Page 4 of Centaur Bolt

“Well, that’s easy,” I said. “Because I have no skills. Zero.”

He flashed me a smile, white teeth against olive skin. “Everyone has skills. They just don’t know it.”

“He told me that, too,” Kiko stated.

“And you do,” Alex said. “Both of you will suit my style of fighting. In the Dire world, I am on the smaller side. Opponents tend to underestimate me.” His grin took on a wolfish air. “But when you aren’t hauling all that muscle around, you can dart in. Strike like a snake, and be gone before they hit back.”

Kiko rolled her eyes. “I am the world’s slowest snake.”

“You just need practice,” Alex said firmly as he led us away. The other students seemed to be squaring off with each other under Tyrez’s and Matt’s watchful eyes. Tareal and Lora were already tumbling in the grass, so closely entwined it was impossible to say where one started and the other ended.

That was just weird. I averted my eyes.

The food Cara had stuffed me with earlier eased the shaking, but also set me up more for a snooze than wrestling a redheaded werewolf. Even if he was attractive. Kiko certainly seemed to be eyeing him. Perhaps she found his looks invigorating. I was sure to hear of her assessment after class.

Moments later, I was panting not with lust but with effort as Alex instructed me through a series of moves.

“Excellent.” He twisted my arm behind my back. “You are quite flexible and know how to use your body.”

I winced. “Honestly? I didn’t know my arm could bend like that.”

He released said appendage and beamed at me. “Most can’t. A lot of these students are stiff as boards and have no idea how to use their bodies properly.”

It surprised me. “I would have thought that shifters would be all over that,” I stated.

“As beasts, yes. But many have never fought as humans. They are too accustomed to shifting in order to sort their issues.” He grinned at us, his teeth very white. “Observe your teammates for a while. Take note of how they move. Watch their eyes—it will tell you they are going to do something before they do it.”

My arm ached. Observing sounded like an excellent idea.

“Lucky you,” Kiko said with a sigh, as Alex lined up with her.

I wandered through the students and ended up sitting on the back steps of the academy, watching the others fight.

Watching, too, for Marcus. But there was no sign of him. I didn’t know why that made me so uneasy, but it did.

I wasn’t there that long before Kiko puffed her way over to me, brushing sand off her leggings and tee shirt.

“How much time did you spend on the ground?” I asked.

She shrugged. “His snake-like moves put me in the dirt. Repeatedly.” She glanced around. “Still no Sixey?”

I shook my head. “Cara must have pulled him from class.”

“No, I did not,” came a voice from behind us. We turned to see Cara, and the look on her face had me standing in a hurry.

“Then where is he?” I asked.

“He left me to come here.” Her brows lowered.

My pulse accelerated. Something was very wrong. I rose. “Was he okay?”

She nodded. “Yes. I told him to attend class, and he left.”

“We have to find him.” My insistence was tinged with fear.

“Maybe he’s out front,” Kiko suggested. “He seems like a stare-at-the-lake-when-troubled kind of guy.”

We followed Cara into the building. Halfway across the foyer, she suddenly changed direction, almost pouncing on something that lay on the floor.

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