by K. G. Reuss
“There are worse things in the world than getting punched in the face,” I said evenly. “So, if you’re going to go out there and take it easy on me, then I’ll just walk off this field right now and go home. I don’t want pity. Or sympathy. Or sorrow. Raiden hates me. At least give your general a good show.”
“You’re impossible.” Eric sighed, snagging the sword he’d been fingering and then throwing daggers. “But I understand. Good luck, Ever.”
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing a pair of sais, weapons that were three pronged and close range. They were my favorite when I sparred with Dylan. I decided not to go with a secondary weapon. I figured if it was bad enough that I needed to pull out another weapon then I may as well forfeit.
Murmurings sounded all around as I walked back to the center of the field with my sais and nothing else. Eric cocked at eyebrow at me, probably wondering if I’d lost my mind. I looked past him. Raiden was standing beside Damien, a look of confusion on his face. Apparently, they all thought I was nuts. Wouldn’t be the first time someone thought that about me.
Brighton looked at each of us quickly, and we both nodded. He stepped back, his voice booming.
“Begin!”
Twelve
Raiden
I stood on the sidelines, utterly confused about why Ever would only grab the sais or why she’d even grab them at all. They were a weapon which required more experience than I knew she had.
Fin.
I ground my teeth as my mother’s old nickname for me crept into my mind in Ever’s voice. Her saying it had sent me careening back to my childhood, all the agony at missing my mother and the reason why accompanying it. I knew she didn’t know a damn thing past the name, but it had been enough.
Ever’s eyes met mine, causing my heart to ache. She was strong, but her pain was written clearly in her eyes. I’d hurt her, something I hadn’t ever intended on doing. All this time, I’d been trying to keep my distance from her, but I kept getting pulled in, like in the courtyard with her panic attack. The flutter in my chest turned into boiling heat, causing me to go to her right away. I’d been a real jerk to her earlier. The moment the words left my mouth, I’d regretted them. In that moment, all the memories of my mother and why she was taken from me hit me full force, and I’d reacted poorly. Now, staring out at Ever’s sad face, feeling the slight roll of despair from her, I wanted to kick my own ass.
But she’d hit a nerve. In fact, she’d downright scared me. I hadn’t expected her reaction when I went to test her abilities. They’d swopped in on me too, making me feel like I was walking through a static jungle. It was typically fairly easy for me to gauge what a Special was by resting my hands on theirs during a pinning ceremony. With her, it had been something else entirely. For one, a whisperer hadn’t been born in centuries, so I didn’t have any experience with her sort of gifts. The moment I moved to test them, to feel them, I was hit with that jolt of electricity.
“How gentle do you think Eric is going to be?” Damien chortled beside me, his arms folded over his chest.
“Are you kidding? I bet he lets her win.” Brandon snorted.
“Nah, I think he’ll play around with her a bit, see where she sits as far as training goes before he puts an end to it. Seems like something Eric would do,” Adam stated with a nod of his head.
“Personally, I hope Ever trips and falls on his sword,” Amara’s snarky voice bit out. I ground my teeth and shot her a warning look. She only reacted by smiling sweetly at me.
Turning my attention back to the field, I watched as Eric began to circle Ever. I thought she’d move. Instead, she stood still in the center, the weapons in her hands by her sides. It was clear Eric wasn’t sure how to react to that. He was a good guy and wouldn’t want to hurt her. My heart jumped into my throat as her green eyes locked on mine. Her bottom lip quivered as a strange look swept across her face. Her eyes closed. She pulled in a deep breath.
Eric lunged forward. Ever blocked his first strike. His second. His third. He struck her in the face on the fourth when she faltered, knocking her sideways. Regret flashed in his eyes immediately. Her lip was cut and bleeding. He pulled back, something he’d never done before. One thing about Eric, he was a damn good fighter and never showed leniency to anyone. That just wasn’t who he was. But out there on the field with Ever, he wasn’t dishing it out. I watched as he circled her again. He moved to attack once more. This time she knocked the sword from his hands with her sais causing an excited yell to erupt from the crowd.
