Page 168 of Wings of Destruction

This time when he pulls his head free, I let him.

This is being trapped between dragon fire and molten steel. I’m suspended somewhere between them, and my fate—and Mozi’s—depends entirely on a redheaded survivor who wants nothing to do with me. I’ve gotten myself into worse jams before. What matters will be how I slither out of this one.

I’m not prepared to lose my sanity—or watch Mozi’s fire burn cold forever—over one decision.

We stare at each other, unblinking. I am the first to look away.

Then Mozi lowers his wings and the wind batters us both. Only one of us flinches.

Thirty-Six

Morgan

I’m not prepared when Astrid finally speaks. Her low, even tone is expected but surprising, a gift and a curse.

“I heard a rumor.”

Astrid slides closer to me, and I tense up. The dagger won’t do much against her and we both understand it, the way some animals inherently sense a storm with a change in the wind and the ache deep in their bones.

“Did you now?” I keep my tone light.

Darkness twists around me and my fingers flex as my ears ring with a distant warning to watch. My skin is tender and battered and the last thing I need is to take a shot at Astrid, or whatever else I’ll have to do to leave this gym.

I step to the side, and she moves with me.

There’s nothing soft about this girl. Where Evie has something to manipulate, and a throat waiting for me to burrow my knuckles against, Astrid is hard edges, keen enough to cut yourself on if you get too close. She’d be pretty with her luminous warm brown skin and intelligent eyes.

Right now, she’s staring at me like chaos is about to break loose.

“You are moving up or you’re moving out,” Astrid finishes. “Kieran isn’t the one who told me, if you’re wondering. I have my finger on the pulse of this place. A few strings tugged and the knowledge slips free right into my hands. You found yourself faced with a decision.”

It’s funny how fast gossip spreads in this place. Not long ago, what happened in the office of the headmistress stayed trapped within four walls. Now it passes through the school like dust borne on a wind to foreign lands.

“I’m moving out,” I reply. “I have no interest in tugging myself to the peaks of the towers here.”

Astrid’s eyes narrow at my tone. “An attitude?”

“Always.”

She stares at me a moment longer, her face a masterpiece. “That’s good. You aren’t strong enough to be a student here.”

A prickle of unease fills the space between my ribs.

“Interesting, considering I’d been issued an invitation days prior to my arrival, before my village got torched,” I grind out the last, my jaw spiking with pain.

She tsks. “Fury is powerful and deadly. It’s a wildfire. But without direction, it consumes. What will be left of you once your anger runs its course?”

The flow of her voice shakes me. I hate the way this stranger pins me neatly in place, and how the picture she paints mimics the past.

“Enough,” I answer tersely. “There will be enough of me left to do what is necessary.”

She shrugs. “I have my doubts. Then again, the decision isn’t up to me.”

“Ah. Another one of Kieran’s sycophants, then.”

Bluster often does the trick, at least, it used to. Against people like Evie, bluster is one of the most powerful weapons because those types don’t like to be questioned. Underneath my flaws, the layers I’ve stacked on top of each other, I’m the same. The last thing I want is to be confronted.

Astrid is different. It makes her formidable and dangerous.