by Emma Dean
“You know, if he wasn’t here on Council orders I think I’d like him,” Audrey muttered. “He’s got that rakish asshole thing going on and it works for him.”
Mika didn’t respond – she didn’t want Corbin hearing her give him even a backhanded compliment – but she agreed with Audrey completely.
7
Her first two classes had gone by quickly. The break between her morning classes and her hunting class had been spent eating and reading. There was a way to talk to those trees and Mika fully planned on figuring it out before the spring semester was over.
Corbin was a silent shadow but when she headed to the training center he seemed to perk up ever so slightly.
Mika glared at him as she entered the locker room, silently reminding him of her threat from the night before. She wouldn’t hesitate to hex him if she caught him spying on her in the bathroom. Even having him sleeping in the room next to her and Audrey’s was too much.
He could hear everything.
And Mika had no idea how she was going to be able to do…anything with Ethan again. Hopefully the Council would decide she was just a normal witch and she only had to suffer until the end of the semester.
Mika came out in her workout clothes, adjusting the guards on her arms. Professor Bartholomew treated her like every other hunter in his class now. But every class she still felt like she had to prove that she belonged.
There was a caw behind her and then suddenly the flapping of wings became silent steps. Mika could feel Corbin looming behind her.
“I have to say I’m intrigued,” he said, clearly getting ready to try and rile her up once again. “Ethan doesn’t really seem like your type, and then there’s the whole part of that where he’s totally cool with Malachi – even asking you out before the big captain! – and now this Lucien…who will Lucien be? I am very interested in this little melodrama you have going on.”
“Jealous?” Mika asked, pushing the doors to the training room, one of many. This one was mostly used for weapons. “Trying to find your place in my heart, Corbin?”
“You assume I care,” he drawled. “It’s nothing more than watching a soap opera.”
“If you don’t care, then perhaps you should mind your own fucking business and observe silently.” There he was. Mika caught that deep black, shoulder-length hair that always seemed to get in his face.
Lucien was even wearing leather pants – why did he always have to look like some kind of Korean sex god rockstar?
“Little witch!” Lucien even smiled, holding his arms wide to hug her as she approached.
It was most definitely for show. Lucien didn’t usually show his affection so blatantly, but those golden-brown eyes twinkled as he glanced at Corbin only once.
“Lucien,” Mika breathed, taking advantage of his ridiculousness to actually hug him. The smell of leather reminded her of the night he’d saved her from hypothermia. She hugged him tight and then kissed him on the cheek before pulling away. “Are you ready to get your ass handed to you?”
“Only if you let me grab yours,” Lucien smirked.
They stared at each other for a moment, and Mika wished she could tell him everything she wanted to say, all the words ready to leap from her tongue. She wanted to tell him about her grandmother, and the box. She wanted to tell him everything.
Her breathing hitched as that feeling of being suffocated wrapped around her like a thick blanket underwater. Mika had successfully shoved it all back when it had been just her and Audrey and Corbin.
But now that everyone was back and things were moving forward as they ought to, she felt that crushing weight and this time she couldn’t ignore it. It was almost as bad as it had been during the years she’d had to hide what had happened to her, what she had done, and everything that meant.
Lucien’s gaze sharpened as he studied her, no doubt taking in every tiny detail only a shifter could.
Then without a word he took her hand and pulled her toward him slowly. Mika didn’t even bother resisting. For the first time in her life she felt like she wouldn’t survive without this lifeline between her and Ethan and Lucien – made all the more obvious by the presence of an assassin.
Their touch was the only real communication they could have at the moment – the only meaningful communication.
Her heart was pounding as that adrenaline started pouring into her veins and Mika instantly released Lucien, scared to hurt him. It wasn’t easy telling her body there was no real threat – that the suffocation was all in her head, that it couldn’t actually physically hurt her.
“Just take a deep breath,” Lucien murmured, holding his hands up in surrender. “When you’re ready, I’m here.”
Mika glanced over at Corbin, who was watching them closely from his seat on the bleachers. She knew he could hear them, she knew he was reading into every small thing she said or did.
“You left again,” she said instead. “You didn’t even say goodbye in person – you texted me.”
She’d managed to hold it together for an entire week, and now that they were back she was losing it a little – realizing just how much she relied on the two of them.
“I had to get you a present,” Lucien said carefully, slipping his hands into his pockets as more students started filing into the training center. “But if you want me to tell you every time I come and go, I will.”
He tilted his head slightly and she knew what he was really asking. Did she want to take their relationship to the next level?
Mika shrugged, trying to make it seem like she didn’t care either way, shoving down that panic as deeply as she could. “If that’s something you want.”
She turned and walked toward the wall with all the weapons on it. She’d given up using her own practice sword for the flexibility all hunters were required to learn. They had to be able to use any weapon available to them.
Her favorite was the double-bladed sword that was still light enough she could use it with one hand. She selected that one and hefted it in her right hand, then tossed it into her left. She needed to practice with her left more.
