Page 81 of Awakened and Betrayed
“I’m not going lie, it’s a possibility,” I admit, running my gaze over the guys where they’re seated one last time.
Kallan chuckles and wraps his arms around me anyway. “Worth the risk,” he announces, as he squeezes me tightly in a hug that pulls my feet off the ground.
I chuckle but shoot him a scolding look as he plants my feet back on the ground. We make our way out toward the tree line so the rest of his coven can work out the course they want to put together without me seeing or overhearing anything.
"So, have they at least pulled their heads out of their asses and started working with you and your magic?” Kallan asks casually. “Are you keeping up with the drills that we set up, or do they have you working a different plan?”
“I’ve mostly been trying to help them to use their new magic. I haven't focused too much on what I need to develop."
Kallan lets out an annoyed grunt and shakes his head at me.
"Vinna, you can't let what they want get in the way of what youneedto do. You can’t always rely on brute strength or blades. You have to work on mastering your power, now more than ever after your awakening. You were doing well here; you need to keep that momentum going!”
“Kallan, I know that. There’s so much shit going on, but I promise I’ve not lost sight of what I need to do. Why do you think I called you guys? I need help. I'm so out of my depth on figuring out what I'm capable of, and now I have to help them sort it out, too. That's why I'm here."
He pulls me in for another hug. He nods his chin towards my Chosen.
"Don't worry about them so much. They'll figure it out, they’ve lived their whole life knowing what magic is and how to use it. All they need to know now is how to recognize the different branches and separate them out. They're paladin. They know how to work hard, and it’ll click into place for them. But who's going to help you do the same, Vinna? I promise I’m not trying to start shit. I really am just trying to look out for you, but whenever you're with them, you back away from what you need to do. Why is that?"
"Don't make it sound like I'm walking away from what I need, for them. It's not like that. I just haven’t figured out the balance of it all. Work, play, study, train, fighting off seen and unseen enemies, I’m figuring it out. If you’ve got an instruction manual that you want to hand over, I’m game, but if not, don’t judge, just help me work through it.”
Kallan chuckles and lets out a sigh. “Fair enough. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about what happened at Elder Cleary's house, and I'm sorry that Enoch was keeping the truth from you...and from us."
Kallan's tone has a bitter edge to it, and I take a moment to look at him, really look at him.
Enoch is part of his coven and his future compeer, and I can’t imagine how I would feel in his shoes.
"I'm sorry he did that to you. How are you guys? How are things?”
"To be honest none of us have really been talking to each other. Well, Enoch and Nash are, but Nash wasn’t in the same boat as me and Becket. Enoch told him what was going on. This is the first time we've all been around each other for any length of time since the night you left."
I’m surprised by his admission and it takes me a moment to think of something to say to that.
“Do you think you guys will get past it?
He shrugs. "If Enoch was keeping this from us, I can't help but wonder if there’s more he’s keeping from us. Becket feels the same way. I know some paladin and covens aren't close, and they treat working together more like a job, but we never wanted that to be us.”
I look out at the trees. I scan our surroundings and nod at him. I empathize with the shitty situation he’s in and wish there was more I could do or say to make the situation better.
A whistle from the practice arena sounds behind us, and Kallan turns to me expectantly.
"Should we do this first run through together, since you’re all rusty and shit and clearly need me to kick your ass into gear?"
I run my finger over the runes on my sternum and the ones behind my ear. I give Kallan a mock salute. "Yes, drill sergeant!" I yell in my best impersonation of a soldier.
He chuckles, and then I watch as histake-no-fuckspersona shutters down over his face. His features harden, and his body language becomes rigid and unyielding.
“Let’s fucking do this, nowmove!”
40
Sand flies at me from every possible direction, and wind whips my ponytail around my face and claws at my clothes. Enoch seems to be tapping into his sense of humor for this battle round because he's been laying the sand tornadoes and lightning on pretty thick. I call on my Elemental magic and shove the sand away from my airway and face.
Fuck, cleaning this shit out of my every nook and cranny is going to be a pain in the ass, I grumble to myself. Maybe one of the guys will help me with that. My name is shouted, and the sound of it whips through the cyclone surrounding me, swirling around before the wind chases it away. Fucking hell, Kallan, how does he always know when I'm not focused? He has to have some kind of freaky radar or something.
I use the cover of the magical storm to track where Kallan, Becket, and Enoch are in relation to me. I reach out with my Defensive magic and get a feel for what they have waiting for me when I’m out of Enoch’s current trap. Enoch has tendrils sinking into the earth in addition to the tornado he’s creating, but they feel like back up and not an active effort to fuck with the ground beneath my feet. Becket has his Defensive magic focused on Kallan, which makes me think he has something particularly brutal waiting for me as he’s being protected.
But I’m not falling for it. Kallan is an excellent strategist, but he hasn’t been using any spells in any of the four previous battles, and that’s the type of magic he has. I steal back the air around me, and the swirling stops as sand falls back to the ground. I don’t go for Kallan or Enoch, the more obvious threats in this round, but instead, focus on Becket.
