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I tilt my head. “Isn’t that cheating?”
“Yep.”
Well, at least he’s not attempting to lie about it.
Shayde whispers something to Diablo, but it’s inaudible. The unicorn snorts and paws the ground.
I watch in awe, maybe a little jealous, as Shayde manages to calm the dark unicorn.
He waves me over. Shayde takes my hand in his and brings it to the neck of the horned horse. I smile, running my hand down his strong neckline.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’re welcome,” he replies. “Go ahead and get his bridle on. I’ll help with the saddle.”
The bridle in my other hand, I bring it up and manage to slide the bit into his mouth easy enough. Thankfully, he doesn’t try to bite me. Next time, I may not be so lucky.
Shayde slings a blanket over the unicorn, then the saddle. He tightens the belt, then adjusts the stirrups. “All right, up you go.”
Placing one foot into the stirrup, I grab a handful of the mane and hoist myself up. I smile like a lunatic. “I did it! I’m on Diablo!”
“You have maybe two minutes before he goes back to full attack mode. Do what you can to bond with him now,” Shayde warns me.
“What? How do I bond?” I don’t remember this being part of the lesson.
“It’s no different than bonding with a dog at home,” he reassures me.
Or at least he tries to reassure me.
Being on top of Diablo, feeling the powerful muscles beneath me, is completely nerve wracking. I’ve never ridden a unicorn before, let alone a dark one.
The two minutes must have gone by faster than I expected. Diablo begins to paw at the ground and tries to twist his head around to bite at my leg.
“Please stop,” I whisper. Petting his neck, I continue to give him praises all the while he makes a play to get me off his backside.
Diablo bucks, trying to throw me off.
I want to scream, but instead, I hold on, not wanting to be defeated. “Don’t hate me, little one. I’m here to help you and be your friend. I don’t want anyone or anything to hurt you, okay?”
Diablo makes a screaming sound and hopelessness makes a home in my chest that I will indeed fail this class. Tears blur my vision but movement catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. It’s Dafni, on a unicorn of her own.
I feel a sudden sense of dread as Dafni and her beast close the distance between us. She holds something long and slender in her hand, but I’m unsure what it could be. The more the distance dwindled, the clearer the evidence became that I need to immediately get myself and Diablo away from her.
Now.
Tugging at the reins, Diablo makes it impossible to do anything besides focus on not falling off. Ignoring Dafni isn’t really a choice, but having to choose between my balancing act and being attacked, I figure falling to the ground won’t hurt as much so long as the hoofs don’t land on me.
“Diablo!” My voice comes out somewhere between a scream and whisper. He’s making it virtually impossible for me to even fall. He is fast and agile, and I’m struggling to stay on his back as he twists and turns.
Suddenly, I feel a sting across the flesh of my back. Hissing with my back arched, I no longer care about Diablo or falling off. The pain radiates in a way I’ve never encountered. The crack in the air I heard was from a whip. She hit me with a fucking whip.
I hear Dafni giggle next to me.
Fuck.
I’m going to die today.
The whip cracks in the air and it snaps across my left arm. I scream out and I expect Diablo to buck and throw me off.
