“Of course you did. Can’t let me meet anyone new, can you?” she asked.
“Why do you need to meet anyone new? I’m the best there is,” I said. She rolled her eyes.
Elijah gravitated toward Gabby like they were magnets. They gave slight smiles and looked each other up and down, like they were about to do it right there on the lawn. Total sex eyes.
Ugh. They deserved each other. They were both rotten.
I craned my neck to see who everyone else had gotten. Theo had grabbed onto Odette, obviously, who was currently chatting his ear off. Alexei had paired up with Kiara, the girl that was really shy and had helped us rescue Alexei from thetaranticula.
Although, right now, Alexei was acting like the shy one. He was blushing beet red.
Alexei gave Kiara a sheepish look. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I get that I’m supposed to be helping you, but I don’t know how to control my powers. I’m kind of a crappy empath.”
“It’s okay,” Kiara said brightly. “We’ll work it the other way around. I can teach you.”
Alexei blushed even harder. I shook my head. He had a total crush on her. It was obvious.
Loud shouting pulled my attention to the side. Stefan had slid up to a goth girl and was wearing a sly grin. Her expression was red with rage.
“Babycakes? You sexist ass!” she shouted. She slapped Stefan on the chest and said, “I can’tbelieveyou’d call me something so derogatory!”
I think I knew her. Emma hung out with her a lot— her name was Delmare.
Stefan grinned wider and said, “The words only get dirtier from here, babycakes. You can call me something naughty, too. Promise I won’t mind. The filthier, the better.”
“Ugh! You pig!” Delmare searched the class for another dragon Companion to pair up with, but too late. They were already taken. She narrowed her eyes in disgust at Stefan. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Companions, shift into your animal form!” Professor Lunesta instructed. “Use your magic to demonstrate to your partner how to use Faction magic!”
I changed into a wolven, and the rest of the Companions followed. Theo stomped his hoof and spoke gently, like a father talking to his child. “Listen, Odette. Shield magic is very simple. All you have to do is focus on creating a defense around something you want to protect, then expand that intention outward to create a large force field nothing can cross. Like so, see?”
A blooming light emerged from Theo’s horn. It wrapped itself around Odette protectively, like a large bubble. Theo prodded at the bubble with his horn, but the shield wouldn’t break. It’d bounce off any attack that came at it.
Odette giggled maniacally and said, “Let me try, let me!”
The large bubble burst as Theo drew his magic away. From the tips of her fingers, Odette created tiny shield bubbles that were miniature versions of Theo’s. But instead of expanding them, she started shooting them in bubble beams at Theo. They burst at his side and knocked him over. He scrambled to get back on his hooves.
“No, Odette, not like that! Ouch, that hurts!” Theo cried. Theo galloped away, and Odette laughed as she chased him around the training arena with her bubble beams.
Alexei was lying on the ground as a griffin, with Kiara leaning against his side. Her legs were crossed, and she stroked his feathers calmly as she said, “You just have to work on blocking the emotion out. Imagine creating a wall between you and everyone else.”
“I… I’m not sure how,” Alexei confessed. His eyes were squeezed so tightly it was almost like he was in pain. I bet that he could feel every emotion running through the arena in that moment.
“You have to pick out your own feelings from everyone else’s. You’ll know which ones are yours, because they’ll be stronger,” Kiara said calmly. “Everything that isn’t yours, try pushing outward. Or simply turning down the volume.”
Alexei’s features visibly relaxed. Kiara smiled and said, “See? You’re getting it.”
Nearby, Stefan and Delmare were creating a scene.
“Come on, shoot me, babycakes!” Stefan danced around, creating minor earthquakes as he jumped back and forth. Other teams glared at him as he shook the ground. “You know you wanna knock me on my ass!”
Delmare bared her teeth. She attempted to conjure a small ball of what looked like red electricity, but she couldn’t hold onto it. The ball flickered out before she could harness it to throw.
“Don’t tell me you’re just a pretty face,” Stefan chided. “Hit me with all you’ve got, honey!”
Delmare lost it. She screamed, and the red ball swelled to an enormous size within her hands. She cranked her hand back, and tossed it as if throwing a grenade.
People dove out of the way. Stefan’s eyes grew wide as the red ball approached. It socked him in the chest, and on impact, the trees blew backward with the force of the blow.
