“That’s probably just the adrenaline making it look better than it is,” I say with a smile that’s definitely too big to be believable. “You know, endorphins and stuff.”
“Hmm.” She doesn’t look convinced—I don’t blame her, since I’m pretty sure that made absolutely no sense—but she continues her work.
As she does, I focus inward, connecting with the injury and commanding it to stop healing. Thankfully, it obliges enough to not cause any more suspicion.
“Next match,” Kieran calls out, saving me from further scrutiny. “Garrett Sinclair and Lauren Mitchell. Ember Ring.”
The crowd starts moving down the mountain, but Nina catches my arm. “Walk with me?” she asks.
There’s something in her tone that makes it clear this is happening whether I want it to or not. So, I follow her, trailing slightly behind the others.
Before long, we find ourselves on a small outcropping that offers a view of the Ember Ring below. It’s kind of pretty, if you ignore the fact that people are about to try to set each other on fire and cut each other with daggers down there for our educational enrichment.
We stand in silence for a moment, watching Garrett and Lauren take their positions. The morning sun warms the volcanic rock, and I can already see Garrett confidently adjusting his grip on his weapon.
“That was clever,” Nina says suddenly. “Sending your fire along those smoke currents to attack from three directions at once to disorient me.”
My stomach flips. Because that move was pure Logan.
The smoke has patterns,he said, pressing close behind me to guide my arms through the motion.Learn to read them, and you can make your opponent fight their own flames.
“Didn’t work though.” I shrug, hoping I sound casual.
“It almost did.” She touches her jaw gingerly. “If you hadn’t hesitated when the smoke thickened…”
“Hesitation is the story of my life in Kieran’s classes.”
“No.” Nina shakes her head slightly. “That’s not… I mean, you do hold back. But not from lack of skill.”
Below us, Kieran calls for the match to begin. Garrett immediately throws a wild fireball that Lauren easily sidesteps.
“Can I ask you something?” Nina’s voice is different now. Less analytical, more genuinely curious.
“Sure,” I say, bracing for anything between her trying to figure out who I’m hooking up with—which, right now, is frustratinglynobody—to asking me how I think I’ll fair in the Council’s basement while they do experiments on me to learn about my electricity.
“In the Spire, when we were both pushing through that thick smoke and we collided because we couldn’t see each other until the last second… you laughed,” she says instead.
I blink. That’s... not what I expected. But I remember it perfectly—the smoke so dense we were practically blind, both of us following our misfiring flames, completely disoriented, her elbow in my ribs, and the absurdity of two serious fighters reduced to a graceless heap in the oily mist.
“It was pretty ridiculous,” I say with a smile.
“It was.” A small smile tugs at her lips in return.
Holy shit, Nina Aldridge knows how to smile. Alert the media.
She quickly becomes serious again, and continues, “I was so focused on winning that I sent my flames spiraling through the smoke, but they curved back on an invisible current I didn’t see. Then suddenly we’re both tangled up, trying to figure out which way is up, and you just… laughed. Like it was fun.”
“Wasn’t it? Just a little?”
She considers this, absently touching her bruised jaw. “I’m not used to that. Fun, I mean.” She says the word like it’s foreign. “Everything’s always about winning. About being the best. About gathering information to use to my advantage.”
That last bit makes me tense, but I try not to show it, deflecting instead. “Must be exhausting to be perfect all the time.”
“You have no idea.” The words slip out, and Nina looks surprised at herself.
“My parents wanted me to be a lawyer,” I offer, figuring if she’s being vulnerable, I can return the favor. Plus, it steers us away from topics like my midnight training sessions and secret magic. “Yale legacy, the whole thing.”
Nina turns from the match below to face me fully, and for once, she doesn’t look like she’s mentally taking notes. It seems like she wants to genuinely listen.
