Page 17 of Starlight Mates

Alek is waiting in the middle of the room in full Nexus armour, all black, and his dark arms are crossed as he surveys everyone that comes in. The second the door slams shut behind us, I let myself really look at him. He looks Hispanic or Mexican in this light, his skin a lovely shade that reminds me of honey. Alek’s dark hair looks soft, but not a single inch of the rest of him does. He’s tall, striking, and holds himself in a waythat tells me he knows how he looks and doesn’t care about other people’s opinions. Trained, beautiful and deadly. He is absolutely stunning.

His eyes briefly drift over me before looking away like we are strangers. The disinterest has my Nexus spitting fire in my chest. Not just the disinterest, but somewhere on him is my Nex weapon. I can sense her.

Aleksander clicks his fingers, and the wall of glass has shutters that drop, pitching the room into near enough darkness. Aleksander’s voice breezes through the room like a dark omen. “Welcome. It’s been an unusual week with the attack in the city, as I’m sure you’re all aware, but now we are back to normal. I will remind everyone of you of the new curfews in place. After nine at night, no one’s allowed out of their houses or in the city unless it is an emergency or you have special permission. This is important. We keep to the rules, as none of you would like to find out what happens when you break them.” His heavy footsteps echo in the darkness. “What do you know about Nex weapons?”

No one says anything until the darkness feels like it’s a silent killer. I clear my throat before speaking first, refusing to be frightened of the dark. There was a time where I was locked in the dark, alone, for six months, and I learnt there was nothing frightening in it. Only what your mind makes up could be there. If you can pretend the darkness is a friend, I found it soon became a comfort. “Every Nexus has one weapon that is bound to their Nexus souls. They choose it, and they can call on it. You can’t lose it. It will always find its way to you, unless it’s being held by another Nexus who is stronger.”

“Correct,” Aleksander answers, and I just know he is smirking. “Your Nex weapon is important. I have an unusual gift for my Nexus power.” A soft purple glow fills the room. Aleksander is a few feet away from me, and he is holding hishand out as a Nex sword appears. Literally, it appears in his hand. He holds his other hand out, and a glowing purple bow appears before morphing into a dagger.

I stare at the dagger, feeling like I’ve seen it before. “I can create endless Nex weapons.” His power is weapon creation. I have never heard of that before, and I’m slightly impressed. “You will have one important Nex weapon in your life, and you will pick today. There’s a wall behind you of weapons. Choose one, make sure it’s something that calls to you. That you feel that you need. That you can’t walk away from.” The shutters open and his weapons disappear from his hands. Effortless. He barely uses his Nexus to access his magic. “After making your choice, you will need to go to the back of the room to be tested and make the bond. The test is designed by the priests to see your soul and bind your Nex weapon to it. Some people do not survive the test, and it would be a shame to have a trainee killed on the first day.”

He really doesn’t sound like he cares at all. A nervous tension ripples through the group, and I lean into Annie. “Trust yourself and choose whatever you feel is easier to kill with. It’s how I did it.”

Annie’s eyes widen, and she nods once. Aleksander is still talking but looks at me with annoyance. “Why are you not choosing your weapons? Move, for fuck’s sake!”

The crowd spins and all but runs to the back of the room. I take two steps before Aleksander shouts. “Gwen, not you.”

Annie looks over her shoulder at me, pale and worried, and I nod to her before I dare to turn around. I find him standing right in front of me. The last time I saw Alek, he was standing in the line of tutors and looking like he wanted to ruin every bit of me.

That expression hasn’t changed a bit. “Tell me when and how you got your Nex weapon.”

I cross my arms. “No, but give it back.”

“I’m not asking because of our personal situation. I’m asking as your tutor. I need to know how long you’ve been bound to the weapon in case I send you into training you’re not prepared for,” he reasons, and I don’t find any dishonesty in his eyes. He might be a fine liar for all I know, but telling him this doesn’t cost me anything.

I clear my throat. “Fine. I got my Nex weapon when I was sixteen, so four years ago. I did the correct test, and it was blessed by a priest. All above board.”

He frowns like he is trying to figure out which priest would dare to help me and hide me. “Good, but I want proof. I know you’re a liar and I can’t take your word. Come with me. Our training will be different from the rest of the class. They are new with their Nex weapons, and the obstacle courses I’ll put them through are to connect them with their weapons for the first six weeks. You can join the class after that. Until then, you’ll train personally with me and Finnegan, who teaches year two.”

I blow out a breath, but he is already walking away. I glance back at the class, a few of them watching their tutor just leave. “Aren’t you their tutor and meant to stay with them?”

“I’m not their babysitter. I’ve told them what to do. None of them are fucking stupid enough not to pick a weapon and follow my instructions. If one of them dies, I’ll come back to help with the body,” he emotionlessly answers. Having no choice or a response to that, I follow him out the door, through another next to it, and into a smaller training room with no windows. The ceiling is covered in spotlights, giving the room a clean white light. He walks to the centre of the marked-out gym. “I want you to call your dagger. If you’re not lying, I will feel your attempt.”

Cocky bastard thinks I can’t get past his power and take my own Nex dagger back. He smirks at the defiance in my eyes. “You’ll need to get past my Nexus to do it. Just a reminder.”

I grit my teeth, knowing that he’s implying that my Nexus will need to greet him to bypass his power. His strength. He is powerful, but he just doesn’t understand what I am. I hold my hand out, and almost effortlessly, I connect to my Nex dagger. I feel his Nexus wrapped around it, almost like a purple shadow. Inviting, taunting, but it’s nothing to me. I don’t even need to call my Nexus out to rip through him, grab the dagger, and send it flying through the air straight back into my waiting hand.

His eyes widen in surprise and, fuck, it makes me happy to see him shocked. His lips twitch. “Oh, you’re a good little liar, aren’t you? Bullshit that you can do that in four years. You didn’t even need to tap into that beautiful Nexus of yours. Are you scared of letting me see her?” He tilts his head to the side. “Maybe she wasn’t okay with the rejection? Does she want to be fucked, Sun? Would she beg for me?”

So, we are playing this game? Fine. “She doesn’t have a say and she would never beg anyone. Let alone you.”

I swear pain flickers across his eyes for a second before he hides it. “Come on, then, show me what else you learnt out there. What you pretended you didn’t know in that pathetic fight with Hollis?”

I bite down on my inner cheek. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but stalking me is creepy.”

He laughs, deep and sexy. “Stalking. Watching. Fuck, I don’t care. Stop lying and come to play, Sun. Show me what you know, or I’ll come to make you.”

I take a step forward, but then I notice him, making me stop in my tracks. Finnegan steps into the room from another door at the back, a gust of cold air following him. “She already has private lessons, Alek? Careful, you might be accused of having favourites.”

He slams the door behind him and leans against it, crossing his leg over the other, and his haunting eyes watch me from the shadows.

“Join us,” Aleksander says.

“No.” His answer is clipped. “Is she as weak as she looks?”

Aleksander glances at me, and his eyes are full of distance. “No, someone’s trained her to fight, and I bet they did a good job. She moves too quickly and silently to be untrained.” I hate that he reads me too easily. “Did your father train you?”

I huff. “What part of ‘I’m not telling you anything’ do you not get? Keep asking the same questions. You’re not going to get any different answers from me. In fact, I’m not interested.”

---