Page 18

Neith

I hate that Navy could have been through something even remotely similar to what I have gone through. In fact, if she was hinting at what I think she was and she was taken, then she has most likely been subjected to worse things than I have. It must make it so much harder that she knows or has a good idea of the pain that her brother went through. I don’t think that she will tell me any time soon, and honestly, that’s okay. She made it incredibly clear that not only did she not know anything of any importance, but that Ty was also aware, and if Ty knew something that was vital to our case with the hybrids, then he would have made sure that we knew so that we could do something about it.

I’m not worried about any of that. I’m just worried about her. Somehow, she has become my friend, and I have only spoken to her twice. I do hope that even though she isn’t going to email me any time soon, that she does text, because we can talk. I feel like she would probably like Neera too, and I think we should all get together at some point if they are both up for it.

“Is everything okay?” Ransom asks as Raiden, him, and I walk through the halls to head to our next class.

I nod, “Yeah, Navy just said some stuff, and it reminded me of some of my stuff, that’s all. I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” Raiden asks.

I nod, “Yeah. I’m good, I promise. Tell me about combat class, and what I can expect?”

They both frown slightly, clearly worried, but they must decide not to question me any further because instead, they answer my question.

“It’s pretty much the usual combat class,” Ransom starts.

“Except with supernaturals, so magic and shifting and all that,” I interrupt.

Ransom nods and smiles, “Yeah, pretty much. They will split up to spar today, and we will go around and help or correct where needed. We are also there to ensure that they don’t get too into the fight and end up hurting each other severely. We expect some injuries, but nothing excessive.”

“This is an upper-year class though, so in theory, they shouldn’t need too much from us,” Raiden adds, “although they do tend to get nervous around exam time and so start to forget shit they know.”

I nod, “Okay, it sounds interesting. Do you want me to do anything or just sit and watch? I don’t mind either way.”

“How about you observe unless you see something that you will be able to fix, and then you step in?” Raiden suggests.

I grin, “Yeah, I can absolutely do that.”

As we walk through the doors to the gym, the guys' smiles drop.

“Shit, Kylen and Rupert have the other half of the gym,” Raiden curses. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Who are they?” I ask, although I’m pretty sure I have a good idea based on their reactions.

“The leader and second of the Draconian team,” Ransom replies.

I roll my eyes, “Fabulous. Well, there is fuck all we can do about it now, they’ve seen us. The best thing we can do is carry on as we are and ignore them. I’m sure when they see just how boring I am, they aren’t going to be interested in me anymore anyway.”

The guys share a doubtful look but nod, and we continue our way into the room and toward the students who must be in the guys’ class.

I move to the back of the room, where I can hear the guys and see what is going on. It’s a lot like the class with Griff, their students obviously like and respect them although they seem a little bit cautious around Raiden, it’s not fear or dislike, so that’s a good thing too. After a while of watching both the classes I realize that their students also behave differently to the ones that are being taught on the other side of the gym, there are no smiles on the other groups faces, and the instructors are being unnecessarily harsh. They are picking up on faults that aren’t actually there and aren’t helping them to improve at all. Just criticizing.

I frown. Of course, one of the instructors looks over at me when I do this, and I just know that they’re going to cause some shit when anger and then determination flashes through his eyes.

Looking away, I keep an eye on what is going on in my peripheral vision. I watch as the instructor, who caught me frowning at them, goes up to one of the students. A guy, very well built, I think he’s a shifter of some sort as he’s partially shifted a couple of times in his fights, and he is actually a very capable fighter despite having such shit teachers, a couple of tweaks, and he would be amazing.

There appears to be a somewhat heated discussion until fear flashes in the guy's eyes, and he nods sharply.

Here it comes.

“Oi!” he yells, and I don’t look at him immediately, even though I know he is talking to me.

The guys aren’t aware what is going on yet, they’re too busy actually teaching their class.

This time, he makes his way over to me, “I don’t think it’s fair that we have an agent here who doesn’t participate. How do we know that she’s worth listening to.”

“Yeah, she should prove that she can stand up against a supe,” someone else yells.

I glance over at them and see the unease in her eyes, so someone else this idiot team has got to then.

I shrug and stand up, “Alright, I assume you mean that I spar against you?”

My easy reply seems to shock the guy, but he quickly recovers, “Yeah, let’s see what you’ve got, human.”

“Neith,” Ransom says, as he and Raiden arrive at where I am, we now have the whole gym's attention.

