He pushed his wet hair away from his forehead. “You did well. Practice forming the globe until our next lesson.”
Was that it? I didn’t want him to go.
The door flung open, and Faith frowned at the sight of me. “Were you mud wrestling?”
“Certainly looks that way.” Arik snickered then looked over at me. “I leave for another mission tonight. When I return, we’ll commence our lessons.”
“You should hurry and get cleaned up for dinner,” Faith said, eyeing us.
“I suppose that’s my cue.” He hung there for several awkward seconds, eyes searching my face. “Good evening,” he finally said.
“See you later,” I said, trying to sound like his roaming eyes hadn’t affected me.
When he nodded and ambled down the corridor, disappointment sunk in my stomach. Was he feeling the same way as me? All the signs pointed to yes. I shook my head. What’s the matter with me? Maybe there’s nothing going on between him and Veronique, but he has a betrothed somewhere, so there’s no point getting involved. Why set myself up? Arik’s a one-way ticket to heartbreak.
I closed the door and headed to the bathroom but couldn’t stop thinking about him. The weight of his body pressing against me and his warm breath on my lips teased my thoughts. He was the silver lining to the suckage that was my new life.
Chapter Sixteen
For weeks, I sparred with Carrig, learning to balance a ball and hold my sword with an arm laced in the tight straps of my heavy shield. He won every match, but I put up a good fight. Spending time with him was like being with a coach, not a father. The man didn’t know how to work with teenagers. I actually felt bad for Deidre growing up with this guy. He busted my lip twice, cracked a rib, and cornered me until I fell down a rocky hill.
Nana was so angry she complained to Merl. He told her to stop fussing and that Carrig knew what he was doing, which only made Nana hotter.
It was coming up on three weeks and still Arik and the other Sentinels hadn’t returned from their mission. Back home, school would be starting soon. I didn’t know if I’d be back by then, which upset me. I didn’t want Deidre to attend classes for me. I valued my GPA.
The day was thick with fog when I finished my training session with Carrig. After seeing my battered arms and blood-caked forehead, Professor Attwood canceled our lessons and sent me to my suite, where Faith gave me one look and guided me to the bed. I tucked myself in a fetal position, buried my face into the pillow and screamed. How could I take any more? It was too hard. I just wanted to go home. I hated this life, and I needed Pop.
Faith brushed tangled strands of hair away from my face. “Hold on. I’ll get you something for the pain.” She grabbed a bottle from the nightstand and poured a small amount of Nana’s elixir into a shot glass, then held it in front of my face. “Here, drink this.”
I tossed back the shot, draining the liquid in one big gulp.
“You stay here. I’ll be right back.” She hurried off to Nana’s room.
I poured more elixir to the rim of the glass and slugged it down.
Faith returned with Nana on her heels, dousing a cotton ball with some sort of ointment.
“My goodness,” Nana said. “You look awful. I swear that man is going to get a few choice words from me when I see him.” She sat beside me on the bed and dabbed my cuts with the drenched cotton ball.
The pain subsided and my body seemed as though it was floating above the bed. All my fears dissipated like dandelions blown on the wind.
I giggled. “Nana, you should sell this stuff. It zaps the pain. Zippo. Gone-o.”
“Faith, did you give her the elixir again?”
“You said to give it when she’s hurt bad.”
“How much did you give her?”
“Only a half shot glass, as you instructed.”
I giggled again. “I snuck another. Well, a full shot, that is.”
Nana frowned at me. “Young lady, you’re insufferable at times.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Faith.
I hiccupped. “It means I’m difficult…I think.”
“It’s time to get dressed for dinner,” Nana said. “You need to eat something to take off the edge.”
“Okey dokey.”
I was in a euphoric daze as Nana dressed me. She ignored my protests as she