I thought he’d tear after her again. But he only cast her a smile before moving toward her. She dropped her weapons, matching him in hand to hand, blocking his hits effectively. She actually looked like she knew what she was doing as she whipped and twirled around him.
Ever backflipped away from him, and everyone drew in a surprised breath as the two fighters started to really move with one another.
“Wow,” Damien murmured. “She’s not bad.”
“It’s like they’re dancing,” Sloane added in awe. “Look at them.”
And she was right. The way they moved together, flipping away, doing spin kicks, blocking one another, was almost like a choreographed dance.
Ever did a backbend, narrowly missing getting struck with one of Eric’s kicks. My heart was in my throat when Eric reached for his throwing knives.
“Holy… you think he’s going to—” Adam didn’t get to finish his sentence because Eric released the knife, and it soared toward Ever. I almost rushed the field. In fact, I even took a step forward before Damien’s hand came out to stop me. I stared in horror as the knife flew end over end toward Ever. The shocked breath which left my body as she launched herself in the air into a magnificent spinning kick was echoed by everyone else watching. Her foot connected with the knife as she kicked it back at Eric. He ducked just in time before it could nail him in the chest. Shocked gasps left the crowd. I stared wide-eyed and in utter shock as I watched Ever land on her feet like a cat, her body braced for Eric’s next move.
Eric grinned widely at her, clearly surprised but pleased, and rushed at her again. And just when I thought things were going to really pick up, she did a backflip and dropped to her knees in front of him, defenseless. He pulled his hit, his hand extended to her instead.
She placed her hand in his, and that was it. She’d given up.
“Wow,” Adam commented. “She lasted longer than anyone else today. She’s pretty incredible.”
“Anyone else get the feeling that our girl was holding back more than Eric was?” Chloe asked. “She has moves. She just didn’t show them. Except for that knife kick. That was pretty spectacular. I’m not even sure I could’ve done that.”
I nodded. Chloe was right. Ever moved too gracefully, too formally trained to not know what she was doing. Her kick had been truly amazing. I would’ve never expected it from her.
“All I know is she looks damn good in that gear,” Jared said with a chuckle, eyeing her in her all white attire. “Don’t you think, Gen?”
Damien let out a snort of wild laughter as I scowled at Jared.
“Don’t worry. Eric will have it off her in a week,” Amara cut in, making my glower deepen. “He’s already playing favorites with her. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Amara,” I growled.
“It’s true.” She shrugged. “I hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
I turned back to the field, no longer interested in anything Amara had to say. She was still bitter about me not wanting to marry her. Eric had helped Ever to her feet by then. I watched as he leaned in close to her and said something in her ear that made her smile. The breath in my lungs caught, desperate to know what he’d said to make her face light up.
“Probably telling her he’ll meet her in her bedroom tonight,” Amara’s sickly-sweet voice said softly beside me.
“He knows the rules,” I returned, without looking at her.
“Sure, he does.” Amara patted my arm, patronizingly.
“But this is different. He likes her.”
I flinched at her words. I knew he liked her. That was why I chose him to do this. And he knew the rules too. Friends only. He’d promised. Eric had never broken a promise to me before. I had faith he wouldn’t start now.
“Wow, Craft, way to be a gentleman,” Brandon teased as Eric joined us.
Jared slapped him on the back, laughing.
“She’s actually not bad,” Eric stated. “Did you see that knife trick? It was amazing. I think once she’s trained, she might actually be a force to be reckoned with.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’ll be the one reckoning with her.” Amara smirked at Eric. He looked away from her, his mouth turned down in a frown. His eyes found Ever across the grounds. I followed his gaze. Ever was talking to one of the new guys. Eric shook his head and focused on me.
“She’s going to be good. That minor training Brighton mentioned had to be a bit more than that.”
“Or she’s psychic.” Adam snickered at his own joke. Damien rolled his eyes.
