over it. She took shots at his mid-section, arm, head, knee. Every shot was nimbly blocked.
She stopped. “I don’t understand why it is better than a full shield.”
He dropped his two mini shields. “Put up your shield.”
Kiora pushed it forward. He began firing rapid shots at her. Every one bounced off the shield, leaving a shower of green sparks behind. The more he hit, the more residue flowed down her shield, obliterating her vision. She could barely see as he launched his gravity-defying body over the top of her. He fired off the first shot before he even landed, hitting her right between the shoulder blades. She stumbled forward and felt another blow slam into her lower back as his feet hit the floor. She landed face first on the rock, scraping against it as she slid forward.
“That’s why,” Alcander said.
Her face against the cold stone flashed her back to her time with the Shifters, training with Eleana on wind. Kiora started laughing, her shoulders shaking into the floor.
“What’s so funny?” Alcander demanded.
“I was just thinking how furious Emane would be right now,” Kiora said, pushing herself up with a grin. She ran her hand over her cheek and held it out. Not a lot of blood, but she was bleeding. “He would not appreciate your method of training.”
“He is overprotective, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know,” she said, wiping the blood on her pants. “But protective? Yes, he is.”
“My methods create results.” Dropping his head to the side, he coyly asked, “What do you think of my training?”
She put her hand on her hips, evaluating him. “My brain thinks it is exactly what I need. My body hates your guts.”
“That,” Alcander looked her up and down with that same glint in his eye, “is too bad.”
Her heart took an extra beat, realizing the conversation had just taken an unexpected turn. “What does that mean?” she demanded.
His eyes became even more intense, his lids lowering. “You know what I mean.”
She shifted, crossing her arms in front of herself. “You’re the one who told me I was weird looking.” Nervously, she reached up to check for more blood. Her fingers came back dry. Swallowing, she refolded her arms.
He took a step closer to her. “No, I said you were different looking, that I had never seen anything like you.” His blue eyes threatened to suck Kiora straight into them. “I never said you’re weird looking.”
Her mouth went very dry and her palms began to sweat. What was going on? He took another step forward with a confidence that, to be honest, made her angry. Did he think she would just stand there while he walked over and kissed her? She flicked her wrist. Her magic collided with his stomach, knocking him off his feet.
Clearing her throat, she said, “Never let your guard down, Alcander.”
He gave her a look that suggested her little stunt had made her all the more endearing. He leaped to his feet. “Next circle,” he demanded.
She walked into the smaller circle. It was getting tight. This was the last one before the ridiculously tiny one at the center.
“Why did you run off after the battle?” he asked.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to talk while we fought,” she said, tucking a few stray hairs behind her ears. She didn’t want to talk about that.
“I thought you could multitask.”
The magic started firing as the conversation continued.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she said, diving to avoid a shot.
“If you’re going to dive out of the way, at least throw a shield,” he chastised. “Try me.”
She threw magic at his feet, forcing him to jump. “It hurts me to hurt others.” That was the simplest way she could think to explain it. She threw a piece of magic she hadn’t known she could do. The magic started small at her hand but fanned out quickly. Alcander was forced to put up a full shield to deal with it.
“Nice,” he said, complimenting her shot. “So what, you were hurting. Do you think I enjoy killing?”
“It’s not like that,” she insisted, putting up the hand shields to catch his close-range shots. She couldn’t move as fast as he could and a shot caught her in the knee.
“Move faster,” he instructed. “If it’s not like that, then explain.”
She blocked two more shots. “I don’t know anything different than what I feel. I have always been like this. But from what I have been told, and from what I have seen watching others—” She sent two shots in rapid succession,