the jar.
“Both of you need to find the next ingredient. It’s an orange herb that smells like vodka, and it grows by the trees outside. Gather a handful, won’t you?” Professor Louton demands.
“Don’t let the herb touch your lips. It kills if ingested,” Thallon softly tells me.
“Thallon, don’t you have work to do?” Professor Louton snaps.
“As always, Professor Louton,” he replies and winks at me as he walks away. At least one of the angels here isn’t trying to kill me.
Chapter 11
“Welcome to intermediate spear training. My name is Professor Badhur. In this class, we will train your bodies in the ways of angel fighting, and with weapons that are suitable. Year one is focused on spears like these.” He waves a hand at the line of spears held on a stand near the wall. “And in year two, we will move on to swords, and year three is your choice. Sometimes I will teach this class and gym afterwards, and other times there will be another professor.”
“Sir, but none of us knows how to fight at all,” a girl points out from our class.
“Miss Pennlop, I am aware everyone in here hasn’t got a clue how to use weapons, but there is something you are all forgetting,” he replies and crosses his arms against his chest. “In the world of angels, your bodies are reborn, and you now have fighting skills you never did as a human. This class is simply here to guide you in what your body already knows.”
“Now this is a class I’m excited for,” Riley whispers to me, and I roll my eyes.
“Everyone get a spear and stand in a circle around me,” Professor Badhur demands. Vesnia chooses a small black speak with silver ends, Riley gets the biggest spear he can with dragon symbols wrapped all around the white marble spear. I search through them as everyone chooses theirs until I find a deep red spear with black angel wings wrapped around it. The tip is silver and quite high with a long point. I pull it off the stand, feeling the weight, and I head back to the group, realising I’m the last one left and they are all staring at me. I slide into the space between Vesnia and Riley that they left for me and rest the spear in front of me, both my hands wrapped around it.
“Now one by one, I want you to attack me,” the clearly mad professor suggests. “Mr. Becker, you may go first.” Riley doesn’t need asking twice and runs at the professor, swinging his spear towards his chest. In one move, the professor grabs the end of the spear, pulling it towards him and grabbing Riley’s shirt. The next second, Riley is flying across the room and smacks into the wall on the other side. I take a step towards him, but the professor calls my name next, and it’s a warning, without him needing to say anything, not to go after Riley. I grip my spear tighter as I step forward towards the professor, who merely smiles.
“I don’t have a chance. You are a skilled fighter, so I give up,” I say, and I drop the spear on the floor, watching it bounce between us for a moment until the professor claps.
“To admit defeat is a strength all to itself. Running headfirst into a battle you know you cannot win is not the way of the angels,” the professor says, leaning down and picking up the spear. “Angels always, always win, and the only way to continue that in the future is to be smart, to train and become stronger than your opponent.”
He hands me my spear as Riley gets back to us, his cheeks bright red, and he won’t look at me. “Now each of you get in a line and follow my moves.”
We line up, and for the next hour, the professor teaches us how to hold our spears, how to attack with them and make perfect hits one after another. Eventually the professor makes us line up in teams, and I pick Riley.
“Did you know the answer and not tell me? It hurt like a bitch to get thrown across the room, Katy,” Riley asks as I block his spear, clashing it against mine. I push him off and continue to circle him as the professor instructed. When he takes a next step, I slam my spear down towards him, and he pushes me off, but the tip of my spear