She glares at me but there’s no heat behind it. "Your ears are working just fucking fine, Anal. Yes, sparring matches. Now that you all have tapped into your powers; I'd like for you to face off against each other to start learning offensive and defensive moves."
Envisioning my ass getting handed to me by the guys, I groan loudly and throw my hands in the air. "Fine." Maybe they'll kiss my bruises later.
Ash's deep voice startles all of us as he asks Serenity, "Where are your mates? This could get messy. Are you sure you can handle containing this?" He has his arms crossed over his chest, looking at her with pure arrogance all over his face.
I’m actually offended on her behalf at his obvious lack of confidence in her powers. Has he forgotten how we were all thrown on our asses when she unlocked her powers when we first arrived in this realm?
Serenity throws her head back laughing, her teal locks bouncing, as her body shakes from the force of her amusement. She presses her hands on her stomach, her laughter uncontainable, as a scowl twists Ash’s face.
Well, what the fuck did you expect, asshat?
One moment, she’s laughing and the next, Ash is lying flat on his back with Serenity's hand up in the air, a dark look on her face as she chants under her breath.
Oh fuck.
She stalks over to him, towering over him, with a dark glint in her eyes. "This one time, I will let it go that you have insulted my powers and title of Queen over this realm. I have earned the respect of all of my people and I will not allow an outsider to come in here and disrespect me."
I latch onto Hale’s hand, my eyes fixed on the scene on the scene in front of me. This is not the Ash we know and love.
Serenity drops her hand with an arch of her eyebrow. "Cat got your tongue? In the future, I recommend you hold your tongue or I'd be happy to remove it."
She gives him her back, clearly not feeling threatened by him. Something twists in Ash's eyes at the move. He pushes himself off the ground, brushing Zedd off when my sweet mate goes to help him.
Not wanting to dwell on his ongoing temper tantrum, I lock eyes with Serenity. "Let's get this going."
With a nod, she calls the twins to the mat to start.
After watching the twins battle with their opposing elements, my stomach feels like it’s in my throat and I’m choking on it.
As per their usual, they threw off their leather vests during the battle and red marks paint their body from the attacks against each other. I’m in awe as they call their elements on demand, using them for both offense and defense. When Leo formed a wall of fire to block a torrent of ice pellets from Luke, I gasped out loud at the display of power. It comes so easy to them now, it's like they're working on muscle memory while in this match.
Clearly, Serenity had the right idea about sparring to draw out more of our powers and she seems to know it, judging by the smug grin on her face. I can’t even knock her for it. She’s been right about a lot over the past few days and my respect for her continues to grow.
Of course, Gaia had been right in placing us with her. The Goddess knows what we need, even if I questioned her relentlessly in the beginning.
As Serenity calls the twins’ match a draw, they make their way off to the sidelines and collapse in a heap, limbs tangled as sweat drips off of every exposed inch of skin. Yummy.
She calls the next match, pitting Ash against Zedd, and every function in my body screeches to a halt.
No. Not Zedd. Anyone but Zedd.
Hale is much better equipped to fight against Ash and all of his rage currently.
"No,” I call out to Serenity. “Pick someone else. I'll do it.”
Serenity shakes her head as Zedd’s hazel eyes plead with me. "I'll be fine, Lana. I need to do this."
Tears prick my eyes, as an overwhelming sense of dread settles over me. I don’t know what the fuck is going on with Ash and I’ve never felt so helpless.
My heart threatens to leap out of my throat and commit suicide on the ground in front of me as Ash cracks his neck side to side, standing in the center of the mat, his eyes cold and dead. It's in the way he stands, the upturn of his lips—he's clearly willing and ready to do whatever he needs to do to win.
To what end? What is he trying to achieve here?
As Zedd takes his place across from Ash, confidence radiates from every pore of his body, standing with shoulders back, no hint of the sensitive, timid man I know.
Gaia, please watch over him. Please let Ash come back to his senses.
A week ago, my biggest worry was what I wanted to do after college. Now, I've lost my mother, my home, my world, all in one fell swoop and I have this sinking feeling in my soul that I'm about to lose one of my mates.
As Zedd and Ash face off, I silence my thoughts and zero in on them. Though I'm watching them both, my eyes keep straying to Ash. On the outside, he's the embodiment of calm, cool and collected with a hint of arrogance in the twist of his chiseled face. I'm reading the nuances of his body, trying to gauge his next move in his body language, in case I need to leap into action and intervene. I don't know what I could do to stop him, but I would try.
Damn him for putting me at war with myself. I love him but this isn’t the man I fell in love with.
“Alright, boys. Just like the twins demonstrated, this is to pull your power out of you in a battle scenario. I want to see both defensive and offensive tactics from each of you. The objective is not to hurt your opponent," she says pointedly to Ash, "But to see how your powers react in the heat of the moment.”
Zedd nods and she waits for Ash's response, which doesn't come. She shakes her head and chants. A white dome forms over the sparring mat, preventing their magical attacks from striking anyone else or the building. The downside is that the dome prevents us from hearing what they’re saying inside of it.
After she motions for them to begin, Serenity walks over to stand next to me. I battle with telling her the truth, concerned about betraying my men's confidence in our private affairs, before deciding she needs to know. In a shaky voice, I whisper, “Something has been off about Ash. I have a bad feeling about this.”
The concern on my face must be clear as day because she holds my hand in a reassuring grip, a rare display of affection. “Trust me, Lana. I can feel it. But we need to do this in order to evaluate his powers more. He’s still a bit of a mystery to myself and my men. I don’t like it.”
Zedd and Ash circle each other and the overwhelming nerves in my stomach make me feel like I want to throw up and piss my pants simultaneously. The twins, still panting from exertion, sit up on the opposite side of the dome from us, while Hale and Serenity flank my sides.
Ash takes a few threatening steps towards Zedd, advancing on him like a predator, while Zedd's lips move. He puts his hands up in front of him defensively, appearing to be intensely pleading. He takes a step back to place some distance from Ash, retreating until his back hits the barrier and he has nowhere left to go. Zedd is still talking, a plea in his eyes, in the turn of his lips, but Ash keeps advancing, undeterred.
What are they talking about?
A gust of air surges from my Zedd’s hands, throwing Ash off balance and blowing him back a few feet. He quickly rights himself, appearing to laugh but there’s no humor in his eyes.