by Alex Lidell
The Prowess Trials, I’ve learned, divide into three disciplines: control, combat, and constitution. Control, by far the premier tier of the competition, has athletes of Tye’s caliber navigating their bodies through spectacular, and seemingly incompatible-with-life, feats. Far below that, combat includes the swordsmanship, horseback riding, and archery competitions, while constitution includes the more basic running, jumping, and lifting events.
“There you are, Minion.” Arisha nuzzles the orange-striped kitten, who rubs his ears against her with pious love. “I was so worried.”
Coal rubs the three long bloody lines on the back of his hand. “ I thought Sh…Ruffle was taking care of…that,” he mutters to me with a glower, as if I have anything whatsoever to do with the fur ball. “What kind of self-respecting wolf is unable to get rid of a two-pound threat?”
Cuddled in Arisha’s arms, Minion turns his head and yawns at Coal, leisurely extending the razor-sharp claws of his front paws.
“It’s not Ruffle’s fau…” My words trail off at the sight of a lithe red-haired male exiting the keep. My whole body tightens painfully, as it always does now when I see Tye. With his fast healing and faster talking, my reporting him to Shade led only to a ten-day rest from his training regimen. Not long enough to get him pulled from the team, but plenty long enough to have him—and all the Prowess athletes—declare me their arch nemesis. “He is never going to forgive me, is he?”
“I wouldn’t,” says Coal.
Tye is his quint mate just as much as I am—which doesn’t stop me from wanting to punch Coal’s perfect mouth for siding with the bastard.
My hands tighten around the strap of my book satchel to avoid the temptation.
The helplessness thunders through me. We were never supposed to be in the Trials. If Tye had stepped aside, it would have defused the whole disaster. Bought us time to try to stop the Mors threat before more human lives are lost. Not only that… When I spoke to him in the bathhouse two months ago—the last time I truly saw him up close—Tye looked like a victim of torture, not training. Yet it is me, not Han, who he believes is out to ruin his life.
“The reason he feels so hurt is because you matter to him,” Arisha says softly, the empathy in her voice shifting to a warning that I’m tired of hearing. “Which, by the way, isn’t going to make this harebrained plan of yours any easier.”
Before I can answer, Minion hisses at someone behind me. Escaping Arisha’s hold, the kitten bounces off Coal’s shoulder and scampers away.
Coal curses, tiny spots of blood seeping down his arm from under his sleeveless black shirt. “Is it in my power to give a passing grade to any cadet who brings me that demon’s hide?”
“As of this morning, it is.” River’s deep voice twists all three of us around. My eyes widen at a bloody gash running along his strong jaw. “That thing is responsible for three of the maids leaving service.” His gray eyes shift to me, a tingling sensation running across my skin and prickling my sex as the humor in his gaze turns to an inscrutable intensity.
Over the past two months, in spite of my best efforts, River’s reined himself back to bloody professionalism, which he seems determined to hang fast to even as it kills us both. The occasional slips, like the time two weeks ago when the male brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear without thinking, his fingers trailing down my jaw before he caught himself, have ended with blazing red cheeks and a sudden need to end the tutoring session midword, while my breath still came in short spurts.
The whole complicated compote makes me almost fear the next time our skin comes into contact, accidentally or otherwise. And long for it so fiercely, I’m worried I’ll go insane.
A direction I’m heading in presently, despite my best efforts. Stars take me, but with River’s commanding presence suddenly beside me, his impossibly tall, muscled body dominating the courtyard, even the grand arena feels small. My thighs moisten with the memory of what exactly hides under all that tailored silk—starting with a ridged abdomen and rock-hard pectorals, a taut V of muscle leading down to a—
“Good morning, ladies.” River’s polite greeting makes me jump, the hot brush of his eyes against mine leaving little doubt that my thoughts weren’t as private as I hoped. River clears his throat. “Coal. Might I have a minute of your time?”
