into the shape of a man.
“Are we good?” he asked, not looking at me.
Did he think that I’d cower now that he’d shown me that? I wasn’t sure what I used to be made of, but the girl who’d been living in Xest for weeks wasn’t the same girl who’d lived in Salem. I might’ve had a little something to do with the dragon incident.
Was he a shifter of some sort? Had to be. Did it matter? No. Not anymore. When I first got here? Maybe. Now? I didn’t care what or who he was as long as he was on my side, which I believed he was—for the moment.
I was curious enough to ask. But I didn’t, because again I wasn’t the same girl from Salem. Hawk only shared what he wanted, and I wouldn’t waste my energy on non-answers. And did it matter? No. I was doing what I had to, and so was he. Nothing else mattered.
“Whatever you are, I don’t care if you’re human or the worst monster to walk this world. The only thing I care about is that you hold up your end of the bargain, and what you say you’ll do.”
“You know, with very little work and practice, you wouldn’t have to fear being hunted at all.” He looked over his shoulder at me, and the intensity I saw there made me shiver.
It always did. It was as if he saw who he wanted to see. Perhaps who I might’ve liked seeing, too, but not who I was. I might’ve grown, but I’d never be the person who deserved that look.
“I think I’m getting all the practice I can stomach for now.” I stood and grabbed my jacket before walking over and getting in his space, just to make sure he knew I wasn’t afraid of him. “And one more thing: if you tell me to be here to practice at a certain time, make sure you’re here too.”
He smiled, a soft laugh following.
I read the page again.
“You’re saying it wrong.”
“I’m saying it the way you told me.” I dropped onto a fallen log. It didn’t matter how cold it was. Most of my body had lost feeling an hour ago.
“That’s not how I said it.”
I plopped my chin on my palm. Nothing too scary had happened thus far, but man, was this particular page wiping me out.
“Tippi,” Hawk yelled.
I jerked a little, realizing I’d almost fallen asleep out here.
“Let’s go,” he said, standing in front of me.
“You sure? I might be able to do another round.” I punctuated that with a yawn.
“I’m sure. Come on.”
I got up, and we made our way back to the door, the distance feeling twice as far on the way back.
“I don’t know why I’m so tired tonight.” I yawned again as soon as we were back in the building.
“This part of the spell is going to make you tired doing a partial.”
“Oh. Good to know,” I said, then made my way down the stairs and headed back up the other, toward my room.
“Night, Tippi,” Hawk said from the landing below.
“Night, Hawk.”
I threw off my jacket to the side on the way to the bed. I kicked off my boots after I face-planted into the pillow and tugged the blankets over me, still fully dressed.
A cool breeze entered the bedroom. I shifted farther underneath the blanket for a few seconds while I debated how bad it might get if I didn’t go check the window. If I didn’t shut it now, would I be able to sleep, or would it get so cold that I’d wake up freezing?
I stumbled out of bed, tripping on my hastily discarded boots. I had one eye half-open as I made my way to the window and tried to push it down. It didn’t budge. I squinted up at the top pane. It was already sealed up tight. Maybe when the walls shifted back and forth, it had created a crack. I’d have to mention it to Hawk tomorrow. For tonight, I’d have to burrow under a bit deeper.
I crawled back into bed, my eyes closing as soon as my head hit the pillow. Practice tonight hadn’t been nearly as bad as it had been the previous night, but it was still exhausting. My words hadn’t done much of anything other than warm the air around us, but it had still knocked me out like a two-ton elephant had stampeded over me. I sank a little deeper into the blankets, trying to