Billow (11 page)

I quickly changed, adding a pair of wrist guards to my workout clothes. It looked like protective gear and did a decent job of covering the bruise on my wrist.

It took a few minutes before he came out of the locker room.

Cam's face was dark and fierce, potent anger radiating off him in waves. Younger recruits scrambled out of his way and the other elites instinctively gave him a wide berth.

I dropped into step next to him.

"Not now, Irisavie," he snarled.

"Why?" I asked innocently. "You got a problem with all ondines?"

Granted, it wasn't the smartest thing I could've said.

He whipped around, hazel eyes blazing with fury. "Don't mess with me."

Virtue reached in. The anger was there, simmering beneath the surface. But more than that was pain.

I pulled in the magic and crossed my arms. "I'm not the one you're pissed at."

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Yeah, well. Don't push it."

Cam and I often had similar reactions to stressful situations, which meant he probably had a physical urge to release some of that tumultuous energy.

Might be smart to stay out of arm's reach.

"So what happened?" I asked calmly.

"I don't know. Maybe it was something I said or did —"

"She said it wasn't about you."

"You talked to her?" His voice sharpened. "Did she say anything else? Did she —"

I shook my head. "She didn't want to talk details."

We navigated through the bustling hallway and headed for the stairwell. I kept my mouth shut, even though I wanted to pry. If I waited, he'd tell me more.

"She said she needed time alone," he finally muttered. "To figure things out."

I knew Chloe wasn't pleased with her internship over at the State Department. And things with her father were still shaky. But Cam helped her get through those difficult moments.

"She just didn't want to be together any more. Maybe…" He hesitated. "Maybe there's another guy."

Insecurity etched on to his face.

"There's no other guy. I would've known about it."

Would I? A ripple of unease spread through me. Chloe, Aubrey, and I didn't share everything. We didn't know Chloe was planning to break up with Cam until after she did it. She wasn't aware of my plan with Gilroy.

It bothered me that I didn't know why she ended it. Cam and Chloe shouldn't be apart.

By the time we arrived at the gym, a little over two dozen observers sat in the bleachers. After a quick warm-up, we joined the other three elites on the mat
.

Eight selkies, including Garreth, Adrian, and Ewan, stood in front of the class.

Garreth's granite eyes roamed over us with piercing intensity.

"Aucoin." Blaise straightened. "What is an Aquidae's greatest strength?"

"The black blood hardens and strengthens its body, allowing it to move with speed and power. Because of an Aquidae's ability to regenerate, it possesses no fear of physical harm. It uses these abilities to attack."

Garreth nodded. "Aquidae have no need for weapons because their bodies act as one. This is why most victims die from a broken neck or severe bodily trauma."

The words stirred up images that never went away.

Not now.

"Who sees the disadvantage you have?" he continued.

"We need a weapon," Ethan answered.

"Not quite. Demillirs and ondines," he gave me a small nod of acknowledgement, "need a weapon. Selkies use one, but it's not necessary. Just easier."

The subtle difference irritated the demillirs in the gym. There was always a friendly rivalry between chevaliers and gardinels. But Garreth didn't need to point out the selkies' crazy magic strength in the middle of chevalier training.

Garreth held up a
kouperet
. It was similar to my silver dagger, but the blade was a bit longer and it had an ivory handle.

Essence, magic from the combined blood of the four main water elemental races, glowed around it in a golden light.

I'd seen
kouperets
in action several times, but the other elites hadn't. They stared in awe.

"The Armicant constructs every
kouperet
blade." He walked down the row and showed each of us the weapon.

A mysterious figure who resided in the Selkie Kingdom, the Armicant created our only weapon. No one knew if he was a demillir or selkie or some other being altogether. If the gardinels knew, they weren't sharing.

I always pictured him as a grouchy old man endlessly hammering away in front of a fiery furnace.

"Forged from silver and infused with Essence. When inserted into an Aquidae's Origin, it permanently breaks the strength of the blood, prevents regeneration, and causes death."