“I’m actually glad you didn’t kick her ass too hard. Gen here was about to have a heart attack,” Damien said, clapping Eric on the back.
Eric shot me a look which I returned with a shake of my head.
“What did you say to her?” I asked, the need to know overwhelming me. Eric looked at me confused.
“When you were done and pulled her in, you said something to her that made her smile. What was it?”
“Oh.” Eric let out a chuckle. “She told me to not go easy on her when we were picking our weapons. I had a feeling she went easy on me on the field, so I called her on it. She held back. I know she did.”
I nodded. We all thought the same thing too.
“Anyone you’re looking at in particular?” Brighton interrupted, coming up to us. Sloane looked down to her clipboard.
“I don’t know. That Mason guy looks good—”
“Yeah he does,” Chloe and Amanda giggled. Sloane grinned as us guys rolled our eyes.
“Yes, Mason looks promising,” I said, turning back to Brighton.
“And Ever—” Brighton started, but I cut him off.
“Never happening, Headmaster.”
“I know, General. I was going to ask if you were able to gauge her abilities. You stormed off before we had an answer. It’s time for the pinning ceremony, and we don’t know which faction she’s meant for.”
“Oh,” I answered dully. Of course. I had stormed off after what she’d said. Fin. The name my mother called me. Hearing it again after all these years made the backs of my eyes burn. “Psychic.”
“But she’s able to cast. Although minor—”
I cut Brighton off again, “Psychic, Headmaster. Psychic caster. She could perhaps take a few caster courses like we offer others. There are weres and vamps who take them. It wouldn’t be unheard of to allow her in a few.”
“True.” Brighton nodded thoughtfully before his silver eyes found mine. “And Conexus?”
“Never—”
“Mr. Craft, how do you think she did?” Brighton turned away from me and focused on Eric.
“I think she’s good. She was holding back.” he frowned. “I think she was only going through the motions just to get it over with. Had she actually put in more effort, I think she’d have surprised us even further. And… Sorry, Gen… I think she’d probably be an asset to Conexus. Her psychic abilities are obviously starting to work.”
“And she’s a whisperer,” Sloane added, glancing at me. I was grinding my teeth as I started at my friends. “Sorry, Gen. We’re fighting a war against some nasty, dark creatures. They want her. We had this discussion. She’d be an asset.”
“Right now, perhaps,” I snapped. “But what would we do with her once she wasn’t needed? The only way out of Conexus is death.”
“Then maybe she’ll die,” Amara joined in, shrugging like Ever’s death didn’t mean a damn thing to her.
“I don’t think this needs to be decided now,” Damien intervened, moving to stand between me and Amara. “For now, Gen says psychic faction, and Eric has been assigned as her trainer. Let’s just start there and see where it takes us.”
“Very well,” Brighton sighed, casting me a look that clearly said I was nuts for not wanting her. “General, might I recommend at least apologizing to her for your outburst earlier? It was uncalled for.”
I didn’t answer him. I knew it was uncalled for. Instead, I looked across the field to find Ever was staring in our direction. Only she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at Eric. When I glanced over my shoulder, he was staring back at her with a tiny smile on his face.
Something about his smile was unsettling. But I pushed those worries away. Eric would never cross that line.
Thirteen
Everly
“Psychic faction! Hell yeah!” Jason high-fived me as he took in my green and gold pin. “And way to keep up with Craft. That was incredible.”
“It was,” Harper agreed, grinning at me. “It was also really hot. And he’s going to be your trainer.”
Abby giggled.
“What?” I frowned at her as we strolled back to the courtyard. We got a long weekend since the ceremony lasted for the entire school day. Evening. Whatever. I was starving.
“It’s obvious you two have a thing for one another,” Harper stated knowingly. “He held back on you too. That’s another sign. Eric Craft doesn’t hold back. None of Conexus do. So yeah… He wants you.”
“No, he doesn’t!” I exclaimed, heat flooding my face. Abby chuckled again and shot a knowing look at Harper.
