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“We can’t forfeit. Even if Tarquinius let us, which he probably wouldn’t, it will show weakness to the other houses.

They still doubt us. We’re supposed to produce the next Heronius.

We’re finally getting up to snuff with the runes.

We need to show them we can fight too. We need them to respect us if we want to be able to lead them in times of war.

We have to fight. You guys trust me, right?

” I turned away from Fable and met the eyes of each one of my housemates, who, to their credit, nodded.

“Then let’s do this. Let’s get the damn cake. ”

I lifted my hand and turned. “I’ll be representing House Phoenix.”

Tarquinius looked pleased at the notion. “Excellent. And your opponent?”

Liam’s words though had given me an idea. He was right, I shouldn’t be fighting a child, even if they were in their teens. Which left only the most obvious choice.

“And we choose to challenge Doyenne Nikita Elmwood, of House Kirinash.”

That bombshell was met with dead silence.

“She can’t do that!” Doyenne Parunah snapped.

“You can’t challenge a professor!” Doyenne Storm added her voice to the fray.

Even Doyen Bob spoke up. “What in the world is she thinking?”

But there was only one opinion that mattered.

I locked my gaze on Tarquinius, who stared down at me, his eyes thoughtful.

“It’s not against the rules you set forth, correct? You said we can challenge anyone present ... and I think that a grown adult fighting children is rather ... despicable.”

“A student, is a student, is a student,” he said, his voice deeper than usual. “We’ve never needed to spell it out before under the assumption that you would all use common sense.”

“The way she did when her choice nearly sent that poor boy from Draconell home in a body bag?” I shot back in disgust. “Spare me your version of common sense and let’s abide by the rules of the challenge, shall we? I choose Doyenne Elmwood as my opponent.”

“She’s within her rights. A fight between an adult and a child hardly seems fair,” Liam called, and several of the other professors chimed in their agreement.

Including Typhon. “It will make a better showcase for her skills, Sage.”

Tarquinius looked to Typhon and nodded. “You make an excellent point, Doyen Moreno. I will allow this fight.”

Nice.

I turned to face Nikita, who sat on the dais with the other professors as she glared holes through me. “Well. Do you accept my challenge?”

She bristled and patted her long, luxurious ringlets.

“I’m hardly dressed for a fight. I didn’t sleep well, and this is highly irregular ...”

“Bock.”

She opened her mouth and then snapped it shut.

“Bock.” I said again, this time a little louder.

“Bock.”

“Bock, bock, bock!”

A few voices blossomed into a dozen and soon enough, it seemed like most of the courtyard was bocki ng like a flock of chickens at a flummoxed Nikita.

Her expression went steely, and she stood.

“Fine. You’ve wanted a piece of me since we were in school. Let’s go, then.”

She flounced off the dais and made a beeline for the square, fingers flashing as her hair tied itself into a knot on the top of her head and she kicked off her high heels.

The skirt she wore was long and she used another rune to tie it between her legs in some semblance of a harem pant.

With her aquamarine eyes flashing fury and her impromptu outfit, even I had to admit, she looked kind of like a bad beech.

Then again, she’d never faced a beech as bad as me.

“Bring it, Nikita ,” I muttered, rolling my shoulders as I moved to join her in the square.

“Be careful, Harlow,” Phyllis called. “She won’t play fair.”

Just how I liked it. Because no one knew better than me. Real life was rarely fair.

“Rules are the same,” Tarquinius boomed. “Two minutes starts in three ... two ... one ...”

Nikita and I began to circle one another, each staying at the outer edge of the square. She was solidly built, clearly spending a good amount of time in the gym, and she had a mean streak a mile long. But did she know how to fight?

I was about to find out.

I feinted forward, and threw an exploratory jab, which she dodged pretty handily before waggling a brow at me.

Okay. So, she had at least some skills. That made this even better.

I was still contemplating my next move when the stiletto she had kicked off moments before came flying at me, warp speed.

“Sheet!”

I dodged a scant second before the wicked heel took my eye out, and nearly stumbled.

My housemates cried foul, but as I met Nikita’s triumphant grin, I knew there was no point in complaining. There was no mention of weapons in the rules even if it was common sense that they weren’t to be used. She’d turned my own strategy against me.

Touché, Keeks.

We danced around one another, and it felt like I was moving through thick mud. What the fruckery was this? Her hand at her side twitched, just the pinky. The lightest glow around it.

Just like ... Typhon had done in class when we’d been talking about Quirks. His pinky had twitched as he’d said ...

“Slowing time, a Stall, is a less commonly known Quirk.”

Fruck me upside down, she was slowing the passage of time, but just enough to block me. Apparently, the dulling runes had only applied to the students, which made sense. No one expected the professors to be fighting. But she knew the rules ...

That cheating beech.

“Rethinking your choice? I won every hand-to-hand challenge through school. Not that you’d know that,” Nikita breathed out as she snapped a quick jab, catching me only because she slowed things down, her pinky finger working overtime.

