“Do you think he’s okay?”
When I close my eyes, I still feel her fingers. Those empty voids that slither like snakes and still haven’t fully left me alone.
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Greer angles her head. “Callum can handle himself around Hazel. She won’t hurt him.”
Greer’s confidence does little to settle my nerves, but I have to believe that if something happened to Callum, Greer would have heard about it through the Guard, and she doesn’t sound the least bit worried.
“You leave in a few days for the blessing in Tempest. So we need to push a little harder these next couple of sessions.” Greer scans me up and down. “The blessing isn’t as brutal as the Rite itself, but you’re in no shape for either if we can’t at least get a flicker of your magic toappear.”
“Gods help us all then,” Wilder murmurs, being as helpful as ever from the edge of the training ring.
My fingers tighten on the daggers, but I refuse to look at him. “Please tell me you have a better plan for waking my magic than walking around doing whatever it is he thinks he’s doing.”
I point a dagger at Wilder, continuing to keep my attention on Greer. But from the corner of my eye, I don’t miss Wilder lifting off the wall and taking a step closer.
“Just providing you inspiration, Starfire.”
“You couldn’t inspire the sun to shine.” I roll my eyes. “Go away.”
“Make me.”
My jaw tightens, and Greer’s eyes flicker with amusement.
She takes a step back, sheathing her daggers. “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t the two of you work out your differences today?”
“You want me to fight him?” I’ve avoided it since the first day I trained.
We’ve stood side by side, throwing daggers, but the thought of going toe to toe with Wilder Riven is as dangerous as battling a krolumess in the Calliasyne Sea. Or so the stories make it sound. Not that I think Wilder will kill me. But being that close to him is dangerous in other ways.
“Scared?”He taunts me through the threads in our mind, and I finally turn to look at him.
Wilder steps forward, not bothering to unsheathe a weapon. He gets so close I can smell him. Sweet like the rain kissing a field of wildflowers after a storm. My gaze drops to the ground, and I hold my breath as he walks slow circles around me.
“Scared of you? No.”I meet his gaze when he pauses in front of me.“More like worried you’ll inspire me to shove a dagger through your heart, ending both our lives.”
“I’d like to see you try.”He smirks.
I throw myself at him with all my body weight, not holdingback. My dagger manages to nick his throat before he pulls out his own blade and parries my attack, stopping me from cutting open his neck.
Wilder grins, and my stomach flutters as I shove myself off him. His golden eyes watch me circle.
One hand spins a dagger while he pulls a second one from his belt. A bead of sweat trickles down the side of his face to his neck, sliding down his chest. It steals my attention for a fraction of a second, and he moves, lunging for me.
I spin, blocking his strike, but he knocks me out at the knees, sending me down with him landing on top of me. One of his legs is pressed between mine, and it sets every part of me on fire.
“Thought I wasn’t a distraction.”Wilder smirks.
I pull my lower lip between my teeth, and his stare drifts to my mouth. Under the weight of his stare, I find myself licking my lips. Pulling his attention so he doesn’t notice my movement until my knee shoots upward between his legs, knocking the air from his lungs.
Wilder presses up to his elbows, and I roll out from under him.
“Guess you’re not the only one who knows how to play dirty,” I tease.
His fingers dig into the dirt as he cocks his head to the side and looks up at me. Greer laughs from where she’s sitting atop the stone wall, watching us battle it out.
“Need a hand?” I ask so sweetly, it’s not sweet at all.
Wilder pops to standing, recovering much faster than a human would from that particular strike. The shade of his golden eyes has darkened when they set on me.
