49

IVY

THE walk to my magical offence and defence training class took me longer than expected. Despite the run-in with Ry in the library two days ago, our bond still felt weak, and my magic had a sluggish feel to it.

Ry was the only thing on my mind. And, unfortunately, the Fae Prince. No one had owned up to the mage’s deaths yet, despite Maeve still looking into it.

Orion was like a wraith, going from class to class, his posse of Fae royals a shield that protected him—not like he needed it. I only ever caught glimpses of his silver hair and vibrant, violet eyes. But otherwise, he was never in the same room long enough for me to observe him.

The rumour of his dead mate still seemed wrong the longer I sat on it. Maybe part of it was true. But it certainly wasn’t all correct.

But why lie? I wondered as I entered the gym. Shaking my head, I avoided direct eye contact with Hawk, who waited in the same place he always did, and headed straight for the locker room. Why does anyone lie? Especially in this place. It’s all about power .

And Orion was the most powerful male here.

I changed quickly, ignoring the obvious stares of other female’s also changing. As much as some didn’t think I was responsible for the deaths, they all still talked about what initially happened.

Back home, they whispered about girls getting pregnant, gaining weight, or sleeping around.

Here, it was whether you were the right kind of powerful to kill someone.

As I left the locker room, I couldn’t help but laugh. It was so ridiculously different. And somehow, this place was better.

Well, except for the death.

Hawk pushed off a beam, uncrossing his thick arms. Tension rolled off of him in waves. A tingle ran down the length of my spine as he stalked towards me. The more I saw him, the harder it was to ignore the pull. It drew me in, and with each training session, I found myself drowning in him. He was Hawk , the obnoxious asshole from the other team. And yet the feeling of lightning hit me whenever I saw him.

Ugh. It was an overwhelming mess I didn’t want to untangle.

The half-Fae in question stopped in front of me, close enough that we were almost flush together. One deep breath and my chest would touch his. I had to keep my breathing shallow. The last thing I needed was to be overwhelmed by his...scent.

His dark eyes roamed the length of my body, and as he looked me over, I took it as an opportunity to take him in. For the first time, I noticed dark tattoos lining his tanned skin. There were thick lines of ink circling his arm beneath the sleeve of his t-shirt. The thin material stretched over his muscular chest, and it took a lot of effort not to look down.

I cleared my throat when his eyes finally found mine again. “What do you have planned for me today, oh horrible one?” I asked, trying to break the tension.

Hawk blinked but shook his head. “You seem better than last time.”

“I am. Why? Were you worried about me?” I asked, cocking my head.

He lowered his face, and suddenly, there was only a breath between us. If I moved, I could kiss him. It was a ridiculous thought, one I squashed by taking a step back.

Something unfamiliar flashed across his face, but he quickly composed himself. “Follow me. We’re going into a sparring room. Anything goes. Fight as dirty as you want, Princess.”

I bristled as he turned and stalked towards the stairs leading down to the training arena. There were several groups already there, taking to the different terrains. The Fae prince was there, sparring alongside his group of followers. As I made my way down and past him, I caught his eye. My heart stopped in my chest, and something deep in my gut coiled tight. They were a sparkling, vibrant violet colour that tickled a memory. I’d never met anyone with eyes like his, and yet I couldn’t ignore how strange they were. It’d been hard to ignore them in the library last week. Even worse now.

Hawk walked right by them, and I followed, forcing myself to break eye contact. The pressure circling my body disappeared like it’d never happened.

What the hell is wrong with me? I picked up my pace so I walk ed beside Hawk instead.

“What exactly does ‘anything goes’ mean?” I asked sceptically.

Hawk glanced down at me before eyeing a long row of rooms. These doors were thick, almost like cells. I’d seen the inside once before, and they were larger than they appeared. “Today just means you get to unleash whatever you want. Maybe give shifting a try.”

“No thanks,” I replied. “If I’m going to try that for the first time, I’d rather do it with my mate.”

The mighty team leader grimaced but recovered quickly. “I’m here to train you, Princess. Help you use everything in your arsenal. But I didn’t realise you needed them here to hold your hand.”

With that, he picked up his pace and slammed one of the doors open. He didn’t wait for me, and I had to rush in behind him before it closed on me.

My skin prickled as the door clicked shut, and wards settled over my skin. Hawk spun on me, standing in the middle of a circle that made up the sparring room. The circle wasn’t simply a thick line, but rather hundreds of runes overlapping one another, some stark and others smudged like charcoal.

Hawk shucked off his shirt and tossed it to the side. “Hit me with whatever you have. In the circle, your power won’t have as heavy an effect. It’ll protect your sparring partner as well as the outside world. So, if you want to play with lightning, you can. You won’t destroy anything. Including me.”

