Katrina

"Now that you have all been paired off with your appropriate sparring partner, I will go through the list and number each pair off. You'll come to the front of the room when I call your number and spar for the class. As this is practice for the midterm, I will allow magic during today's sparring events."

Miles gave me a worried glance, and I gave him what I hoped was a don't worry, babe, I've got this look in return. I wasn't worried about sparring with Hilda; I had been looking forward to it until Herja stated magic was allowed. I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile, and with my magic having a mind of its own, who knows what will happen today.

"Are we allowed to use the full force of our magic?" Hilda asked, smiling over at me, her eyes dancing with mischief.

"As this is a defense class, if a war were to break out, I see no reason you should hold back with anything," Herja replied.

"Herja," Miles shouted, "I don't think..."

"Miles." Herja spoke sharply, "You're not in this class to think. You're in the class to learn how to react quickly and without hesitation. You're in the class to develop the skills necessary to protect yourself, and even if you already know all of these things, as I'm sure you do, you're still in the class because it is a requirement to graduate from Divine Academy. Is that clear? If it isn't, we can always involve your father in the matter. I can summon him right now if you want?"

Miles looks like he's about to explode. I've never heard anyone talk to the heirs, so if there's one nice thing I'll say about Professor Herja is that she has balls, big hefty ones made out of steel. I waited for Miles to respond, my pulse quickening at the thought of meeting his father. I'd already met Hade; how bad could the other three brothers be? Yeah, sure, they are the Kings of Gods, but I met Oprah when she came into the restaurant I worked at, so that has to be similar... Right? Or at least I thought it was Oprah, but that night, I had been drinking as many shots as I was pouring, and my coworkers kept giving me weird looks every time I pointed the woman out, but that's beside the fact. At least one of the four men my mates called father had to like me, at least a little, and Miles's father seemed to be the most relaxed; at least from the stories I've heard, he seems to have the calmest demeanor, which is saying a lot since he's the god of war.

"Alright, Hilda, Katrina, you two are up first," Herja calls loudly, pulling me from my inner thoughts; well, it looks like I won't be meeting Ares today after all.

Miles grabs my hand as I walk by him to take my spot in the center of the gymnasium, "Keep calm and focus mostly on defense. If you need to use your ability, draw your power from me. Don't reach within yourself." Miles whispers in my ear before letting me go. I give him a quick nod to let him know I heard him.

Hilda is already in the arena by the time I reach it. Her smile makes her look psychotic, but I guess she is. She's going into the arena, planning on using her magic full blast on an unknown subject. She's only felt a shimmer of my magic and hasn't heard enough about it to know what she's going up against. I am a Trojan horse. On the outside, I look innocent; some might even say I'm frail if you consider my pale skin and short stature, but on the inside, I am a force to be reckoned with; I have an endless amount of power that I haven't even begun to touch. I'm a stick of dynamite ready to explode, and unfortunately for Hilda, she's already lit the fuse.

"How do you think Zeus will react when he's learned that I kicked your ass today?" Hilda asks, her eyes glowing and her hands sparkling with lightning as she calls on her divine gift.

"I don't care what Zeus has to say. His opinion doesn't matter to me." I state loudly, my voice carrying so everyone can hear as I take a defensive stance.

"Girls, I hope we will hear less noise during the actual fight and see more action," Herja replied, taking her seat directly in front of the arena. "You may begin."

As I expected, the moment Herja gave us the go-ahead, Hilda threw a ball of lightning at me that I quickly deflected by stepping off to the side. These first few moves she throws at me will be her trying to gauge my speed. Which is fine; I'll fake my speed. As another ball of lightning comes skidding toward my feet, I wait until the last minute to move out of the way. She fires off five rapid shots, each aimed in a different location, and I have no choice but to let two of the five hit me; if I were to avoid them all, she would know that my reaction time was better than what I'd let on. I threw my shoulder back and cringed when the first lighting ball hit me, making sure to sell the story, even though my aura had devoured the magic before it impacted me. The second ball hit my gut, and I hunched over in pain, groaning and breathing loudly for all to hear.

"You're pathetic." Hilda snarled, her voice closer than I had anticipated causing me to look up and see her glowing fist getting ready to connect with my head.

I shoot my hand up, hoping it'll be enough to protect my head, but instead, I end up stunned as I watch Samael's blue flames caress my hand, shielding my body from Hilda's attack. The entire class lets out a gasp as Hilda's hand enters the flame, her attack too quick for her to slow down. Hilda's screams of pain fill the room, and I can smell her burning flesh as the underworld flames lick her skin. Hilda is too shocked to remove her hand, so instead, I step back from her causing Samael's flames to die out once my body realizes I am no longer in danger.

Professor Hijra steps forward to stop the match, but Hilda recovers quickly and comes charging me at high velocity. This time she ignores her magic and solely focuses on the sparring itself. Except she’s already made a mistake. She’s let her anger get to her. I can see her moves before she makes them, her anger betraying her each time. As she jabs left, I lean right and come in with an uppercut, my fist packed full of Aphelion’s lighting magic. My fists connect directly with her jaw, but Hilda isn’t one to back down. Instead, she leans into my fist and wraps her arms around my waist, going for a takedown. It’s a risky move on her part; my body could combust with The Underworld's flames, but Hilda is far past thinking clearly; all she can see is her desire to win and break me.

As Hilda goes for the leg sweep, I focus my attention on the other side of the arena; there are a few folded-up gym mats in the corner and some old sweat rags laying around, so it makes it easy for me to imagine that spot in my mind's eye as I teleport from within Hilda’s arms to that side of the arena. She looks dumbfounded when she falls against the gymnasium floor, and I’m not there to break her fall. Hilda gets over her shock quickly when she spots me across the way. I can see the rage burning in her eyes, the crackles of thunder, and the flashes of lightning giving way to her anger as she calls forth the power of her father, Thor. Half of me expects to see Mjollnir flying through the gymnasium windows, but of course, that would be cliché; it isn’t like this is a Marvel movie.

The windows and the doors begin to shake fiercely as Hilda calls upon her forefathers to lend her the strength she needs to defeat me. I can see Miles out of my peripheral pacing back and forth; even the professor looks like she’s not sure what to do in this situation. Being a demigod, Hilda is one of the stronger students in this school, and if she loses control of her powers, it could be devastating. Still, the point of Divine Academy is to teach the students how to prosper and wield their gifts to their fullest potential. Miles and Herja need not worry, though. I’m already prepared for Hilda’s strike. I’m ready to take this bitch down a notch, and I’m ready to prove to everyone in this room that I am the heir’s one true mate.

Hilda’s warrior cry is loud and full of power as she launches everything she has at me. I stand perfectly still as I wait for it to come near me. I can see Miles running my way and Herja trying to conjure up a barrier, but I’ve already put my own up. I can’t risk anything going screwy. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, imaging what it feels like when my five mates touch me. When Beckett touches me, it feels like a peaceful rainstorm has blown in and erased all my troubles; when Aphelion touches I feel small zaps throughout my body; when Samael touches me, I feel a slow burn deep within my body. Luka’s touch is playful and makes me feel carefree, and Miles's touch makes me feel empowered. As I feel deep inside myself searching for the fragments of magic gifted to me through the mating bonds, I hear Miles’s fits pounding against my magical barrier, and I feel the force of Hilda’s magic projecting toward me. I inhale deeply, toning all my senses out, searching deep within until I find what I’m looking for.

“Gotcha,” I whisper as my eyes fly open, and pure joy radiates throughout my body.