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“No, Maddox. It was perfect Lor. He shouldn’t be learning it this quickly.”
“I doubt it was perfect. Yours is a little out of practice too. It’s not that difficult to pick up on once you get the hang of the grammar and the way the sentences are structured. I’m sure he just remembered a phrase or two to worry you. You are his competition.”
“No.” I wanted to shake some sense into him. Viktor had even said it wasn’t a competition. It was a test. He was wrong, but then maybe he really didn’t see me as competition because he thought I wasn’t good enough. “Don’t you find it off how fast he’s learned everything? It’s not normal.”
He shrugged. “Don’t get jealous. You have years on him. Get your head down and study, and you’ll be fine. If you both pass and it’s a tie, I’ll pick you due to your experience. Feel better?”
I looked down. No. Because I wasn’t going to pass. “Explain to me how he’s so good.”
“He spends all his spare time reading. When he’s not reading, he’s training in the atrium. He spends his evenings in the study while you take a nap. When you’re sleeping in, he’s up, working on the next cursed object. Sorry, Elle, he’s just hungrier for it. If you want to win, you need to be too. You have experience on your side, like I said.”
“He’s too quick, Maddox. You’re smart; why can’t you get it through your head? You’re blind to him.”
“Enough,” he snapped. “We may be friends, but I am also your superior. You’ll mind how you talk to me.” He glanced at his watch. “I have more important matters to attend to than your petty jealousies.”
My face flooded with heat. “I’m not jealous.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Stop, Elle. I need to go. Alma agrees with my theory about the cloaking spell and sacrifices. They’re heading east to bring back someone they think can help with uncovering it. There’s been two more murders, as suspected, and they’re all within a twenty-mile radius. We need to find a way to catch them in the act. The cloaking spell they are using, it’s old magic, dark magic, and it can only be broken using old magic.”
“Who are they bringing back?”
He paused. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the goddess. Freya.”
“I thought you weren’t sure if she was one.”
“Of course she is. I just don’t like the idea of worshipping her. We need her, and if they can track her down, then we can stop this murderer. I’ve been tasked with breaking one of the top-level objects from the vaults and to carry out the test so we can have another keeper. I’m under a lot of pressure. I don’t need you adding to them. We good?”
“I get you’re under pressure, but you’re not thinking straight. I won’t let this go.”
He shook his head, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Jeez, girl.”
I watched him march away. Worry lines were aging his young twenty-five years. If Maddox wouldn’t listen to me, then I’d have to prove it myself. Although, it’d have to wait until after I’d stolen the Joker’s Ball. I hadn’t got a chance to last night because Maddox had spent the evening reading in the room across from Edmund’s office, but tonight I would.
Weapons training took my mind off things. I desperately wanted to hit something… or someone. Viktor had offered to be my sparring partner, as Maddox was busy, and as much as I didn’t want to be in the same room as him, I couldn’t resist having him be the one I laid hits on. He deserved it.
He stood across from me, dressed all in black. “I’m glad to see you’re trying harder.”
I balled my fist around the hilt of my dagger. “Shut it.”
“That’s not nice.”
I wanted to wipe the smirk off his face.
“You’ve had quite the week. You put your name forward at the call, you’re fighting me, telling Maddox off, falling out with your best friend…”
How did he know about Maddox? “Don’t antagonize me. You know nothing about my life, and you’re nothing to this coven.”
“I wouldn’t agree.” He leaped forward with his dagger and almost grazed me.
I jumped out of the way, then twirled to the floor and toward his waist.
“The others seem to like me a lot. Compared to you, I’d say I’m two friends up.”
He moved just as I pressed the dagger against his chest. I wouldn’t actually cut him, but the allure was strong. “I hate you.”
“That’s a strong word.”
I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. “What can I say? You provoke such strong emotions.”
