31. Tez

31

Tez

As I raised my hands and attempted to dial back on the bird-calling shit, one thought dominated my mind.

I absolutely should have left with Slade.

What the hell had I been thinking? The Watcher lady was on to me—I was sure of it.

I'd really stayed here for the fucking library, and it did contain the information I needed. After spending all evening and most of the night digging through references, I had even sneaked one into my room.

The information was vital to my existence as a mercenary, but I might pay a very high price if my true nature was discovered. I had no idea what the Gretik Priesthood's connections were to the council's academy, but I didn't want to find out, either.

In and out. I should have known better than to stay. Because there was another reason that it had been a very fucking bad idea. An even more important reason.

Bree.

She was easily the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Watching her across a room was bad enough, but then there was the library incident. During which Nemi had almost pecked a hole in my neck, and my damned body had reacted as if I'd consumed Poletuber juice.

I'd wanted to kill something—no, a certain hulking, rock-lifting some one —when she'd admitted she had feelings for Riggs.

And now, having her in this fucking class with me was devastating.

I desired her more than anything or anyone I'd ever wanted before. It was a visceral kind of thing, and not something I'd ever experienced.

I'd once worked with a cartel operative who'd been deadly efficient at his job. He'd totally fallen for a woman that belonged to an enemy of ours. And he decided he would have her, at any cost.

She'd cost him his life.

I'd never understood it. Thought he was a fool. Had told him so, before he'd headed out to get himself killed.

I told myself the same thing now. This woman belonged to Victor. He was going to a lot of trouble to get her back. No way he'd tolerate me interfering. He'd torch me in an instant.

That is, if Riggs didn't try to slice and dice me first. He glowered at me like he already had a stake in her himself. Or a dick.

Maybe he'd already screwed her. Was that why he'd given her the sword? From what I knew of it, that wasn't a weapon one just handed over. Wherever it went, it carried destiny with it.

When the light from it engulfed me—Bree was there, within that pulsing energy. I bathed in the purity of her life essence, and it nearly undid me.

Because the sword's power seized hold of something deep within me, and made it much more solid than it had ever been before. A presence that now uncoiled and sat up, before pushing to the surface.

My grandmother had given it a name. Feathered Serpent. I had no idea what it actually was, only that it was something I needed to avoid.

I barely shut it down in time.

By the look on that crazy Watcher's face, it hadn't been soon enough. But this time, I kept a stranglehold on things, and only summoned a few curious birds.

By the time she decided we'd had enough, I felt like something inside me had been stretched so far that it would never go back to the way it was. Nemi chirped from my shoulder as we walked back toward the gate, and Riggs once again kept himself between me and Bree. He walked so he could watch me out of the corner of his eye.

Whatever else this guy was, he was trained to fight. And there was definitely something going on between those two. Excellent reasons to be gone sooner rather than later.

But here I was, following them back through the academy building to the front meadow. As if I belonged with them. Or, at least, with her .

"Tez, I'd like to talk to you in private for a moment." Cara looked at me.

My gut clenched. This couldn't be good. But I didn't know a way out of it, so I let her lead me off along the front of the building until we were away from everyone else.

"I need to ask you about your earcuff," she said.

My earcuff? Why did she need to know about that? But I answered her honestly. "It was a gift."

"You said it was from your grandmother, who died."

"Yes," I agreed. I didn't want to talk about this.

"Where did she get it from?" she asked.

"There was a booth at a market."

Her intense gaze never left my own. "It has been infused with magic."

Magic? "It's just an earcuff," I insisted.

"It is far more than that. The magic links the world of the afterlife to this one. And what I sense from it is distinctly female."

My mouth had gone dry as a bone. "No fucking way," I stated.

Nemi's wing thumped me up the back of my head. Then she hopped forward until her beady little eyes could glare at me.

I swallowed. "This presence you sense—would it link to something living?"

Cara's eyes were fastened on the hummingbird. "It can. For a while, anyway. These spells need to be refreshed, or they will fade with time. And if they are linked to something living—it can be very hard on whoever carries it."

I should have known she wouldn't leave me. My heart spasmed, and I had to clear my throat before I could speak. "She always worried about me."

The Watcher's expression reflected both concern and empathy as she watched me work it through.

It was something I was having significant issues with. My grandmother was supposed to have joined the man she'd loved, not be occupied with riding herd over my chaotic life. "Is that a healthy thing for her?" I asked.

Cara's eyes darkened. "Not for forever, it likely isn't. But for the short term, it might be okay. I just thought you should know."

