Page 81 of The Last Aether

Phoenix feinted to the right and then threw a punch that I had more than enough time to block. I sent a side kick into his stomach, a little harder than I needed to for practice. He grunted as he stumbled out of the fight circle we’d erected in our backyard.

I straightened, wiping the sweat from my brow with my T-shirt. “You’re taking it easy on me.”

“I’m not.”

I stared him down.

Phoenix shifted on his feet, that lying tell, then huffed out a breath. “It’s only been two weeks since the attack, you’re still recovering.”

I was still dealing with a little fatigue, but other than that, things were good. My injuries had healed, and I was making progress in all my classes. But it wasn’t enough. “Two weeks is more than enough taking things easy time. I need to be training harder so that the next time something happens, I’m ready.”

Phoenix frowned at me. “The guard is on alert. You have us with you most of the time. Nothing is going to happen.”

Just because The Network hadn’t made a play for us the past two weeks didn’t mean they wouldn’t try tomorrow. And it was more than that. “I need to feel like I’m in control of my own life, Phee.”

Because there was so much I didn’t have control over right now. Two kings who hated me. An entire army of assassins who wanted me and my bond dead. Mean girls who had made it their mission to make my daily life miserable. Feeling constantly behind because I hadn’t grown up in this world. Still not understanding my affinities and what it meant to be an aether.

But I could decide how hard I worked. It was probably the only thing I was in control of. I needed that right now.

“Can you really do this, or should I find someone else to practice with?”

It was a low blow, but I wasn’t going to get any better if my opponents were taking it easy on me. It was bad enough in combat class where everyone I was paired with was scared to even touch me.

A muscle fluttered in Phoenix’s cheek, but he stepped into the fight circle. “Let’s go.”

I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet. Phoenix jabbed, a little quicker this time, but I dodged and kept moving.

His follow-up kick caught me by surprise, landing just below my rib rage and forcing the air from my lungs. I struggled to right myself and keep standing, but I managed it.

As I rose, I got an uppercut to Phoenix’s diaphragm that had him wheezing.

We parried back and forth, trading blows that didn’t carry full force but were more intense than our previous practices. My fatigue started to set in, but I kept pushing, urging my muscles for more.

I caught Phoenix in the jaw, and he returned with a hook to my cheek that had the world spinning around me.

“Shit.” He caught me by the arm, keeping me upright. “I knew that was too much.”

I shook my head and instantly realized my mistake. The spinning sensation was back in full force.

“Here, sit.”

Phoenix guided me to a chair and pulled out his phone. He spoke in hushed tones as I put my head between my knees. Nausea rolled through me.

Phoenix rubbed a hand up and down my back as he crouched beside me.

“You’re doing it. Helping me get better.”

“Helping you won’t do a damned thing if you keel over in practice.”

I sat up slowly and the world stayed right side up this time. “I have to push myself or I won’t improve.”

His back molars ground together. “There’s pushing yourself and killing yourself.”

Riven stormed out of the house, Kai and Atlas on his heels. “What the hell happened?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

He glared at me. “Then why did Phoenix call for an ice pack?”