Shock was an understatement. “That was a dragon. And it came out of the sea. What the hell?” My pulse throbbed hard in my throat, my voice barely a whisper. I sucked in a breath to calm my nerves. “Dragons are real?”
“Evidently.” He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets, cool and collected, as if he hadn’t just jet-streamed a monster into the sea. “They’re also classified as Horrors. Ones the seafolk should have in check. We haven’t had a sea Horror attack since the Land-Sea Pact was put in place.”
“Then maybe someone should speak to them?” Dori said, joining us.
The others were close behind.
“Oh, Trinity.” Clary gently gripped my wrist, bringing my swollen hand up for all to see. “It’s broken.”
“I can’t believe you punched it in the face.” Benedict stared at me with wide, kohl-rimmed eyes. He reminded me of a marsupial I’d seen in an old picture book. I couldn’t recall its name.
“You did what?” Vitra demanded, his gaze sharpening.
“She punched the dragon,” Benedict repeated. “In the face.”
Vitra’s nostrils flared. “I would ask what you were thinking if I suspected you’d been thinking much at all. You’re lucky to be alive, Miss Onyx.”
“So everyone keeps telling me. It came for me.Directlyfor me. Just like the mudarks.”
“I very much doubt that the Horror leapt from the ocean specifically to accost you, more likely that you were the closest, easiest target.”
But it hadn’t been like that—I was ready to argue, but my words wilted on my lips when his long fingers curled around my wrist, branding me with pleasant heat.
“Your hand does look broken,” he said. “But Darla will have something to speed up the healing.” He canted his head, his gaze shrewd and probing. “It must hurt.”
Shit. With all the chaos, I’d forgotten to keep up my act when it came to pain. “Now that you mention it, yeah, it fucking kills. The adrenaline must be wearing off.”
“Yes,” Vitra agreed, his eyes narrowing slightly as his grip on my wrist tightened a fraction.
I was quick to let out a pained gasp.
“Apologies.” He released my wrist. You should get to the infirmary.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes and my pulse fluttered in my throat. Had the wrist squeeze been a test? Was he suspicious? Had he guessed the truth?
Vitra released me from his dark regard, gaze flicking to the ocean once more. “It seems that the ocean patrol needs a reminder of the terms of our agreement.”
I swallowed my sigh of relief. I wanted to keep control of when and with whom I shared the details of my curse. Having someone deduce it and corner me into revealing it wasn’t ideal. The longer I kept it to myself, the more useful it could be.
Students filtered back into the room, taking in the carnage with wide-eyed shock.
Vitra sighed and broke away from us, crossing the room toward them. “Nothing more to see here. Get back to your classes.” He threw a look my way. “You escaped death twice in one day. I’m not sure if that’s luck or talent—so do the wise thing and don’t test it.” He ushered the students from the room, leaving me wondering when Selethis had shared the ratakan information with him. A little lunchtime tryst, maybe?
Pip hurried into the ruined dining hall followed by several sweeping brushes. “Everybody out. We have cleanup to do.”
Seriously? “That’s it? Cleanup? Get on with classes? We were just attacked by a water-Horror-dragon thing.”
“It almost burned me to a crisp,” Benedict said. “But you stopped it.” He was doing that wide-eyed marsupial look again.
It made me uncomfortable.
* * *
“I didn’tdoanything…atleast not consciously.”
“I’ve never seen a reflexive defense response like that,” Dori said. “Using the Weave, whether as an incantor or a sorcerer, always involves intent.”
“I don’t know. I have no idea how it works, or even if it’s consistent, but I’m sure that dragon was after me.”
“It attacked everyone,” Dori said. “Maybe you just pissed it off when you threw up a shield.”
