Blake.
Standing several paces away, watching. His arms crossed, his expression cool.
Jace arched a brow at him. “A shame,” he mused, his voice pitched just loud enough. “I really thought she was going to make that one.”
“Training is done,” Blake said. His steely gaze clashed with mine. “Morningtail, get out of here.”
“I didn’t—”
“Jace, you’ve been summoned. Now,” he commanded.
Jace nodded at me before sweeping past to follow the angry Ambush Master out.
21
My world had become a colorful medley of pain.
My muscles groaned every step I took, my joints cracking like they’d never been used before. My feet felt swollen to three times their size, stuffed into my boots. I was always hungry. But the anxiety of feeling less like an Azure and more like Silver—while knowing I was rejected by both—grew more intense every day and always seemed to ruin my appetite.
Blake and Jace were summoned by the king almost every day, though nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, so I tried not to think too much about it, lest I assume they were reporting on my abysmal performance as a Tyger Warrior thus far. I sighed.
I missed my home. My routine. Even the dingy segregated tavern. I missed dancing and dinners at the low table and the smell of incense or healing tonic ingredients on the stove.
Above all, I missed Edith.
We hadn’t spoken in nearly a week, not since our argumentover the Culling, over the boon and my wish to get my memories back.
Calla, who had a habit of sneaking in and out of the kitchen every morning for breakfast and snacks—especially on days with sweets—was growing to be one of my closer friends and allies. She seemed to make friends everywhere.
She told me Edith had been offered a position at the palace with the royal healers. There was a bittersweet punch to that knowledge. I was glad to know Edith had a place here and that she wasn’t spending her time worrying I’d turn up dead. But there was guilt and fear too, because I suspected the position was a way for them to keep me in check by forcing her to stay here. They knew I’d never step out of line with Edith at stake.
Not that she had anywhere else to go.
Axefire’s warriors had made sure of that.
Stepping into the dining hall after a grueling practice, I slowly moved toward the Azure table, legs quivering. Calla stepped up beside me with her tray, slanting an eyebrow at my stiffness.
I decided I actually didn’t want to eat another meal in this tense dining hall.
“Do you want to come with me?” I asked, glancing at the door.
“For what?” Then she smiled and shook her head. “You know what? Yes. If it gets me away from the oaf for the time being, yes.”
Bythe oaf, I knew she meant Quinn. They’d been sparring partners the last few days, and they had a hot competition on. With her personality, I’d thought she’d shift into something fast and light like a peregrine falcon. I’d barely been able to breathe when I watched them spar, first as humans. Fists met palms, elbows blocked strikes, their speed nearly impossible to track. Then, just as Calla aimed a punch for his ribs, Quinn moved, not backward, not to the side, but straight toward her.
And in the blink of an eye, he shifted. One moment, he was aman. The next, he was a massive tan wolf, launching at her with bared teeth.
I barely had time to inhale.
Because before Quinn’s attack could land, Calla’s form rippled, twisting, growing.
Where she had stood, an enormous bear reared up on its hind legs, thick fur rippling over muscle as she batted him away with a swipe of her claws.
So, not a falcon. If only I had power and magic like that.
The last I’d heard, they were more or less tied.
Though Quinn had tried to brag to me about his wins.
