the palace doors.
“You there!”
My skin chilled. Fuck. Did the Representatives already know somehow? How could they? Gerald hadn’t seen me until now. Or had he been at the ball and taken notice of me there?
I took two tentative steps backward, not wanting to turn away from the threat, my focus shifting from the guard to Gerald. The large man stood stock-still. He was staring at me, a slack expression on his face.
That’s… odd.
“Don’t move!” The guard hustled quickly down the steps, and it was too late to run. I tensed, readying my magic. I doubted I could fight my way out of here, but I’d die trying.
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