This wasn’t normal for me, not anymore. After Eliza, I’d sworn off anything resembling real feelings. The endless parade of human women I’d fucked over the past two years had been nothing but physical releases and convenient bodies to lose myself in without the risk of attachment. None of them could bond with me, which meant none of them could destroy me. That had been the point.
But Jupiter wasn’t some power-hungry axis candidate looking to climb the social ladder by bonding with a prestigious shield. She’d already had that and walked away when they betrayed her. I would never do something like that to her. If I were lucky enough to have that girl love me, I’d bow down to every fucking god in the heavens and thank them until my voice gave out.
Across the mat, Jupiter executed a perfect feint that caught Lucas off guard. She swept his legs from under him, and he hit the mat with a thud. Before he could recover, she was on him, her knee at his throat, her eyes blazing with triumph.
“Yield—” Lucas gasped, tapping her arm twice.
She released him immediately, offering a hand to help him up. The smile that spread across her face was radiant, and I felt my chest tighten at the sight.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, forcing myself to look away and continue my stretches.
Jamie stood against the far wall, his expression unreadable. But I knew him well enough to see what others might miss. The slight tension in his jaw, the way his eyes tracked Jupiter’s every movement. Jamie, who’d sworn off women entirely after Eliza.Jamie, who flinched when female students got too close in the hallways. He was watching Jupiter with the same hunger I felt burning in my own veins.
We were all falling for her already.
A vicious satisfaction curled through me at the knowledge that the Nightfall Shield was stuck in the village, unable to set foot on campus without Jupiter’s permission. Those arrogant bastards thought they could just show up and reclaim her after what they’d done? After they’d broken her trust so completely? Not while I had breath in my body.
I wasn’t looking forward to confronting them, knowing their reputation. They were formidable fighters, but if it came to it, if they tried to force their way back into Jupiter’s life against her wishes, I wouldn’t hesitate. They’d hurt her. That was enough reason for me to stand between them and her until my last breath.
“Rowan! You’re up next. Obstacle course.”
I pushed to my feet, rolling my shoulders to release the tension. The training hall’s far wall shimmered with Professor Ellis’s illusion magic that powered our obstacle course. The terrain shifted and reformed, this week featuring a series of narrow platforms suspended over what appeared to be boiling lava, with swinging pendulum blades and jets of fire to avoid.
“Going easy on us today, I see.”
Jupiter laughed, breathing hard with her hands on her hips. “Thisis easy?”
“Wait until you see next week,” Phoenix said, clapping her on the shoulder. “Ellis has a sadistic streak and I heard a rumor he’s been working on an underwater course.”
She arched her brow. “Oh yes, for all those deep-sea bane.”
We lined up at the starting point. Lucas went first, his every step perfect as he navigated the course, dodging blades and leaping between platforms with ease. Or, whatlookedlike easeto someone who hadn’t spent dozens of hours practicing. Theo followed, then Phoenix, each completing the course with varying degrees of success. Phoenix was large like me, so it wasn’t as easy to move as quickly as the others.
When it was my turn, I channeled my restless energy into pure focus, using my Aquarius magic to anticipate the timing of the obstacles. The illusory heat of the lava felt real against my skin as I leapt from platform to platform, my body flowing through the course like water.
I finished with a decent time, turning to watch as Jamie took his turn, his movements lithe and oddly graceful.
Then it was Jupiter’s turn. The entire room seemed to pause as she approached the starting line. When the illusion magic gave the signal, she moved.
And gods, how she moved.
Jupiter didn’t just navigate the course like a warrior would. She danced through it. Her Ophis magic manifested as faint silver trails in the air as she twisted between pendulum blades that should have sliced her in half. She moved like a serpent. As if she’d harnessed not just the magical traits but the physical ones too. When a platform crumbled beneath her feet, she created a momentary step of solid starlight to launch herself forward. It was breathtaking. She finished the course in record time, not even breathing hard when she landed at the end.
For the next two hours, we ran the obstacle course repeatedly, the illusion changing small elements each time to keep us on our toes. By the sixth run, my muscles were burning pleasantly, sweat soaking through my shirt. Jupiter kept pace with us, never complaining.
Eventually Professor Ellis joined us in the room, monitoring the trainees with his tablet in hand, taking down notes on everyone’s progress.
The far wall shimmered again, the obstacle course disappearing and replaced by what looked like an abandoned warehouse. The illusion was perfect down to the smallest detail—broken windows, rusted metal, the smell of decay.
“Third-year simulation,” Ellis explained to Jupiter. “Class Three bane incursion, multiple entities. Objective is containment and elimination without civilian casualties.” He gestured to several illusory figures huddled in corners of the warehouse. “You’ll go in teams of two. Nightingale and Black, you’re up first.”
My heart skipped. I moved to stand beside Jupiter, painfully aware of every single breath she took, the scent of her sweat-dampened skin filling my nostrils. Gods I wanted to mount and fuck her right here like a bloody animal.
“Have you done simulations like this before?” I asked quietly as Ellis finished his instructions.
“Similar. There are some illusion courses, but I wasn’t enrolled in any of them yet. Dominion keeps actual bane in the lower levels for upperclassmen and high ranking shield warriors to practice on.”
“We have those too. Deep in the dungeons under wards. Only the most experienced warriors are allowed to train there, but it’s a spectacle to watch.”
