Nell cleared her throat. “So, here’s what you need to know—”
“My sister already told me.” Mallory pointed to her sister Heather and rolled her eyes until they stuck to the ceiling. “We play magical ‘capture the flag.’ A demonstration of our skills for the High Mage Council and king.”
After Mallory finished with a huff, Nell snapped her mouth shut with a click of teeth.
“Yeah, well, it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Nell’s gaze bounced to each of us, and she continued: “A student died two years ago. If you don’t practice enough, not only could you fail to return for studies the second half of the year, you could fail to draw another breath. Did your sister tell you that?”
Nell glared at the mute blonde next to Mallory.
Mallory blanched and then glared at her sister. “No.”
“All right! Well, now you all know.” Nell clapped her hands together. “The trickiest part about the midyear practical is you’ll need to show your skills to get high marks, all while protecting your flag. They change things around every year. Last year, we were teamed with heirs from other clans.”
My stomach dropped. What if they put me on a team with Justice or Rage?
I leaned forward, trying to absorb all the info I could. Should I be taking notes?
“But this year could be different. Don’t count on anything. It’s deep in the woods. Two to four teams, depending on the size of the class year. Capture the flag … by any means necessary.”
“I’m sorry … what?” I asked. “Like anything goes?”
Nell nodded. “Anything goes. You can throw a fireball at Mallory’s head and won’t get in trouble. The king wants all graduates to be warriors. Only the best to lead our packs.”
I grinned, imagining throwing fireballs at Evil Barbie. “That sounds badass.”
“Oh, piss off, all of you,” Mallory snapped.
“Get your weapons,” Nell said.
We raced toward the far wall, which held an assortment of blades, and excitement replaced my previous gloom. I needed this. A solid workout, without almost dying.
As I was reaching for my weapon, booming thunder rocked the room, and the concrete floor swayed.
What the…?
My ears rang as I stumbled backward in shock.
“Get down!” Nell shouted, dropping to the ground and putting her arms over her head.
I dropped, following her example just as another blast rocked us.
My ears buzzed. Pieces of concrete rained down as smoke rolled into the room. Glancing to the side, I saw Nell pop up, waving her arms through the silty air. Following her example, I climbed to my feet, and Kaja bumped me.
“What the fu—” Nell’s eyes widened as a half dozen figures strode into the room.
It took a nanosecond for me to process the situation and draw conclusions.
The people walking through the smoking doorway weren’t people.
The assortment of shifters—including bear, panther, fox, selkie, and hawk—weren’t here for a tea party.
We were under attack. Again.
“Weapons!” Nell shouted.
Practical practice just got real.
I grabbed a set of blades and tossed them to Mallory, who caught them smoothly and then spun with a ferocious look on her face. Barbie’s clone grabbed another set while I handed a pair to Kaja.
I went to hand a long broadsword to Nell when she shook her head at me. “I’m shifting.”
Before I could finish nodding, pelts of cinnamon fur rippled down her arms and across her chest, and she dropped to all fours as her clothes ripped from her body—her wolf body. I grabbed two blades and spun to face the attacking pack.
A selkie warrior, dressed in black leather armor, pointed his sword right at me. “You killed my mate.”
Mariah Carey? The psycho who sang every student into a stupor while they tried to kill us?
Was I supposed to apologize?
“Then take her and go!” Mallory shouted, dropping into a defensive stance with her blades out.
Bitch. Note to self: never trust Mallory. One hundred percent treacherous.
The selkie warrior shook his head. “The alpha king stole this island from us, and we want it back for our kinds. Every single alpha heir will be slain in retribution.”
Probably not the best time to chat about negotiation, but … really?
The bear shifter reared up on his hind legs and roared, a fierce and terrifying battle cry.
Wolf-Nell tipped her head back and howled, a deep and chilling answer of “Hell no!”
There was no getting out of it now. Where were the palace guards? This place sucked on security.
A blur of feathers drew my eye upward just as a hawk dove at my face, talons extended. Bird shifters loved to go for the eyes. Taking out the throat was then a lot easier.
Evil bastards.
Pivoting into my fighting stance, I raised my left arm, blade in hand, blocking the hawk’s path to my eyes. The bird tore into my arm with its talons and lunged with its beak. I crouched low as fiery pain scorched my skin. With a scream of defiance, I rotated and swung. In one fluid movement, I sliced through the hawk’s neck, severing its head clean off.
The two pieces fell to the ground with a muted thud and then started to shift back to their human form—a fair-haired girl close to my age now lay beheaded at my feet. A sick feeling tightened my throat.
I’d killed again.
“Nai, Look out!” Kaja screamed, breaking through my stupor.
Spinning on my heel, I pulled my swords up just as the warrior selkie swung his blade. I parried.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
When his pace slowed, I glanced toward my friends to check on them, and my stomach turned with dread. The bear had cornered Kaja, and Nell’s wolf was on his back—but he was big.
Too big for one or two wolves.
Barbie and her clone were locked in a fight with the fox and panther shifters, and props to Mallory #1 and #2, they looked to be holding their own.
The ringing in my ears from the explosion had faded, and the screams filtering in from outside told me that we weren’t the only ones fighting. If the selkie spoke the truth, the entire campus was likely at war.
Focusing on the selkie warrior before me, I considered my options. This was kill or be killed, and I needed to hurry to help Nell and Kaja take down the bear.
Pulling from deep within my core, I let the power of fire fill me. As it coursed down my arms, I dropped one of my swords and slid in close to the warrior, grabbing him by the throat.
His eyes widened. “What…?”
I sent the flames out through my fingers; the fire licked up the side of his face, catching on his hair. The scent of charring flesh turned my stomach, but I wouldn’t quit.
This was war.
A blood-curdling bellow ripped from his throat. Flailing, he dropped his sword, and his arm connected with my chest, the force throwing me backward, away from him.
I landed on my butt with a jarring reverberation. Climbing to my feet, I glared at the vindictive warrior, now set aflame. I’d worked with my water power enough that I could pull the water from the air to quench the fire … but I didn’t.
As he writhed on the floor, I scooped up my other blade and ran to help Kaja and Nell. When I neared, time slowed. The bear swiped at Kaja, his claws raking across her abdomen. As she pitched forward, he rotated… coming back along the same trajectory.