“I don’t think that is necessary,” Coen replies, and his response is clearly a shock to Kylen, “she’s an agent. Ty wouldn’t have hired her if she couldn’t do her job.”

“I don’t think you heard me,” Kylen says, a threat and something else, something darker threading through his voice as he repeats, “test out the new recruit.”

Fury sparks in Coen’s eyes, his scarred hands clenching tightly, panic fills his expression, as his eyes shift into his dragon and scales ripple along on his arms before settling again.

Something is very, very fucking wrong.

Coen and I have sparred hundreds of times. He is actually the dragon that I was telling Griff about earlier, the one that I haven’t seen for far too long, and who was the expert flier. We kind of sort of had an ongoing thing that couldn’t go anywhere because he’s a dragon, and I am or was a human. We developed a really strong fucking friendship.

There is no conceivable reason that he should be looking so fucking worried about sparring against me.

Kylen’s eyes light up, “Oh, well isn’t that interesting.” He leans closer to Coen, that same darkness threading through his voice as he repeats, “I said, fight.”

Something in Coen snaps, and he charges me as Kylen laughs manically. I dodge and dive, blocking hits and returning some as well, but it doesn’t take me very long to realize that this isn’t a normal sparring session. His eyes are anguished, as he partially shifts his hands into claws and swipes out. I’m not expecting it,and I barely manage to move out of the way in time, receiving three slices along the top of my arm. Coen growls, but it’s not in anger at me.

What the fuck is happening.

I up my game and start to treat it like a real fight, because Coen is fighting me like he wants to cause some serious damage and not like he is sparring. The longer that we fight the more distressed that he gets and the more convinced I am that something is wrong. Suddenly, he does a move that we have practiced hundreds of times, it ends up with my back to his chest. He spent a long time teaching me how to get out of this.

“Love, you’re going to have to knock me out, I can’t fucking stop,” the warning and desperation is evident in his raspy voice, and I frown heavily.

“I’ve got you,” I mutter.

I flip him over the top of me, but instead of following him down, which is what I would usually do, I stay up and wait for him to get to his feet. We exchange hits for a few moments longer before I spot my opportunity. I run and jump launching myself higher in the air than I should be able to and then connecting my foot to his temple, he goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Silence reigns around me as everyone just stares in shock.

Chapter Nineteen

Neith

“Idon’t know how you did that, but it was a lucky fucking take down,” Kylen accuses and then kicks Coen. “Get the fuck up.”

I want to rage, I want to accuse, but the voices are practically screaming at me, and Coen himself asked me not to say anything, so I will keep my mouth shut.

I watch with barely contained anger as the two of them haul Coen to his feet roughly, fortunately he comes to before they manage to throw him around anymore and he avoids my gaze as he follows the two members of his team out of the doors.

Suddenly I’m surrounded by smiling faces as students congratulate me on beating the shit out of Coen. I paste a fake smile on my face, as I reply to them. My gaze finds Raiden andRansom on the edge of the crowd, both of them looking worried. I know it’s because they saw him get me with his claws. Raiden mouths the words, asking if I’m okay and I nod that I am. Physically, I am fine, and I know that’s what they are referring to.

“That was amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen someone go up against Coen and make it out standing,” a student says to me.

“Can I sign up for your combat class?” another one asks.

I push everything away for the moment so that I can answer the student’s questions, and because I don’t want to give anything away. Everything, Coen, the voices, my instincts, all of it is telling me to keep this to myself for the moment. I know I need to talk to the guys, but I can’t do that right now.

I smile, and hope they don’t realize how fake it is, “I don’t have a class for you guys to sign up to.”

“But you will, right?” the guy who I fought first asks.

I shrug, “I honestly don’t know right now. I’m just trying to find my feet. I promise that I will think about it though, okay?”

He nods.

“Alright, you lot, class is over,” Raiden shouts.

His words have an immediate effect and everyone starts to disperse, soon enough it’s just Raiden, Ransom and I left in the room.

“Are you okay?” Raiden asks as he goes straight to my arm to check it out.