Page 31 of Of Blackened Blood (The Blackened Blade #3)

“I know you don’t trust me, and that I don’t deserve your help. But I have to ask for it anyway. Please help me find some kind of answer. Even clearing up what happened when we were kids and fixing the memories that feel distorted.” His eyes turn pleading as he takes a step closer.

“Please, just give me a few minutes of your time, on any day that suits you. I’ll do anything you want.

” A tremor works its way into his hands as he continues.

“There are too many broken and tainted pieces in my head that aren’t matching up anymore.

And I think someone was doing this to me .

..” With these words he looks at me, his expression steadier and surer than before as he continues.

“And that she still might be trying to.”

Seria. He doesn’t speak her name, but it floats between us, sticking to the air around us like sludge and darkening the atmosphere instantly.

The energy Ezra had felt around her, the connection she has to the bracelet and The Facility.

And now she has managed to somehow taint or block Knox and the others’ memories of our past, and of me.

There are too many questions, too many coincidences, and they are all pointing a finger in Seria’s direction.

I glance back toward Anders, Kane, and Xander, two of the assholes wearing glares and aiming them my way. Dickheads .

I look back toward Knox and his hopeful gaze.

I don’t owe him or them anything. But some part of me, deep down, still sees the young Knox when I look at him. And right now, he looks lost and alone.

I don’t like the pain that’s settled heavily in his gaze as he stares at me. With every part of him exuding a misery that makes his shoulders drop a little lower, making him look feeble and smaller than his six-foot frame.

It all seems to be taking a toll on him, and a part of me doesn’t like seeing him like this. It reminds me of my previous life when I was alone with no one to help.

I meet his gaze and make my mind up. I don’t want to see him suffer when I might be able to help, especially if Seria had a hand in this.

Also, by helping him, maybe I could find some answers of my own about what Seria has been up to when she’d been with them. It may even lead me to a bigger clue that could help me and the guys track The Facility.

I meet his anxious eyes and nod, relief seeping from him as a gentle smile coats his lips. A familiar warmth fills his gaze as he returns my nod.

“Thank you, Micai.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I have a few things to do this week, and we should probably play it low to hide from any watchful eyes.” I gesture toward Xander, and Knox nods.

“Agreed.” A flicker of worry enters his gaze as he glances back toward his childhood friend. “He’s too far gone,” he mumbles.

“Let’s get back to it. We don’t have much longer before class finishes.”

I grip my wooden spear as his smile reappears, twisting his own spear amateurly between his hands before jabbing forward and clashing with my mine.

We move back and forth, sparring with our spears, moving from attacking to defending. Knox builds up a heavy sweat trying to keep me at bay, but I don’t feel challenged at all. On the contrary, I’ve been going easy on him, only showing him a fraction of my strength.

He’s nothing like the boys or Gadriel, and my new strength and speed would probably outdo even them now.

I’ve had a harder time trying to hold back against Knox and to not destroy my spear or his while we spar, or to injure him by accident.

I call it quits after my last hit; Knox looks like he’s going to collapse if we continue. Class is almost over anyway.

I grab him a bottle of water from the supply table and make my way back over, handing it to him before taking my spear and his to return to Gadriel.

But just as I hear the bell ring and Gadriel clap his hands, a small ringing noise echoes in my ear, getting closer.

I feel something moving in my direction, my senses heightened to a higher level ever since my awakening.

My hand whips up, catching the splintered spear just millimetres from my face while dropping my own and Knox’s to the ground.

Gadriel rushes over, calling my name as Knox rushes to my side.

I glance in the direction from which the jagged spear came and find Xander standing there with a half-destroyed wooden spear in his hand and a pissed-off glare pulling his dark brows downward.

Gadriel whips around, and before anyone else can move, he’s by Xander’s side and has the dickhead lifted three feet from the ground, holding him up roughly by his shirt.

“What the hell do you think you’re playing at?

!” Gadriel bellows into Xander’s face. Xander just blinks like a deer in headlights before Gadriel throws him to the cold field below them.

Xander’s face scrunches up with the force of the throw, pain etched across his features as he reaches for his side.

Anders steps forward hesitantly before flinching from Gadriel’s murderous glare. “He didn’t mean it. He must have just lost hold?—”

“Anyone with eyes can see that’s not the case.” Gadriel’s tone could cut steel, his eyes never leaving Xander as he takes a step toward him.

He looks like he wants to rip Xander to pieces. And I can understand more than anyone else that the dickhead has the kind of face that makes you want to do that. But Gadriel would only get into trouble with the academy for it.

“It’s fine. I’m okay.” I make my way over to Gadriel, placing my hand over his arm to stop him from taking his next step. “He’s clearly just too stupid to be able to handle a weapon properly.”

Gadriel then turns toward me, an urgency in his gaze as he traces every inch of me. A look of worry is in them as he searches me for an injury even as I stand perfectly fine right beside him.

I give him a soft smile and slight squeeze to his arm to tell him as much, and then I glare down at Xander as Kane tries— and fails —to help him up.

“Maybe next time you can find some rubber sword for him to play with in the corner?” I smirk down at the moron in question. “Since he can’t handle practice equipment properly.”

Gadriel turns toward Xander and Kane, anger bubbling in his gaze toward them.

“It’s too lenient an idea for what could have just happened to you—” He then meets my eyes, my name fading from his lips as he stares at me for another moment.

My heart picks up its pace with the look he’s giving me, one filled with genuine affection ... and maybe something deeper.

But am I seeing that right?

He sighs after a beat of silence, and I shake the thought from my head. He looks at me, truly seeing me now as safe before exhaling a fraction of the anger he was holding back.

“But one I will keep in mind.” He turns back toward Xander, who is finally standing with Anders’s and Kane’s help.

“If anything of the sort happens again in my class ...” His glare is like ice and his voice is dark and menacing, causing even a shiver to run down my spine with it. “I will personally deal with you.”

Gadriel turns to the rest of the class. “You’re all dismissed.”

Everyone starts to leave but Gadriel reaches for me, taking my hand up to inspect it.

I’m still clutching the wooden spear ... or what’s left of it.

I shake my hands out, splinters falling to the ground as Gadriel pulls my hand up and checks it for injuries. But there are no wounds or cuts on it.

Even my healing must have kicked itself up a notch ... or ten.

His brows furrow before his gaze flickers to me.

“Micai? How is this—” He then shakes his head slightly, a small sigh leaving his lips.

“You can tell me when you’re ready to.” He softly brushes the splinters from my hand and fingers, his brows relaxing a little more as each piece falls away without any wounds left behind.

The small contact sends a strange feeling sliding through my chest with its gentle touch and warmth.

He meets my gaze, his own eyes now soft and curious. “But whatever has happened or is going on, it looks like you need help controlling your strength.”

He’s right. I do need to learn how to manage these new abilities properly, especially my strength. But the abandoned training grounds is off-limits, and I can’t bring Gadriel to the guy’s home gym. So where could we go?

He must have had a similar thought as his lips part.

“The abandoned training grounds is off-limits for now, so we’ll find a new place to train. And then I’ll teach you how to control this strength of yours.”

He gently brushes his hand across mine before slowly letting it go. And my hand instantly flexes, wanting to reach out and take his hand again.

A small smile tilts Gadriel’s lips as he watches me, a familiar gleam in his eyes. “No matter what, I’m always here to help you, Micai.”