Page 27 of Power of Draken

“So where are they?”

“Kyrian’s finally surrendering to a nap, and Logan is allergic to academics.”

“And Grayson?”

“Doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me.” Except for the part when he saved me from the commandant’s wrath. “So he at least is a non-issue just now.”

“Except he’s been watching your every move since you stepped in here.” Ellie motions subtly to the other side of the room, where Kai stands with his back to the wall and a dagger twirling in his hands. Sure enough, his ice blue gaze is right on me.

“Fuck.” I quickly face the front of the room, where Thomeo is starting his lecture. Sure enough, it’s dragon versus draken, with a focus on the draken anatomy. With the draken’s armor-like scales, only arrows shot into the vulnerable creases behind their legs, ears, and a few other places will penetrate deep enough for the auric alloy I make to take effect—so anatomy is important. Which is why I already know all this, and so does Ellie.

“How is your squad?” I ask her.

A combat cadet in front of us turns to give me a dirty look. “Would you shut up, already? Those of us who aren’t fucking our commanding officers actually need to know this to stay alive.”

“If you don’t know it by now, Eryndor may be safer with you dead,” Ellie replies with a saccharine smile. “So I like to think of us as performing community service.”

The cadet gives Ellie a death glare then turns away with a huff. Ellie squeezes my arm. “Don’t listen to them.”

Them. So there are more gems out there. And without any of the triad near me, they are all too happy to share the barbs. “Collin is the one who cheated on me. How am I the whore?”

Ellie sighs. “Because asshats are asshats and Chambers is the biggest shitspinning ass of them all.” She slumps in her chair. “Oh, and you are looking at the asshat’s new archer.”

“What?”

“He dragged me into his squad.” She shakes her head, both of us knowing there is nothing to be done about it.

“- which does what, Lexington?”

I jerk at Thomeo’s question, clearing my throat while I try to piece together what he might have been droning about. Draken… dragons… anatomy… weapons…

Thomeo gives me a disapproving look. “What does auric steel do?”

Right. My contribution to humankind.

"Auric steel is steel coated with auric alloy,” I answer by rote. “It makes the steel stronger and resistant to damage and corrosion. When used against fae, it disrupts their immortality and healing, making them as vulnerable as humans and preventing shifters from changing forms. Against draken, it temporarily paralyzes the wings and other major muscles, effectively grounding them."

“For how long?” A familiar dark voice demands from the back of the room. Kai. I turn in my seat to where he is gripping his dagger by the blade. “How long does this temporary paralysis last?”

“A few hours.” I fight the urge to shrink under his scrutiny, especially as shadows spread from him to the floor. I straighten my spine, feeling the need to defend my craft. “Increasing the concentration for longer paralysis would reduce our overall alloy production. Since dropping draken from the sky usually ends the threat, stronger paralysis isn’t necessary."

“Quite right,” Thomeo interjects, reclaiming control of the class. My attention, however, stays on Kai Grayson.

Kai’s face is dark, but the grip he has on his blade blanches his knuckles and the shadows around him thicken and writhe. Before his shadows envelop his hands, I see a trickle of blood slip from his clenched fist.

Abruptly, Kai stalks out of the lecture hall, his black cloak billowing behind him.

Chapter 14

Kai

She doesn’t know. Rowan doesn’t know.

I lean my head against the stonewall of the main Spire and gulp breath into constricting lungs, trying to calm myself before fury gets the better of me. I couldn’t stand another second of listening to Thomeo lecture on how to torture draken, not without killing the colonel and half the lecture hall. Or all of them. I really should have found elsewhere to be after seeing the lecture topic—Logan and Kyrian certainly did—but something tugged and tugged at me to stay.

Not something—someone. Rowan. I wanted to see her face when she spoke about auric steel. And I did. Enough to know that she’s oblivious to the torment her precious alloy inflicts.

But since when is ignorance a defense?

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