Page 100 of Gemini Wicked

Not doing that.

My lightning’s caused enough of a body count.

Fortunately, I have other tricks up my Academy uniform sleeve.

I wait till that incoming broadside of jagged glass is too close for Skyler to redirect. Then I launch into the air like Tinkerbell, let the glass slice past beneath me, and zip straight toward Cleo with murder in my heart.

I’m getting better at this levitation shit. She’s got about two seconds max to get her arms up in self-defense before I slam into her and sweep her off her feet. We crash into the ancient stone wall behind her, with Cleo taking the brunt of the hit. Her sleek merlot head smacks into the wall with a good solid thunk.

Not gonna lie. That thud of impact feels satisfying as fuck.

At least I won’t be the only one walking away from this catfight with bruises.

“Knock it off,” I hiss into her stunned face. “Or I’m gonna stop playing nice.”

I’ve barely found my footing on the sloping carrel roof, gripping her shoulders to hold both of us upright, before she twists free of my hold. Her knees bend, her torso drops, and her shoulder shoves into my diaphragm hard enough to spill my breath and shift my balance.

What the fuck. That’s a combat move. A skill I never even knew she had.

All too clearly, I never really knew her.

At all.

Still locked together, the two of us stagger on the tricky footing across the carrels. I’m dizzy from getting conked on the noggin by Skyler, and the familiar perfume of Turkish rose and ylang-ylang rising from Cleo’s skin and hair makes it worse. Mindful of the nasty drop behind me, I wrap a hand around my ex’s flying braid and twist, hard enough to make her cry out.

She retaliates by sucker-punching me—right in the throat.

Lucky for me the angle’s bad and her aim is off, but that punch is plenty strong enough to bruise my voice box (which is where the lightning voice lives. If I can’t talk, I can’t summon.) I cough and gasp and my eyes water, but I manage to keep my grip on her braid and deliver a left hook to her famous face that stings my burned knuckles but wrings a good Italian curse out of my nemesis.

Blood trickles from her cut lip. The bitch claws for my eyes. I sweep her hand away, follow up with a jab that bloodies her nose, and pull her braid till she screams in pain and fury.

We’re still grappling when the monumental crash of shattering glass rips through the church.

Cleo and I spin in unison toward the oculus window as the huge circle of stained glass explodes inward around the spiked head and extended forelegs of a massive green dragon.

With a deafening bellow of rage, Xhevith soars through a spray of colorful glass into the church with wings tucked tight against his scaly body and a lithe green-haired figure clinging to his back.

Suddenly, the student commons is full of angry dragon.

With a powerful backwing that sends chairs flying and dazed students scrambling in all directions, Xhev settles to a landing amid the wreckage in a crunch of shattered glass.

Shit. What a mess.

I’m gonna end up in detention again over all this, I just know it. Even though it’s totally not my fault.

Xhevith’s long neck twists toward Cleo and me, both momentarily frozen on the carrel and gaping. His golden eyes slit at Cleo and his muzzle peels back in a menacing snarl that bares every one of his pointy teeth.

“By the moon,” Zephyr says coldly into the sudden silence from his lordly perch in the dragon saddle. “This rancid creature who stinks of roses and fear is, I presume, the usurper.”

That’s one point for him and his apparently discerning nose.

Cleo stands so still beside me, I don’t even think she’s breathing. Blood drips from her nose to splatter her crisp white blouse.

I clear my bruised throat, blink the tears from my eyes, and croak in a raspy voice, “Yep.”

Clearly picking up my pain even though he’s no telepath, Zephyr’s single green eye narrows in a way that’s fucking terrifying. (The eyepatch adds to the overall effect.)

His lips curl in a feral smile. “Shall I end her pathetic life for you, my queen, and give you her head as a bridal gift?”

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