He stopped in front of me. A small, silver diamond was engraved into the ivory. The same elemental diamond was on the polished onyx handle of my dagger.

Garreth returned to the center of the mat. "As recruits, your training consisted of hand-to-hand combat and physical maneuvers designed to bring you closer to the strike zone. In preparation for handling the
kouperet
, today's lesson will focus on working with a hand weapon."

Excitement buzzed through the gym. This was going to be awesome.

"Countering, blocking, and attacking with a weapon is a different experience than what you're used to." His eyes grew solemn. "It requires a deeper level of perception and reaction as your body learns to balance movement with an extra element."

One of the selkies opened the storage closet located on the side of the gym and pulled out a huge, black frame on wheels. It looked similar to a large clothes rack except a wide variety of weapons hung from it instead of garments.

Alex was already eyeing a set of nunchucks.

"We'll use different tools to improve your technique before working up to the
kouperet
," Garreth explained. "Fournier, pick a weapon. You'll work with Adrian."

Ethan approached the rack with studied reverence. He selected a pair of chrome
sai
and handed another to Adrian.

It was a good choice. With a long dagger-like shaft, a
sai
also had two smaller prongs that curved up on the sides. The weight and size of it was similar to a
kouperet
.

They faced each other in the center of the mat.

"The task is to disarm the other." Garreth stepped back. "Begin."

Adrian attacked so fast, his movements were a blur. But Ethan was good. Whirling, he dodged the advance and threw his arms up in a block. The shafts of their
sais
collided with a sharp clang.

But Ethan wasn't used to countering while holding objects in his hands. It threw off his concentration and balance.

Adrian landed a hard kick to Ethan's chest and his arms snapped forward in a lightning fast, one-two cross punch.

Two
sais
flew into the air.

Ethan stared at his empty palms as if he couldn't quite believe what happened.

"Not bad, Fournier." Garreth approached them. "The primary problem is your grip."

The gardinels worked with Ethan for another ten minutes before moving on. One by one, the other elites went up and sparred with their chosen weapons.

Blaise selected a practice sword and wasn't too bad with it. But he had a tendency to lower his guard and his opponent easily divested him of the weapon.

Alex did pretty well with the nunchucks until he accidentally whacked the side of his face. Cam chose a pair of wooden
kama,
which were shaped like small scythes.
Although he wasn't able to disarm his partner, his angry energy fueled him to give the strongest performance so far.

Garreth's eyes finally landed on me. "Irisavie. You're up." He considered the row of gardinels against the back wall. "You'll work with Ewan."

Ewan raised his brow and stepped forward.

Oh, man. I was so getting back at him for tattling to Tristan.

"Your weapon of choice,
sondaleur
?" he asked.

I pointed to an elegant wooden staff. "The
bo.
"

The
bo
was my specialty during training in the human world. If used correctly, it was a powerful offensive weapon that could also block any attack.

Ewan handed it to me and selected another for himself. Fingers wrapped around the smooth, polished wood. It easily spun in my palm and I got a feel for its weight.

Pain from my injured wrist shot up my arm and I focused on not giving it away in expression or movement. I didn't want Ewan to have a weakness to exploit.

Every eye lasered on to us, the combined weight crushing my skin.

Virtue reached out. Emotions flooded, the energy providing fuel for the strength and speed I needed.

Ewan's mouth set in a grim line. Because he was so close, his particular thread of emotions was easiest to distinguish.

Steely focus. Worry.

And concern.

Surprised by that, I almost didn't notice his first strike. At the last moment, I propelled to the side,
bo
missing my arm by millimeters.

I brought my mind back and lunged.

Bo
whipped in a tightly controlled arc, streaking through the air as it neared his chest.

Ewan countered. Rods slammed with bone-jarring force.

Legs pushed against the mat and every muscle strained. Sweat dripped into my eyes. Wrist screamed in protest.

