Chapter 6 Make It a Good One
MAKE IT A GOOD ONE
Kalypso
Kalypso’s fist throbbed, bruises blooming on her knuckles, but she channeled her rage into the next jab. The reverberations traveled through her arm, up into her shoulder. Muscles aching in the best way she knew, she coiled low and tackled the opposing weight.
“Good,” Rand called as she pushed off the padded floor. “If your goal was to impale yourself on the legs of the sarthisci. Did you read any of those books I gave you?”
No.
Kaly huffed and flung her arm at the heavy bag they were using as her opponent. “What should I have done?”
The yellow demon pulled up the bag with ease, turning it so the painted face of the armored scorpion-snake-spider monstrosity was looking at her.
“Danger zone. Six razor-sharp legs to protect the soft underbelly.” He spun it around.
“Safe zone. Armored spine, but you can get under the plates. And its arms can’t get around to slice you.
It will do anything to remain on its belly because of this, since it can’t flip over if it ends up on its back. ”
“You know, I could kill this thing if you gave me a real weapon to train with and not those pathetic wooden excuses for dual swords.”
He smirked. “Tell me you won’t use them to try to cut your way out of here.”
“I won’t use them to cut my way out of here.”
Rand’s fangs flashed as he laughed. “My gods, at least try to sound believable.”
Kalypso slumped. She had tried that time. Put on a smile and everything. “I thought only Tonomoch could read minds.”
The yellow demon leaned casually on the heavy bag, unbothered by the cacophony of other sparring noises happening around them.
“He can’t read minds; he senses emotions.
And he’s strong enough to manipulate those emotions, which is useful when we’re in the Dreadmoor dealing with monsters.
That’s the magical affinity for his coloration. ”
She recoiled. “If that fucker touched my emotions—”
“Human, there is no one coming near your emotions,” Rand teased. “Besides, he tried. Those demonlights in the infirmary? Imbued with his calming magic, and it had the opposite effect on you.”
Kalypso didn’t think that was meant to be a compliment, but she preened all the same. “And yours is?”
“Being incredibly handsome.” At her raised brow, he huffed. “Yellow is generally a sign of healing.”
“Why the guard, then?”
He cocked his head. “Why not?”
She gestured to the heavy bag. “You’re training me to kill a monster. Doesn’t that go against your nature?”
“Is that all you think we do?” Rand shook his head. “Yes, I’m trained in the same methods I’m showing you, but I’m also there to heal injuries. On demons, but also on monsters.”
“You heal monsters?”
“Many of them are simply scared and confused. The Dreadmoor is not kind, even to the creatures who live within. The magic that bleeds there creates a dangerous forest, luring you in and spitting you out miles from where you started. Tricking you to a safe spring only to find yourself sinking in a zcoria pit. Eternal mist thickening until you can’t see your hand right in front of you. ”
Kalypso swallowed. “But you scout in there all the time.”
“The carved ways. They’re mapped, something we all know by heart from the moment we begin in the guard.
We’ll be taking you on a shorter route for your first mission, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe.
That’s why it’s so important to have all our skills at their sharpest. One mistake doesn’t cost a single life. It can cost an entire squad.”
Weight settled with his words, but also with his piercing look. The one that made her wonder if he was lying about only having healing magic, or if he knew every plan of escape she’d been crafting since the moment she walked into the barracks.
Her eyes drifted past the demons training nearby, immediately narrowing on the three shirtless warriors of their squad sparring in the opposite corner of the room.
“What about Ozzy?”
Rand choked, coughing and pounding his chest until he could breathe again. “Did you just call him… Ozzy?”
Kalypso folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.
“You are asking for Wrasmos’s eye,” he muttered. “Ozirax is unique. Gifted with strength and agility beyond what our kind already possesses, but that barely scratches the surface.”
“Runes,” she guessed.
Rand nodded. “We all understand the basics, but Oz has a talent for casting runes beyond what our most advanced scholars can do. It’s a rare divination affinity, and damn those runes have been handy. I’ve never seen a demon hone his own magic like he does with his tattoos.”
So his ink was magic. Why was that so damn… curious to her?
Before she could ask any more questions, every head whipped toward the entrance in unison. Kalypso caught a wide-eyed and blushing Brioni seconds before Ozirax was towering over her, dampening Kalypso’s desire to see the other human.
