The Tracker Hive Academy Year One - Avery Song Page 0,43

knowing Zeke, he'd love the challenge."

I let out a small giggle. "You're losing at this advantage game, Zackery. You're going to be last at this point."

Leaning up on my tiptoes, I gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "But you're really hot when you're working. I'll give you some brownie points."

His cheeks grew red, and he glanced away. "Thanks?"

Paying attention to the current situation at hand, I closed my eyes and called to my inner elements. I could feel the rush of wind slashing ruthlessly against Zackery's defense, but I wasn't concerned about the current onslaught.

Getting to know Zackery during the last four days of classes had shown me that he wasn't the type to quit. It was a part of his competitive, playful nature.

My focus was on finding the root of the problem. Tracking a single thread of teal energy, I began to wonder how far away this individual was.

Even if I located the source, it wouldn't give me an image of who exactly the person was. I was following a flicker of color, and not a visual trail to the culprit behind this.

Guess it was better than being shredded into tiny body parts.

"Jade?" Zackery questioned. The strain in his panting voice was thick, yet he still showed immense concern in the simple call of my name.

"A bit more. They're...farther than I expected," I admitted. "Oh fuck!"

I had to curse because the source was now on the move.

They caught on.

"What?"

"They're getting farther away. They shouldn't have sensed me," I huffed, beginning to feel the exertion of it all. "If he gets too far away, I'll lose the trail."

Wind magic definitely wasn't an element I could perfect in seconds. Just the pressure of trying to catch up to the vanishing trail the dark vision within my mind was slowing me down.

"Jade?"

"What?"

"I'm going to try something, but that means doing something a little touchy."

"Touchy? We're already intimately hugging one another while I'm keeping my eyes closed and try not to lose this damn tra—"

A jolt of energy pulsed through me suddenly, and I felt the slow movement of Zackery's hand slipping beneath my uniform dress shirt.

His chilled hand sliding upward along the left side of my rib sent cold shivers through me, ones that were exciting my ice magic immensely.

"Zackery," I panted, but it sounded like a light moan to my ears.

"Shh," he hushed me. "Focus on the trail. Don't lose it."

His lips brushed along my neck, electrifying my skin and tugging at my wind element. The tug at the two energies somehow rejuvenated them, resetting their strengths and giving me a huge boost.

Just like that, I wasn't weak anymore, and my breathing began to level out as my mind cleared. Zackery didn't stop teasing my neck, kissing me lightly, which was personally distracting but providing a lot more energy.

Is he using that connection we had in the office to give me a boost? Doesn't that mean I could do the same in return?

Realizing what he was doing, I decided to multitask. As I tried to balance tracking the energy with my eyes closed, I slipped my hands beneath Zackery's dress shirt, moving slightly up his back.

"Jade," Zackery warned, but it wasn't like he was in pain. His warning was low and ignited parts of me that hadn't reacted to him prior to this.

My ice element was reacting, flooding my physical senses and directing itself to my hands, transferring into Zackery like I was now his battery source.

Refocusing, I noticed the sudden growth of my wind element, aiding in my mission to catch this person. Not only did I spot their energy, but the surrounding environment also seemed to light up in turquoise.

Whoever this person was, they were definitely tall, with a thin frame. Closing the distance with a pushed boost, I was finally able to strike the source, the connection slicing in half like a sharp blade had cut it.

Snapping my eyes open, I looked up to meet Zackery's. They were intense, suddenly a mixture of almost white, blue, and teal. The silver surrounding his iris was still prominent, his expression was cloaked with such an intense level of lust that I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

We stood in place, my hands still pressed against the middle of his back and his on the sides of my waist, just at the waistline of my red and blue skirt.

I was struggling to think, my ice and wind elements fighting to return to