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Maeve, who had been standing at the side speaking with Titania, finished her conversation and came to join us. The headmistress left but not before giving me a look I couldn’t interpret. “Zephyr?” She cast a glance around. “Has anyone seen him? I wanted him for the demonstration of today’s skills.”
“He was in my last class,” a wispy brunette dressed in a short toga-like dress off one shoulder piped up. “Maybe he got lost.”
Giggles rippled through the group, and Maeve narrowed her eyes, instantly shutting up the levity. “All right. Alara, you’ll do. Grab a bow and join me.”
“Crud,” muttered my friend. “Get ready to watch ineptitude in action.”
“Alara?” the instructor’s voice didn’t rise at all, but it held impatience just as well.
“Yes, Maeve.” She left her book bag and stepped forward. I had thought maybe my friend was inaccurate in her description of her skills but just the opposite. She had a clear understanding of what she couldn’t do and after watching her miss entirely the targets Maeve had some other students set up on tripods halfway down the field, the instructor dismissed her with disgust and began to have the others, three at a time, take a turn with the bows. I had enjoyed archery in high school, but watching Alara, I realized that the equipment I’d used was more like a toy when compared to the professional bows lifted by the others.
In fact, I was fairly certain I’d have a great deal of trouble even pulling the string back. I kept stepping back behind others, but of course, eventually everyone but me had their turn. And then I stood alone.
“Endy, is it?” Maeve fixed me with a stare that made my stomach knot in a very alarming way. “It’s your turn, but to your great good fortune, we’ve run out of class time. I am guessing you are glad about that?”
I nodded. Why lie?
“In even more luck, Zephyr is approaching. He is a master archer and will be glad to give you a private lesson after the rest of us disperse.”
“Maeve?” The voice came from behind me and while it was deep, it was also strangled. “I don’t think—” He paused at my side, and my heart rate sped up. Black T-shirt, jeans, and boots as always, the ultimate bad boy.
“More good fortune. I didn’t ask you to think. I asked you to tutor this student.” She dismissed him from her attention, instructing the others to sign up for practice time before returning to the rest of their day.
“I—” I barely forced the word out, but it was enough to have her spin to face me. “I have another class.”
“You have this class. It is the most important one, and you have not yet completed today’s work.”
The warrior goddess facing me was far scarier than my next professor, so I just nodded and watched her leave.
“Grab a bow.” Zephyr still stood next to me, not that I’d forgotten. “Have you ever done this before?”
“I thought I had,” I told him. “But now I think I haven’t.”
His head jerked toward me, and he cocked one raven brow. “And how does that work, little girl?”
“Don’t call me that,” I bit out. If there was one thing I didn’t want to be next to this man who made me want to strip naked and throw myself into his arms, it was a child.
“Fine, Endymion. How is it you had delusions of archery?” He started toward the discarded weapons, and I followed. “In a dream perhaps?”
“In high school.” I accepted the bow he handed me, arms sagging under its weight. If just carrying it was a problem, how was I going to use it as intended?
“Human high school.” Derision dripped form his voice. “That’s right. And were the bows made of pretzels, the strings of candy floss?”
“Might as well have been,” I said, letting him sling the quiver of arrows over my shoulder before picking up his own set. “Compared to this.”
His chuckle shocked me. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn. Most of those others couldn’t hit the side of a castle, if you didn’t notice. Although they’d all had at least a bit of practice before now.”
“I kind of did, but at least they seemed comfortable with the weapon.” We had reached where the others had stood, but he kept walking.
“Let’s go a bit closer so you stand a chance of success. Maeve always makes the first experience at the academy tougher than it needs to be. I’d rather you feel good about yourself.”
I felt good all right but not so much about myself. What I felt good about was that this man who was so out of my league was taking the time to stand close behind me to position my legs and feet, arms and legs, and I could do this all day.
When had I become such a nymphette?
He was explaining all about how to become a master archer, and my mind was picturing us together doing all kinds of naughty things. Finally, he adjusted my grip on the bow, helped put it where it needed to be, fitted an arrow into the string, nocking I thought it was called, and stepped back. “Okay, Endymion, go for it.”
“What?” Oh my goddess, I had no idea whatsoever what to do. I mean, I did. Even if those bows in high school were pretzels and candy floss, they should work the same. They weren’t, however, six feet long. The only reason the arrow was nocked was because he’d helped me pull the string back. Not wanting to sound any stupider than I felt, I let it fly.