Coal wordlessly falls in step with the commander. As the two walk away, their heads bent close in discussion, I watch their broad backs, wondering suddenly what River’s veil-clouded mind made of last night’s sudden burst of magic. Maybe there’s a way of asking about it in our next study session without sounding daft—well, any dafter than I already sound trying to explain the intricacies of Ckridel trade policy or how to measure the sides of a triangle.
Arisha’s soft murmur of confusion pulls my attention. Taking a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, she frowns. “High strike right. Pivot step left. Low parry. It goes on for a while like this.” She blinks up at me, her glasses making her look like a frizzled owl. “I just found this in my pocket. Isn’t this Coal’s writing?”
I peer at the neatly written list. Yes, the list is most certainly Coal’s. More to the point, it lists a sequence he and I have warmed up with regularly, especially in the early days of my training.
“Is this—” Arisha starts.
“A sequence that you are to memorize in case you find yourself needing to perform before an audience.” A small chuckle escapes me, and Arisha’s frown deepens. Fortunately for my friend, no exams are held for physical training, but with such an influx of visitors, there is no telling who might be watching what. For all his bickering with Arisha, Coal is quietly attempting to preserve her dignity. “I know the other side of this dance. So if we were partnered up…”
Arisha swallows, her cheeks pinking as she quickly puts the note away and starts walking once more toward the library. “Your males are a lot more complicated than they seem, aren’t they?”
“If—” Someone shoves me hard from the back, and I stumble forward, managing to keep from falling on my face only by virtue of stomping into the puddle before me, the mud splattering all over my blue satin gown. Twisting around to see who hit me, I see Tye and Katita walking away toward the entrance of the arena, Tye’s laugh piercing the air between us.
My stomach twists. Grabbing a clump of mud, I launch it will all my strength, the gray-brown patty hitting the back of Tye’s head with a satisfying thump.
Tye stops. Turns. Looks down at me from his great height.
In the bright sun, the male is devastatingly beautiful, with his broad chest and sweat-matted red hair framing a square jaw. Each movement of his body sings with controlled power, the corded muscles shaping his red-and-gold exercise tunic. Beads of sweat along his temples reflect the sunlight, making his skin shimmer. Large, callused hands that I’ve felt along my body so many times before now open and close against his sides.
A smile that doesn’t touch Tye’s cold emerald eyes curves along his face, somehow making it even more breathtaking. And cruel. The glinting silver earring only adds to his aura of danger—only now, that danger is directed toward me. So this is what it feels like. “Lady Leralynn. Did I inadvertently disturb you? Inexcusable. Shall I help you to the infirmary to see if any injury might have befallen you?”
“We might need to evacuate Lera to safety,” Katita adds sweetly.
Swallowing, I conjure a smile as genuine as Tye’s own, even as my heart squeezes. “On the contrary, it is I who should be thanking you. I only put this dress on to appease Arisha, and you’ve finally given me a reason to change before dinner. Excuse me.” I start walking away, only to stop two steps later, my racing blood taking over better reason. For better or worse, I suddenly want Tye to know the plan I concocted last night over the protests of the rest of the Protector’s Guild. I like it no better than they do, but it is the only way of having one of us at the very center of the highest-value targets at all times, ready to respond if—when—the Night Guard strikes. “I
almost forgot—I expect to be your teammate soon, Tye. Welcome news, I’m sure.”
“You?” Katita throws her head back with a laugh, her curtain of blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight. “On our team. I cannot imagine I heard that right.”
My gaze shifts to the princess, my heart thudding in my chest. “No, you didn’t, Your Highness. I don’t intend to be on your team at all.”
“There is only one team. I knew your math was bad, but surely you can count to one if you use your fingers,” the princess says haughtily, though her turquoise eyes now flicker with unease.
I smile at her. “Yes. But I’ll be competing for your swordsmanship spot on it at tomorrow’s practice. Excuse me.”
