Fated By Starlight by Krista Street

Chapter 23

~ AVERY ~

Days turned into weeks. Then weeks turned into months. Before I knew it, my three-month stint at the SF was almost up, and I was only two weeks away from my final test.

My mornings with Wyatt and the rest of my squad were routine and short now. I only saw Wyatt for an hour each day. I hardly ever saw Bo, Chris, Zaden, or Nick, and I only saw Eliza and Charlotte in the evenings in our apartment.

And as each week had passed, I’d questioned more and more why I ever thought Wyatt was interested in me. Because even though Wyatt was professional, he was also aloof, and I swear he only looked at me when he had to. And why wouldn’t he? I wasn’t one of them—I would never be an elite SF member—and he’d effectively wiped his hands of me.

I figured my lack of skills and my blunder at the start of my training explained his disinterest. And our hookup was also probably why he’d pawned me off on Major Armund, so I wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Either that or he’d realized I was too difficult to train so he couldn’t be bothered.

But that dismissal had only made me work harder, determined to show him that while I may not be strong, I wasn’t completely useless.

Each day, Major Armund pushed me relentlessly. I worked with Reese, too. He became a constant shadow, and slowly, my magic improved.

I would never be what one would call magically inclined, but I was stronger than I’d ever been. I managed to master one defensive shield spell by the end of my second month and was progressing toward mastering an offensive binding spell. With any luck, I would have both mastered before my final test.

It was the best I’d ever done.

To say I was proud would be an understatement. I’d never mastered any spells in school while growing up. When all of the other students were a dozen spells ahead of me, each year I was placed in the back of the class with the other less magically inclined to study spellcraft since the practical aspects of it weren’t possible.

However, that studying had now come in handy since I’d long ago memorized the spells Reese retaught me, but with his tutelage, I was now also practicing them.

“We’re going to have you try out your spells on one of the more advanced species today,” Major Armund said in the training room.

October had arrived, bringing with it cooler temps. Even though the sorcerers’ wards kept the outdoor temperature controlled around headquarters, it was still chilly for training, so we mostly worked indoors now.

“I’ve called in someone from another squad to work with you this morning,” she continued. “I’ve also told him not to go easy on you.”

“Oh?” My curiosity piqued. I’d finished drills a few hours ago and thought we’d be breaking for lunch soon. Apparently not. “Does that mean he’s a werewolf, vamp, or fairy?” So far, I’d only practiced with Major Armund, Reese, and a handful of low-magic individuals that she called in at random—witches, sorcerers, half-demons, psychics, and one siren.

She gave me a cheeky smile. “That’s for you to figure out.”

The door opened in the corner, and a tall man strolled in. My eyes bulged when I recognized the bright orange hair and devilish smile, but the memory of how we’d met made my stomach clench.

“Private Meyers, this is Major Bavar Fieldstone, Squad Three’s commander.” Major Armund waved the introductions.

“The cookie baker. We’ve already met.” Major Fieldstone dipped into a bow. “Tell me, will I be awarded with another plate of sweets if I best you today?”

“Um, sure. I mean no, because you won’t beat me . . . sir.” I stumbled over my words. Shock still rippled through me that I’d be battling the fairy—apparently the commander to Squad Three, Charlotte’s future squad no less—that I’d met the night I brought a plate of cookies to Wyatt. The night Wyatt had rejected me. It was like pouring salt on an open wound that refused to close.

Not that Major Armund knew that.

“Are there any rules in this sparring?” Major Fieldstone asked Armund.

She shook her head. “Try and take her down. No rules. No honor. She needs to learn what it’s like to fight a full-blooded supernatural who’s intent on harming her.”

Shit. I swallowed the trepidation in my throat. Major Armund was getting serious, which wasn’t surprising since my final test was coming up in a few weeks. During that test, I would be assessed on my skills, and it was possible I’d be battling a full-blooded fairy.

I knew my only chance of getting out of a spar with them in one piece was to move quickly and not get caught in hand-to-hand combat. I would never be able to beat a full-blooded male fairy if that happened, but a female in hand-to-hand? Maybe, only because of everything that Major Armund had taught me, but still unlikely.

Major Fieldstone stepped onto the large mat in the center of the room, and I readied myself at the other side. The training rooms often reminded me of gymnasiums in human schools, the difference being that spells and blasts from the magically induced weapons couldn’t pierce the warded walls.

And neither could my body flying into them.

I gulped. “You’re not going to break any of my bones are you, sir?” I laughed uneasily.

He only grinned. “We have a healing center for a reason, and I believe I was told to take you down.”

“But if you want cookies . . .” I tried for a lighter tone since a predatory gleam had filled his eyes.

Major Armund and Reese stood on the sidelines, arms crossed while they wore astute expressions, yet Reese’s tapping fingers on his bicep gave away his true feelings. He looked almost as nervous as I felt.

