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After my boots are on, I check my phone and my chest tightens. When I find no messages from my mother the tension drains from my shoulders. One from my sister though.
Syn:Have a good day doofus.
Syn:Oh, and have you seen a book around your place? I’d specify but I’m pretty sure it’s the only book in the apartment if it is there.
I roll my eyes and go to reply that no I haven’t seen it when another text appears.
Syn:Oh wait, nevermind. I left it at Ray’s last night.
I fake a gag even though she can’t see me at the thought of my sister being at her boyfriends. Yeah, I don’t wanna know. My fingers fly over the screen and I hit send before she can say anything else. She’s a serial spammer.
Oscar:*barf emoji*
Oscar:& you too sis.
Tucking my phone in my pocket, I grab my bag before heading to my first class. It’s our weapons and magic prac class. The only class I share with Nessa. I shift my bag and swallow hard, a small pulse of anxiety hitting me in the gut. I haven’t seen her since that awkward encounter with Ethan three days ago when she practically ran away from us. Corin messaged us to let us know she’s doing okay and Dylan backed up the claim after doing another tutoring session with her, but it hasn’t appeased that tiny pang of doubt.
I speed up and push open the gym doors with more force than I meant to, causing them to hit the walls with athwack. Two dozen pairs of eyes swing around to focus on me and I cringe. As I close the doors behind me and shuffle forwards my eyes collide with a familiar golden gaze and my body relaxes. She’s here and looks okay.
I settle beside her and ignore the look the instructor sends me for disrupting the class. The bell hasn’t even rung yet. I lean into Nessa so my lips hover beside her ear. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
I pull back to study her expression and throw her a cheeky grin when I find her cheeks flushed. She side-eyes me, mouthingbehave, before refocusing on the instructor. I let out a breath, biting my tongue when the bell rings.Goddess that is an awful sound.
I tune into the teacher and I smirk. “ —So we’re going to use the obstacle course. As I’m sure most of you already know, the school used to be sentient but the magic has died out as it aged. What most of you probably weren’t aware of is that this obstacle course is one of the few still sentient areas on the academy grounds. It’s spelled much the same way as the fight circles so if you are gravely injured or close to death you will be teleported straight to the medical wing to the healers.” A smile plays at the edge of our instructor's lips—Mrs Doray—before she continues on. “For this exercise, the goal is to be the first to get through the course to the prize on the other side. I’m not going to say what it is, but it will give you a leg up for your final challenge for this semester. How you handle the course today will count towards twenty-five percent of your overall grade for this term. You will be expected to utilise many—or all of the many skills you have practised over the past few classes while completing this challenge.”
Several panicked whispers start up around the room at that news and I risk a glance at Nessa to see her reaction. Her face is set in determination, those delicate clawed fingers curled into loose fists. We knew what we were preparing for, but the date we’d be completing it was left unknown intentionally to make it more of a challenge.
Damn, I may not be good at swords, but I excel at things like this. I wonder if she’d be willing to team up? My eyes drift back to Mrs Doray. She didn’t mention anything about not partnering up. I’m about to ask Nessawhen two guys off to the side of the class gain our attention.
Watch your back, mixed breed, one of them mouths slowly at Nessa, and my brows raise as I try to place their semi-familiar faces. I blink rapidly and lean back on my heels when I do. They’re friends with the bully she scared the literal shit out of when her powers manifested. Damnit, she better want to team up now she has those two against her. They may be dumb with their predictable smack talk, but they’re also huge and A-level powerclass so we’ll have to be careful. I don’t know what either of their multiple powers are and that has more worry smacking me in the gut.
Before I have a chance to truly panic—anxiety is a real bitch—a dainty snout peeks out of Nessa’s bag, followed by a mini dragon body. Unicorn. Even though we have a love-hate relationship, she scurries onto my shoulder, bumping me in reassurance before settling. I smile, giving her chin a scritch.
