Once in a Dragon Moon - Ophelia Bell Page 0,7

three are looking for a new trainee, so I pulled a few strings to get her a tryout spot.”

Jacob frowned and looked at his list. “You said her. I’m guessing she isn’t—” He pointed at the last name on the sheet. “—Oscar Babot, is she?”

Gerri waved. “Oh gods, no. She’s not on any list.”

He exchanged a wary look with his partners. “Has she completed any of the trials yet, simulated or live? Please tell me she has, otherwise you’re wasting our time. No offense.” The trials weren’t a requirement to sign up for tryouts, but they definitely weeded out any wannabes who couldn’t hold their own.

“Unfortunately, she didn’t have the opportunity, but I believe you’ll find she’s quite the diamond in the rough. Here she comes now.”

All three men redirected their attention to the screen above the arena. The cameras gave them a clear view of the ramp leading up from below. A shadowy figure appeared, making its way from the locker rooms.

At first Jacob thought it must actually be Oscar Babot, because the silhouette was too big to be female. Except as the person approached, their hips swayed just a little too much for a man. When the light hit right, he saw the distinct hourglass shaped outline of wide hips and full breasts clad in tight leather.

Not arena-regulation synthetic armor—leather. Leather that fit her muscular body like a glove. Okay, this was getting more interesting. Even if she was a lousy fighter, he’d at least enjoy the show.

The announcer’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers when the woman reached the top of the ramp and stepped into the arena, head held high and her long ponytail drifting in the breeze. “Our final candidate of the evening is a last-minute addition to the list: Ksenia San Velka, dragon shifter from the western plains clans, wherever those are.”

Jacob’s gaze remained fixed on the figure as she sauntered into the light, marching straight toward the center of the arena.

Her stride was sure and easy, as if she’d been born to walk across the shifting sands, and her leathers fit her like a second skin. She had a single weapon in a sheath at her side: a sword, which wasn’t even close to legal in the arena, but he was beyond caring. He was just enjoying the view; who cared if she could fight?

Still, did she understand that the tests began the second she stepped foot in the designated circle in the center? She was about to cross that boundary now, but showed no sign of slowing. She was too busy scanning the stands, which were almost empty as the last few trainers filtered out, having already chosen their trainees.

She hadn’t seen their small group yet. She also didn’t seem to register her first opponent was about to pounce.

“Look to your left, girly,” Gunther muttered under his breath, eyeing the panther shifter slipping through the shadows of one of the broken stone pillars scattered around the arena.

Yet she still didn’t turn. She just stopped . . . stopped . . . right in the center and stood there while her opponent crept up behind her.

“Gerri, can we please spare her the humiliation?” Jacob asked.

That same second, the panther shifter leapt.

What happened next was all a blur. One moment the woman was standing stock-still, and the next she’d spun, crouched, and flung out one arm, handily knocking the other shifter to the side. He didn’t go far, though, and he was on her again in an instant, but that brief display was enough to have Jacob and his two partners sitting up a little straighter.

“Whoa, now. She’s got some reflexes,” Teague commented.

“She’s pulling her punches,” Gunther critiqued.

“It’s just a tryout,” Jacob said. “But I’d love to see what she’s really capable of.”

She dodged or deflected several more attacks from the panther shifter, and was mid-roll, dodging another, when the second opponent appeared at the far end of the ring. With a roar, the lion shifter charged.

Ksenia bolted away from the panther circling the edge of the ring. Her gaze shot to the bulky lion shifter, a broad-shouldered man with a wild, flying mane. She dodged once, but he spun and tripped her, tackling her to the ground a second later and pinning her.

Jacob winced at the heavy thud they both made hitting the sand, but was in awe yet again as Ksenia grappled with the bigger man, managed to hook an arm beneath his, and spun them both so she had the upper hand.

Her