Page 3 of Centaur Bolt

I didn’t have any answers. I needed to trust that Cara knew what she was talking about.

I’d debated coming to this class. Seeing Marcus, but treating him just as a teammate?

Impossible.

But necessary, if what Cara said was true. And I got the feeling that the woman didn’t lie much. Or ever.

My Jumper props had been removed from the back field, and everyone was milling in a group. Kiko emerged through the doors and stomped over to where I sat.

“Hey, you weren’t at the run,” she protested. “I panted alone.”

“Sorry,” I said, but I wasn’t, really. “Had a rough special abilities class.”

Her eyes darkened with concern. “Are you okay?”

“Yep, I’m good.”

Her gaze remained doubtful. “Where’s Sixey?”

I braced myself, and offered, “We are giving each other space.”

Her brows lifted.

The Hitzu twins and fellow teammates, Tareal and Lora, hovered nearby but didn’t engage with us. Which, considering the turmoil within me, was a relief.

I looked toward the small group of instructors. The big Dragon shifter, Tyrez, was there. Beside him stood another, not quite as big, but still ripped to the nines.

Kiko grabbed my hand and hauled me to my feet. “Cody is a Sabre shifter and our main fight instructor. Guy can really move.”

I glanced from Cody to the attractive sandy-haired dude beside him. I was pretty sure he was a Dire, although he appeared to be wearing a scaled muscle shirt with his sweats. The shirt had gaps in it that showed skin.

Kiko was keen to show off her knowledge. “That’s Matt, he’s a Dire—only he’s now a Dragon, too. He’s an advanced student, and Cody’s apprentice for the classes. One hell of a fighter.”

I half pointed to a redheaded man who had broad shoulders but the lean muscling of a runner. “Is he a Dire as well?”

Kiko licked her lips.

“The redhead is Alex, and he’s no slouch either.”

The way she said it made me wonder if her eyes had been fastened below the waist, but I ignored that tangent and commented, “He’ll have to be, to teach me.”

“Well, I’m rather hopeless, too,” Kiko admitted. “But these guys are good. They work with what you naturally have. Makes you feel like you can do it.”

I regarded her skeptically. I knew how to defend myself from gropers in the dark, using elbows, teeth, and flying feet. That was a far cry from fighting.

I hadn’t realized Lora and Tareal were close enough to hear us. “We grew up on the streets.” Lora patted the sheath at her waist. “We know how to use a knife.”

“No knives allowed,” Kiko frowned. “You know that. This isn’t weapons class.”

Weapons class. Swell. At some point, all these students end uparmed. My gut tightened. In that moment, with everything that had been coming at me, I so did not want to be in this place.

But then I remembered the way my arms had grown and my hands sprouted wicked claws. And the teleportation thing was hardly a normal human asset.

Perhaps I was exactly where I belonged.

I kept half an eye out for Marcus, but didn’t see him. Maybe Cara had pulled him from fight class, too.

To my surprise, the redheaded Dire came and collected me and Kiko. “I will do an assessment of your basic skills,” Alex told me. “Then we’ll know the best way to train you.”

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