When I look up I meet Nessa’s eyes and read the affection swirling in them. A shiver rolls over my skin and my eyes dart down to her mouth. Her tongue rolls over her lower lip, and I find myself leaning in slowly, giving her ample time to turn away, but she doesn’t. I stop millimetres from her mouth, our breaths mingling before she dives in, closing the rest of the gap between us. I cup her jaw gently as my lips brush hers, once, then twice before I pull back, our instructor’s voice reminding me where we are as she tells the class to line up. My focus stays on the girl beside me though. Her pupils are dilated, breathing uneven as I stroke my thumb over her cheek rhythmically.Elation, lust and admiration ricochet through my very being as I watch the beautiful woman in front of me. Despite studying her expression I can’t tell what she’s thinking and that has my fingers tingling with nerves, so I don’t dive in for more, despite practically aching to. Thankfully the dragon stayed quiet, merely watching us as I kissed her bonded supernatural. A tiny smile quirks my lips before my focus returns to Nessa.
As much as I want to continue this moment and figure out what she’s feeling, we need to haul ass to get in the right mindset for this test so I let my fingers trail down her neck, shoulder, then arm, giving her hand a soft squeeze before releasing her. I nudge her in the direction of the class. “Who knew Unicorn had it in her to be civil,” I say to diffuse the remaining tension hovering between us and Nessa shakes her head. Those beautiful eyes clearing.
“Yeah, who knew,” she mumbles under her breath.
We hurry to get into position as Mrs Doray runs through the safety precautions once more, which is pretty much, don’t kill any fellow classmates and no cheating. That about sums it up. It seems like the school decides what happens between here and the end of the course. Taking the opportunity, I ask Nessa if she’d like to pair up with me. Those eyes narrow in consideration before she nods and twines her hand with mine. My body jerks in surprise, not expecting the contact and I peer at her in question. Before she has a chance to clarify though, a gunshot pierces the air sounding for us to go and we take off at a run.
I send a silent oath to the Goddess as we go through the portal.If I die in here I’m going to come back and haunt the shit out of every instructor at the academy.
Chapter Twenty-Nine — Nessa
ThelookonOscar’sface when I took his hand was priceless. Silver gaze wide and mouth gaping like a fish out of water. Hah. I roll my eyes, knowing we need to stay connected in case the sentient castle plans to send us all to separate parts of the course the moment we step past the barrier—hence the hand holding. That kiss though. I roll my bottom lip in as I think about it. A fricken tease is what it was, a hint of how good it could be, but not a proper taste.Stupid men, stupid body. We decided no guys remember,I mentally chastise myself.Why do they have to be so nice? Stupid fucking men are slowly peeling back my barriers.Still being tortured by his pepperminty scent, I shove the memory aside for now and force my tactical side to the forefront of my mind. I need to stay focused, especially now that I’m working with a partner.I shove the memory aside for now and force my tactical side to the forefront of my mind. I need to stay focused, especially now that I’m working with a partner.
As I guessed the second we have both feet through the barrier we’re whisked away from the entrance and deposited in the middle of a wide hallway. Thankfully my plan worked though and Oscar lands beside me. I take in our surroundings and curse as an axe goes flying past my face, narrowly missing my nose.Bastard. Unfazed, I conjure a pair of swords and dive into fighting a group of four magical beings that come at us full speed. I whirl around in practised movements, my twin swords arcing through the air. The metallic shing of weapons meeting is almost deafening as Oscar and I trade blows with the random manifestations from the academy that surround us.
“That’s why I grabbed your hand,” I call over the ruckus.
Oscar disarms one of them before punching him in the temple. The dude goes down like a bag of rocks and disappears before hitting the ground. Sweet. “What?”
“I grabbed your hand because I thought the academy might try to split us up.”
He nods before refocusing on the fight. I kill the other two as Unicorn lands on the last one's face making the man scream as she latches onto his nose. I laugh under my breath, shereallylikes that move. Oscar joins her efforts and grips him in a chokehold until he disappears as well.
