The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #2)(41)

We climbed again, slowing a little, allowing the screaming crew behind us to catch up. The stallion came up on us again, his head and neck stretched out, that bastard wanting to take the lead, Pete clinging to his back.

“No way,” I called out, urging her faster. She dove, almost a free fall, before tucking her wings in and spinning through the air three times in a perfect controlled maneuver.

“No!” I heard, high-pitched and terrified. “No! Not again. Never again. I don’t want to die—”

And we did it again. And again. Climbing, banking, diving, climbing again, and rolling. My stomach did so many flips, I lost count. I was drunk on the moment, giddy with exhilaration, and couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t even care if we were too late to get the prize—this was the highlight of my whole life, and I never wanted it to end.

Eventually, though, my alicorn leveled out, her wings stretched to the sides, gliding. The stallion finally caught up, his chest heaving, his coat glistening with sparkly sweat, and the look he shot us was pure pig-headedness. But he did give me a wink. Like he knew he’d been bested and almost admired us for it. I laughed again and leaned my head against my alicorn’s mane, connected to her in a way I’d never been connected with my own horse. I’d found a horse just as wild as I was, and it made my heart sing.

We dropped altitude slowly before touching down into a large ring of robust men and women, hard-faced and tight-bodied. There was no doubt in my mind they were shifters.

“What’s the deal here?” I said quietly to my alicorn, reluctant to slide to the ground. “Are they going to rush us? And if so, can we go at them as a unit?”

Her puff of air seemed like laughter, and that was good enough for me. I threw my leg over and hopped to the ground, walking to her head. After petting her nose and then up and around the base of her horn, I pressed my forehead to her nose.

“Good-bye. That was the best ride of my life, Beauty. Thank you.” I kissed her nose, because it felt like the right thing to do, and took my place among the others—a little behind a green-faced Ethan and beside a pale-faced Wally.

“I will never forgive you for that ride. I’m beyond nauseous,” Orin whispered from behind me.

It shouldn’t have been as funny as it was. It really shouldn’t have been. But I grinned, fighting the laughter. I mean, what wasn’t funny about an airsick vampire?

A stocky man with compact muscle and a chiseled jaw approached us, and for the first time, I noticed the chest behind him, piled high with gold. As he neared us, he angled his walk so that he was looking directly at me, his stare hard but his eyes glittering with respect.

“To win the gold, contestants had to ride an alicorn into this area,” he said, his voice raspy. “All of you accomplished that goal, despite the obstacles put in front of you.” His gaze flicked to Pete and a half grin lifted one side of his mouth. “Gives a new definition to saddle sore, doesn’t it?”

Pete reddened, and I didn’t know if it was because he was star-struck, staring at the shifter in awe like he’d been, or embarrassed. More likely, it was a combination of the two.

The man chuckled, a hearty sound that loosened the muscles across my shoulders. “Been there, done that.” His eyes came back to rest on me. “Amalthea, the matriarch of the herd, selects only exceptional individuals, ones with character above the rest. She doesn’t often allow riders, but she chose you. For that, your team will get a boon.”

My face turning red, I pointed at Pete. “His team. He’s the shifter.”

The man’s eyes rooted to me unflinchingly. “It will be delivered to your rooms. Well done.” He took a step back and lifted his arms. “My people will escort you out and see you back to campus. Good work, all of you. Your combined efforts are a model for every team in this school.”

As the others dispersed, each led away by someone different, the man who’d addressed us—the obvious alpha of the group—fell in beside me again, just for a moment.

“Amalthea has never, in all the time that I have known her, allowed someone to touch around her horn.” He looked at me with serious, deep blue eyes. “She is a judge unlike any other. You have a friend for life in that alicorn, something no one I know can boast, not even me. You are special…” He paused expectantly.

“Wild,” I supplied. “People call me Wild.”

He nodded once, a curt movement. “You are special, Wild. I’ll look out for you.” He nodded again, moving away, his eyes lingering on me for a moment more. “I’ll look out for you.”

In theory, it couldn’t be a bad thing to have a powerful alpha looking out for me. But it struck me that I wasn’t doing a very good job of avoiding notoriety.





Chapter 16





Getting back to the mansion should have been as simple as boarding a bus, sitting down, and letting the driver take us there with no stops along the way. Of course, we weren’t great at the simple way of doing things. Or maybe that was just me, maybe it was just my luck.

Ethan led us to the back of the bus, our usual station now that we were an unwilling part of the Helix cool crew. Ethan was on my left, head lolled back against the back of the seat, eyes at half-mast. Of course, he could totally relax. He didn’t have some trained assassin on his tail.