Page 33 of Dance of the Phoenix
Logan did not respond. He didn’t even glance my way.
Taking a deep breath, I made a split-second decision. “I know neither of us is happy about thispairing,” I whispered, wincing at my own word choice and ignoring my rising anxiety. “But the Hecatomb is not a joke, Logan. So please, give this fight your all and work with me as best as you can, for both our sakes.”
Because if there was one thing I was sure of, it was Logan’s and my compatibility when it came to fighting styles. And while I did not like having to deal with him, especially after we had successfully ignored each other ever since I first became a vampire, my will to live was stronger than my ego.
And his will should be too.
Whether Logan accepted what I said or not, I wouldn’t know, because Margarita immediately told us to be ready, and when she called “Start!” we were already on the defense against Zoey’s and Neisha’s immediate onslaught.
As Logan fended Neisha off by evading her attacks, I was doing the same with Zoey. My reaction time was just slightly better than hers, and it was enough for me to avoid getting beaten.
I hated being on the defense, though. I always felt safer when I was actively doing something in a fight rather than protecting myself. And while defense was important, offense was more up my alley.
So when Zoey tried to punch me next, I decided enough was enough. I grabbed her flying wrist and with grueling effort flung her across the room and away from me. She landed on her side, gasping in pain.
I didn’t waste a moment and turned to Neisha. She and Logan were still in the same position, with him evading her powerful blows. She sniggered at him, since she could see what I saw: the sweat on his forehead from having to restrain himself.
He was actually refusing to fight. As if he didn’t acknowledge that the results of this mock battle were so much more important than our shitty past.
That realization settled heavily in the pit of my stomach, and I snapped loudly, “Get a fucking grip, Logan!”
Both Neisha’s and Logan’s heads whipped to my direction. Using that momentum, I sent a kick toward Neisha and felt a surge of satisfaction when I felt my heel digging into her ribs.
She grunted and staggered back, Zoey rejoining her now that she was on her feet. I moved to stand next to Logan again. “Are you seriously going to fuck us both over?”
“You have no right to tell me what to do,” he hissed back, his eyes, like mine, still on Neisha and Zoey, who were now standing in a defensive stance, as if to tell us it was time we stopped playing and took it seriously.
“I’m not trying to do that,” I snipped back before I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what I knew would force Logan into action. Tension rolling over my body, I hissed, “Just stop acting like a wet blanket and startfighting for your life.”
Before he could respond, I surged forward and sent a round kick toward Neisha. She gave me a grin as she blocked it with her arm, but I was already sending my fist to her face.
The moment my fist connected with her cheek, I felt Zoey coming from behind me, and I knew it was time I began.
So I launched the first Behest.
Ever so gradually, I slowed down my movements. At first, Zoey was still moving at the same pace as before, but before she knew it, she began mimicking my pace. And while I slowed everything down, I gathered my restrained, bubbling energy in the pit of my gut, readying myself.
And when the time was ripe, with Zoey attempting to punch my face, I exploded.
With my gut as the center of my energy for the second Behest, I shot forward into her fist and connected both my feet with her stomach, using my core to bring her down with one fast motion.
Zoey cried out as her back crashed against the floor, but I didn’t stop moving. I swiveled around and found Logan executing his own second Behest on Neisha, bringing the Gift of his enhanced leg muscles into play when he practically kicked her into unavoidable submission.
With Neisha and Zoey down, Logan’s and my heavy breathing were the only sounds in the room. We glanced at one another, and I gavehim a nod that he did not return before he walked toward the bench full of wide-eyed participants, almost falling down on his ass as he was fighting to catch his breath.
Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I took back my seat on the bench as well. It seemed we didn’t need to reach the time limit of our mock battle. With our successful synchronized attack of Iovan’s Imperium’s first couple Behests, it was clear which pair was superior.
And unfortunately, it was not Neisha and Zoey.
We took a lunch break before it was time for the pairing decisions.
At first, I thought it would be a lunch break like any other: I would go with Zoey to find Isora, the three of us would eat together and gossip about what was happening, and then we would part ways.
This time, however, was different.
“Stop,” Ragnor called when everyone—us ten Hecatomb participants and his two Lieutenants—reached the cafeteria’s entrance. Once he had our attention, he said with a blank face, “We’ll all sit together.”
Shocked murmurs broke out among the participants. Margarita and Magnus, too, seemed baffled as they shot Ragnor questioning looks he determinedly ignored.