3
Tye
“She can’t just join the Prowess team less than a week ahead of the Trials.” Katita’s indignant voice whittled away at the thickness of Tye’s thoughts. They were near the cadet dorms already, though he didn’t remember walking here, his mind still riveted to Lera’s taunt.
Her on the Prowess team. Those lush curves he’d claimed and bottomless eyes he’d stared into, now just cruel reminders of her betrayal. In his face, each and every damn day.
“Right?” Katita repeated, putting emphasis into the word as she reached for Tye’s elbow. Ever since Lera had sabotaged Tye by reporting him to Shade, Katita had used it as an unveiled opportunity to get closer to him. Sidling up to him at mealtimes, partnering with him in class with a silky hand on his arm. Tye let the princess play at flirting for the simple reason that Katita’s father was the king of Ckridel and held all the strings to Tye’s future—not to mention that it made Lera furious—but he had to admit that the attention was starting to chafe.
Tye pulled back from the princess’s reach. “Of course she can,” he said over his shoulder, only barely able to hide his irritation. “She is good with a bloody blade, and it wouldn’t take long to learn a few extra rules.”
“Surely Master Han would not allow such a thing.”
“Han cares about winning, Kat. Do me a favor, and win the damn challenge round, because having to share the arena with a back-stabbing vixen is more than I can handle just now.” Without waiting for Katita’s reply, Tye slid into the dormitory and out the first window he found. After climbing swiftly to the roof, he settled onto the sun-warmed stone that had become his choice of refuge in past months.
With his back against one of the two chimney columns, he braced his elbows atop his bent knees and tried to focus on the colorful flapping standards that had transformed Great Falls Academy into a stage. His stage. The culmination of everything he’d worked his entire life for, reaching its final zenith. A parapet from which the woman he had stupidly fallen in love with had tried to shove him off.
Stars, Lera’s betrayal still hurt. And it was Tye’s own fault. He knew that Prowess training and women don’t mix—knew it better than anyone. And yet, despite his better sense, despite the too-vivid memory of what his last attempt at combining the two had led to, Tye had let his guard down again.
Granted, Lera offered an overwhelming temptation. Despite their short acquaintance, her musical laugh and bravery and what Tye had thought was a deeply kind heart had started to fill the void Tiga’s death left inside his soul. Leralynn’s intoxicating lilac scent brightened the world’s colors and sounds, whispering promises of great adventures—of life—just beyond sight. Yes, it was all so very tempting that Tye had lapped it up like a dimwitted pig, not realizing the extra scraps only ensured a faster butchering.
And as it turned out, Leralynn of Osprey butchered with the best of them.
Tye’s fingers curled into a trembling fist, the morning of her betrayal unfurling bitterly in his memory. It had been well before dawn, and Tye had just slipped into the bath. Since starting to train with Han, he’d made a habit of bathing in private—his body was edging the limit of its endurance, and he knew better than to trust outsiders to understand that it had to be so, that the costs his training exacted had to be paid.
When he heard the bathhouse door whisper open, the lass’s lilac scent drifting in on warm moist air, Tye knew at once that he should leave. But he didn’t. Of all people, he was blindly certain that he could trust Lera—with his secrets, his dreams, his pain. With everything. So he’d let her see him, revealed the costs of his chiseled muscles and gravity-defying flips, of what it took to claw his way out of the nothing that he was born into.
He’d expected Lera’s understanding. Had secretly hoped that there might be a person—just one person—whom he might rest his forehead against for a few moments of reprieve. Instead, Lera turned his secret into a weapon to be used against him.
That very day, she reported Tye to the healers—not even from some misplaced concern over his well-being, but because it was a means to an end. She’d gotten it into her head that the Prowess Trials were a frivolous game and needed to end.
It was only with Han and Sage’s interference that Shade agreed to return Tye to training after ten days instead of three weeks, but even that time off had hurt Tye’s chances. No, not chances—chance. Tye had only one shot. Without this victory, he’d return to poverty by summer’s end, with nothing but the memory of Tiga’s death and his failure to keep him company.
