Magic Forged (Hall of Blood and Mercy #1)(63)

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and nodded, rocking forward onto my tiptoes. “Who am I fighting?”

“Rupert,” Celestina said.

“Are you insane?” I hissed—not caring if the red-haired vampire heard me as he finished what was probably his 400th pushup over on the maps. “He hates me! He’s going to kill me!”

“He will do no such thing,” Celestina said.

“Isn’t there anyone else?” I craned my neck, peering around the gym—only two other vampires were present at the moment, but maybe someone would come down soon?

“We selected Rupert because he knows how to hold back,” Josh said. “Which will go much farther in assuring your wellbeing than whether your opponent likes or dislikes you.”

“And Josh and I need to watch and assess your skills and natural movements,” Celestina added. “It will help us capitalize on any strengths you have that we don’t know about, and figure out what weaknesses you need to shore up first.”

“First, meaning you assume I’m going to have a lot?” I asked.

“Undoubtedly,” Josh happily said. “You are a kitten facing off with a tiger.”

“That’s just fantastic,” I muttered.

Celestina laughed. “You’ll do fine.” She dropped an arm over my shoulders and moved to steer me in Rupert’s direction, then abruptly removed her arm as if my skin scorched her. “Sorry.”

I waggled a finger at her. “If you think I’m going to forgive you this fast for sticking me with Rupert, have I got some bad news for you.”

Celestina flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. “No, I was apologizing for my casual manners.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to follow her logic. “What is there to apologize over? We’re friends.”

“You don’t mind?” Celestina asked.

“Nah, why would I?”

“Most find a vampire’s touch…unsettling, because we’re rather cool to the touch,” Celestina said.

“Oh. I actually like that you guys tend to be cooler, since us wizards run hot,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter.”

Celestina laughed and let her arm drape over my shoulders again. “The Eminence did a good thing the night he picked you out.”

“What, am I a puppy now?” I stretched my arms out in front of me, reassured by my katana’s familiar weight.

Rupert rolled his eyes as we joined him on the mats. “Can we get this over with? I have better things to do than waste my time taking the wizard’s feeble attacks.”

“Yes, thank you, Rupert, for taking on the role of attacker,” Celestina said. “Hazel, we’d like you to push your magic through your sword and use it during the fight.”

I snorted. “And what, singe his hair?”

“When you have more magic power you can use the same attack patterns, but the magic will be much more potent, making you far more powerful,” Josh said. “This is an ideal way to begin practicing, so we don’t have to worry about you accidentally injuring yourself or others.”

“I can’t hurt myself with my own magic.” I settled into a guard stance on the mats, holding my katana horizontally. I tuned out Celestina and Josh, and focused on Rupert and the beat of my own heart.

He tried to circle me, but I kept my footwork sharp and pivoted so I faced him. I pulled magic from the air and through my blood, feeling a smidgen better when the faint sparks of my magic encircled my katana and I felt the burn of my small wizard mark.

He moved to slug my gut. I moved my katana to block, but it was a feint, and he instead hit my shoulder.

It hurt, but it was a much gentler impact than I expected. It seemed he really was going to play nice.

Encouraged, I dropped my shoulders and concentrated, blocking a kick to my right thigh with my katana before I thrust my sword at his open right side.

With his vampiric speed he dodged easily, but he attacked with the slowness he’d first adopted.

Eventually we fell into fighting patterns I recognized—Josh and Celestina had been drilling them into my head since my first week of training. Rupert landed several jarring hits—at least a few of them were going to leave bruises, but it was almost enjoyable.

It wasn’t until he drew so close I couldn’t use my katana that I realized something was wrong.

The fight—which had previously been back-and-forth by the book—swerved with his close distance, making me stumble.

I tried to get my katana up, first feinting a jab at his throat with the hilt of the sword before swiveling, but Rupert grabbed it mid-air.

“You’re getting cocky, rat-blood,” Rupert said. He leaned in so close I could smell the faint trace of hot blood on his breath—though even with such close quarters he kept his hand wrapped around my katana.

The blade dug into the skin of his palm, and drops of blood dripped between his fingers. He ignored it. My magic fizzed around his fingertips, but besides the occasional jump of his arm—moving from the electricity—it didn’t seem to bother him.

I gritted my teeth, and my arms shook as I fought to keep my sword up. “Aww, we’re still using cute nicknames, huh?” I was really wishing I had more magic right about now—I could fry Rupert like a bug instead of just annoying him with tiny zaps.