I look over my shoulder at them and grin, “It’s fine. You guys can’t have all the fun, can you?”

They still look worried, but they don’t say anything else.

The guy leads me over to a mat that is pretty much in the center of the room. Everyone has stopped what they are doing to watch us anyway, so I don’t think it matters where we are. A quick glance at the two instructors from the Draconian team shows that they both have satisfied little smirks on their faces. I know what they’re hoping will happen. They’re hoping that this student is going to beat me spectacularly and make me look weak and not worthy of being an agent in front of everyone here.

The student’s eyes hold an apology, and I feel really bad that he has been forced into this, and it is definitely something that I will be bringing up with Ty later. The Draconian team should not be able to do this to their students.

“Fight!” the one that I think Raiden said was the leader yells.

I have already seen him fight, so I don’t need to observe him to see how he fights and where his weaknesses are. He starts off taking it pretty easy, clearly worried about hurting me, which is really sweet, actually, and then a throat clearing from the sidelines and a warning look has him upping his game. His eyes fill with clear shock as I easily match him, not taking any hits but managing to land some. When I see my opportunity, I swiftly take him down, flipping the big fucker over my shoulder and making him land on the mat with a thump.

Standing up, once he has conceded, I reach my hand down, and he takes it cautiously.

“You drop your guard on your right side, and you tend to do the same sequence,” I say. “If you’re up against someone who can study your fighting style in a simple glance, then that’s going to get you in trouble.”

The guy looks momentarily surprised but nods and then surprises me when he asks, “Can you show me that combination that you did that included that kick?”

I smile, which also seems to surprise him, and I nod, “Sure, so what you want to do is first have your hands up here. Remember not to drop your guard when you dip down.”

He nods and I carry on talking him through the sequence and notice that there are some other students that are listening and copying as well. When I’m sure that he’s got it, we start to practice against each other instead, taking it slowly and then picking up speed as he gets more confidence.

“Thanks, that was awesome,” he grins. “Could you show me how you blocked it?”

I nod, “Yeah, so if you do the sequence slowly, I’ll show you how I block each move. Then we can break it down if you need to and practice each individual step so that it's easier, or if you feel like you have it, we’ll switch places, and I’ll attack instead.”

“Enough!” one of the other instructor’s yells, the guy that I was teaching grimaces, and I wink at him, smirking as I turn around.

“Yes?” I say, my eyebrow raising.

Anger flashes through his eyes, and the voices mutter in warning. Yeah, this guy is dark on a level that goes beyond a simple bully.

“It’s pathetic that you think that you can actually help him,” Kylen, I think he’s called, says to me.

The guy standing next to me shakes his head, gaining my attention and I look at him in time to see him roll his eyes, he glances down at me and smiles.

“Thank you for helping me,” smirking, he adds, “if you decide to teach a combat class let me know, I’d like to be involved.”

“Of course you would. A pretty piece of ass is enough incentive for most,” Kylen sneers.

“Watch it,” Raiden snaps, his magic growing in response to his anger.

Ransom’s magic is right along with him, and the glare on his face is just as severe. It’s really sweet that they’re so offended for me, but this really is nothing, I glance back at them so that only they can see me and wink, my smile wide. Their eyes widen slightly, but they seem to understand that I’m okay and the dickhead hasn’t offended me.

Kylen and the other one, share a look and chuckle as Kylen says, “Aw, poor little girl can’t handle a bit of banter.”

I grin, “Banter is supposed to be funny. That wasn’t banter. If that’s what you were going for, you need some serious practice.”

My reply has the surrounding students snickering and Kylen’s expression darkening even more.

“Is that so?” he asks.

I frown, “Look, I think I’ve proven that I am quite capable of being an agent, even though I’m human, and I have even shown that I am capable of helping the students as well. So, I think we should all return to the classes that we are supposed to be teaching.”

He smirks, “Of course, you were able to win against a student. That doesn’t prove anything.”

I sigh, somehow, I just knew that he was going to do this. He is trying to prove something, and he’s not going to stop until he proves it.

I shrug, “Alright, I’ll spar against you, will that stop this ridiculous bullshit?” I ask, “You do realize that I’m a woman, right? I don’t actually have a dick that we can measure and compare,” I allow my eyes to run up and down him, “although I think mine still might be bigger.”

“Oh, shit,” someone surrounding us says with a laugh as everyone else bursts out laughing.