I gritted my teeth and toed the line. “Are you sure?”

“Are you worried about hurting me, Princess?” he teased, cocking his head. “Do you care? ”

I narrowed my eyes. “Of course, I care. I don’t want to hurt you, Hawk.”

He blinked slowly, sighing. “Trust me. Queen Greer has tested these more than once, and she has more mate bonds than you do. You can’t hurt me in here.”

I pursed my lips and dropped my stare to the runes. They pulsed with a soft glow, as if inviting me in with Hawk’s promise. Even my magic wanted out, to play.

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I sighed. Hawk wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t put himself in a situation where he’d likely get hurt by my magic. And I was better at controlling it, anyway. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him—though it certainly was part of it—it was that I couldn’t trust myself.

“Time’s ticking, Princess. We only have so long in this room...alone.”

I lifted my head and narrowed my eyes. “You’re an asshole, you know that, right?”

Hawk’s lips split into a wide grin. “Get in the circle. We don’t have all day.”

Glaring, I stepped over the line and let the power of the wards wash over me. My skin prickled, the hairs of my arms rising, but the feeling settled before disappearing. Rolling my shoulders back, I stared up at Hawk. “What now?”

“Anything goes,” he replied. “Hit me with something. You’ve got three—four, bonded mates now?”

I stiffened but nodded. He continued, “Good. You’ve got plenty of power to play with, then. Not only that, you have your own. And I know for a fact you haven’t been testing that out as much as you should. It’s a muscle that needs to be used.” He stalked towards me, once again filling my vision, overwhelming me with his scent, with him. “I want you to hit me with whatever you’ve got. Set a baseline. I’ve seen you in control before, around your sisters. But you aren’t in danger. They aren’t here.”

I closed my eyes as I reached for my power. It was already awake, curious, still weak though. I tried not to think about it being because of Hawk, or the Fae Prince beyond this room. The entity of power within me had a bad habit of appearing when I was around people I didn’t want to think about.

But now, I wanted to draw it out. The constant thrum of lightning in my veins was like a drug, the waves of power it brought nearly overwhelming. I pulled it from the deep well and out, until static raced over my skin.

My eyes opened, and I glanced down at my arms. Purple, swirling patterns ran over me, and magic filled the air. It felt good finally getting to use it in the open. Letting out, rather than smothering it.

“Attack.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, but Hawk wore his arrogance like a shield. Feet shoulder-width apart, and arms crossed, nothing in his stance told me he was afraid of me.

Maybe it was because I wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. Or prove myself.

But I bundled the lightning up, creating a ball of violet energy. Once it was the size of a volleyball, I threw it.

And watched it fizzle out before it could reach Hawk.

We both gaped as the space where the lightning should have been. “Was that the runes?” I asked, glancing between him and the floor.

Hawk stepped around where it should have hit and made his way to my side. “That should have hit me. Try it again.”

Something didn’t feel right, but I closed my eyes and went through the motions of building the ball again. This time I made it bigger, trying for something a little more powerful. I brought in the fear from the last few times I’d used my own power. The pressure to protect my sisters. To shield us from attacks. Dredging up those memories had my heart racing, but I tried not to focus on the panic or the fear. I just wanted to replicate the strength of my magic from the times where it saved not just my life—but the lives of everyone I loved. The lightning that struck the demon attacking Adrian. The power that saved him, too.

I conjured all of it and let it fill me and the magic brimming in my hands. Blowing out a breath, I opened my eyes and with Hawk at my side, I released the ball again.

It hit the centre of the circle, but instead of fizzling out, it exploded. Lightning struck the wards and ricocheted off the barriers and walls. Some sprung towards us, flashes of bright, violet light. Hawk wrapped an arm around my middle and we hit the ground before the lightning could hit us.

My heart thundered wildly in my chest as I stared, wide eyed, up at the male covering me. His wings unfolded from his bare back to cover us, enclosing me in a dark bubble with only him. His arm, braced beneath me, burning like a brand, and my skin tingled where our flesh touched.

I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe , with how close he was. I should have been more afraid of what was happening in the room. But terror gripped my chest as the well of magic purred and reached for him.

Before it could make itself known, I locked it away and buried it deep.

His dark eyes locked on mine, full of something I refused to acknowledge. I couldn’t read into it more. It was ridiculous to even consider.

Hawk had always made his thoughts about me pretty clear. I wasn’t ever going to be delusional to think he even considered me more than just an irritation at this point.

