trip. So on a Friday class in late October, they’re all out and it’s just us second- and first-years. We’re a mixed bag for Combat so the students can get all kinds of experience and practice against different levels of fighters, just like in real life.
I miss the guys. I’ve gotten so used to having them around that it definitely feels weird when they’re gone. But maybe it’s a good thing to have a little space, given… everything.
Cam and Asher know shit’s hit the fan. Asher couldn’t not know, walking in on us like that, and Cam’s the one who found me in the woods afterward and brought me back to campus. They’re both worried for us, and I don’t know if Dmitri’s silence or their concerned looks are making me feel worse these days. I don’t want them to worry.
I just want this all to be fixed somehow.
Kendal actually asks to spar with me first. I’m—surprised, and a little touched. Alyssa and the others have noticed how I’ve been acting, so they definitely know something’s wrong, and Kendal’s still hanging out with those idiots, but I can’t hate her the way I used to.
It’s harder than you’d think to pin Kendal. She’s not competitive in the slightest, but she knows a lot thanks to her parents and her siblings, who do magical competitions for a living, and she’s a slippery one. I see a quick grin from her when I finally get her down, like she’s proud of me, and then we shake hands and she’s off to her next opponent and I’m with mine.
It’s another second-year, Tandy. I don’t know much about her, and as far as I know, she doesn’t know much about me. We’re in classes together, we’ve nodded at each other when we’ve found seats next to each other, but that’s about it. She seems nice.
Not that her niceness is going to stop me from wiping the floor with her.
Tamlin calls a start to the next round, and Tandy and I go at it. She’s not as skilled as Kendal, but she’s a lot more fierce. I’ve got every belief that she’d break my nose if that was what it took to win this.
Perfect. Just my style.
Tandy’s power is levitation, which makes for an interesting challenge next to my spider climb. I race up the wall to use it as a launching-off point while she’s hovering in the air about two feet off the floor. When I’m six or seven feet up, I pivot and push off the stone wall, and then—
I’m levitating.
What. The. Fuck.
I land on her, and we scuffle in midair. She’s fighting hard, trying to push me off her—I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m only staying up in the air because I’m holding onto her. But then she properly shoves me off and I stay hovering, same as her, a couple of feet off the floor.
Holy shit.
We gape at each other. I have no clue how I’m doing this. This feels different than my other magical blips. This isn’t just a little lightning strike that I can’t replicate. No, I’m fully doing the same magic she’s doing, with just as much strength, like I’m… feeding off her somehow. What’s going on?
Yeah, I’m gonna have to talk to Tamlin or Roman or Dean Hardwick about this after class. Whatever the hell is going on with me, it’s gotten too big to downplay or ignore.
A few of our classmates who are wrapping up their own bouts turn to look at us, probably wondering why we’re staring at each other with our mouths open like terrified goldfish.
We recover at the same moment. I see determination in Tandy’s gaze, and I’m sure as hell not letting her kick my ass, weird new magical powers or no, so I go right back at her.
I unleash a little of my sonic boom, and we go crashing to the floor, me on top of her. I try not to use that power too much. It’s still hard to control and tends to just send everything flying, which could really hurt people if I’m not careful. And besides, I don’t want to rely on a single power too much; I don’t want to become dependent on it.
Tandy fights furiously, jabbing and punching and twisting and kicking, but I manage to get the upper hand and pin her to the floor, her arm wrenched behind her back.
She thumps the floor, yielding, and I get off of her, helping her up to