The Devoted: A Reverse Harem Omnibus (The Devoted Season Book 1)(12)
“Okay,” he sighs, “I can still work with that.”
My walls fall, my shoulders too. I feel awful for keeping this from him, but I barely know him. If word got out that I was having visions during my magical mishaps, Firedrake would surely send me home.
Just give me time. I can control this. I can!
“Close your eyes,” he says, “Whenever you feel...anxiety coming on, this is what I want you to do,”
Cullen teaches me a breathing exercise. He counts slowly, from one to three as I inhale. Then, I hold it at the top and he begins again counting backward instead. After a couple rounds of the exercise, I’m feeling a bit lightheaded but calm. My heartbeat is more of a reminder that I’m not a zombie, instead of being the ticking time bomb it often is. By our fourth session, the sconcelights lining the back of the academy light up with orange light. It flickers across the field as sparkles of electricity and fire explode to life between two sparring students.
“Try that tomorrow,” Cullen tells me as we get up and stretch our legs, “if it works, you might not even have to do remedial anymore,” he flashes a smile my way and my heart melts.
Why do I feel this way about something as simple as a smile?
I blink the feeling away, “And if it doesn’t?”
A playful sigh escapes his lips, “Then I guess we’d have to meet again, wouldn’t we?”
###
THIS TIME, I’M READY.
Called back onto the field for the second day out of the ten, the new joins are lined up before Instructor Caterina.
“Each day rings a little different,” she calls, hands on her hips, “Why should class be any different?”
My jaw clenches. It’s like she’s talking directly to me, even though her eyes aren’t meeting mine. Out of the three rows of lines, I stand right in the middle. So, it wouldn’t be hard for her to make a point.
Instructor Caterina presses past me and moves up the line, my shoulders relax.
“Today, you will go beyond basic elementals,” she stands still and smirks, “If any of you are capable of going beyond the realm of metaphysical magicks, now is the time to say so. The same is true for those of you who cannot go beyond the basics. Come to me now and forfeit your place here. Honestly is a virtue!” her gaze sways through the crowd, her tiny moth-like eyebrows lowering as she scans us. Nodding swiftly, she paces away, “If any of you fail my preliminary test, then expect to be sent back home immediately. Partner up!”
I can’t fail.
The roar of my heartbeat deafens me. The rows are moving and shifting as students partner up, some with the same partners from last time. My gaze finds Iris and white bandages encircle her forearms up to the elbow. She meets my eyes and glares literal lightning at me. I shrivel under her gaze.
“Hey,”
A hand lands on my shoulder and I shrug it off. Turning to face the deep voice, I look up into a face I do not recognize. Tufts of cloud-like hair curl around his high cheeks like the tentacles of an octopus.
“Saw what you did yesterday. Want to try that on me?”
This guy reminds me of my old tutor, Snow. Large and cocky. I press my lips into a hard line and narrow my eyes.
Remember what Cullen taught you.
The students stagger themselves. This time, I’m closer to the back of the academy than the arena. My partner drops into a guarded stance while I tap my fingers against my thighs. All around us, sparring sessions begin roaring up. A flash of light magic makes me flinch. There’s a clash of thunder against the earth-shattering effects of earth magic. From some ways away, someone is fighting with a thin curtain of mist magic.
The ground begins to shake and roll. I spread out my stance to keep my balance. You can go a bit farther this time. Trust yourself. Keep control of your breath. But I stumble, losing it.
My partner roars, comes at me faster than I can blink, and hooks his leg around my knee, forcing it to bend. I hit the ground and a block of earth comes rushing toward my lower back. A screech of pain blazes through me and for a moment, splotches of black and red blind me. My heart thunders in my chest as heat wells up in my body.
Inhale. Exhale.
I roll to the side and spring up. Instead of springing up with a straight back, I slink, doubling over.
Don’t let him get to you.
The guy’s smiling. He swats sweat from his brow and contorts his fingers forward. From the glistening beads of sweat on his face, he’s exhausting every bit of his mana just to get at me. I want to explain to him that what happened yesterday was some sort of a freak accident. I didn’t hurt Iris on purpose.
The rocking comes again, funneling its way up through the ground beneath me, and this time I’m in control enough to call water up between the cracks in the ground his magic makes. With a sizzling deluge of water springing up between the rocking crevices, I call enough to soak the ground and turn it into a squelching slush. Grass blades dip and I step forward, a prolonged sucking sound grasping at my ankles.
Inhale. Exhale.
I work the water around his ankles. I’m thinking about freezing it, but worried that if my magic decides to go haywire I could end up freezing his entire body.
My hesitation is grounds for getting knocked on my ass.
In three fleeting movements, my partner zigzags forward, conjures fire around his reared back fist, and shoots it toward my stomach. I’ve seen this move before and Iris’s beet-red face flashes in my mind’s eye as I backstep away from his fist. He doesn’t follow me. He doesn’t close the distance.