Unrelenting selkie strength reverberated through the wood and I knew I couldn't hold it much longer.

I needed more power.

Digging deep, I willed my Virtue to work harder.

Magic pulsed, growing hotter by the second. Chaotic jumbles of emotions, sharp and dull, hard and soft, coursed through my veins, bringing a surge of new strength.

With a hard shove, I disengaged and swiveled to the left.

Arms curved and I advanced in counter-attack.

Rhythmic clacking ricocheted through the air. Ewan met me strike for strike.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Come on.

He suddenly came at me in a low, fast sweep and I jumped, knees hitting my chest. The staff whistled under my feet.

With a quick pivot, I planted the end of my
bo
into the mat like a pole vault and leaped. Ankles kissed as I flipped over, arms already in motion to attack from behind.

Anticipating the move, he turned. Staff slashed down and
bo
lifted above his head in a classic block.

Magic now burned, the current scorching under my skin. I tugged harder. Vision colored orange and the conflagration licked my insides in a blaze reducing every defense to ashes.

Need more.

Awareness disappeared.

In the blistering heat of magic, the frenzied swirl of other people's emotions melded with my own.

Memories I wanted to forget. Rage I wanted to release.

The unrestrained maelstrom blurred everything until my focus narrowed to simple thoughts of pure need.

I needed to control the pain.

I needed to be stronger.

I needed to win.

I need…

"Kendra! Kendra! Stop!"

Ewan wasn't parrying me.

It took a few moments for that to pierce through the drunken haze of magic. With a strenuous yank, I pulled in my Virtue.

Awareness returned in a rush, bringing a surge of dizziness.
Bo
fell and my legs shook slightly. The pain in my wrist flared.

Taking a few deep breaths, I waited for the magic to recede.

Vision gradually cleared. Ewan bent over in front of me, arms wrapped around his stomach. His body trembled.

"What ha…"

He lifted his head and the question died on my lips. Beads of sweat glittered against a complexion white with pain.

"You're using too much magic," he rasped. "It hurt."

I finally took in the rest of the room. The other elites wore identical expressions of shock. Observers in the bleachers had risen out of their seats.

All eyes were on the selkies, who appeared to be in various degrees of pain. A few of them clutched their stomachs like Ewan. Others leaned against the wall, faces pale and eyes closed.

"Irisavie." Garreth's jaw clenched so tight, the words barely made it out. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

A heavy silence descended. No one moved.

I wasn't sure what happened, so I didn't know what to say. "Um, I need my Virtue to fight and —"

"You're using it too much! Over-relying on it!" Ewan slowly straightened. I'd never seen such distress in his amber eyes before. "The same thing happened at the Trident. You were using Empath like crazy and it hurt badly enough that I couldn't keep up with you."

Stunned, I stared at him.

Nexa told me Empaths sensed the life essence of other beings. As a race of pure magic, selkies reacted differently to my Virtue.

Did I hurt Ewan badly? Did I pull on his life essence too much?

"If you could see your aura right now…" He shook his head. "I wasn't able to keep up with you in the Trident, but I found you because your aura was as bright as the sun. How do you think Garreth and Adrian found us so easily?"

Ian had mentioned the same thing.

Using Virtue amplified my aura's illumination. I could just imagine what it looked like right now. Probably like a nuclear explosion.

"What if this was an offensive strike?" Ewan's eyes glowed. "What if we were in battle and you incapacitated all the gardinels?"

Blood rushed out of my face as the seriousness of what he said sank in.

Being the
sondaleur
meant my existence placed other lives at risk. Like the selkies and nixes, Aquidae could spot an ondine's aura. It was a risk to stand near me because mine was brighter than normal.

But now my magic, the very thing I needed to fight, was also a threat. And using it could leave the superhuman selkie warriors vulnerable in battle.

Fear and anxiety stirred, the energy thick and suffocating as it wound up my spine. Breathing quickened and pulse hammered against my ribs.

The panic came in a sudden, uncontrollable roar.