Chapter 16 #2
What does she figure she’ll get out of the position? I doubt she’s thinking of my best interests any more than a siren cares how sailors intended to steer.
Before I can figure out how to answer her, she tilts her head, her lips curving with amusement. “Looks like the instructors are worried you’ll aim some of that savagery at them for fucking up.”
Captain Ross is adjusting something in the back of his control box, but Professor Jovak is watching me with widened eyes. When I catch his gaze, he hustles over as if he was just waiting for me to notice.
“Miss Devine,” he says, with a flush in his cheeks that only adds to his gnome-ish vibe. “Are you sure you’re completely all right? I apologize as well for the malfunction.”
I force a smile. “I feel fine.” It’s pretty much true. Any minor damage the wallop of ephemera did to me, my glim must have healed without my even noticing in the confusion.
He clasps his hands in front of his rounded belly. “Were you still able to pay attention to which areas of your body had the most intense response to the effect?”
The aches have faded, but the memory of the impact lingers in my mind. “I think so.” I touch the corner of my jaw. “Here and my throat. Somewhere around my stomach area and one of my knees. I’ll focus on gathering ephemera at those spots and see how I can fortify them.”
“Perfect. I’m glad there were no ill effects. Carry on, then.”
I swivel a little away from Cadance to discourage further conversation and turn my attention inward.
What can I do with the energies around me to defend those apparent weak points?
The ephemera lingering in the mat beneath me and the rest of the room farther beyond tickles against my senses. I draw in a handful and meld it to the edge of my jaw, picturing the tendons there.
Can I make them sturdier? Put a barrier around them that would deflect a blow?
What about my throat? I’m not sure there’s much muscle there to bolster. Maybe I should focus only on shielding that area.
I condense the energy I’ve summoned into a solid barrier above my collarbones and then move on to my gut. I do have abs I can work with as a more natural shield.
How long will the effects of my magic keep them strengthened?
I’ve got to start doing even more crunches in my morning workout routine. And I could enhance that area with a little condensed ephemera too, to defend against jabs of magic as well as physical blows.
By the time I’ve finished my assessment and attempted to bolster every weak point, Captain Ross has gotten his panels working again and directed all the remaining students through the initial test. As everyone sprawls on the mats, hovering their hands over one or another part of their bodies, he ambles between us, glancing one way and another.
He stops at the far end of the room on a couple of mats left empty and claps his hands for our attention.
“The most important part of today’s lesson is putting what you’ve learned to use in a confrontation.
I’ll have you come over two at a time for a little sparring so I can advise you directly.
The rest of you can learn from observing your peers or continue working through your own strategies until it’s your turn. ”
His gaze slides over all of us again and settles on me.
“Miss Devine, if you’re up to it, why don’t you kick things off?
You must have gotten quite a clear picture of where you need to hone your defenses after that unfortunate error.
And… Mr. Cosgrave, I gather you’re the star of the academy’s combat club.
Come up here and test how well Miss Devine is guarding her weak points. ”
Salvatore gets up from where he was sitting nearby. He saunters over to the mats Ross indicated behind me, but I can feel the tension rippling through his presence.
My heart thumps faster.
The other Salvatore would have mouthed off at the captain again for messing up the test and risking hurting me. We don’t want to draw that kind of attention.
It turns out this Salvatore has cultivated a little more self-control in more than just the bedroom. He simply looks at Ross with an unimpressed expression and faces me, cracking his knuckles. A familiar smirk tugs at his lips. “I’ll put her through the paces.”
I know the glint in his eyes is more affectionate than sadistic, even if no one else will be able to tell the difference.
“Don’t hold back on me,” I say, as if trying to make myself look tough rather than warning him not to give away his concern.
Salvatore’s grin widens. “That won’t be a problem.”
Ross clears his throat. “The other lesson you’ll want to have learned today is to always pay attention to potential opponents.
Look around and see where your fellow students are focusing their attentions.
See if you can remember the most ideal spots to aim your strikes when you have to face them on the mats. ”
He tips his head toward Salvatore. “You seemed to be observing Miss Devine’s progress. I’m not sure the same goes the other way.” He raises an eyebrow at me.
I wince inwardly. I was specifically ignoring my matches to avoid raising suspicion.
Is the captain wondering about Salvatore’s interest in me, or has he dismissed it as normal rivalry between classmates in competition for the top ranks? Salvatore did make a point of calling me out during our initial assessments.
Is Ross questioning why I don’t seem equally concerned about Salvatore?
I shrug as if I’m unfazed. “I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.” Which isn’t entirely true, because after years of sparring with the other version of my match, I’m pretty familiar with his few minor weak points.
Not that I can reveal as much even to this Salvatore, even after all the ways I have let him in.
I have to keep pretending that I barely knew him before this past week.
Ross blows his whistle, and Salvatore and I launch into our match.
When the mafia heir swings at my jaw, the ephemera I embedded there helps me jerk out of the way fast enough. The magical barrier around my gut deflects a lance of energy he flings my way.
The captain compliments my defenses, and I smile as if I’m pleased. But underneath, a deeper pain is churning in my chest around a question I’m not sure how to answer.
I’m carrying even more secrets than I ever did in my own reality. Am I going to have to spend my whole life holding my matches at a wary distance, as if they’re as much my enemies as my lovers?