“You better watch what you accuse me of,” Mad Dog threatened. Damn, he had one hell of a swing. I swear my jaw dislocated for a second there.
I thought Mad Dog was going to beat me up, but a guard grabbed me by the back of the shirt and yanked me to my feet.
“Save your fights for the club, Bandit,” the guard growled in my ear. “That’s an infraction for you. Have fun putting in double time at the factory.”
Aw, fuck!Like I needed a fucking infraction.
The guard shoved me toward the door, then shouted, “Out! Everybody out!”
Mad Dog knew he won this fight, and he was smug about it. He spat at my feet and walked away laughing, his cronies following behind him.
Marcus helped me into the hall. “Anything broken?”
I stretched out my face to test my muscles. Mad Dog had a good swing, but my face seemed intact. “Just my pride,” I answered.
“Let’s get out of here,” Marcus suggested. “We’ll find the girls another time.”
We didn’t really know where we were going— justaway. We didn’t stop until we’d entered the Villain’s Den. I collapsed into one of the couches, but there were other people in here, so I kept my voice low. “Uriel didn’t do it.”
“I know,” Marcus whispered back as he sat beside me. “But it’s not like we can prove that.”
My shoulder sagged in defeat. “Yeah, and now I’ve got extra hours at the factory, so I won’t be able to train. Captain’s going tolovethat.”
I punched the arm of the couch. “The Warden is going to use every opportunity he can to weed out the Elves and perform his sick experiments on them. This isn’t right. I have to teach the Elves how to defend themselves, and how to absorb magic from other races.”
Yeah, with all your experience, Oberi said flatly.
“You’re not helping,” I snapped at him. He jumped onto the couch next to Rishi and proceeded to ignore me.
“Do you even knowhowto teach them?” Marcus asked in a low voice.
I hesitated a moment. “Maybe. Kind of.”
“You don’t sound very confident.”
“Well, forgive me for trying.” I huffed. “I used my powers on Mad Dog, but it wasn’t on purpose. I’m not totally sure how to use them yet, but I can figure it out.”
“I’ll be your guinea pig,” Marcus offered.
I calmed a little. “You will?”
“Yeah. It’s part of fulfilling the prophecy, right? And I agreed to help you with that. Plus, I’m kind of curious how it feels.”
I thought of the other times I’d taken magic from other people. When I’d calmed Ava down outside Commissary last semester, I’d been holding her shoulders. I thought maybe I should start by touching Marcus, because maybe that would be easier to steal his magic. I placed a hand on his shoulder, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I felt nothing.
We sat there for several long minutes before Marcus said, “I don’t feel anything.”
“That’s because I’m not doing anything,” I stated. “With Ava, I could feel her magic. I don’t feel anything with you.”
“Maybe I’m too weak?” he theorized.
I snorted. “You’vegotto get over that. You’ve got magic for days, and you’ve proven it. Now get your head on straight, and maybe we can do this.”
Marcus hummed for a moment. “I did a little bit of work with magic manipulation over the summer, to help me understand my Curse Breaking powers. It’s not quite the same as Elf magic— not nearly as strong— but I bet the technique is similar.”
“What’s the technique?” I asked.
“At first, you have to reach out with your own magic,” Marcus instructed. “You kind of have to weave it in with the other person’s, and then you can yank it backward. Think of it like a rope. You’ve gotta tie your end of the rope to mine before you can pull it away from me.”
