Page 16 of Wolf Trial

I squeaked when she set down the bottle and in the same fluid movement, grasped my hips and lifted me onto the padded cushion. Insistent fingers found my chin to tilt my face back.

“Eyes open,” she instructed, a little steel entering her tone.

“So you’re not going to kill me or compel me, but you’ll boss me around?” I muttered.

“Yes,” she agreed. “I shall. Eyes fully open, kitten. I won’t tell you again.”

“Stop calling me that,” I muttered.1

“But you remind me of a kitten,” she argued mildly, not allowing me to pull my chin free. “Ferocious and brave. And tiny.”

I scowled. I could never be called tiny with my hips, thighs, and boobs.2

“Eyes open.”

“I will—”

“Thank me when I heal the scratches on your cornea?” she cut in. “I should hope so.”

My eyes widened automatically at her nerve, her audacity, and she took advantage of it to pour that clear liquid over my eyes. It—didn’t burn, actually. It didn’t feel like anything but water, even if it was still an unpleasant sensation.

“Now you get to close your eyes,” she said, moving closer, until the scent of orange blossom drowned my sense of smell.

“Why?” I asked suspiciously, trying to pull my chin free of her iron grip and failing. “What are you going to do?”

My heart quickened, a knot twisting in my stomach.

“You’re scared about my nefarious plan to heal your eyes?” she drawled.

“Well, now I am,” I muttered. “Why are you helping me? I thought this academy was more dog eat dog than girls’ girls.”

A smile deepened in her cheeks. “What about girl eat girl?”

“That’s cannibalism.”

“Not the way I do it,” she laughed. “Eyes closed. I’ll make it quick.”

“Just what a woman likes to hear,” I muttered, and jumped hard when a wolf’s howl sounded in the distance. “They can’t get into the academy, right? The wolves.”

Rogue laughed. “No. And they’d regret it if they ever did. Every one of us is trained to kill them; a wolf entering the academy grounds would be a death sentence.”

Well, at least that was something.

“Eyes closed, then you can go watch your friend’s fight.”

Shit. Elix!

I forced my eyes shut even when it went against every instinct I had, and held my breath as I waited for… actually, I didn’t know what to expect. Rogue touched one eyelid, her finger wet with the glass bottle’s liquid, then the other eyelid. A moment passed, and then cool relief coated my eyes, every bit of pain and discomfort wiped away.

“Look at that, you survived,” she remarked with a laugh. “Come on, I’ll show you back to the training field. If you’re like me, you’ll get lost trying to find your way around this place.”

I blinked my eyes open, a newfound appreciation for how normal they felt. Not irritated, not painful, not weeping or burning. Even the aches in my ribs and lungs eased considerably. “Thank you,” I said, more than a little confused. “Why did you help me?”

Rogue shrugged as she wiped blood from her fingertip, the movement making the sweetheart neckline of her corset shift.3

I hurried off the table, pulling at the sleeve of my long t-shirt, looking anywhere but at her chest. This was just what I needed on my first day at murder school. Give it an hour, and everyone would know about my reputation as a boobs ogler.

A cheer rose outside as Rogue led me back through the warren of hallways to the main doors, and my breath hitched. That had to be the end of the fight—but who had won?