“Very funny.” Cass rolls her eyes. “Seriously though, between all the homework and classes and now this, you’re not getting enough rest. The last thing you need is to end up in the infirmary for a week with Madame Altrix because you’ve depleted your energy.”
“Give it a rest, Cass.” I blow out a tired breath. “Tonight’s the last night, and then my schedule will go back to normal. Besides, it’s Friday, which means I’ve got the whole weekend to chill. I’ll be fine.”
I finish getting dressed, then head downstairs, leaving Cass behind. She came to the first few training sessions, mostly to ogle Blaze’s bare chest, but she quickly got bored of that once she realized that there was no action between me and Blaze. You’d think there would be, with us getting up close and personal every night, but strangely there’s no spark between us. It’s not difficult for us to keep our sessions professional, and considering how sore and tired I am all the time, it’s not like I’d be up for anything else anyway.
“Hey Addy,” Kaia calls as I pass through the common room. She’s sitting on one of the armchairs by the fire with Gertrude and Ina. “You wanna come hang out with us in Ina’s room? Gertrude’s got some goodies to share.”
She winks, and I smile, knowing full well that by ‘goodies’, she means more whisky. “Can’t. I’ve got my final lesson with Blaze tonight.”
Kaia’s face brightens. “Oh, it’s the last night, huh?” she says cheerfully. She’s been a little on edge with me since I started my lessons with Blaze, and I have a feeling that, like Maxon, she doesn’t like me spending so much time alone with him. “Well good luck, then!”
“Thanks.” I leave the common room, trying not to feel disappointed when my friends head upstairs. I wish I could go with them.
But after tonight, I’m done. It’s just one more night of pushing myself to the limit. I can do it. Then I’ll be able to hang out and be social. It’s kind of funny, actually. I actually have people inviting me to hang out and I’m turning them down.
Blaze is waiting for me in the training room as usual. “Last day of torture,” he says with a grin as he pushes off the mirrored wall. Unlike the first day we trained, he’s wearing a white t-shirt that strains over his muscles. “Unless you’d like to continue our lessons?” He waggles his eyebrows.
“Please.” I roll my eyes as I grab a scythe from the wall. “We both know you’re not actually interested. And neither am I. It would be like fucking my big brother.”
Blaze frowns, running a hand through his hair. “It would, wouldn’t it?” he says, looking discomfited. “It’s weird, because you’re totally hot, but you’re right, you do feel like a sister to me.”
“Much to Cass’s disappointment,” I say, and we both laugh.
“Seriously, though, if you ever want to do more training, I’m up for it,” Blaze says as we move into position. “You’re a great training partner, Addy, and you’re going to kick serious ass when you finally get to go on missions.”
“What are missions like?” I ask as I block a lighting fast blow with the handle of my scythe. “Have you ever been on one?”
“I…uh…” He clears his throat. “Well...”
I stop mid-strike. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing if you almost said something.”
“I shouldn’t say anything at all.” He twirls his scythe through the air, the metal blade glinting in the light. We’ve moved from wooden to metal, though the blades are dull, and have been sparring with each other, which we’re technically not supposed to do. It’s above and beyond the basic training techniques, which I’ve discovered are more of a formality than anything else, reminding me of the fencing classes I took at Lakeview when I was a teenager.
“Now I really need to know.”
“Can you keep a secret?”
“I’ve been known to keep one or two.”
“Don’t tell anyone, but Professor Dal says I’m advanced for our year. He’s already snuck me down to the human realm twice to kill demons. He said he’ll help me open a portal and go down on my own, so I can prove myself a worthy warrior.”
Something about his words strike me as familiar, yet I can’t think of exactly why. I take one of the scythes from Blaze and move to my spot on the mat.
“Wow…that’s…that’s intense.” Sixth years don’t usually get to go on missions. They save that for our final year.
“I know, right? And once I come back and can tell the others what I’m capable of, the general will be impressed and I’ll be more likely to get a higher initial placement in the army. Some reapers spend years slowly moving up the ranks. I want right into the action. To kill as many demons as I can.”
Blaze suddenly leaps forward, swinging his scythe in a downward arc. I side step the blow easily, then swing toward his exposed back.
“You’ve seriously been to the human realm twice already?” I ask as he darts away. Damn, I almost had him!
“Yeah.” He flashes a big grin as we dance around the room, striking and parrying. “It’s awesome, Addy. And now I get it, the rush the others talk about when you see your scythe slice through the neck of a demon. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. Though I was kind of terrified for my life and confused as hell the first time I killed a demon.”
