CHAPTER TWENTY
ELYSIA
The combat hall echoes with the sound of our fast-moving feet and heavy breathing. Morning light casts through the tall arched windows, casting fractured light across the mat as I dodge another one of Ronan’s blows.
Brynn’s training has paid off for the most part. I’m much stronger, and my form has majorly improved, so much so that Ronan hasn’t got a single hit in yet.
I had gone up against Enzo first, and though he is every bit the honed warrior the Academy trained him to be, he is also easily distracted and clumsy.
I swear, he has the attention span of a damn goldfish.
It was easy to take advantage of that, and I had him tapping out in under two minutes.
Odette was slightly more challenging, more planned and precise, but like everything, magic included— she had a pattern, and it didn’t take me long to crack it.
Brynn and Sirena, I’d gone up against after, and through what I can only assume was sheer luck, I actually managed to best them both. However, I’m not celebrating that fact. I’m pretty sure they were going easy on me, if their other sparring sessions are anything to go by.
Now I’m dodging every punch Ronan throws my way, moving faster than his eyes can track. There, then gone again, a blur of colour and whipping hair where I used to be. His fist cuts through empty air, close enough that I feel the rush of it skim my ribs.
Then he overcommits. I catch the hitch in his shoulder, the way his weight shifts forward, and drop low before he can land the hit. My leg kicks out, clean and precise, sweeping his feet out from under him.
Ronan’s breath leaves him in a sharp grunt as his back slams into the mat.
I don’t give him time to react.
I’m on him in the same heartbeat, knees landing hard on either side of his hips as I straddle him, forcing him flat. My weight pins him there, thighs locking instinctively as my forearm presses into his throat.
Heat flashes through me at the contact. It rolls through my chest and down my spine, setting my veins alight with something that doesn’t feel like mine at all. My jaw tightens as I shove it down.
“Fuck him up!” Cole yells from the sidelines.
I can’t help the grin that tugs at my mouth.
A whistle pierces the air a second later. “That’s our girl!” Enzo hollers.
I lean in harder, and Ronan coughs, hands snapping to my hips as he bucks beneath me, fingers digging in as he struggles for leverage. His breath rasps, chest heaving under the pressure of my arm.
“Yield,” I say, voice steady even as my pulse skids.
He looks up at me through bright eyes, that boyish smirk still managing to curve his mouth. “Make me.”
I catch his wrist and twist, fast and brutal. His shoulder folds in on itself with a sharp, efficient motion that rips a strangled sound from his throat. Pain flickers across his face, but he swallows it, the veins along his neck standing out as he fights to breathe.
His free hand clamps down on my hip in reflex with a bruising grip, and the simmer in my veins flares hotter at the contact, as if something inside me is bracing for violence.
“Yield,” I repeat, twisting his arm a fraction more.
He groans, body tensing beneath mine as he writhes, trying to roll me off. I lock my thighs harder around his hips, anchoring myself and pressing my full weight into his throat. His breath stutters, movements growing desperate as the fight bleeds out of him.
“Alright—alright,” he gasps. “I yield. Fuck.”
I ease off just enough for air to rush back into his lungs, a triumphant smile spreading across my lips.
His hand slides back to my waist just before he presses his hips into me, subtle and absolutely deliberate as he sits up, catching his breath. Heat detonates through the bond, flooding my chest and burning behind my eyes.
Ronan chuckles softly and presses a quick, infuriatingly gentle kiss to my lips. “Brynn’s taught you well.”
The compliment settles warm in my stomach as he eases me off his lap and rises.
“Almost too well,” Sirena adds from the sidelines, arms crossed loosely. “You’ve bested everyone so far today.”
Cole scoffs from beside her, clearly pleased. “She’s always been good at fighting. Her form just needed fine-tuning.”
“I can vouch for that,” Ronan says, rubbing at his shoulder with a wince. “Even four months ago, she was fast.” His eyes flick to me, “Now you’re just… terrifying.”
Enzo hums thoughtfully. “Impressive though. I’m genuinely quite jealous. Took me two years to get to that level, you’ve got there in mere months.”
Odette grins into her waterskin. “You’re like a pretty little murder mage.”
“Hey,” Brynn protests, though she’s smiling too. “I worked very hard on that murder mage.”
Cole looks at me again, pride plain on his face. “I always knew you were a badass.” His grin turns sharp.
“Well, we shouldn’t celebrate straight away,” Odette drawls casually, “You haven’t fought Thane or Kaden yet.”
Thane lets out a sharp laugh and raises both hands. “Absolutely not. I like my arms where they are, thanks.” He jerks his chin toward Ronan, who’s still stretching out his twisted arm. “I’ve seen enough.”
“Coward,” Enzo says mockingly.
“Aww, you’re scared to go up against Elysia?” Sirena teases, ruffling his hair.
“Today?” Thane scoffs. “Fuck yeah. I don’t feel like getting whiplash or a dagger thrown at my head.”
A laugh slips out of me, the edge of adrenaline easing from my limbs as I roll my shoulders. “Fair enough,” I say lightly, glancing toward the far side of the hall. “I’ll take a break and watch the rest of you.”
“Unfortunate.”
The single word ripples across the space like a stone dropped into still water. Kaden finally peels himself off the wall he’s been brooding against all afternoon, arms uncrossing with infuriating languor as his attention fixes on me.
“I was hoping for a better demonstration of your… improved capabilities,” he continues mildly, as if he hasn’t just hijacked the room. “Seeing as the last time we got on the mat, you took a nap.”
The room goes very, very quiet, and the warmth in my chest sours instantly.
I turn to face him, irritation flaring bright and sharp beneath my ribs. “Funny, I remember it as more of an attempt on my life.”
Something like satisfaction flickers across the tether.
“Elysia darling…” His eyes rake over me, slow and provoking, “If I wanted you dead, you would be.”
My thumb presses hard into the cool metal of my ring, its weight grounding me just enough… until his amusement bleeds through the bond.
I briefly and vividly imagine pressing the point of my dagger up against his balls, just to see how quickly that smug satisfaction evaporates.
“Such vicious thoughts,” his voice slides unbidden into my head. “From such a pretty face.”
“Fuck you,” I mutter out loud, anger getting the best of me.
Cole sounds a low, impressed whistle. “Oh, I absolutely need to see you wipe the floor with him.”
I offer Kaden a tight smile. “I accept,” then I step onto the mat before anyone can talk sense into me.
His smirk deepens, slow and knowing. “Of course you do.”
My shield ripples as I tighten the wraps across my knuckles. He situates himself in front of me, defined muscles rippling beneath his skintight top as he tightens his own wraps, a smug smirk tugging at his lips. One I instantly want to slap off his stupidly handsome face.
“Try not to pass out this time,” he drawls, cracking his knuckles.
I bare my teeth. “Try not to underestimate me again.”
I palm my dagger and put my hands up defensively as I begin to circle him, and to my absolute horror, he doesn’t even bother facing me. He just stands on the mat with his boots planted, picking an invisible piece of lint from his top.
“You going to dance around me or are you going to strike?”
“Fuck you.”
His eyes gleam with satisfaction just before I surge forward, a blur of blue hair and motion.
My footwork snaps into place automatically, all of Brynn’s drills burning through muscle memory.
I cut left, then launch into a low swipe-kick aimed for his knee.
He knocks it aside like an inconvenience, forearm catching my shin and shoving it away as if I weigh nothing at all.
“Try harder,” he drawls. “Brynn teaches prettier footwork than this.”