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I chuckled. It was silly. Melissa needed something practical she’d always have with her, but watching her shoot an arrow toward a tree was the highlight of my morning. She looked so sexy doing it.

“How about this? I’ll show you how to throw a knife and not miss the center of their eyes. You can keep a dagger in your purse instead.”

She nodded. “That’s more like it. You can teach me during our next session, Sensei,” she teased, bringing her palms together and bowing.

I leaned in, placed my hands around her neck, and pulled her to me. Her lips met mine, passionately and seductively. She was driving me crazy, and I fucking loved it.

Melissa’s hand lingered on the back of my head, threading her fingers into my long hair. My cock twitched as she gave my scalp a squeeze.

Fuck.

I wanted to get her back to my place and spend a few hours worshiping her body, but I had to train with the coven.

“Caleb, I …” Melissa cut off her sentence, biting her bottom lip. I didn’t know what she wanted to say to me, but she looked like she was battling something in her mind. “I have to get back to the office.”

No, that wasn’t what she wanted to say, but I didn’t press her.

“You also have your training, right?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, the coven’s on their way. It’s easier for us to practice the magic part of our defense outside the basement. Just in case it gets out of hand.” I laughed, and she shook her head at me.

“You guys are crazy,” she said as she leaned in to plant a kiss on my lips one last time.

_______________

SHORTLY AFTER MELISSAleft, the rest of the coven showed up in the forest behind Scalloptown Park, except for Mercy. She had something planned at her aunt’s house this morning.

“I like this spot. It’s more secluded than where we’ve trained before,” Leah said as she neared the clearing.

I had cleared an area of forest debris and stood at the center before Leah, Simon, and Ezra walked over.

After joining hands, we formed a circle, closed our eyes, and chanted a spell we had been working on for the past six months. I felt my powers flow through me and amplify, and when we opened our eyes, they were all glowing a bright shade of color representing our elements. Breaking the circle, we positioned ourselves in a fighting stance.

“We’re going to be testing out new attack spells on each other. When something becomes too much, you need to give the signal for the caster to drop the magic, otherwise, we’ll keep going.” I instructed, cracking my neck in preparation, and I nodded at Leah to begin.

Leah lifted her hands and pulled the water from the surrounding soil. It had rained earlier, so she could extract enough to form a large orb of water in her palms.

“Alright, you can use me, Leah. Go for it,” Ezra said, just seconds before Leah threw the water ball at him and encased his head, drowning him with her powers.

“Fuck!” he mouthed, stumbling back.

Ezra pulled his hands up to his neck and gasped for air. After a few seconds of struggling, Ezra gave the submission signal, waving his hand in the air with three fingers flushed together. She released the water back down to the earth, and Ezra coughed up the remaining liquid that had entered his lungs. “Holy shit, Leah.” He coughed some more. “Can we trade powers for the day? That spell worked great!” he asked. “I feel like your powers have gotten a lot stronger, too. That was fucking badass.”

Leah winked at Ezra before Simon stepped forward.

“This might hurt a little, guys,” he warned. “You all might want to start running.”

Simon lifted his hands, and a gentle draft tickled my neck. The force of the breeze increased, and the leaves around us blew violently, like a hurricane passing by. It wrapped around the coven like a tornado, and Leah had to brace herself on the ground, clinging to the trunk of a tree to keep from flying away. As the wind encircled the coven, I felt my breath leave my lungs, and I could no longer gasp for air. I became lightheaded, and Ezra’s hand raised, signaling it was enough. Carefully, Simon lowered his hands while we all gasped for air again, pulling it back into our lungs so we could breathe.

Ezra turned to me. “I’m … next,” he said, still trying to catch his breath, but his wild eyes were filled with a hunger which I was familiar.

We were so fucked.

Leah and Simon exchanged glances before Leah readjusted her grip on the tree, and Simon hunkered down by a fallen log. I took a few steps back, ready to make a run for it if Ezra decided to split the earth open beneath my feet.

Ezra shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not going to save you, assholes,” he taunted, raising his hands, and I heard the roots ripping from the trees around us as he pulled branches in our direction. He threw his hands out, and forest debris flew toward Simon, grabbing him by the foot and pulling him away from the large log he held on to. Ezra directed the earth to move away from him, the log now slipping from Simon’s hands. A branch from the log wrapped around his wrist and, with the debris tether, stretched his body until he could no longer move.

Leah bolted to my right, which wasn’t the best choice of action. Ezra used his powers to pull the soil up from the ground, creating a hole that Leah fell into.

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