Page 78 of House of Ydril

“He’s being stupid,” I protest. “The Second Round is deadlier than the first and I really need the practice. Besides,” I pause, throwing her a cautious smile, “I thought we might make it helpful for the both of us.”

I see her tense up. I think she knows what I’ll suggest even before I do it. But I still do. “Just today I came across these exercises shifters can do-”

“You just came across them,” she cuts me off, drawling. Then she lets out a loud groan filled to the brim with frustration. “I swear to Lycan’s teeth, Quinn, if you do this again, I am going to murder you with my own two hands.”

As she says it, she starts walking away, but I catch up with her. “Nuala, listen to me,” I rush to say everything that’s on my mind, “There’s a chance you didn’t actually sever the bond with your animal, not completely at least. I think you’re traumatized by what happened to your brother and so you’re probably suppressing things youreallyshouldn’t be suppressing.”

She stops and turns to face me. “You know whatIthink, Quinn?” she spits out. “I think you should stop poking your nose in other people’s business.”

I open my mouth to say sorry, but I sense a presence behind my back and almost instantly, I see Nuala’s eyes dart in that direction. I turn around and see Faust approaching us, dressed in a pressed shirt and perfectly tailored pants, his hands in his pockets in that insanely hot way of his. Goddamn him.

“So surprising, seeing the two of you here,” he says, but he doesn’t sound surprised at all.

“Hi, Andreas,” my friend greets him, her voice weirdly strained and her face flushed.

It makes me frown for a second, but then I turn to Faust and say, “I thought you were super busy with the preparations for tomorrow.” I can’t help but grin at him before I add, “I didn’t think you’d have time to follow us around.”

He just turns to Nuala and says, “I’ll take over from here.”

I want to tell her she doesn’t have to leave, but she already is. She throws me a glance over the shoulder, looks at Faust and, blushing, mouths, “Bye.”

It makes me frown for a second, but I don’t have time to linger on it. As soon as she’s out of earshot, the handsome stalker takes a step closer to me and drawls, “I thought I made myself clear, Longborn.”

I lock eyes with him. “You often think that and you’re rarely right.”

For a second, his lips twitch, as if he’s about to laugh. But he just looks away, turning serious. “I don’t care for your antics,” he replies. “I need you to go to your room and rest.”

I let out a sigh and look him straight in the eye. Ever since he sort of apologized to me, things have been a lot less hostile between us and I’ve actually been taking his advice. But not this time. “Just one hour,” I say with determination in my voice.

“Absolutely not.”

I throw my arms up. “Oh, I see, you want me to die tomorrow.”

He scoffs, but doesn’t say anything. He throws me a look and leans a bit forward. In that instant, I just know he’s going to attack.

I tap one of my Runes and, before he manages to do anything, send him flying far away from me.

I let out a breath, but the very next second, I sense a presence behind my back. I turn around and without thinking, I raise my hands up and make all the water from the ground shoot up. It creates a barrier that he almost instantly slams into.

He stumbles backwards and I let the water come crashing to the ground. I rush to see if he’s okay, but he waves his hand in dismissal and locks eyes with me.

“Full of surprises, aren’t we?” he asks in a voice matching the sentiment.

I just blink at him. The reality of what’s happened is still hitting me. “Did I just manage to use athirdElement?

“Unless we’re both out of our minds, yeah,” he says, now squinting at me with his arms folded.

“I thought no one could manipulate more than two,” I say in a hushed voice.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he says with a smile. “There are even some who can manipulate all four, but that usually comes with very powerful sets of runes, like the Creator’s.” His eyes narrow. “And you still have only your Element rune activated, right?”

I nod, my mind buzzing. “What could it mean?” I ask.

“For now, all it means is,” Faust says as he lets out a low laugh, “you’re as ready for tomorrow as you can possibly be. So, today, you should just live a little.”

I don’t get a chance to reply. The very next second, I see Sarya, Harry and Zelda walking up to us.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Leo’s not with them. After that third box of chocolates, I’ve been avoiding him even more religiously, trying to figure out a way to get back at him.

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