Page 29

Chapter 28

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST…

M y mace connected with Joe’s sword with a clank that reverberated up my arm. I drew back, gritted my teeth, and swung again, pulling back last minute to reduce impact. I’d become a pro at this, but it left a knot of repressed aggression inside me which could only be expunged by running laps, something I did every evening before the dummy run with Ravi.

We had an audience today. Several native demigods stood around the arena watching us spar. The sun was out in full force, and it was the warmest it had been since our arrival, enough to cause a slight sweat to break out across my forehead.

I wiped at it with the back of my wrist, trying to get a better look at the watchers, but potentials in the middle of their matches blocked my view .

Pashim hadn’t explained the native demigods’ presence. He hadn’t asked them to leave either, and my gut was all squirrelly because I couldn’t help but think they were here as part of our lesson.

My suspicions were confirmed a few minutes later when Pashim called us to a halt.

“I’ve invited some of our strongest demigod potentials to train with you today,” he said. “They have passed all the tests and will be taking the labyrinth in a few days. They embody the skill that you must aspire to. Kriti and Evan, please demonstrate.”

A woman and man stepped forward, and we all backed up to make a circle around them. The woman was tall and athletic, her body packed with lean muscle. She swung her sword in a figure eight, a slight smirk on her lips. She screamed confidence.

The guy was a tank, his combat outfit almost too snug, and I had no doubt that the mace he held would do some serious damage. His golden hair was shorn close to his head, a style I’d noticed that most seasoned demigods had adopted, and his ice blue eyes held nothing but focus.

“One of the ice mountain dwellers,” Chaya whispered. “Rare to have them as demigods. The tribes keep mostly to themselves.”

The two demigods circled one another for a beat before attacking.

They moved fast and struck hard, kicking up dirt and sand with the frenzy of the encounter. They seemed equally matched in the dance of combat, and I focused on their feet, on the placement, and how they used their body weight to their advantage to avoid being toppled or knocked back.

Pashim was right; this was gold.

“Enough!” Pashim called out.

“A fabulous display.” Guru Chandra joined Pashim.

I’d been so absorbed in the demonstration that I hadn’t heard him arrive. I spotted Araz by the awning. How long had he been here?

“Well done, Kriti and Evan.” Guru Chandra smiled warmly at them. “Now how about we put you to the test, hmmm?” His gaze raked over us and landed on me. “You…Leela, is it?”

My stomach quivered. “Yes, Guru.”

“Step forward.”

I glanced at Pashim, but he was busy staring daggers at Guru Chandra.

I moved into the ring, my mace held loosely at my side.

“Kriti, I’d like you to attack Leela.”

Kriti blinked sharply. “Attack? All due respect, Guru, she’s a novice. I don’t wish to hurt her.”

“I’ll do it,” one of the other women offered. My heart sank. She had a mean mouth, and her eyes were such a pale gray they almost blended with her irises, giving her an evil vibe. Her silvery white hair was cut short, leaving only a few tendrils curling against her cheeks. She would have been pretty if not for her sullen mouth.

“Very well, Briella. Please step forward,” Guru Chandra said.

“Excuse me, Guru,” Pashim said. “What exactly do we hope to achieve by this exercise?”

Guru Chandra fixed Pashim with a withering look. “I do not need to explain myself to you, Pashim, but since you have raised the question, I shall answer it for the class. With this demonstration you will see the disparity between you and them.” He pointed at Kriti and Evan. “It will allow you to gauge how far you must go to reach the level of expertise required to pass the tests.”

I would have thought watching Kriti and Evan fight had done that.

Briella’s weapon was a mace also, and she held it like she was ready to smash my head in.

Great. Just fucking great. The last thing I needed before the gauntlet was broken bones.

“You can do it, Leela!” Blue hopped up and down at the edge of the arena where the other anchors were standing.

“Your anchor is a rat?” Briella sneered. “How telling.”

“Fuck you, you squinty-eyed bitch!” Blue cried. “I bet your anchor is a worm. Kick her ass, Leela.”

“Not helping, Blue,” I bit out .

“No, he really isn’t,” Briella said. “I was going to knock you on your ass and leave it at that, but I think I might break a few bones now, just because.”

“Enough chatter,” Guru Chandra said. “Fight!”

Her mace flew at my face. I dodged and spun in time to block her second attack, and fuck, she was fast, giving me no time to gather my wits and attack, only to defend. Frustration ballooned inside me, growing larger and larger because this was so unfair.

I dodged another blow aimed for my face and grunted in pain as it glanced off my shoulder, jarring my arm and leaving it dead.

I ran backward, panic a live wire running through my body as she advanced. “You’re pathetic.” She swung hard, landing a blow smack bang in my solar plexus before I could dodge. The impact lifted me off my feet and flung me onto my back.

The air whooshed out of my lungs, and blood filled my mouth.

“Get up!” Blue yelled. “Leela, get up!”

I turned my head to find him, but found Araz instead, his body a mass of tension, one foot forward. Was he going to help me? But he stepped back and folded his arms, leaving me to my fate.

A shadow fell over me. “Get up!” Briella kicked me in the face. Stars filled my head, and her next words were buried beneath the ringing in my ears. “Get up so I can finish this.”

I rolled onto my side, crying out as fire circled my torso, and Briella retreated.

“Surely this is enough?” Pashim said to Guru Chandra.

“Not yet,” Guru Chandra said.

I bit back a sob, pulling myself to my feet.

“Look at me!” Briella said. “I want my face to be the last thing you see before I knock you out.”

She’d made her point. Knocked me down. But it wasn’t enough, because she was a bully, and I fucking hated bullies.

She ran at me and launched herself into the air, mace coming up to deliver another blow, and something inside me snapped. A red haze stole my vision and took control of my body. I swung at her as she arched down, catching her solidly in the gut with the full force of my rage.

A sickening crunch ripped the air, her eyes popped wide, then she was nothing but a dot flying away from me, over the platform and into the complex wall.

Silence fell like a blanket of doom.

All eyes on me.

Someone clapped. Slow and deliberate.

My gaze snapped toward the sound to find who it was.

Guru Chandra dropped his hands to his sides with a smug smile. “There it is. I was wondering how long you’d succeed in hiding it.”

“You knew?” My words were a wheeze .

“I suspected, and I was correct.”

“She’s alive!” Kriti called from the platform. “But we’ll need to get her to medical.”

“Go,” Guru Chandra said, turning his attention back to me. “And that is why we do not hold back in training, because when we do lose control, all that pent-up aggression comes out, and your peers can get seriously hurt.” He approached and gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Why did you hide it?”

“I…I didn’t want to be a target for the native demigods.”

“If you cannot survive your peers, then you have no business on the battlefield.”

So he knew…He knew what could happen, and he’d deliberately exposed me?

My skin itched beneath the stunned appraisals of said peers. “I…I’m sorry.”

He released me. “Class dismissed.”

He shot up into the air, wings flaring, and flew off.

Everyone around me started talking at once.

“Back off,” Blue yelled. “Can’t you see she’s about to drop?”

“What?” I looked down at him in confusion a moment before the heat left my veins and my knees buckled.

I was saved from another meeting with the ground by the circle of a strong arm.

“I’ve got you, Leela.” Pashim scooped me up and cradled me. “Let’s get you cleaned up. ”

Blue appeared on Pashim’s shoulder, beady eyes glittering in concern.

“I’m okay.” But it hurt to speak.

Pashim carried me across the arena, past Araz, who stood exactly where I’d seen him when I’d fallen. But this time his face wasn’t a mask of impassiveness; it was one of fury.