Page 32 of Phixmery

Craven leans over me. “Pathetic as I’m making you out to be? No, Cadet Solace. You are pathetic. You will be training with me until I say otherwise. Now, on your feet. You want to spar? Fine. Maybe you need to be brought down from whatever pedestal you’re on.”

I push myself up onto my feet, shaking off the snow covering my tunic. Why can’t I just keep my damn mouth shut around him?

A grin spreads across his face and I’m taken by surprise at how handsome it makes him look—if he wasn’t a controlling dragon turd, I may have even swooned. “Actually… Everyone gather around. Cadet Solace here has volunteered to show everyone what not to do while in combat.”

My face scrunches up into a wince. There’s no one to blame but myself for this. Fucking fates, this is going to hurt.

Nero flies down from where he was perched and lands softly on my shoulder. “Do you want me to take his golden orbs from his head? It should be enough of a distraction to make everyone forget this,” he suggests.

I shake my head at him. “No, It will be okay. Go back to the wall, please. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

His reluctance floats through me but I know he understands that there’s nothing we can do about this. He nods his black-feathered head and takes off, but instead of going to the wall, he circles over top of us, and I can’t help but feel loved that he doesn’t want to stray far.

With a steadying breath, I try to loosen my limbs as I step into the circle my squad has created around Craven, his wing watching on with mixed expressions of boredom and amusement.

He grins triumphantly as his eyes rake over my frame, his eyes quickly glancing up to Nero with what I think is a hint of confusion.

Evera takes that moment to yell, “You got this Talyn. Crush the mate-stealing bitch into the ground.”

His face hardens, fists curling in on themselves. “The rules are this,” he states, ignoring his mate behind him. “Magick is permitted. You fight until you tap out or get knocked out.”

I nod at his terms, knowing that if I fight back anymore right now, it will be worse in the long run. My stomach itches something awful, but I put it at the back of my mind. Readying myself, I get into a defensive position. I know I won’t win this, not by a long shot, but if I can at least minimize the damage done to me, then I’ll call this a win. My anger at this situation seems to fuel me and I feel a shred of confidence.

Confidence at being knocked out maybe.

As expected, he comes at me with his fist flying straight for my jaw, and thanks to my feet, seeming to move of their own accord, I narrowly miss the hit. But not the one aimed for my stomach. My breath blasts out of me as my stomach cramps.

Roz winces while Ember yells for me to get it together. An endearment from her if I’ve ever heard one.

Craven steps away and peers around at the others. “Never leave yourself open—the first hit is most likely a distraction from what’s to come.” He shoots his hand out towards me and a blast of wind knocks me clean off my feet, sending me flying back into Cadet Ellis, who shoves me back into the center.

Sergeant Craven turns towards me again, this time with a ball of water in his hand. So I do the only thing I can think of, not wanting to freeze in the snow for the rest of the lesson, and strike the flint and steel I was given in my Elemi magick lesson, summoning flame just as he flings the water in my direction. The field around us hisses and steams as the two elements connect, successfully canceling each other out.

Shock and amusement cross his expression so quickly that I feel like I misinterpreted it as his stoic guise falls into place again. He throws his fist, and even from the distance between us, the air carries his punch and my head snaps to the side. Before I can shake off the daze of the hit, he grabs the collar of my tunic and slams me on the ground, moving insanely fast.

“Fucking submit, cadet,” he hisses quietly, baring his fangs as his fist aims for his next hit.

So I do what any female would do in my position, and I elbow him right in the balls. “Never,” I hiss, equally as quiet as he grunts, his eyes widening in pain as I bare my teeth right back at him, our faces so close I can feel the heat of his breath coating my face. His eyes dart down to my lips and mine to his as I fall into a daze, needing something, but I snap myself out of it. He’s the enemy, and he’s betrothed, for fates’ sake.

But he recovers much faster than I expect, and the last thing I see is his fist before everything goes black… again.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE DOOR SNICKS SHUT AS Jesper sneaks out of the chambers for the third time I’ve caught him this month. He’s been doing this for well over a few months now, at least once a week, but something tells me it isn’t for the reason he’s been giving us. I think he’s stalking that female. But then again, it’s the middle of the night, so unless he’s sneaking into the cadet towers to watch her sleep—which I wouldn’t put past him—then I have no idea what he’s doing.

My curiosity gets the better of me and I lumber out of my bed and stealthily slide my boots on, lacing them in the dark with practiced ease. Even with my massive size, being light on my feet comes easy to me as I make my way out of the room, following my wing brother. I stay far enough back that he doesn’t realize I’m here as he saunters down the stairs to the corridor, heading towards the back of the castle towards the South Tower. My suspicions are confirmed as I watch him slip into an alcove and no further sign of him.

Glancing around, I slip into the alcove next to the South Tower entrance and Jesper laughs. “I was wondering when you were going to join me. I knew you were following me since we entered the grand hall.”

My voice grumbles lowly as I keep my anger at bay but near the surface in case I need it. It’s a precarious line I walk, balancing my anger. “What the fates do you think you’re doing, Jesper? Talyn gave you strict orders to leave the female alone after he caught you in her chambers while she was in lessons a few weeks ago.”

Talyn was livid; we were supposed to be training and planning for the upcoming dinner with the lords, and when Jesp didn’t show, we searched the castle low and high until we found him snooping through Cadet Solace’s belongings, as meager as they are. He was lying on her bed, holding onto a threadbare tunic. He’s more obsessed with the female than he led us to believe.

Jesper shrugs. “I still can’t get in her head. She’s an enigma, and I need to figure it out. She’s also been sneaking out at night, walking around the castle. She’s looking for something, and I’m going to figure out what it is.”

I shake my head. “I don’t understand why you and Talyn are so hung up on this female. You’re being a creepy fuck with her. Maybe she just can’t sleep and is wandering about. Talyn won’t let anyone else train her and is strung out as fuck afterwards, and it takes hours of sparring with him just to get him level-headed again.”

He stares at me with wide eyes, a small grin stretching across his face. “Look at you talking with more words than grunts. Maybe she’s under your skin, too. Why does it matter if we’re hung up,” he uses quotations around the words, “on her? Just go back to bed.”

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