“Go ahead,” Rand said. “You need a break. And get some food while you’re reading up on monster details. First scout is tomorrow.”
She almost grumbled that it was pointless, but then Brioni was animatedly waving at her and calling her name and she had no choice but to stomp her way over despite the disgust twisting Ozirax’s face.
At least it was directed at whatever letter was in his hand and not at her. For now.
“Oh, look at you!” Brioni said with a bright grin, completely oblivious to the grumps surrounding her. She gestured up and down to Kaly. “So much healthier and happier without that sorcery in your system.”
She expected some quiet barb from the walking eggplant, but he was still too focused on the letter to bother.
Why did that disappoint her?
Kaly shoved the feeling away, holding out her hand. “A note from Kat?”
The corners of Brioni’s smile dimmed. “Oh, uh, well… she’s doing great.”
Kalypso’s hand felt leaden, but she couldn’t drop it.
Brioni plowed on. “Your sister is so lovely, and she did say to tell you she’s doing well and not to worry. And I’ve been making sure she eats. Did you know she does embroidery? Oh, of course you do. It’s just the prettiest. She did the hem on my dress! And she’s working on a dress for you, too!”
Kaly curled her fingers around thin air, managing to pull her hand back to her side despite the emptiness in her gut. Her sister… hadn’t sent a message. Was doing fine, but…
The inky feeling threatened to clog her throat, but she shoved it away. Ignored it. Threw every wall up again. “A… why would I need a dress?”
“Right, sorry, she told me to tell you it was a formal outfit, not a dress.”
“Yes, but for what?”
Brioni cocked her head. “Well, the political fundraiser.” She laughed to herself.
“I guess Ozirax hasn’t talked to you about it since I just handed him the invitation.
You both get to go to this fancy dinner where all the politicians gather and talk about funding for all the Horn branches or something.
I don’t know the details, but Rosalind will be there!
I think she’s helping run it, actually. You should see the dress Kat is making for her—”
“For this,” Ozirax grumbled, clearly deciphering Kalypso’s dumbfounded look. He shoved the paper forward. “We’ve been requested as guests to represent the scouts. Show off the human and demon relationships so the commander can petition for more guard funding.”
She ignored the letter and swirling script in favor of reading the emotion on his face. His face only. Not the incredibly toned and broad chest that for the first time in her life made her feel small.
Face. Only.
Displeased, but with a hint of an emotion she didn’t quite understand. What she did understand, however, was the slight flare of the spikes along his forearms and neck.
Brioni was still talking about… something, but at Kaly’s continued ignorance of the presented letter, he flipped it around to read the script. His brows pinched, almost imperceptibly, and then he shoved it in his pocket.
“I borrowed a new compendium and put it on the table in the common space. The lettering is easier to read than the one Rand gave you.”
With that, he stormed off, muscles of his bare back flexing as he laid his spikes flat again.
Kaly stared after him, mouth parted as something thumped in her chest. Fear. Embarrassment. And then… something warmer? Confusion? Wariness?
“Wow, it’s a miracle you get anything done here,” came a soft voice.
She glanced down at Brioni who wasn’t staring after Ozirax but at the training mats where most of the demons had gone back to their sparring matches.
“Are you… what?”
Confusion. It was definitely confusion she was feeling.
Brioni shrugged and gestured around. “I mean, everyone’s shirtless. And that’s a lot of muscle to admire. Maybe a nice distraction.”
Kalypso gaped.
“What? I’m not a prude,” Brioni answered the silence. “Not like I didn’t just see you ogling Ozirax.”
The snort that escaped Kaly’s throat was almost painful. “I was not… ogling him.”
“So you two aren’t… you know, smooching?”
“What? Ew, no. I hate him.”
“So? He’s obviously not blind with how he was looking at you. People who don’t like each other when they’re standing up can be real compatible when they’re lying down.”
Kaly was actually quite intimate with a hate fuck, but hearing it from Brioni’s mouth somehow disconnected her brain from her mouth.
“Just saying,” Brioni sighed. “Lots of tension, and he’s hot, so why not get a good lay out of it?”
“I’m sorry,” Kaly muttered, sticking her fingers in her ears and pretending to clean them out. “Did you just say—”
“That you two need to bone? Yup. Bye, Kaly! I’ll tell Kat you say hello.”
With a swirl of skirts and sickly-sweet joy, Brioni spun and quite literally skipped out of the room.