Page 51 of Reckless Witch

Death, you bitch

I didn’t sleep well after getting Leilah back to The Academy.

I haven’t slept well since she reentered our lives. I won’t sleep well until she’s lying in bed beside me, or, at least, beside Raith or Blade.

Thunderous clouds blanket the early afternoon sky. I leave Raith’s office, stuff my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and dash along the walkway toward the east sparring gym. I want to get back to Miriam Crowe’s house and nose around. That Thol’guk didn’t arrive there by accident. No one lives in the house, and no one could have known Leilah was going there. Yet, she’s the most likely target. Which means someone is watching her. Raith and Blade agree, and we would all like to know who that someone is.

I arrive at the sparring gym ten minutes later to find a dozen students paired up, sparring, while another six take turns with the Teacher’s Assistant. The clash of steel and the thud of hardwood bo staffs fill the air. Martial arts is the only subject I teach and, I must admit, I love seeing the students grow in patience and skill.

I pull off my hoodie, toss it onto the floor near the wall, then motion the TA off the mat. Billy Mills, a young shifter with great promise, takes the mat. He’s talented and, once he matures, he’ll go far. Like many males his age, his biggest vulnerability is the belief that he’s indestructible.

In the corner of my eye, I glimpse Leilah enter the far door. Billy rushes me. I nimbly step aside and whirl to face him. What’s Leilah doing here? She wasn’t assigned this class. Billy spins. I recognize embarrassment in his eyes.

“Remember,” I tell him, “emotions have no place in battle.”

He circles me, embarrassment still swirling in his eyes.

“Come on, Billy,” Preston Phillips calls, “show Teach what you’re made of.”

I don’t reply. The students know better than to heckle or encourage their fellow classmates during sparring. I’ll deal with Preston when his turn comes. This is hand to hand combat, but I’m tempted to pull one of the bo staffs from the wall and give Preston’s butt a memorable whack.

Leilah leans against the wall, eyes glued to me, and I wonder whether Blade or Raith made the change in her classes. Billy rushes me and, though he knows better, I suspect he’s going to shift into wolf form. If the boy wants to play with the big dogs, I will oblige. I summon fire. My palms heat and—

A lance spear is yanked from its wall mounting, controlled by an invisible hand. Even before the point turns toward its intended victim, I know.

“Leilah!” I shout.

My armor warms my flesh and my shirt rends. The silver tattoos across my body morph into hardened silver. Students shout. Billy spins toward Leilah.

Leilah throws up her right hand, palm out, and shouts, “Deflect!”

My sigil on her hand glows. The spear merely wobbles. Billy shifts as fire bursts from my palms. I race toward her, heart hammering. Billy passes me, his wolf form faster than my human form. Leilah lunges left.

“Deflecto,” someone shouts.

The spear veers right, then whips back on course toward Leilah. I throw a fireball into the spear’s path. The wood sails through a flame hot enough to melt steel. My heart thunders. Billy leaps and snaps at the spear, but his powerful jaws close around air.

I speed past as he lands in a crouch and throw another, then another fireball, to no effect. An eopy materializes in the spear’s path. The giant ape bellows as it swipes at the spear. The point passes through its hand, then through its massive chest and the creature falls.

Leilah starts to turn as if to run, but my youngest student leaps between her and the spear and throws up both hands. Leilah shoves him aside as she spins, throwing a lightning fast roundhouse kick at the oncoming spear. I throw another ball of flame and want to cry out in relief when her foot makes contact with the spear. The wood splits in two with a crack. The point shoots through the blaze and buries itself in the right side of Leilah’s abdomen.

She gasps and looks down at the broken spear protruding from her body. Blood spreads in a dark stain across the hem of her t-shirt. She crumbles and I catch her before she hits the floor, dropping to my knees.

“Back,” I shout, as students rush us.

My vision blurs. Fate can’t be so cruel as to take Ciarah away so soon. I haven’t had a chance to stroke her face, taste her lips, show her how much I love her.

There is never enough time to show her how much I love her.

Her eyelids flutter. She murmurs, “It isn’t your fault.”

I shake my head. Anger rips through me. I won’t let her die. Not this time. I surge to my feet and race toward the door.

“Someone open the door,” I shout.

Billy speeds past me in human form, naked. He reaches the door seconds before me, pushes through and holds the door open as I burst into the rain. Wings burst from my shoulder blades and, in three running steps, I leave the ground, Ciarah a feather in my arms.

“Don’t you dare die,” I hiss.