A burst of stars crossed my vision, but I cleared my head quickly. “Pathetic cheater,” I murmured, just loud enough for her to hear me. It wouldn’t matter how fast I was, if I didn’t come up with something, she was going to win.

“Ready to lose?” Nikita smirked, her pinky finger twitching. The magic wrapping around her.

It felt like my feet were in cement now. But that didn’t slow my mouth down, not a bit. It was one weapon she couldn’t take from me.

“I’m actually flattered you’ve had to stoop to using magic. I guess that means both of us know I’m tougher than you ...”

Fury lit her features, and she rushed me, stepping into my reach.

I worked to try and grab hold of her. If I could get hold of her hands, I could also stop the flow of her spell, by breaking that pinky finger.

I dropped low and grabbed at her feet. Clamping my arms around her legs, I twisted hard to the left, slamming her face-first into the ground.

The air whooshed out of her, and she lay there stunned.

Still under the slow effects of her spell, I crawled up her body, and wrapped my legs around her waist from behind.

And the cherry on top? I clamped a choke hold on her.

She squawked, and immediately went limp, because I was a monster when it came to choke holds.

There was no tapping out, no yielding, she just stopped fighting. I let her go and stood up, the Quirk she’d used on me, gone.

“The winner is Harlow Daygon, of House Phoenix!” Tarquinius shouted, his expression both solemn and thoughtful. “That ends the Hand-to-Hand Combat Day.”

House Phoenix ran to me, squealing and shouting in glee. Even Phyllis joined in, although I imagined she was just relieved it was over and we’d all survived.

Horns blew, confetti exploded in the sky above us, and best of all, four cakes so large they needed to be dragged out on wheels were set before us. Wickersham was right there, winking at me. “I knew you’d win it, Shortbread.”

The losing teams looked on with envy, most clapping in recognition of our accomplishments, some silent, contemplating their own defeat as their opponents” houses each got a cake of their own.

“Winning houses, enjoy your rewards!” Mrs. Wickersham shouted. “They were a joy to make!”

“Losers, make your way back inside post haste,” Tarquinius added.

“Wait!” I said, waving my arms as the students made their way to the double doors. “Wait! House Phoenix wants to share ours. There is plenty for everyone!”

Tarquinius looked like he was about to argue, but then the girl who won for Kelpish joined in.

“Us too!”

Felinita conferred and then pointed at their cake. “We will also share.”

Tarquinius threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine. Do what you will. O’Connor, with me. I’d like to speak with you.” He was gone in a swirl of robes as the courtyard broke out into cheers.

Liam sighed. “I’d better go. See you later, Harlow. That was a solid win.” He leaned in almost as if to hug me, but then stopped short and turned away.

I stared after him a moment.

“That was foolhardy,” Typhon muttered as he made his way toward me and handed over the first slice of cake.

I bent low and breathed in the heavenly scent. Blueberry lavender and lemon.

“She will hate you even more now,” he added as his eyes drifted to Nikita dragging herself out of the vicinity.

“You say that like I had a chance of winning her over. Which we both know I didn’t.

And I’ll be honest, that only makes my win sweeter,” I admitted, plugging a forkful of cake into my mouth with a blissful sigh.

With my eyes half closed, I watched him, watching me.

His eyes dipping to my lips, then sliding further down my body, like a caress.

The intensity of his gaze had cake sticking in my throat and pressure pooling low in my belly.

Pathetic.

“You did it!” Opie crowed a second before hurling herself at me and nearly upending my cake.

“Awesome, right?”

“So cool. Totally badass.”

“Yeah, that was really cool, Harlow,” a reedy voice chimed in. I pulled away from Opie to find Krishna standing there with Phoebe at her side, an apologetic smile on her face. “Opie, you want to sit by the fountain and do a tasting of all the different flavors of cake with us?”

Opie beamed, nodding. “Sure. See you later, Lo-lo!”

I tried not to roll my eyes as they ran off.

“They’re kids,” Typhon muttered. “Go easy on them.”

“And kids like that grow up to be adults like Nikita. Mark my words.”

His eyes drifted over me again. “I’d like to talk to you about –”

But he was cut short as a chant broke out around us. My friends were ready to celebrate.

“Har-low! Har-low! Har-low!”

Bodies swarmed toward me, and I even lost my cake in the bustle as I was swept up high in the air by my housemates. I couldn’t lie. It felt really nice to be appreciated.

All in all, it had been a good day.

No. A great day.

Had I figured out what my Quirk was?

Decidedly not.

Had I managed to turn off the spigot of lustful thoughts aimed at one super sexy, infuriating doyen?

I peered down at Typhon beneath my lashes only to find him staring at me, barely disguised hunger still lingering in his eyes.

That was a big fat negatory.

But tomorrow was another day. For now, House Phoenix was happy and united, Nikita was awash in humiliation, my Opie was smiling, and there was still cake.

Lots and lots of cake.

And nobody could take that away from me.