I raised a finger to stroke Nemi's soft feathers. She pecked at it, annoyed. Just like a certain woman I used to know.

" Gracias ," I said.

The Watcher nodded. "Enjoy your run." And with those parting words, she left me.

Run? Right. The students were gathered in front of the building, and I spotted two Bellatis that seemed to be in charge. As everyone was standing in their teams, I joined mine.

My thoughts circled in an unfocused manner as they eyed me suspiciously. I'd chatted them up only long enough to get information from them and hadn't encouraged communication since. Plus, I was certain that my attempts to look cool and composed were a complete failure. And I'd noticed that agitation on my part tended to cause nervous reactions in others.

I gritted my teeth. The sooner I said adios to this place, the better.

A part of me wanted to talk that over with the bird on my shoulder. This magic-mojo earcuff thing was seriously messing with my mind.

As soon as the run began, I settled into a comfortable pace and ignored my team. I finished a little out of breath. Jogging had, at one time, been a part of my normal fitness regime. But my life, as of late, had been anything but normal.

As I followed the other team members out to the back field, I contemplated that I was now running for entirely different reasons.

The instructors prepared to guide us through fight class. Nemi cheeped at me, as though to remind me that I needed to mess this up. Big time.

The students were accustomed to the routine, and most paired up immediately. But the tall and muscular figure of the instructor zeroed in on me. Something about the way he moved reminded me of Slade.

"I'm Cody," he said. "And as you are new, I will do an assessment of your abilities. That way, I can team you up appropriately." He grinned at me. "Don't worry, I won't dent you. Much."

I let my lips curl into a vapid smile, but in reality, I was evaluating the way he moved. We began to circle each other, and I could tell the guy knew what he was doing. Which made sense, if he was the instructor.

My erstwhile hummingbird twittered at me from her hovering position over my head, and I counseled myself to screw this up. I needed to blend for another day, unless I planned to say adios to this place, right now and forever. But there were still things I needed to glean from that library…

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Riggs had squared off with the instructor's assistant. Bree, however, was watching me. And then she flinched as Nemi darted to her and landed on her shoulder. She raised a finger to stroke her—and the fucking bird leaned into it.

That had entirely different connotations now than it would have an hour ago.

It was at that moment of frustrated distraction that Cody came at me.

He was nothing but a blur of motion. My body reacted as it had been trained to do, ducking out from under his grab, one leg shooting out to trip him, an arm chopping at his throat.

He proved his mettle by avoiding my trip and ducking the blow. A millisecond later, we were circling again. But this time, I saw a glimmer of respect in his eye.

"You've had training," he stated.

Shit. If I wanted to fool him, I was going to have to work harder at it. Yet all I could think of was Bree watching us, with a bird that might not really be a hummingbird sitting there on her shoulder. Appearing like a ham-fisted fool in front of her just wasn't in the cards.

Which made me another kind of fool. Knowing it didn't change it.

So all I said was, "My grandmother trained me."

Cody's brows twitched. "I would love to meet her."

"She's dead." Or was she?

"I'm sorry." He said it like he meant it.

"So am I," I returned.

Cody came at me again, faked a grab and spun, going for a headlock. I twisted away, my foot shooting out to land a solid kick to his shoulder. I'd been aiming for his head, but the guy was fucking good.

As we danced apart again, my blood warmed to the task. It had been a long time since I'd been up against anyone as good as me. Other than my grandmother, of course.

Cody took his game up a notch, and I rose with him. Soon, we were in the air as much as on the ground. I became aware of the other students stopping to watch. The only pair of eyes I cared about had moved closer for a better view.

It galvanized me to greater heights. Bruised and covered in sweat and dirt, Cody grinned like a fiend, and his eyes were blazing copper.

After I finally landed a spinning kick to his jaw, he laughed and held up his hands. "Okay. The master has become the student. I want to learn that last move." He brushed dirt off his tee shirt. "If you're interested in becoming a fight training assistant—I have someone helping me already, but with this lot, another hand would be welcomed."

I stared at him, and a traitorous worm of warmth wove its way through me. Whispering that I could stay, and become a part of this place…

Everything in life had a price. On the surface, this academy seemed like a haven. But experience had proved one thing to me—that safety was only earned with brains and a good knife.

My eyes slid to Bree, and then to the bird sitting on her shoulder. These people might believe they were safe. But I'd seen too much of life to believe it.

It was a lie. And in another day, they would all know it.

So I plastered a fake smile on my face, and said, "Sure."