A thrill ran through me. “I’d love to be your warrior angel.”
“Gotta make junior hunter first.” Drea winked.
Oh, junior hunter wasmine.My exam was later today, and I was going to crush it.
* * *
Nerves ate away at my gut as Aurelia stood before me in one of the training rooms. Drea, Dash, Marlow, and Jacob all shoved their faces into the small window peephole watching as I took my Junior Hunter Skills Test.
I’d just finished the written portion, and now Aurelia was pointing to various weapons on the floor. Daggers, broadswords, even a mace.
“What’s that?” she asked, gesturing to a longsword. I could tell by the slight rainbow sheen on the blade that it was a light weapon.
“Longsword, but also a light blade,” I said with confidence.
Aurelia marked something in her notebook and betrayed a hint of a smile. “And what would you need a light blade for?”
“A light blade will inflict the most damage because it burns through a higher level demon’s skin, so they are the preferred weapons to kill any of the levels but are specially required to vanquish level one through threes because normal weapons will pass right through them.”
Aurelia nodded, set her clipboard down, and then walked over to a box with a blanket over it that sat in the corner of the room.
Then she looked at me. “Be ready.”
What? Ready for—?
She ripped the blanket away and revealed an animal cage. I barely had time to process what was happening when she kicked a latch on the door and a level one shadow snake slithered out of the cage and gunned for me.
Crap!
This must be the practical part of the exam.Way to make it really authentic, Aurelia!
My heart hammered in my throat as I fell into an army roll and grabbed the light blade Aurelia had just pointed to. By now the snake had reached me and lifted up on its belly, ready to strike.
Instead of waiting for it to lunge for me, I went on the offense and threw my weight forward, dragging the blade across its body and slicing it in half.
With a poof of smoke, it was gone.
My gaze flicked to the cage, wondering if any other creatures were waiting to jump out at me, but it was empty.
The Angel Gang cheered outside the door, and I grinned, looking at Aurelia hesitantly. “Did I pass?”
The master Lumen consulted her clipboard and then broke out into a full-toothed smile. “Welcome to Team Drea, Junior Hunter.”
I whooped, throwing a fist into the air as the whole crew rushed into the room to congratulate me.
After a moment, Aurelia cleared her throat. “Mrs. Taylor will be expecting you, Tatum.”
Right. My baby Lumen class.
I groaned. “I still have to go to that?”
Aurelia bobbed her head up and down. “Just for the semester.”
I looked at my friends. “Catch up with you guys later?”
They nodded, and I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.
I was officially a junior hunter.
