Never doubted it for a second.
“Yeah, well.” Asher clears his throat. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to have another skill in the toolkit. You never know when you might need to, uh, take down a really aggressive squirrel or something.”
Jace laughs outright at that. “Aggressive squirrels? Do they have a lot of those in Kansas?” He’s still chuckling when he turns to leave. “Well, if you ever need backup, just let me know.”
“Appreciate it,” Asher says.
“Thank you for everything,” I add.
Jace tips an imaginary hat, whistles for Clutch, and heads around the side of the house toward the driveway. “Anytime, Miss Hallowind. Anytime.”
As his truck rumbles to life at the front of the house, Asher picks up the bow again, testing the draw. “So, do you wanna watch me miss this target seventeen more times?”
I grin. “Absolutely. Let’s see what you’ve got. Then we’ll need to eat because Wylder and Orion are coming over for physical conditioning.”
“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
I laugh and shove him to face the target.
My shoulder hits dirt before I can twist away. Air punches out of my lungs as Wylder pins me, one hand on my wrist, the other braced near my head.
“Dead.” The word brings the warmth of his breath against my ear. “Come on, Poppy. You’ve got to give me more.”
I bare my teeth at him. “I had you for a second.”
“A second doesn’t cut it.” His scowl ghosts across my face. “You hesitated.”
“I didn’t?—”
“You did.” His weight shifts, and suddenly I’m hyperaware of the heat coming off him, the solid muscle pressed against me, the way his eyes darken as they drop to my mouth. “Right before you threw the shield. You second-guessed yourself.”
My pulse hammers. “Maybe I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me. In battle, you have to trust your team to handle themselves. You worry about you, that’s all.” He holds my gaze a beat longer than necessary before pushing back to his feet and offering me a hand.
I ignore it and roll up on my own.
“Again,” Wylder orders.
I shake out my arms, ignoring the ache settling into my bones. We’ve been at this for hours—sparring, casting, dodging—and every muscle in my body is screaming. But I refuse to quit. Not when I can feel the magic surging stronger inside me with every spell I throw, every defense I raise.
And certainly not when Wylder’s watching me like that.
A predatory growl echoes through the trees as Orion circles Asher in his massive white tiger form. He’s breathtaking. I’dforgotten how intensely intimidating it is when his silver-blue eyes glint with predatory focus.
Asher is breathing hard, sweat dripping down his temples, but is loving every minute of this. He may not have any magical abilities, but he’s tough and is used to being the underdog. Where fighting for survival is a dramatic claim for most, for him, it’s the reality of what made him who he is.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Asher taunts. “I thought you were supposed to be pushing me to my limits. Give me all you’ve got, puss.”
Orion’s ears flatten. Then he pounces.
Asher sidesteps at the last second, jabbing out with a quick strike that glances off Orion’s shoulder. It’s not enough though, because with his tiger reflexes, and his tail lashing, Orion swipes Asher with a powerful paw.
“Oof.” My bestie goes flying into a pile of leaves, and the ghost tiger pounces, pinning him to the forest floor.
“You good, Ash?” I shout.
Asher flashes me a thumbs-up right before Orion’s tiger pushes off and disappears into the trees.
