bronze scales as her talons shot out, and she was pulling back to strike when several figures surged in from the side.
“Whoa! Cool your jets, honey,” Gunther said, grabbing hold of Ksenia’s wrist as Simon wrapped his arms around Astra’s middle, hauling her back even as a gout of flame burst from her throat. “Save that fire for your fight next week.”
“Let’s take a breather for the rest of the day,” Jacob said. “You two had better be more focused tomorrow. Astra, you have your solo championship match in two days. Don’t let yourself get distracted.”
Astra glared at Ksenia. “She’s the one who needs to get her shit together. I’ve been fighting longer.”
Ksenia’s eyes flew wide. “The hell you have! I’m older than you. I’ve been in countless combat situations for the past few decades.”
“With a partner?” Astra challenged. “Talon and I teamed up for fun when we were kids. I may be a solo champion, but I’m no stranger to having a partner.”
Ksenia pressed her lips into a line, unwilling to admit the truth: She’d never really been part of a team. Even in her Sandrekar warrior unit, she typically patrolled alone since no one ever wanted to partner up with the weird, intense female in the group who tended to go on bloody rampages when the mood struck her. But she still hadn’t told Astra the truth about her origins, and now wasn’t the time—if there was ever going to be a time, at this rate.
“That’s what I thought,” Astra said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and turning to go. She glanced at Simon, who was hurriedly packing up to follow and motioned toward the door with her head. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Frustration and anger boiled up inside Ksenia, but she couldn’t decide whether to yell or cry. Everything was falling apart, and it probably was her fault.
Teague slipped up beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, honey. We’ll figure it out.”
She pulled away, shaking her head. “Will it? She’s right. I have no fucking clue what I’m doing when it comes to working with a partner.”
“That’s bullshit. You guys are kicking ass,” he said. “This is just a little setback. We’ll find a way to get you two in sync.”
“Can you do it in less than a week? Most teammates have years to practice!” She stared around at the three men, whose worried expressions didn’t exactly fill her with hope. “Fuck,” she muttered and stormed out the door, shedding her clothes halfway down the beach and shifting just as she hit the water.
She beat her wings hard, heading high into the evening sky, but not even the novelty of being able to fly without boundaries in could banish her feeling of impotence.
18
Ksenia
The guys were particularly careful around her the next day, and their solicitous attitudes only annoyed her more. She also wasn’t oblivious to a couple whispered conversations they had when they thought she wasn’t paying attention. Were they going to cut her loose if she couldn’t make this work? Could they just sever their bond?
That thought made her sick inside, but she couldn’t exactly force a bond with Astra, either.
The helpless feeling soon morphed into anger yet again during training when Astra’s eyes flashed in their telltale way, telegraphing her impending attack. She wasn’t holding back, so neither would Ksenia.
Just before she dug her heels in to leap, Jacob whistled, the sound a shrill reminder that she was already losing focus.
She clenched her jaw and stepped back, irritated both at Astra and herself for letting the other woman get to her.
“I’m at the end of my fucking rope with you two,” Jacob snapped. “This competitive bullshit has to stop. You two are supposed to be a fucking team. The sparring matches are designed to weed out problem areas, but right now everything is a problem area. What happened to the clear heads you two had when you faced each other in the arena?”
“I’m doing my best,” Ksenia bit out, still glaring at Astra, who stared back with arms crossed. She was tapping her foot as if waiting to get back to the fighting. Blood-thirsty bitch. Though that was probably a good quality to have in a partner and something she loved about Astra, Ksenia hated when that drive was focused on her.
“Not good enough,” Jacob said. “I’m calling it early. You two hit the sauna and don’t fucking come back until you’ve talked this out. I want