But glancing at him was a mistake. Out of nowhere, Major Fieldstone came at me, his arm locking around my waist and taking me to the mat in a heartbeat. The wind knocked out of me, and for a moment, panic filled me.

I gasped, or tried to, but my lungs wouldn’t work.

The commander hovered above me, his skin glowing and his teeth wickedly sharp.

But a moment of concern flashed across his expression when he took in my wide eyes. He probably hadn’t realized that I had next to no defenses against him.

But my trainer wasn’t nearly as sympathetic. “Up, Meyers,” Major Armund said. “Remember what we’ve been teaching you.”

Reese brought a fingertip to his mouth and bit into a nail.

Bavar helped me to my feet, an apology spilling from his lips. “Perhaps I shouldn’t be quite so rough.”

I gasped, then gulped in a breath when my diaphragm finally kicked in. I shook my head, my nerves fried, but Major Armund was right. I needed this. “No, don’t, sir. I need to learn what to expect if I ever find myself in a situation like this.”

He dipped his head. “If you wish.”

“Again,” Major Armund barked. “Remember your spells, Meyers.”

Right. As soon as Major Fieldstone was on his side of the mat, I whispered one of my spells under my breath. “Glosius neforium peesi lumi—”

He charged.

I hurried the last of it. “Luminity strogo!”

The fairy stopped in his tracks, the spell momentarily binding him. I didn’t waste any time. I knew I only had seconds before my hold on him dissolved.

I sprinted toward the exit. Elation filled me as it neared.

The door was only two feet away when an arm clamped around my waist. I was about to start kicking, using the combat maneuvers Major Armund had taught me to get out of situations like this, when the door opened.

Wyatt stepped into the room, and when he took in our position, his composure went from relaxed to enraged in a split second.

A snarl tore from his mouth just as Major Fieldstone threw me over his shoulder. I spiraled toward the mat.

I would have hit it, too. I expected to, and I was already curling into a ball to soften my fall and allow me to roll onto my feet again, when a pair of arms caught me and stopped the blow.

Before I could react, Wyatt set me down and was on top of the fairy. He grabbed Major Fieldstone by the shoulders and swung him onto the mat. Major Fieldstone groaned when he hit it, landing flat on his back, but Wyatt was already on top of him.

“What the hell are you doing, Bavar?” Wyatt lifted the fairy by the lapels of his shirt before smacking him back on the mat again. “Are you trying to kill her?”

“Wyatt!” Major Armund yelled. “Get off of him!”

Energy crackled in the air as Reese stepped forward. The sorcerer wove his hands, a spell blasting from his fingertips. It hit Wyatt and seized him.

My commander clenched his teeth and glowered at Reese. Another second passed, then sparks showered around Wyatt when he broke through the sorcerer’s binding spell.

Leaving Major Fieldstone on the floor, Wyatt stood up and glared at my trainers. “What the hell is going on here?”

Major Armund rolled her eyes. “We’re training her. Remember?”

“Since when is throwing an ambassador recruit across a room considered training? She’s not SF. We’ve never trained them like that before. She could break a bone!”

“I know she’s not SF, but you asked me to train her for worst-case scenarios, so I am. And she’s not a delicate flower, Jamison.”

My breath caught as I stood there mutely. Flower. It was so close to that term of endearment Wyatt had called me. I clenched my teeth together. No. I wouldn’t remember that.

Major Armund continued cutting into Wyatt. “I’ve taught her how to land when she’s thrown. She was already maneuvering into the right position when you interfered.” She stepped forward, her eyes shooting daggers. “And remember, as an ambassador, it’s possible she’ll one day be near an assassination attempt or kidnapping. Knowing what it’s like to be fully attacked will only help her. The more she knows, the better.”

Wyatt paled as I stood immobile on the center of the mat, my eyes burning. My commander slammed a hand through his hair, his face still visibly blanched, but he held out his hand to help Bavar up.

“Fine,” Wyatt said stiffly. “Continue.”

Rising energy pulsed off him, and Major Armund studied him, a curious glint in her eyes. However, when Wyatt’s alpha magic reached me, any thoughts over my commander’s peculiar behavior vanished. I shuddered and tried desperately not to react to his power, but my shoulders folded, and my knees weakened.

I seethed. He was so damned powerful, and no matter how hard I tried, I would always cower under his magic.

Damn him.

Gritting my teeth, I waited for it to pass. When it finally did, I took a deep breath and faced Major Fieldstone again.

“Shall we have a second attempt, Private Meyers?” He winked, which alleviated some of my anger toward Wyatt.

My commander moved to the sidelines to stand by Major Armund and Reese. Wyatt’s expression was now schooled into blank professionalism, but power still radiated off him in waves.

