Page 38 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

To my surprise, they did place me back on my feet, and I rubbed my arms. Not that they’d hurt me, but their energy was strong enough to leave an invisible residue behind. “That was completely unnecessary.” I straightened my uniform. “But you’ve made your point. We’re training. What’s first?”

“First, you’re coming to the gym with us. You can eat after you work out.”

Logan strode off, and I fought down my next argument. I needed this shit over so I could get to the library and find that

book. Noah lifted an eyebrow, remaining behind me as a living cage, and I wrinkled my nose at him. “Your master left. Hope

you’re not on a choke chain.”

My aim was to create a little dissonance between them, but Noah just threw his head back and laughed. “Move your ass. This

dog bites.”

I bet he did.

He trailed me all the way to the gym, and I debated throwing myself into the lake on the way just to get out of this. It wasn’t

that I was an unfit person—I’d been in modern dancing, ice skating, and roller-skating for years—but I hated the gym. Lifting

weights looked horrific, and why the Hel would I run unless I was being chased?

Inside, they led me to the female locker room, and apparently I had my own locker, filled with brand-new sweats and a sports

bra. All in my size. Because that wasn’t creepy.

Back in the weights room, surrounded by equipment that I couldn’t name under the threat of death, I was tortured by two assholes.

Logan and Noah took turns working out and barking orders at me, handing me weight after weight, all the while counting reps

of suffering. Most of my time was spent breathing, internally crying, and imagining all the ways I’d destroy them when I figured

out my powers.

“For you to be strong enough to handle your powers, you need to be physically stronger,” Logan barked at me, while Noah bench-pressed

the equivalent of a small car nearby.

“There’s literally no evidence of that,” I huffed as my arm shook. “I might be a nature sprite, and need to be gentle.”

Logan shook his head. “Do you even pay attention in class? All affinities are built from a similar source of power. From the

magic of our ancestors, the world around us, and the dead realms. How it emerges from our bodies depends on genetics and fate,

but all of us need the same strengths. Even the sprites, gentle as they may be, are strong enough to call the wild creatures.”

Fucker. I hated when he made sense. I preferred to argue with him. Us agreeing went against the laws of the very nature we drew power

from.

When they were satisfied that the physical torture was complete for the day, he gave me ten minutes for water and a sandwich,

but my stomach was churning, and I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite. “You need to eat, Precious,” Logan said, demolishing

his three sandwiches. Noah had four.

I leveled him with my best glare, hoping I wasn’t as green as I felt. “Should have thought of that before you made me do burpees.

I think I’d prefer you to bring the monsters back to kill me next time.”

His eyes flashed mossy, but he didn’t say anything as he nudged the plate toward me. I managed two bites before we moved on

to the next part of the training: affinities. One by one, he used his power to draw out mine, as he’d done those months ago

in spellcaster lessons.

It worked too. When his energy drew on mine, I could touch all the elements strongly. I went from a small puff of air that

blew out a candle, to a tornado that almost took out the wall in the sparring room. Logan and Noah got that fixed up, and

then we moved on.

“How the Hel do you do this to my power?” I held a large ball of fire in my hand.

Logan withdrew his energy and I watched the flame die down into a flicker. Without the key, the magic was dulled. My new aim for the week was to find a key that wasn’t Logan Kingston.

“I don’t get it,” I said, slumping to the padded mats with a groan. The weights were an hour of torture, but the affinity

lessons might have been even worse. “Have you ever heard of another who needed this sort of key to unlock their power?”

Logan and Noah stood over me, looking as if they could train for the rest of the day and not break a sweat. If I hadn’t been

completely destroyed, I’d be embarrassed by my general lack of stamina and muscles.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Noah said with a shrug. “But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before. It might not be common,

but it also isn’t impossible. You’re living proof.”

Logan crouched down until we were eye level. “You’re a puzzle,” he said. “You were when you were four, and you remain so now.

Don’t expect to fit in the same slot as everyone else.” He straightened abruptly, and I refused to admit that I missed the

heat of his energy. “But you’re also woefully underdeveloped in magic and muscle. You need to strengthen every part of yourself.

Training again on Wednesday, don’t make us track you down.”

As they strolled off and left me a sweaty puddle, I knew that if I tried to get out of this again, the next time, I wouldn’t

be escorted quite so politely.