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“Are you kidding?” Alex asked with fake incredulity as she walked over to where they were all stretching. “As if I could ever get enough blood and gore. I live for this kind of thing. Death before honour, and all that.”

They laughed raucously, and Nick actually snorted. Alex hadn’t thought her statement was funny enough to warrant such a reaction, but then Declan clue

“I think you mean ‘death beforedishonour’,” he corrected around his chuckles.

Alex thought back over her words and realised how stupid she’d sounded. “Um, isn’t that what I said?”

It had been worth a try. But they just laughed even harder.

Despite her embarrassment, their casual camaraderie helped lift a weight off her shoulders. Or it did, until Brendan spoke up.

“So, how was your summer?”

It was an innocent enough question. But the moment the question was out of his mouth, everyone paused and looked at her. She felt her face heat up, knowing they must have heard the rumours. None of them were glaring at her with disgust, so that was something. But they were definitely curious.

“Um,” she said. “It was—”

“Jennings!” Karter bellowed, storming into the Arena. He stopped a short distance away and ordered, “Get over here. Now!”

Alex may have actually squeaked with fright. He looked mutinous. His leathery face had taken on a purplish colour, and his icy blue eyes were blazing with fury.

She quickly hurried over to where he stood.

“Sir?” she asked hesitantly, acutely aware of his seething presence.

Without warning, Karter’s fist flew towards her face, and it was only because of her developed reflexes that she managed to duck just in time. He came at her again, and she pivoted around on her foot, avoiding contact once more. He then swept his leg out, trying to trip her, but she jumped into the air and, upon landing, she automatically aimed a roundhouse kick at his torso. He deflected her leg with his burly arms, but it was enough to unbalance him, and the move gave Alex the chance to regain her bearings. She didn’t have time to wonder why he was attacking her, she just steadied herself, waiting to see what he would do next.

Karter reached a hand over his shoulder and drew a sword from the scabbard strapped to his back. He threw it towards her— with absolutely no regard for occupational health and safety—and unsheathed the blade from his belt, raising it in the air.

“Aw, come on!” Alex cried, hoping Karter didn’t intend to continue the fight. “You can’t blame me for—”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before he lunged at her.

After spending over two months training with the man, Alex tuned out everything else and fell into a natural rhythm as she deflected his attacks and parried with her own thrusts.

Step left. Deflect. Pivot right. Thrust. Jump back. Duck. Lunge.

Karter was relentless in his attack. Their blades met over and over again and the noise of clashing steel filled the Arena.

They continued fighting for what felt like forever. While Karter had always been hard on her during their training sessions, he’d never focused so intently on destroying her. But he was a man on a mission, and his blows were fuelled by tightly controlled aggression. It took all of Alex’s concentration to stay in the fight, and after a while she only had enough energy to respond defensively.

A loudclangsounded when Alex’s weapon was finally jerked from her hand, landing on the Arena surface with a mockingthump.

She was breathing heavily but she tried to still her body since Karter’s blade was pressed point-first to her windpipe.

“Do you yield?” he demanded.

What do you think?she felt like saying. Instead, she panted out, “I yield.”

He lowered his sword and sheathed it at his waist. Alex bent to pick hers up and she handed it to him without making eye contact. Once it was strapped to his back again, he led the way over to her wide-eyed classmates.

“For any of you who might’ve believed the ridiculous rumours spreading around,” Karter said, “that was your proof that they are exactly that:rumours.” He stared down each of her classmates and continued in a firm voice, “For the record, Jennings was ordered by the headmaster to undertake remedial Combat lessons with me over the summer holidays. You’ve justseen for yourselves that she’s been training her ass off. If I hear anyone—in this class or out of it—speculate otherwise, look out. I willnotbe lenient.”

Alex gaped at her Combat instructor. Had he fought her just to prove a point? If the awed looks on her classmates’ faces were anything to go by, then his tactic had certainly paid off. Alex just wished someone else could have been the guinea pig in his little showdown.

“With that out of the way,” Karter began again, his entire demeanour relaxing, “welcome to another year of Epsilon Combat.”

Alex felt an irrational urge to laugh. Thankfully, she managed to smother the impulse before Karter could catch her and demand a rematch for her disrespect.