Ksenia’s cloaking ability, and of course they were dragons, so the “Fire” part was a given. Astra confessed that she liked the term “Wraiths” because it honored the dead, and their dragon skull emblem was something her brother Talon would have loved.
Every second of their training, Ksenia had the profound sense of finally belonging somewhere for the first time in her life. The pieces were all falling into place so well it was hard to believe. She wondered out loud if she was dreaming for the first couple days after the League Board’s ruling, but let it go finally after Gunther pinched her on the ass one too many times just to prove he was real.
“It feels like things are going too well,” she said the night before their first match. “Like if I’m not careful, something is going to happen to take it away. I don’t want to lose this.”
“Then don’t lose,” Teague said, shrugging as if it were really that simple.
It probably was that simple, but when they started easily winning matches, the sense of impending karmic balance headed their way grew stronger.
Then, when they reached the quarter-finals undefeated, they hit a wall—a wall of immense, armored muscle, to be exact. The match was against a pair of rhino shifters whose brute-force attacks should have been easier to handle for the two dragons than it was. But the duo they were up against were tougher than any other team they’d fought, and blocked Ksenia and Astra’s attacks with ease.
Astra’s skills at stealth and speed were her greatest strengths, but had little effect against a team who could easily withstand almost every punch. The glowing point markers on their suits taunted Ksenia, but every time she or Astra went in to score, they were handily stopped by the other member of the team for whom the attack was like nothing more than rain off his back.
They eventually wore the pair down by being harder to catch, and were able to score enough points, but not before the match had dragged on far longer than most.
Their victory was well-deserved, but not as exhilarating as their past wins. For the first time since teaming up, Ksenia was too frustrated to congratulate her partner, and Astra appeared just as disgruntled when they headed for the locker room afterward.
“Where the fuck were you during that last attack? I needed you running interference,” Astra snapped.
“I was. In case you missed it, we just won.”
“By a hair. I think the asshole broke a rib or two when he rammed me.” She unzipped her suit and peeled it down, revealing a reddening patch of skin on her side that was quickly blooming to deep purple.
Ksenia winced. “I’m sorry. Holding him off and keeping him from scoring on me was a challenge. I couldn’t exactly read your mind to know when you were going in for the kill.” She’d also blocked her share of attacks, but her bruises were nowhere near as bad as Astra’s. Even though she wasn’t impervious to damage in her human shape, her Sandrekar blood made her more durable in a fight.
Astra grunted, rolling her eyes. “And isn’t that the issue? We’re out of step. This isn’t a good state for us to be in heading into the semi-finals. I’m not fucking losing that match next week!” Her voice rose in volume, her movements turning jerky as she swiped her toiletries out of her locker and stomped toward the shower.
“We won’t!” Ksenia called after her. She gritted her teeth against an indignant roar from her dragon. The beast was agitated too. She and Astra were good at reading each other’s tells, but they weren’t truly in sync the way a duo ought to be. They simply hadn’t spent enough time training and fighting together to get to that point.
They barely spoke during training the next day. Astra glared at her during their sparring matches, and Ksenia barely held back her dragon from letting its talons out to take a swipe at the other woman. On more than one occasion, Astra’s normally light blue eyes blazed with violet inner fire, and Ksenia was sure Astra’s beast wanted out for a fight just as much.
When Ksenia pinned her to the mat, Astra let out a roar that vibrated the windows, and Ksenia’s dragon responded in kind. Astra’s wings came out, launching her off the mat and throwing Ksenia back. Ksenia let her dragon have free rein, indignant rage bursting forth. Her skin rippled with iridescent