Page 61 of The Blood Rites

Her eyes light up with a smirk as I roll my eyes.

A shadow drifts along the floor and she pauses, her mouth shut, eyes full of worry. I turn, half expecting to see Kael, but it’s the other two Shadowborn: Nyxen and Vaelis. They walk in step, their black uniforms so stark and pristine they look like wounds against the polished floor.

“Mind if we join you?” Nyxen asks, though he is already plucking a sword from the weapons rack.

Nyxen is taller than Kael, broad-shouldered and pale enough that his dark eyes seem almost luminous.

Vaelis moves beside him with loose, unsettling grace, his attention drifting across the room like he’s listening to something none of us can hear.

Marissa steps close to me, gripping the back of my uniform.

I nod, taking a shallow breath. “I don’t see why not.”

“Excellent,” Nyxen says. “Luceris, you spar with me.”

I don’t want to. Every instinct in me wants to run instead. I nudge Marissa towards Vaelis and offer her a reassuring smile. I turn back to Nyxen and pick up a blade.

Nyxen fights with a discipline that borders on elegance—every step calculated, every swing of his sword efficient. He mirrors me, measuring my skill as we trade blows for a few minutes before he calls a halt.

He wipes his brow, but his eyes never leave mine. “You leave openings on purpose.”

I bite back an insult. “And why would I do that?”

He doesn’t answer, but he glances over at Marissa, who’s actually smiling as she spars with Vaelis.

“You protect her,” he says. “Even though you can’t save her. Why?”

I scoff before I can stop it. “Who says I can’t?”

He nods, then leans in closer, voice low. “It will be difficult to protect yourself if your focus is on the girl. You cannot both survive.”

“Who says I plan to survive?”

“Kael said you were different.”

My cheeks flush at the mention of his name. “Is that a bad thing?”

Nyxen shrugs.

“He sees something in you. I don’t know what. You seem perfectly ordinary to me. Weak, even.”

He studies me again, visibly unconvinced. “He gravitates towards you more than he should. And that makes me nervous.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Are you crazy? He beat the shit out of me not two days ago.”

Nyxen’s mouth quirks into a half-smile. “He also saved you.”

We switch partners, and I’m thankful. However, Vaelis’ fighting style is nothing like Nyxen’s—he feints and slides, darting in and out of my reach, eyes glittering with mischief. At one point, I blink, and he’s behind me, the point of his blade tickling my spine.

He leans close enough that his breath brushes my ear. “Not afraid of the dark, are you?”

I shake my head because it’s the truth. The darkness I fear lives inside people.

We take a break for water and Marissa perches on the bench beside me, breathing heavily as gulps down water.

Vaelis takes up a seat on my other side, cracking the knuckles of his long fingers. “Did you dream last night?” he asks.

“What?”