Page 50 of Resurgent

His group erupts just as I grab Matt’s arm, my grip hard enough that he won’t get any further without forcing my hand off first.

He freezes as I smile sweetly at the recruit.

"You know..."

The laughter dies as everyone around gives up the pretense of not listening in.

"You’re right."

The guy blinks. "What?"

"You’re right…My bonded would kill for me.”

I smile devilishly as Tyr roars, dropping from the sky directly overtop the now-isolated recruit. The gust from his descending wings hits the parade grounds like a physical force, whipping my hair pony across my face and sending dirt and loose grass skittering across the stone. The recruit staggers beneath him, throwing an arm up against the sudden blast of air as his friends put even more distance between themselves and him, like they’re afraid they’ll be caught in the fallout.

Tyr spreads his wings to their full span overhead, blotting out the sky for a heartbeat before throwing his head back and roaring again. The sound rolls through the parade grounds, vibrating in my chest and swallowing every other noise as he circles once above us.

My eyes never leave the now-sweating idiot as I take slow, deliberate steps toward him, the dagger Korr’s insisted I keep, secure in my hand.

His throat bobs as he swallows, but I only smile wider.

"But that’s assuming I won’t just kill you myself."

For a moment, it feels like the entire campus has frozen, no one daring to so much as sneeze in the now-tainted air as every eye waits to see what happens next.

There’s a long whistle behind me just before the rancid smell of ammonia permeates my nose, and the spell is broken by recruits now laughing at the puddle pooling at his feet.

His face reddens, but I don’t wait to watch what he’ll do next.

Turning to walk back to my spot, I’m shocked to find not only Matt and Perry, but Sasha, Emily, Ian, and Zeke standing mere steps behind me, faces bright with smiles despite the ‘ready for a fight’ positions their bodies are still in.

"Aww, sweet baby didn’t know who he was talking to," Emily mocks as we hear him scream for people to move out of his way.

“Not so fast, Recruit. You’re here for accountability, and you haven’t been dismissed,” Dean Stevens' voice commands from the front of formation, a slight smirk cemented on her normally stoic face.

I hadn’t noticed her arrival, nor that of every one of my instructors wearing mirrored looks of approval behind her—well, almost every one…Hunter is nodding slightly, his jaw tight—until our eyes connect.

Then, all at once, his expression cracks. “There she is," he mouths, a reluctant grin taking over for the briefest of moments.

The tension loosens, stress visibly draining from his shoulders.

Around us, conversations slowly restart.

For the first time since waking up in Hunter's house, I feel something close to normal.

Chapter eighteen

Annalise

“Again, Recruit. You’ve had your vacation, now it’s time to put in some real work,” Perry drills quietly, too afraid of Korr hearing his impersonations to mock him above a whisper.

“I’d love to see you do six sets of push-ups.”

“I’d love to see him just do six,” Emily laughs from a few feet away as she knocks her opponent to the ground and straddles him with ease.

Gritting my teeth, I push myself up, arms trembling as I lock out my elbows, then slowly lower myself back toward the mat.

“Three,” Perry sings, entirely too cheerful for someone counting my suffering.