“Thanks.”
“Okay,” Adrian claps his hands together, moving closer to us. “I saw you guys messing around with your elements. We’re not doing that today.”
“Do we get to play with weapons?” Meela asks.
“No.” Adrian shakes his head. Vehemently. “You’re not going anywhere near weapons. Today you’re going to work on balance.”
“Balance?” Meela repeats.
“Yes.”
Adrian approaches me and grabs my shoulders with his large hands. I get a whiff of his cool pine scent. “Spread your legs,” he says.
Meela snorts. “Hot.”
We both shoot her a look. When I have to face him again, my cheeks feel hot. Memories wash over me from that night, and suddenly I’m all too aware of his muscles. Particularly his chest that’s directly in my line of sight.
I widen my stance and look up at him. “Like that?”
“Perfect. Now practice bending your knees just slightly.”
I bend my knees and he nods. “Good. Now keep doing that. Hold it as long as you can, then come up and rest. And repeat.”
“That’s it?” Meela complains.
“That’s it.” Adrian confirms.
Meela rolls her eyes and copies me.
“Head up,” he tells her. “Be ready for an attack.”
She tries it again, and he pushes her shoulder. Her foot falls back, catching her weight, then she recovers.
He nods. “Good. Keep practicing.”
He strides off toward where the dragons are, and my eyes fall on Daegan. He’s not fighting. The other dragons are in heated sword fights with each other, but he’s just observing. And before I have time to look away, his head turns my way, and we lock eyes. Even from this far out, I can see his moody eyes like he’s right in front of me. He gives one curt nod, and I look away, my eyes falling on Adrian, who’s also watching me.
Shit. I can’t catch a break. I hope he didn’t see me locking eyes with Daegan from across the training grounds. I don’t know what he’d think of that.
He cannot suspect that we’re some sort of allies.
I shift my attention back to Meela, who’s grunting in frustration next to me. “This is so stupid,” she complains.
“Yeah. It’s not quite as exciting as I hoped,” I agree with a sigh. “Maybe if we do good at this for a bit, we can move on to something more fun.”
“How long were you planning on staying here?” she asks with disapproval in her voice.
I shrug, looking away again as I balance on my partially bent knees. My eyes keep drifting back to the weapons area like I have no control over them. I curse myself and look away before anyone catches me looking.
I turn around so my back faces it.
Meela laughs beside me.
“What?”
“Is it Adrian you can’t keep your eyes off of, or is it Daegan?”
“Neither.”
