frigid things in here.”
“It never ends,” Chris muttered. He looked at me, his expression a combination of embarrassed and annoyed. “How do you get out?” he asked.
“As soon as either of us touches the circle, it’ll break,” I said, standing up. I nodded to Stacia and she took a tentative step forward. Abruptly, all eleven bullets fell to the ground, pattering about the cold floor.
“So how does that work? I thought circles were used to keep things in… like, say, demons?” Chris asked.
“Depends on the direction the caster set it in. If I close a circle from inside, it blocks things out. If I close it from outside, it locks them in,” I said.
“What about a two-way circle? Both blocking and locking?” Stacia asked.
“I’ve never heard of that. It’s always vulnerable from one side,” I said.
“How about shields you put up? They block bullets too?” Arkady asked, dropping the empty mag from his gun and slapping in a new one.
“Theoretically,” I said, not at all interested in trying it.
Chris laughed at my expression, clapping me on the shoulder lightly. Damn near knocked me over. “We won’t try it today. You’ve done pretty well, I’d say,” he said, looking pointedly at Tanya.
Her serious expression disappeared into a beautiful smile that reached her eyes.
“Yes, a very good first session, Declan. We will ramp it up a bit tomorrow. What are your thoughts?” she asked.
I looked at them while I thought about her question. “I think you all took it very easy on me. I think that anything I came up with, you would have gotten around, especially if you worked as a team rather than individual attacks. I don’t think I realized how very fast you all are,” I said.
“Is good… you are not cocky,” Arkady said. “What you say is all true, but this is only beginning. You have much power, need much practice.” He pointed at the scattered bullets and cases on the floor. “Never seen a witch stop bullets before.” Then he started to pick them up.
Instantly, I joined him, thinking it was just like picking up after shooting practice with Darci or Levi. After a second, Stacia joined in, grabbing the last two bullets.
Arkady held out one giant palm and I dropped the brass and copper collection I had into it. Stacia shook her head. “Nope, I’m keeping these. Maybe make earrings out of them,” she said with a smile, holding a bullet up to each ear.
“Alright, Declan. Same time tomorrow?” Chris asked. “Meet us here?”
“Sure. Ah, thanks,” I said, realizing I was dismissed. I headed out into the cold morning air, the sky still dark but starting to brighten. It was only six-thirty, but it felt like I’d been up all morning. I jogged back to Arcane thinking that the most interesting part of my day was already over. Turns out I was wrong.
Grabbing a breakfast sandwich from the dining room, I headed upstairs. Mack was still blissfully sleeping as I got my shower gear and left the room. It was a bit crazy to think that just minutes ago, I’d been training with the most dangerous people in the world. Thinking about it, my brain froze on the image of bullets floating in the air above my head, Stacia sitting next to me on the freezing floor. Okay, I’m not gonna lie… I also might have replayed the naked werewolf girl on the floor scene, too. Hey, I am a guy… it’s how we’re wired.
I also thought about the spinning blocks and how Arkady had just shoved through them like nothing. The problem was that the building constrained me. I couldn’t knock it down or burn it up, and most of the inside was wood. So I was left with electricity, which was in short supply, except static, ‘cause the building was so damned cold. A thought hit me. Hmm, static.
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed and ready. I knocked off some homework and prepped for Website Design, sitting in the dining room, drinking coffee. Caeco and Jetta came in and grabbed breakfast, sitting next to me.
“You’re all peppy this morning,” Jetta commented. “Cut it out.” She didn’t look excited for school. I took a guess.
“Bio at high school this morning?”
She grimaced and attacked her yogurt like an enemy.
“You’re speaking again and your bruises are all gone,” Caeco noted, studying me with raised eyebrows. “What have you been doing?”
“Training, and I had an unusual energy drink. It kind of healed me up,” I said. She frowned.