Just like Kenzie, she was left-handed, a lot of witches were, but she’d spent most of her time training with her right.
“I know we only went on that one date,” Lucien said beside her. “But I wasn’t sure what you wanted.”
“Breaking and entering isn’t a date,” Mika snapped. She practically bit her tongue off in annoyance that she’d managed to let something slip. Mika glanced at the raven and hoped he wouldn’t ask about it. Lucien could rile her up like no one else. He was the only one that could get her irritated enough to say things out loud that she shouldn’t.
Lucien chuckled and selected his usual sword, heavy and long. It was brutal to fight against. “Maybe we should rectify that.”
“Which part?” Mika asked. She headed toward their usual circle and dropped into a fighting stance.
“Well, dangerous things get the juices flowing,” Lucien teased.
Mika held up her sword in a defensive position and gave him a nod that she was ready. The familiarity and discipline was like cool ice in her veins, calming the fear and panic like a soothing cloth, just like it had with her burning hands. “Like that night in the ice water of the fountain.”
Lucien glared at her. “No, not like that.” Then he attacked.
Mika dodged instead of parrying, making sure to stay light on her toes. “Really? Why not?”
“Because you almost died!” Lucien hissed, pressing the attack.
It made him sloppy and Mika spun inside his guard, tapping his belly with the flat edge of her sword as she went by. Then she crouched again, ready for his next attack. “That didn’t get your juices flowing?”
Lucien narrowed his eyes at her – still a very normal golden-brown. “Clever, little witch.”
Mika actually smiled at him, feeling the rest of the weight lift. Even though Corbin severely limited what she could and couldn’t do, she had her friends—her…boy
friends.
It was so weird to put it into those exact words, even in the privacy of her own thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mika said as innocently as she could before she attacked him.
They were silent for a few moments as they both concentrated on the fight. Lucien would always be faster and stronger than her, but she could learn his weaknesses and she could agitate him so he would mess up.
The clang of their blades helped her focus sharpen and Mika ignored everything else but the fight, pushing her body and the hard-earned muscles as far as they would go, forcing herself to be faster.
When Lucien caught her blade against his and tried to press his advantage, Mika dropped the sword and caught it with her right hand – refusing to make the same mistake she had the first time they’d sparred.
And just like that she spun and took the advantage – the tip of her sword pressed to his back, ready to skewer his heart through his ribs. If he were an enemy.
Lucien laughed. “I yield.” Then he turned and his eyes were flashing, not quite gold, but the amusement there warmed them and he wrapped her up in a bear hug. “I missed you too, little witch. I’m sorry about your grandmother, about leaving without a proper goodbye.”
The exercise made it feel like she could breathe again. She hugged Lucien back, breathing in the smell of tea and leather. “Thank you,” she murmured into his shoulder. She’d needed this.
Stepping back, she gave the fox a slight smile and tossed her sword back to her left hand, ready to work the rest of her anxiety off.
“Nice improvement, Mika! I want to see more of you challenging yourself with your non-dominant!” Bartholomew shouted as he entered the room.
He had them all nicely trained. Pairs stopped sparring and turned to face the professor. If he ever caught them lazing about in here, they all had to run sprints, even before class officially started.
“I want to switch it up today,” Bartholomew told them, crossing his arms over his massive chest. He was definitely a born hunter. “Pick a weapon you’ve never trained with before.”
Mika eyed her favorite sword, whipping it through the air a little to test her muscles. She wasn’t exhausted, but dodgeball practice the night before hadn’t helped. Something two-handed would probably be best for this.
So, she went to the wall with the rest of the students, Lucien pressed against her side like he always did – herding her in the direction he preferred. It used to bother her, but now Mika found comfort in it.
She put the sword back and eyed the wall. The ax seemed like a terrible idea. Swinging that around would make her incredibly slow. And she didn’t have the strength to compete with any of the other students.
Speed was all she had, and even that was only useful if she was clever.
Mika selected the spear. It wasn’t something she would ever use, but it had a blade on one end. Using it more as a staff than a spear would work well for her. Stepping back, she twirled it around, whipping it through the air and across her body to get a sense of the weight and feel.
The blade at the end was heavy, making it unbalanced. She had to hold it closer to that end than she would prefer for better balance, and that made the other end longer. Readjusting so that her hands were back in the center, Mika decided that adjusting for the extra weight would be easier than adjusting for the extra length on one side, leaving the other vulnerable.
“Now, I want you to fight the person you were when I came in, regardless of the weapon in their hand.”
Mika looked up and saw Lucien had something she didn’t know the name of.
There was a metal ball at the end of a chain and it had circles on it that looked like they were spikes once, dulled just like the blade at the tip of her spear.
“This will be interesting,” Lucien said, quirking an eyebrow at her.
Glancing up at the bleachers again she could see Corbin leaning forward, arms propped on his knees as he watched with obvious interest. His eyes were still green at least. She wondered what he thought about all this on a professional level.
