Zuko glanced at his friend. “Raze, dude, come on. Slater here may have the right idea.”
“I absolutely do. There may be no matebond yet, but there will be one soon. I know it,” Slater gushed like a teenage girl.
Zuko let go of his hand with a chuckle, his eyes meeting mine. “We’ll see what the Fates think.”
A hot chill zapped down my spine, making me stand straighter.
“Welcome to the Elite Training Grounds,” Dad announced as we reached the place we’d be doing some of the practical trials.
The training grounds were made of dark dirt, but a golden light framed the rectangular shape. I was assuming it was a type of healing ward to be there for the injured to heal faster, and a quick focus on the aura and intent of it confirmed my suspicions.
“The practical trials are forty percent of the entrance exams, and it’s broken into three trials to see how you deal with high-pressure situations and high magical essence exposure,” Pops explained, raking a hand through his red hair. “Combat trial is first. I’ll be conducting that here in a moment. The point of this trial is to test you in close-quarters combat. You will be fighting me, one at a time, until I determine if you’re worthy of passing. You will pass if you are trainable. Some supernaturals lack fighting capacity in general. This is how we can determine if you have it. Even our diplomatic envoys are trained in combat. If you have nothing in you to fight, you will fail.”
A faint vibration trembled beneath the soles of my boots, along with a large gust of wind as a large green dragon flew over the training grounds. The dragon shifted, landing perfectly with a tight black suit intact. It was enchanted so shifters of all kinds could keep their clothes when they transformed. Not only that, but those suits could withstand drake fire and ice, as well as sharp objects.
Jesper, the agent my mom trusted more than any other, landed in a low crouch before he stood at his full 6’6” height. That one wasn’t a guess. I’d stolen Mom’s agent file on him after I’d met him.
Something about him made me curious, and I always followed my instincts.
“Apologies,” he said, voice deep and smooth. “My mission ran over. Unforeseen complications.”
“Alwaysss are,” Mom hissed.
Pops shrugged, shaking his hand. “You didn’t miss much. We were just about to begin.”
Jesper nodded once. The sun caught the edges of his white shoulder-length hair, which gleamed like silver in the light.
He walked a few steps over and stood next to Drecken.
My pulse spiked.
Jesper Wyvernheart.
We’d barely had a full conversation back when he was leading the mission against Dark Veil, a dark magic cult that was determined to kill Pandora and bring dark magic into Kalista. But something about him had stirred something in my soul, something sharp andaching. It had been as if I remembered him even though I’d never met him before. It didn’t make sense.
His gentle brown eyes met mine, and his winter woods scent hit me. I breathed it in before I could stop myself.
I swallowed hard.
“You’re staring.” Slater nudged me, and my heart skipped a beat as tingles spread from where he touched me. “I wouldn’t mind him being a brother-mate of mine.”
“Shut up.” My face heated, but my eyes didn’t leave Jesper’s.
Pops cleared his throat and gave more detailed instructions, but I was too focused on Jesper and Drecken to hear Pops explain more.
“You have immense magical power for even a dragon.” Drecken offered his hand to Jesper. “Drecken.”
“Thank you.” Jesper let out a nervous chuckle as he shook his hand. “We’ve met. Remember? Demon Capital. The dark magic cult. I was the lead agent.”
“Oh.” Drecken tilted his head. “Right. You led the sabotaging of the ritual sites and the team that went with Pandora and her mates to destroy Sybil Shaw. Well done.”
Jesper gave a curt nod. “Yes.”
“Pandora’s magic is just as fascinating as her father’s, and the capacity for killing dark magic she has is astounding,” he rambled, his eyes twinkling as if talking about rare magic really did it for him. “I was too caught up in all the power that I forgot many who were around. Do not take it personally.”
“I don’t.” Jesper folded his arms behind his back. His gaze swept over the group, landing on each student as if he was reading our auras. When his brown eyes passed over me, though, they stopped.
My breath caught as he held my gaze. His stare wasn’t as intense as Zuko’s or as amused as Slater’s. It was deep and comforting.