“Neith,” Raiden groans.

I admit that might have been a little bit more antagonistic than it was meant to be, but I don’t like him.

“You won’t be laughing for long,” he threatens. “I won’t stoop so low as to fight against a filthy human.”

So, he’s one of them. He thinks that all humans are below supernaturals and should, therefore, be owned by them.

My smile is vicious, “Are you sure? I would love to make you bleed.”

His eyes flash with malice, but surprisingly, he doesn’t rise to the challenge. Instead, he simply smiles, “Grunt will be here momentarily. We will see how you fair against him.”

The crowd becomes uneasy, muttering and looking uncomfortable. They look frightened, and I know that whoever this Grunt is, they aren’t going to be an easy opponent.

“Fuck,” Raiden mutters, he grabs me by the hand and pulls me over to him. “Neith, he isn’t fucking around.”

“Tell me about him?” I ask.

“It’s really complicated,” Ransom replies. “He’s really fucking strong and an asshole. You know how you think that Griff never smiles? Well, the only expression he’s capable of is deadly anger.”

“He didn’t used to be that way,” Raiden says a sadness in his expression that tells me that at some point they must have been close.

“Ah, here he is now,” Kylen says, clearly pleased with himself.

My gaze moves to the doors as they swing open.

The man who walks through the doors with confidence is covered in scars and a dark frown, making his angular features more extreme. As his deadly presence fills the room, everyone moves away, fear becoming a palpable heaviness in the air. Everyone here is absolutely terrified of him.

Then his eyes find me, emerald green and ones that I have stared into a thousand times. Shock, then happiness briefly fills his eyes before they are quickly filled with warning, and a slight tilt of his head.

Coen.

I know Coen well enough to know that he’s warning me that I shouldn’t say anything. I shouldn’t let on that I know him. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to question him. I trust this man with my life.

When he reaches where I am standing, still on the mat and with my guys on one side and Kylen and the other fucker on the other side, Coen’s expression becomes impossibly darker.

He looks at a grinning Kylen and barks, “What?”

Anger once again sparks in Kylen’s eyes but he gestures to me, “I thought you could test out the newest recruit.”

“Agent,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I don’t think that is necessary,” Coen replies, and his response is clearly a shock to Kylen, “she’s an agent. Ty wouldn’t have hired her if she couldn’t do her job.”

“I don’t think you heard me,” Kylen says, a threat and something else, something darker threading through his voice as he repeats, “test out the new recruit.”

Fury sparks in Coen’s eyes, his scarred hands clenching tightly, panic fills his expression, as his eyes shift into his dragon and scales ripple along on his arms before settling again.

Something is very, very fucking wrong.

Coen and I have sparred hundreds of times. He is actually the dragon that I was telling Griff about earlier, the one that I haven’t seen for far too long, and who was the expert flier. We kind of sort of had an ongoing thing that couldn’t go anywhere because he’s a dragon, and I am or was a human. We developed a really strong fucking friendship.

There is no conceivable reason that he should be looking so fucking worried about sparring against me.

Kylen’s eyes light up, “Oh, well isn’t that interesting.” He leans closer to Coen, that same darkness threading through his voice as he repeats, “I said, fight.”

Something in Coen snaps, and he charges me as Kylen laughs manically. I dodge and dive, blocking hits and returning some as well, but it doesn’t take me very long to realize that this isn’t a normal sparring session. His eyes are anguished, as he partially shifts his hands into claws and swipes out. I’m not expecting it, and I barely manage to move out of the way in time, receiving three slices along the top of my arm. Coen growls, but it’s not in anger at me.

What the fuck is happening.

I up my game and start to treat it like a real fight, because Coen is fighting me like he wants to cause some serious damage and not like he is sparring. The longer that we fight the more distressed that he gets and the more convinced I am that something is wrong. Suddenly, he does a move that we have practiced hundreds of times, it ends up with my back to his chest. He spent a long time teaching me how to get out of this.

“Love, you’re going to have to knock me out, I can’t fucking stop,” the warning and desperation is evident in his raspy voice, and I frown heavily.

“I’ve got you,” I mutter.

I flip him over the top of me, but instead of following him down, which is what I would usually do, I stay up and wait for him to get to his feet. We exchange hits for a few moments longer before I spot my opportunity. I run and jump launching myself higher in the air than I should be able to and then connecting my foot to his temple, he goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Silence reigns around me as everyone just stares in shock.