“That boy wants you. It’s like a story of star-crossed lovers. He can’t be with you because of Conexus. But that doesn’t mean he can’t play a little rough with you during training.” Abby waggled her brows at me.
I frowned. If he was Shadow, then it was true. He could never be with me. Maybe that was why Shadow stopped coming. He knew we couldn’t be anything more. Maybe it was why Eric denied he was him.
“Are you really not coming to The Limits?” Jason asked, pulling me out of my sad thoughts.
“Uh…” I started as we sat down.
“You have to come!” Abby pleaded. “Everyone’s going to be there. We need to celebrate. We all have dates. It’s not too late for you to bring someone. It’s the back to school dance. We do karaoke and play games. It’s going to be so awesome.”
“You do?” I frowned. “Have dates?”
“Yeah, I’m going with the new guy, Bryce. Abby’s going with Devin Santos, a fellow caster. And Jason’s taking Skylar Davenport. She’s in your faction.”
“Sorry, Ever. I didn’t think you wanted to go,” Jason apologized. “So, I asked Sky instead.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s totally fine.”
“It’s cool if you go stag, Ever. Lots of people do it. Besides, it keeps your options open,” Abby added.
“Nevron doesn’t have a date,” Jason supplied, his eyes darting to Harper quickly. A look passed between the two of them that I couldn’t decipher. “I can ask him if he’d want to go with you.”
Nevron Blackburn. The vampire. Uh, no thanks.
Before I could answer, a dark shadow loomed over me. Abby and Harper both gave frightened yelps.
“Ever,” Eric greeted me.
“H-hey, Eric,” I returned, staring up at him. He looked uncomfortable. I assumed he was there on training business.
“What’s up?” he asked awkwardly. I shot a confused look at my friends who were staring back at me, just as confused. He wasn’t supposed to be associating with us.
“Nothing.”
“We were talking about getting Ever a date to The Limits tomorrow night,” Harper stated suddenly, her voice wavering. “Maybe Nev.” Eric’s brows shot up before he looked over at me.
“You’re going to The Limits?”
“I hadn’t decided. I don’t have a date—”
“I’ll take you,” he blurted be
fore I could finish. I gaped up at him with wide eyes.
“Y-you want to take me?”
“Yes.” He nodded, his blue-eyed gaze fixed on me. “Will you go to The Limits with me tomorrow?”
“I-I-I guess so,” I stammered. Was Eric asking me on a date?
“It’s a date,” he confirmed with a curt nod. “I’ll see you at eight tomorrow night.”
“OK,” I squeaked, watching as he turned away.
“Oh, and Ever.” He turned back to me. “I have a message for you.”
I raised my eyebrows at him, waiting for him to speak.
“General Hawthorne sends his apologies for his outburst at the ceremony. He wanted you to know that you simply took him by surprise. Enjoy your dinner.”
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me with my mouth hanging open. Raiden Hawthorne had apologized? Not personally, but he’d sent Eric to do it for him. I guess that was something. Didn’t make me want to kick him any less though.
Fourteen
Raiden
“Where are you going?” Damien asked as I fastened my cloak.
“I need to see the Order. They aren’t replying to my fire messages about getting into the archives.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Where’s Eric? I could really use him on this.”
“No clue,” Damien replied. He opened his mouth to say more, but Eric’s appearance in my office stopped him. Eric was dressed in solid black. It wasn’t his uniform. Black pants. Black button-down shirt. A pair of black chucks on his feet, a bouquet of red flowers in his hands.
“What the hell are you doing?” Damien eyed him. “You bringing Gen flowers now?”
“No.” Eric’s face reddened slightly. “I’m taking Ever out tonight.”
“What!” I nearly shouted at the same time Damien did. Eric fidgeted beneath my stare before clearing his throat.
“Tonight is the meet and greet dance the student council is throwing at The Limits. Ever didn’t have a date, and the girls were going to see if Nev would take her. So, I asked her. Besides, you told me to do it anyway. This was just the push, I guess.”
