And I’m going to work through it by kicking Dmitri’s ass to kingdom come.
We launch ourselves at each other, and I catch a glimpse of Asher literally wincing as everyone in the room hears the loud smack of our bodies hitting each other. Someone—Cam, I think—is shouting for us to knock it off, and then I hear Professor Tamlin asking what’s going on, and several cheers from people who’ve taken sides in this.
Dmitri really isn’t letting me off easy now, and I appreciate it—but it also reminds me how evenly matched we really are. Goddamn, winning this is going to be hard. His punches fucking hurt. But I’m dealing mine right back at him, and I’m landing some damn good blows if I do say so myself.
It’s all a whirl, instinct taking over as my body moves without thought—which is a good thing, that’s how it should be when you fight. You should know the moves so intuitively that you don’t even have to think about them anymore, because the second you stop to think is the second your opponent beats you.
The thing is though, Dmitri and I are also fucking pissed at each other.
I want him to feel every goddamn blow, and I’m not pulling my punches either—if he wants to think I’m weak, then I’ll show him who the damn weak one is. And Dmitri’s probably going harder than he even would normally just because he wants to prove something right back to me. We’re furious, and I don’t know if I want to kill him or fuck him or some combination of both, honestly.
It doesn’t help that our bodies are pressed up against each other, that my leg twists over his, around his waist, that he’s grabbing me, that his mouth is so close to mine, his hands everywhere on my body, and honestly, I could just fucking scream from the tension that’s pent up inside me.
The way he’s looking at me… Everyone in the goddamn room has to see it, right? I’m not crazy? Would it be too much to ask that he admit he likes me?
Or maybe he doesn’t like me as a person and just wants—to fuck me—which would—be—fine—if he—would just—admit it!
We both go crashing to the floor, rolling, and Dmitri gets on top of me with my arms over my head, pinned. “There! Will you actually fucking look after yourself now?” he grunts, his face a mask of fury, his dark eyes flashing with heat.
“That depends. Are you gonna stop treating me like I’ll break? Oh, wait, that might mean you have to admit you care, God forbid.” I hook my foot around his ankle and use the momentum to flip him so now I’m on top.
Dmitri glares up at me. “What, just because I don’t want to see you sick and exhausted again makes me the bad guy? Just because I don’t want to lose you to a coma for another three months? That makes me an asshole?”
He flips me so he’s on top again. I hear Asher sigh. “Guys, could you please…”
I headbutt Dmitri, which sends him reeling, and I gain the upper hand again. “Look, either you don’t care about me and you don’t pull your punches, or you do care and you least admit you’re pulling them. It’s not fucking rocket science!”
Dmitri’s breathing hard, his gaze locked with mine as his chest rises and falls. I’m practically straddling him, and I realize with a jolt that I can feel him a little hard against me, between my legs. I’m panting, a bit wet, and it’s not the first time I’ve gotten turned on while sparring with Dmitri—because, you know, God forbid I not get turned on in public where all my classmates could notice and make fun of me, right?
But as I stare into his eyes—
A horrific scream, like nothing I’ve ever heard before, fills the room.
I whip my head around, going limp in shock, and Dmitri uses the opportunity to grab me and yank me underneath him, crouching over me like someone’s about to launch themselves at us.
But nobody’s fighting.
Cam and Asher are staring in horror, and so is everyone else, as another student collapses and writhes on the floor. His name is Tom, and he’s a second-year like me with gravity manipulating powers. His body jackknifes with convulsions, and the sounds tearing from his throat are terrifying.
I can’t tell what’s happening to the poor guy. There’s nothing attacking him, yet he’s screaming like he’s on fire.