Page 127 of Veiled

She’s midway through her follow-through when I step into her and attack from behind. My sword becomes a whip, and I throw it around her throat, catching the end of the whip and pulling it tight.

She tries to get her fingers between the thong of the whip and her throat, but my hands are locked tight on both ends. As I begin to cross the ends over each other, cutting off her air and blood supplies simultaneously, she taps out, and I release immediately.

Looking up to gauge Korr’s reaction, I can’t help the disappointment I feel when I spot him across the arena, not even looking this way.

Emily regains her composure after a few deep breaths, “Impressive! My boyfriend is definitely going to have some questions when I see him later.” She smirks, but the croak in her voice is unmistakable, and I feel a little guilty for the pride her words give me.

“Why are you talking and not fighting recruits?” Captain Korr calls…of course, now he’s paying attention. Like I said…Fucking asshole.

We go round after round, and when Korr blows the whistle to head to the hill, I have various cuts across my uniform and a giant bruise on my throat from Emily throwing my own move back at me.

I honestly don’t know if I’m improving or if I’m so desensitized from the pain that I feel like I’m taking fewer hits than I am.

I was hoping for an easy day in Environmental Tactics—maybe a lecture, or some worksheets, literally anything that doesn’t involve eating deadly mushrooms—but Commander Varin believes in hands-on learning. And today, “hands-on” means poisoning half the class.

The pop quiz is simple on the surface: identify which forest-region mushrooms are edible and which are deadly. The twist? To test your answers, you have to eat the ones you deem safe.

That should’ve been my first clue that the day was about to go to shit.

Damien, a lanky kid from Barracks B, is the first to get it wrong. The moment he swallows, he drops to his knees, convulsing so violently his boots squeak against the floor. Foam bubbles at his lips. Someone screams…maybe Perry, maybe me, who knows.

In a split second, all my studying comes rushing to my mind. I’m calling out for ingredients to counteract this type of toxin. I look around, ready to find something to grind them together before I force them down Damien’s throat.

But it’s just a daydream. I wish I could help him, but that wasn’t real, and I can’t, because what I have actually learned is that there are no natural antidotes we could make to counteract the type of mushroom Damien just ate.

So, we all stand here, watching his body thrash until Commander Varin finally sighs…actually sighs, like we’ve inconvenienced her, and casually strolls over. She pulls a pink vial from her belt, uncorks it with her teeth, and unceremoniously dumps it into Damien’s mouth.

Within seconds, his jerking stops.

She instructs Perry and another guy to carry Damien to the infirmary. “Try not to drop him. He’s mostly conscious.”

Four more kids hit the ground before class ends, each with varying degrees of horror-show reactions—seizures, vomiting, full-body swelling, hallucinations. Ten more of us get milder symptoms. I get some sharp stomach cramps, but luckily, nothing that will follow me to Vanguard.

Apparently, poisoning her students brings out the fun side of Commander Varin, though. By the time the last mushroom is eaten and the only remaining antidote is administered, Commander Varin looks…delighted.

“And now you appreciate the value of arcane medicine,” she chirps, as though she hasn’t just observed kids collapsing on repeat. “At least they won’t have to suffer through track classes this afternoon. I’m practically doing them a favor.”

A few of the recruits shift uncomfortably.

But something must be really wrong with me, because I can’t hold back my laughter.

Chapter forty-seven

Annalise

“Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider letting me kill him? I can make it look like an accident,” Tyr says as I pointedly ignore the nasty comments Lucas and his friend Jacob make about me when I pass their table in the library.

It’s been over a month since Tyr and I bonded. Over a month of us meeting every morning on my run to spend some time together. Over a month that I’ve been practicing my magic and we’ve been working on strengthening our communication when we’re not together.

We can now talk constantly when he’s on campus, which is every other day for riding classes, and as much as he can be when he’s not doing hoard alpha things. Close to graduation, he’ll need to train the dragon that will take his place once we move to our next duty station.

I feel terrible that he’s been forced to choose between them and me, but Tyr keeps reminding me that he knew what he was doing when he chose to bond, and that with me is where he wants to be. Who knew the big, mean dragon that hates almost everyone would be such a softie for the girl he almost killed?

“Maybe another day,” I laugh.

He joined the list of males I have to say, “He’s not worth it,” to regularly after my drink was spiked with a really strong central nervous system depressant a few days ago, the kind of dark tonic I’d only ever heard of used in bars on unsuspecting women.

I don’t know how or when, and of course, I didn’t have any proof it was Lucas, but he’s the only person here who hates me enough to drug me.