“Think it’ll make me?” I kept my eyes on the door, watching Slater come out.
“I hope not,” he whispered. “I like you loud, but not like that.”
Heat crawled up my neck. “Ithasbeen a while, hasn’t it?”
“Rune,” Hunting called out. “You’re up.”
I brushed my finger against Zuko’s, winking at Slater as I passed him on my way into the small simulator.
The door sealed shut behind me, and the fire-like pain was an onslaught I hadn’t quite expected. My nerves burned, and my lungs screamed with every inhale.
A shadow in front of me bled into a man. Blank-eyed, with perfect posture, grasping a sword.
As the pain crested, my bones ground together, and my vision blurred.
I blinked the pain away and lunged.
My simulated opponent mirrored me, faster by half.
The sword hissed past, barely missing as the magical pain bit into me deeper.
My knees buckled, and I stumbled. I threw myself forward again, palms hitting the floor and pushing against it as I twisted into the air, my fingers grazing the sword.
White-hot pain lashed through me, and my arm jerked on reflex, causing me to miss.
I swallowed the scream, ignoring the black edges in my vision.
Faking a fall, my shoulder cracked on the stone.
I rolled as the opponent drove the sword into the ground where I had once lain. I kicked his forearm, and he loosened his grip on the sword.
My other foot followed as I leapt, kicking the sword out of his hand and catching it in the air.
I raised the blade to his neck, breath rasping. “Code phrase?”
“The blade doesn’t wait,” he murmured.
The opponent dissipated, and the door opened.
I stumbled out of it, tossing the sword at Hunting’s feet as I repeated the code phrase back to her.
My magic swelled inside of me, healing my muscles that had been torn from the weight of the magic while I fought.
I walked on shaky legs and slid into my chair.
“Good job, venom baby.” Slater smiled at me. “You’re so hot when you fight.”
“I didn’t love watching you hold back that scream,” Zuko admitted, getting to his feet and striding to the chamber since he was the last one to go.
Zuko didn’t hesitate during his challenge, and he didn’t even flinch when the door shut. When the pain must’ve hit him, hesmiled.
He completed the objective in half my time, beating both Dimitri and Koa. He walked past Hunting without a glance, stopping directly in front of me. I smelled the copper on his fingers from where the blade had cut him.
“That hurt,” he told me, voice low and seductive.
“Didn’t look like it,” I whispered.
Hunting dismissed us.