Morgana was supposed to produce the most skilled hunters after all – and a lot of them went after ravens at some point or another.
“Take your positions!” Bartholomew bellowed as he made the rounds.
Mika stepped into their sparring circle and whipped the spear around her body again. Too bad magic wasn’t allowed in these classes – there was a whole other set of classes for witches training as hunters.
Maybe she should take a few next semester.
“Care to place a wager?” Lucien asked, wrapping the chain around his arm.
Mika slammed the butt of the staff into the ground and placed her left arm behind her back. “Depends on the wager.”
Lucien gave her that vulpine grin, exposing the sharp points of his teeth, but still his eyes remained brown. “I wager I’ll have you on your back begging. Should we pick a safe word?”
A delicious shiver ran down her spine and Mika had to swallow. How Lucien could make everything so sexual…
“And I wager that I’ll have you by the balls before you can. What’s the prize?”
That grin of his grew wider. “Winner gets a full body massage.”
Mika actually grinned back at that. She loved that these games were never serious – that Lucien loved the game more than the prize. To him, he won even if he lost because his hands would be on her…
She shivered again and shoved back that mental picture.
“Begin!”
8
That metal ball flew past her face fast enough she could hear it. Mika just barely managed to step aside in time, trying not to think about how much it would hurt if that had connected.
She brought up the spear to tangle with the chain and yanked upward, changing the trajectory of Lucien’s ball. Again she moved to stay out of its path, sliding under that chain as she wrapped it around her spear.
Then she yanked down, pulling Lucien off balance.
But she was still the one at a disadvantage. Mika came out of the slide and popped up onto her feet, using all of her body weight to pull. Lucien took an involuntary step forward and she used that to get closer so he couldn’t use the metal ball anymore.
What she hadn’t been expecting was for him to use the remaining chain and wrap it around her neck, twisting her around so her back pressed into his chest, cutting off her air supply with the metal, making the spear completely useless since it was just as trapped as his metal ball now.
She was supposed to tap out at a certain point, but Mika was stubborn. If there was a way out of this, she would find it.
Lucien avoided her attempt to stomp on his foot, and she couldn’t quite get the leverage she needed to flip him over. Lifting her knees to her chest, she used every muscle she had to whip her feet down and pull forward at the same time despite the stars in her vision.
It got him off balance, but didn’t quite flip him over. What it did do though was loosen the chain around her throat ever so slightly. Mika shoved forward with her spear and gained even more room.
Ducking out from under the chain and his arms, she let go of her spear completely. Moving like Malachi had trained Audrey to do – like Audrey had then trained her – she stomped on the chain connected to the ball and yanked on it.
Lucien stumbled forward and her spear snapped in half. Without hesitation she brought up her foot and landed a sidekick to his jaw that would daze even a shifter.
Just like that the chain was in her hands and Mika wrapped it around her arm, just like Lucien had.
Part of being a hunter – or so all of her trainers had said – was being flexible. It was about being able to pick up any weapon and use it with some level of skill. Even if she’d never touched it before.
Lucien picked up the two pieces of her spear and twirled them around, looking a thousand times more proficient with them than she would have, but Mika held her ground, trying to find his weak spots.
&
nbsp; Would they end up at a draw? How boring.
Much like the ax, she couldn’t swing this thing around with any real speed or accuracy. Mika could, however, drop it on his feet.
“Attack!” Bartholomew bellowed from behind her. “Don’t wait for him to attack you! You’re just standing there, flat on your feet!”
Mika almost glared at the professor, but she kept her focus on Lucien, who was smirking. She let the ball drop to the floor with an obnoxious ‘clank’ and then dove right between Lucien’s legs. She rolled, yanking up on the chain, and then ran.
The metal hit him right at the ankle, pulling his foot to the side hard enough he went down to one knee. Mika slapped the rest of the chain down right over his wrists, as hard as she could. Lucien dropped both pieces of the staff and she dove for them.
But Lucien was fast. He had her pinned to the floor and on her back before she could blink.
“Beg,” he whispered into her ear.
Mika pressed the blade of her broken spear to his groin. “Make me.”
Lucien collapsed on top of her, laughing his ass off. “Pineapple! Pineapple!”
“Get off!” She shoved him to the side and wiped the sweat dripping from her brow. “That’s the stupidest safe word I’ve ever heard of.”
“Ah, but you knew it was a safe word,” Lucien told her, getting to his feet. “Not very stupid if it works, am I right?”
“Good job,” Bartholomew snapped. “You’re both dead now. Pick another weapon!”
Mika couldn’t help but smile as she picked up the broken pieces of her spear. Something about working with the hunters was calming. It soothed her mind, body, and soul.
Tossing the pieces into a pile of broken practice weapons, Mika eyed the wall once more and hoped Lucien would find her note.
“No wonder the hunters always fail when they come after us,” Corbin said with a smirk. “That was pitiful.”
Mika ignored him as she made her way to Sumerian. Audrey would have food waiting for her, and she was starving. It felt like she was always hungry these days.