Something crashed above us, and I flinched as the sound echoed through the room. Hawk cursed under his breath, dropping his head closer to mine so that our foreheads almost touched. “Do you think you can reel your magic in?” he asked quietly, breath fanning my face.

I swallowed thickly and shook my head. “I don’t know. This hasn’t...”

He growled as something else crashed above us. “Ask your prince. See if he knows anything.”

I reached for my bond with Adrian, and noticed the dark, almost frayed bond with Ry. The blocks around it were still in place. But there was something deeply wrong with it, even after our last meeting.

Adrian? I called.

His end of the bond awoke immediately. What’s wrong? What’s happening? Are you hurt?

I gave him a short, sweet version of the problem, though I tried to not show just how worried I was. The last thing I needed was him and Elias rushing here.

I should go see my mother. Are you safe? he asked.

I don’t know. It’s...haywire. I just need to know if I can bring it back into me.

Adrian was silent for a moment, his end of the bond going dark. But he came back with, You need to funnel it through us, I think. Fuck, I don’t know. But you need to be careful. You can still get hurt, Ivy.

I shuddered, but I had no other choice. “You need to move off me. I need to see what’s going on,” I whispered.

Even though his wings blocked out most of the light, he clearly wasn’t impressed. “Princess...”

“Trust me. I need to see it.”

His jaw ticked, but another crash had him pressing into me. After a moment, Hawk huffed and finally moved, pulling me up with him. He didn’t remove the arm around me, though. It remained a chain, caging me to him.

Ignoring the dark look in his eyes, or the fact that he was basically pulling me into his lap, I turned to take in the room. Lightning struck from the ball of power still sitting in the centre of the circle. It had grown smaller, so it was releasing the energy in bits. But the wards Hawk had been so cocky about before had already crumbled. The runes were dark, some torn apart by the magic, others blackened by ash. There were holes in the stone, the walls and ceiling unstable.

“So much for being safe,” I muttered, twisting in Hawk’s arms to glare at him.

But he wasn’t looking at me. “What’s your plan for that?”

“I take it back and funnel it to the others.”

Hawk glanced at me, clenching his jaw. “And does Kingsley think this will work?”

“He hopes so.”

Maybe it was subconscious, but his arm tightened, pulling me closer. I held my breath as he eyed me, then the ball of explosive magic. His uncertainty played out like a war in his eyes, and being so close made it clear to me that maybe he wasn’t the same arrogant, obnoxious male I’d met at the safe house.

“I don’t leave your side,” he commanded. “I’ll be at your back, Princess.”

He let me stand, then rose to his feet, keeping his arm around me. Hawk only gave me enough wiggle room to twist until my back was to his front. It meant being pressed against him, but I’d take it if it meant not destroying the entire academy.

Lightning violently struck the ceiling above us, sending stone crumbling to the ground. I ducked my face as dust from the debris plumed before us and coughed when the scent of singed rock and wood met my nose.

“If we’re doing this,” Hawk warned, mouth close to my ear, “then we move now, Princess. We have no choice.”

My gut twisted, but I nodded. We skirted the edge of the debris and slowly, I lifted my hands to the magic, like it was a bonfire I was seeking warmth from. The power radiating from it made me shiver, but I focused on the way it slid over my skin, how it lifted the hairs on my arms and reacted to the magic still dwelling inside of me. It was still mine; it reacted to me like a wounded creature might, skittish and scared, but I remained still, arms outstretched, a warm welcome and need for it to return to me.

The magic fizzled, sputtered, and a strike of lightning came towards me. Hawk shouted, but I dug my heels in and let it hit. Pain shot through me as it struck the palm of my hand. I bit down on a cry as another flew towards us and hit my shoulder. After the third, I became delirious to the pain. The magic coursed through me, angry and demanding release. It violently struck at me, trying to force its way out, like it knew being caged in would mean utter destruction.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I dragged the excess magic towards the bonds. Bright, golden strands glowed, promising me relief if I passed the magic on to them.

But the same fears I’d had before, during the blow up after Kerry’s death, swam through my head. What if this hurt them? It was already painful to me, and I was the Daughter of Nyx. This was my power. How was I supposed to trust that they would be safe taking it?

“Ivy, you need to release it,” Hawk growled, his voice still close to my ear, yet sounding too far off. “You need to give them the magic. Please, just release the fucking magic.”

There were shouts from somewhere in the distance. The ground beneath my feet shuddered, and I clutched the magic tightly. The bonds grew brighter—even Ry’s tether pulsed weakly, suddenly brighter now that I held the power.

The arm around me tightened. The bonds in my chest screamed for me to give them the magic.

The world outside shuddered again.

And I let it go.