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His eyes bore into me with disdain when he saw me by Evie’s side, and anger rushed through me in response. I had no idea why I was reacting that way; this wasn’t like themagicJosh joked about, where I could tell who someone was with one look. It felt different. I could not pinpoint a single particular trait about him like I had always done, but I was certain about one thing… I didn’t like him.
A tiny growl erupted next to my ear, and I noticed only then that the bronze baby was perched on my shoulder once more. I guessed he didn’t like the asshat either.
“Let’s go,” Kingston ordered, placing a hand on Evie’s back while still gripping my arm, and guided us the opposite way. Lachlan halted in his tracks when Asher cut off his path, crossing both arms over his chest as though daring him to try and walk past him. Yet, Lachlan’s brown eyes continued to track our every move while Evie’s guardian took us into the castle.
The rest of our conversation would have to wait.
* * *
Silently, I followed Kingston on our way up the staircase on the opposite side of the hidden city. I guessed today we weren’t training next to the pond of shah.
Using the spear as my walking stick, I pushed my way up the steep stairs, and my gaze instinctively went to the honeycomb lairs at the very top. Before I knew it, we were halfway there, and Kingston stepped onto what seemed like a platform of pure rock that extended off the mountain.
It was a semicircle, naturally protruding from the rocky hill, and it hung at an extreme distance from the city below us. If any of us were to fall from there, we would end up looking like tomato soup. Frowning, I stepped onto the platform as well, seeing him stand on one end of the small space.
“Square off to me,” he ordered, anchoring himself to the ground.
My eyes widened like saucers. “You are kidding, right? If I fall on my ass with one of your hits, I might end up down there. Like, dead.”
He shrugged. “I suppose now you have an incentive to actually stay on your feet.” His eyebrows lifted in challenge, but I bit my tongue, nostrils flaring as I walked towards him.
Yep. I was going to die here, and Kingston was going to be the one to kill me.
Don’t look down. Don’t look down. DON’T look down.
Damn it. My gaze travelled off the edge, seeing the long way that awaited me if I missed a step on this damn thing. A squeezing feeling unraveled in my stomach. I really needed to stop looking down.
Okay. I got this.
Widening my stance to mimic what I had seen the other warriors do, I gripped my spear tightly, placing it in front of me. I stayed as closed to the hill and as far from the edge as I could. “Ready.”
One look at me and Kingston snorted, like that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. He spun on his heel, and the next second my back slammed against the rocky ground.
Ouch.
Cursing under my breath, I pushed myself up and planted myself again, holding the spear before me.
His brows rose questionably. “So, you decided that stance worked well enough for you to use it again?”
Sigh. “I’m trying to stand like your warriors do. But since you won’t take the time to actually teach me, this is all I can think to do!”
Kingston’s nostrils flared, and he stopped before me so fast that part of me wondered if he was a Vampire. “I will teach you when you show me that you are worth teaching,” he seethed, an inch away from my face. “Everyone in here has earned their place. They have fought, risked their lives for their brothers and sisters, provided food, clothing, or anything else they could to show they deserved this chance. Yet, you get here from one day to the other and want everything handed to you? Things might work that way in your world, but this place was built on sacrifice and blood.”
The muscles in my jaw tensed with his judgement and I pushed him out of my face—hard—making him stumble backwards.
“You may know that I’m not from this world, but you know nothing about me!” I snapped, chest heaving with the raw anger rising inside me. “Nothing has ever been easy for me. I have fought tooth and nail since I was young for the semblance of a normal life. I broke my back working for everyone else but myself, only to lose everything that ever mattered to me. So no, I don’t expect things to be handed freely, but I do expect for people to at least give me the fucking benefit of the doubt.”
His honey eyes filled with an air of intrigue and… approval?? It was like he was pleased to see that fight in me, but he didn’t say a single word.
A strange echoing sound grew above us, like a quake, and we lifted our gazes to find the Dragons peeking out of their lairs. The sound grew consistently as the anger in my chest festered, and I startlingly realized what it was. They were growling and snarling down at us.
No. Not at us… at Kingston.
Fiery red eyes suddenly called me from the lair at the far end of the honeycombs, and my chest tightened. Just like the last time, the mysterious Dragon stayed in the darkness, but an eerie chill travelled down my spine.
The shadow of something moving swiftly towards me called my attention down again, and I had no time to think, just to react. My spear slammed against Kingston’s, stopping his attack an inch from my face. A smirk tilted his mouth.
Seriously? It was like he didn’t even care that the Dragons were reacting to our exchange.
