“Nice try, Legacy!” she screamed, as my power met hers, ran the length of her shield, and was deflected—right back at me.
I tried to run, but found my legs didn’t work.Damn Tabitha! She’s holding me in place.
So I did the only thing I could. I curled in on myself, and protected my head with my arms just before my own magic hit me, and I dropped to the floor unconscious.
Chapter Eleven
My eyes blinked open, and two pools of bright blue made my insides melt.
“She’s awake.” Alex’s deep baritone hit my ear.
A thrill shot through me.Stupid hormones, quit screwing with me. Liking him is out of the question.
“And she’s fine, I think. Someone should take her to the infirmary, though, to be sure.” He averted his gaze from whoever he’d been talking to, and looked back to me. “Do you feel off?”
I felt like I had run straight into a brick wall, but other than that, nothing seemed amiss. I shook my head.
“That’s a miracle.” He stood and held his hand out to me. “You may be a legacy, but you’d do well not to challenge strong witches. You lucked out, not getting injured.”
Someone behind Alex tittered, and he shot them an annoyed glare. “And witches who are stronger thanobviousbeginners should know better than to fight them. This is Spellcasters, not a gladiatorial ring. Have some class.”
The laughing stopped, and footsteps leaving the training room sounded.
“If you’re quite done, Cuz, I’ll take Odette.” Hunter moved forward and extended his hand out to me. As soon as I stood without a wobble, Eva, who’d been hanging back and wringing her hands like a grandma, threw herself at me.
“That B! I can’t believe Tabitha did that to you.”
“What . . . did she do to me?”
I recalled snippets of fighting, and that Tabitha had been far stronger than me. But whatever energy manipulation she used to knock me out had knocked a couple memories loose too.
“She shielded herself from your magic, which is within the rules of fair play. But in doing so, she redirected your own power back at you and blended it with an offensive spell of her own. You know, in case yours wasn’t enough. Which it clearly was. The color looked stronger, more bright pink than pastel. What did you do differently?”
I shook my head, not having a clue, but vaguely remembered also being shocked by the hue.
“Hmm.” Eva’s blue eyes moved up and down my body. “Well, you seem fine now. Alex did good work.”
“Alex?”
“My cousin is skilled in the art of healing.” Hunter joined us. Only then did I notice it was just us three in the room again.
My shoulders relaxed a bit. Alex put me on edge—in more ways than I liked to admit.
“Healing? Isn’t that something we learn later?”
Hunter nodded. “We learn a few remedies in Herbalism, Potions, and Poisons, but not true body work. Healing starts in our Grind year. And only advanced students go on to study the discipline in more depth in the Crucible year.” He shrugged. “But Alex’s parents are physicians. They’ve probably been teaching him for ages. Smart, considering all the crap the school’s gonna throw at us. Obviously, he’ll be making it into the advanced class.”
I nodded, and my neck twinged. It would be smart to have knowledge of healing. If I survived my Culling year at Spellcasters, I’d have to pay close attention.
“You still look off.” Eva’s ginger brows pulled together. “You should listen to Alex and go to the infirmary. You can make up training time later. They can’t make you work out if you’re all shell-shocked. We’ll go with you in case you fall over or something.”
“Yeah, good idea,” I said.
As I hobbled out of the magical training chamber and through the larger gym, our classmates and the years above us turned to stare. Some chuckled while others just shook their heads. Apparently, my fight with Tabitha had already been reported to the wider student body.
And judging from the way everyone stared at me, I hadn’t come out well in the gossip.
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
