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“Sire, I wish for your permission to verify her claim,” Zain said, speaking directly to the king.

King Astophe looked from Zain to Alex and then to the unnamed Meyarin, who shrugged at the king’s unasked question.

“You have my permission,” the king said, looking back at the guard. “But Zain, remember that she is human, regardless of all else.”

“I won’t break her,” Zain promised. “I merely seek to uncover the truth.”

Alex felt a shiver of foreboding. ‘I won’t break her.’ What wasthatsupposed to mean?

The king nodded his consent and Zain bowed slightly before he turned and led the way from the room.

“Come along, mortals,” Kyia said, ushering Alex and her friends out of their seats and motioning for them to follow as she trailed after Zain. The king and the other Meyarin brought up the rear of their procession.

“I don’t feel very good about this,” Alex whispered to her friends.

“You’re not the only one,” D.C. said.

The moment they all stepped into the hallway, the floor took off from underneath them. Alex was once again thrown backwards as she felt the power of theValispathhurtling them through the air. Except this time they were literally movingthroughthe building. They flew through solid walls as if they were open windows; they whisked around Meyarins going about their day; and they rushed higher and higher up one of the spiralling towers until the transparent barrier landed them in a huge, vaulted room.

“I havegotto get me one of these,” Jordan said as he stood to his feet again, brushing windswept hair from his forehead. Only the Meyarins had been able to keep their footing on the ride, and Alex had no idea how they’d managed not to fall.

“Where are we?” D.C. asked, looking around the massive room. It was empty except for the eight of them, and most of the floor was covered with some kind of padded, gym-style mat.

“This is one of our less commonly used training rooms,” Kyia informed them as Zain opened one of the doors nearest to them and disappeared within.

“Training rooms?” Jordan repeated. “Training for what?”

No one answered him, and Zain re-entered the room carrying a sword. With his free hand he immediately unsheathed his own blade from the scabbard at his waist. Held side by side, Alex could clearly see that both swords were made from the shiny Meyarin steel, and one was significantly larger than the other.

Without warning, Zain threw the smaller weapon through the air, straight at Alex. She yelped and instinctively reached out to grab the pommel, grateful for Karter’s occasional temper that had prompted him to pull the same dangerous manoeuvre on her in the past.

“Hey, watch it,” she said angrily. “Someone could get hurt.”

In the blink of an eye, Zain’s sword came soaring towards her torso.

Reacting on instinct, Alex spun out of the way, finally cluing in on what he planned to do with her. But they were way too close to her friends for comfort, and if the guard was intent on fighting her, there was no way she would allow anyone else to get hurt in the process.

“Come on, you big oaf,” Alex goaded, running away from her friends. She kept running until she was on the firm butspongy mat, far enough away from the others for them to be safe. “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get.”

She hadn’t heard Zain chasing after her, so when she turned around and he was directly behind her, she had to suppress a squeak of surprise. Realising she was about to go up against a Meyarin in a sword fight, Alex had to hold back an exclamation of fear.

Oh, I’m so dead, she thought.

Zain’s sword came slicing towards her again, and this time she met it with her own blade. The power behind his blow sent her staggering, but she repositioned to hold the sword with two hands, which helped her brace against his supernatural strength. Once she managed to deflect his weapon, she wasn’t sure what to do next. She didn’t want to attack the Meyarin, but if the alternative was her death, then she only had one viable option.

Defence it is, she decided. She would defend against his attacks, but not provoke him with her own.

The following minutes nearly killed Alex in more ways than one. It turned out that ‘defence’ was much easier said than done when it came to battling a Meyarin. Zain was stronger, faster and much more experienced than anyone she’d ever fought against—including Karter. Half the time she didn’t see his sword flying towards her, and only a natural instinct for survival coupled with some super-keen reflexes kept her limbs attached to her body.

“Is that the best you can do, littleGarseth?” Zain mocked.

“I told you,” Alex panted, avoiding his blade yet again. “I’m not a Rebel!”

“And yet you fight with more fire and finesse than any other mortal I’ve come across,” Zain returned.

“I—What?”

Zain’s words caught her off-guard and she only just managed to bring her weapon up in time against his next attack. In herhaste to block his move she failed to notice when he swept his leg out and hooked it behind her own, tripping her over, and she slammed onto the ground. Her sword was jarred out of her hand as she lay winded on the not-as-soft-as-she’d-first-thought floor.