I tried not to react to his presence, but this was the first time he’d entered the training room, and it was throwing me off. It was just another thing I could be mad at him about.

“When you’re ready,” Major Armund said.

Not even a second passed before the fairy leapt into the air. I managed to dodge and roll at the last second. If I hadn’t, he would have landed on me.

But as soon as I was on my feet again, he was there, reaching for me. His hand wrapped around my arm. I dipped and turned, falling back on the maneuvers Major Armund had been relentlessly drumming into me for months.

His grasp tightened, but my uppercut to his sternum made him grunt. It was enough of a surprise that his fingers loosened, allowing me to twist away.

I was already running toward the door, my binding spell halfway out of my mouth when he pounced on my back.

I shrieked and fell. My chin hit the floor, pain cracking through my jaw. Wyatt pushed away from the wall as Major Fieldstone pinned me from behind so I was flat on the ground. I tried to wiggle free, but all he did was straddle me and sit on me. I swear the fucker was laughing.

Sure enough, a chuckle escaped him. He flipped me onto my back, still holding me down by the wrists. But as soon as I started to mutter my spell, he clamped a hand over my mouth and leaned down, his crystal eyes filled with mirth.

“Now, now, none of that.” He grinned, still straddling me, and it felt as if a truck had parked on my hips. I couldn’t move. At all.

Major Armund sighed, and my shoulders slumped in defeat. But it wasn’t until I stopped struggling that I realized how intimate our position was. Wyatt growled, the pulsing power off him rising.

However, Bavar swung his leg off me and jumped to a stand, the movement so fluid and graceful that envy stole my breath. I may be coordinated and getting stronger, but hell’s bells, I would never be able to pull off a move like that.

“Have my actions put my cookies in jeopardy?” the fairy asked as he held out his hand to me.

I grasped it, letting him pull me to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, Wyatt’s heavy stare weighed down on us, but at least he’d retreated to the wall again. “I suppose not, but I may withhold the chocolate chips. They’re the best part.”

Major Fieldstone laughed, the sound as rich as molasses and as deep as a bass drum.

A shimmer of power strummed toward us. When I faced my trainers again—about to ask what I should have done differently to avoid that pin—all coherent thought left me when I saw my commander.

Wyatt was seething at Major Fieldstone, his jaw clenched so tight it was a miracle his teeth didn’t crack.

Major Armund crossed her arms and gave Wyatt a curious look. “Let’s do that again. Same maneuver, only this time . . .”

I tried to concentrate on what she was telling me, but it was near impossible to focus with Wyatt hovering on the sidelines.

But I memorized her advice as best I could, and Major Fieldstone and I squared off again.

Thirty minutes passed of more sparring, me fighting, him pinning me, and eventually me conceding defeat. He was nice about it, though, always helping me to my feet at the end and offering encouragement—and maybe a comment or two about his future cookies.

I expected my commander to leave after the first ten minutes or so, but it was like his feet had glued to the floor. Despite the energy pulsing off him—that all of us were ignoring—he didn’t excuse himself.

“You’re getting better.” Major Armund cocked her head thoughtfully. “But we still have a lot of work to do before your final test. I’m confident you’ll pass it since ambassador recruit requirements are lower than SF standards, but I’m still not convinced that you’ll be able to safely extract yourself from the more powerful species. That’s what we’ll be focusing on for the rest of your time here.”

I breathed heavily as sweat beaded on my forehead. “Of course, ma’am.”

“Thank you for your time today, Major Fieldstone.” She dipped her head toward the fairy.

“Much obliged.” He bowed, then whispered to me, “Don’t forget those lovely biscuits you promised.”

“I would never, sir,” I replied, momentarily forgetting that he was my superior as I smiled sweetly, if a bit sarcastically. “Plain biscuits with too much salt and no chocolate. Coming right up.”

He laughed again, a rich bellow that made goosebumps rise on my arms.

I headed toward my water bottle, figuring we were done for the morning when Major Armund said, “Jamison, since you’re here, will you have a go? She’s never faced a male werewolf before. It will be good for her to learn what to expect and will help me plan the last few weeks of her training.”

My feet stilled in their tracks. Fight my commander? Now?

I swallowed, my stomach clenching, but Wyatt shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s not ready.”

Major Armund raised an eyebrow. “She only has a few weeks left. There’s no time to wait. Besides, she’ll never be ready if we don’t push her.”

Wyatt’s brow furrowed, his expression darkening. “Pushing her to fight—”

“I’m sorry, Jamison, who’s in charge of her training right now? You? Or me?”

His jaw clamped shut as Major Armund pointed at the mat. “One more round, Meyers. I know you’re tired, but since Jamison is here, I want to take advantage of that. You’ll be hard pressed to find a stronger werewolf. Better to get an idea of what it can be like so you’re not surprised if the situation ever arises.”