All because he had trusted Lera. No more. There was only one reason Lera would want to get onto the Prowess team, and that was to destroy it. So Tye needed to destroy her first.
4
Lera
I return to my room to find Coal sulking against a wall and Shade’s wolf sprawled on my bed with his belly and four giant paws up in the air.
“If this is a send-off gathering for my Prowess tryouts tomorrow, I hope one of you brought cake.” I toss my books onto my bed, making Shade sneeze with indignation, and conjure a relaxed posture for my males’ benefit. In truth, my stomach has been tight ever since I announced my intention to Katita and Tye. The ire in the male’s emerald eyes still sends shivers through me.
Shade whines, sensing the tension in the room, but stops abruptly at a look from me.
Coal remains silent.
“It is our one chance to have someone on the inside with the royals. Keep an eye on the high-value targets,” I say to my tight dress stays, making a poor attempt at undoing them elegantly. The dress slumps to the ground at my feet in a sad blue heap. “It’s our best positioning option, and it would be folly not to take it.” I finally turn to Coal, his blue eyes hooded in a fair imitation of a rain cloud. “You think I can’t hold up through a week of Han’s training?”
Coal’s gaze skitters to Shade, who—damn him—slinks out through the open door instead of staying to defend me. Before I can say anything, the warrior snags me around the waist, pins my back to the wall, and looms over me, one bare, corded arm braced on either side of my face. The heat of his body simmers the air between us, his masculine scent filling the space. “You know exactly what I’m worried about, mortal.” His voice is low. Dangerous. “And it isn’t Han’s training. Shall I demonstrate the problem?”
My heart stutters, and I lift my gaze to find my footing outside Coal’s intense scrutiny. Over the past two months, the male has insisted on replaying the scene from Zake’s stable, as if determination could make my body unfreeze on command. Returning my attention to his face, I trace its hard angles, lined with a worry that he tries to cover with authority. I square my shoulders the best I can with my heart now racing. “You have nightmares too, Coal. And I’ve not seen you sit out a battle from fear that something may trigger you.”
His eyes spark, and he leans closer. “I’ve lived with my demons for several hundred years, Leralynn. Let’s not confuse the issue. More importantly, my flashbacks spur me to fight for my life. Yours leave you paralyzed like a rabbit for slaughter. That’s the difference. Until you have it under control—”
I put my hand on Coal’s chest, feeling his heart pound beneath the hard muscle. “If I wait until everything is perfect, there may not be a mortal world to save.
” I slide both hands down his abdomen, watching his pupils dilate as I hook his shirt hem and slide my hands right back up. Muscle by perfect muscle, his stomach reveals itself, then his chest, his nipples hardening in the cool air. He pulls off his shirt automatically, before he even has a chance to realize he’s being distracted. “As to my demons,” I continue in a low voice, “I think it’s safe to predict that when the Night Guard attacks, they’ll be trying to kill me, not whip me. So if you’d like to actually be helpful tonight—”
Coal growls softly and spins me around, pushing me back onto the bed hard enough that it rattles against the wall. The bastard has caught on.
He prowls over me, sniffing my neck like an animal scenting his mate. “This isn’t over,” he says into my ear.
“Whatever you say, Lieutenant,” I say impishly, pulling my slip up to my waist. I won this round, and he knows it. He’s already too far gone to turn back now.
He bares his teeth and grinds his hips into mine so hard, I can’t help but moan—then he disappears.
I look up with a furious protest on my lips only to find him standing in the middle of the room, unbuttoning his fly so carefully, I want to howl in frustration. He looks up, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “You’re not the only one with methods of persuasion, mortal.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I say breathlessly.
“You can try,” he says.
Then he’s back on top of me, thrusting so deep and true that I have to bite his shoulder to keep from screaming.
