239
David
"Take a break."
I collapsed, panting, dizzy, and completely overwhelmed.
What the hell had gotten into Trent? Trent had always been a force to be reckoned with, a skilled and ruthless trainer who could push me to my limits and did so on a regular basis. He didn't tend to do a lot of physical training with me, preferring to leave that to my combat classes, but he always pushed me magically. Yet, today was something else.
There was something beneath his orders. His whole demeanor had changed. Amos and Hito hadn't told me what they had found out about why Trent had reacted the way he did, but it only stood to reason that Lucy's dream had been the spark of all this.
Maybe Duke's, too.
I rolled over, looking at him, wondering how he was still standing until I watched him, opening that second sight that came with being able to wield magic. Energy swirled around him, pouring into him in a never-ending stream of light. He was glaring down at a piece of parchment, on edge, as if something were gnawing at him from within.
"Who pissed you off?"
He glanced at me. "A lot of people. Are you ready to go again?"
I groaned and rolled over. "Do I have a choice?"
I blinked. "How are you doing that, anyway?"
"What?" Trent asked, setting the parchment down and calling a ball of light to his hand.
"Drawing in magic like that..."
He blinked and narrowed his eyes. "You can see it?"
I winced, feeling as if I shouldn't have said anything or maybe I should have.
"Yeah?"
"How long have you been able to see magic in the air? That's not just spellcasting?"
"Not long." I frowned. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head and rolled his shoulder. "It's a good thing. We'll talk about it once we're done with this round. Ready?"
I nodded, bracing myself as he let the ball of light come flying at me. I shoved my hands out, calling magic to my hands and pushing back. I dug my heels in, trying to hold it back. Trent's eyes narrowed.
"I want you to try something," Trent said slowly. "Rather than pushing your magic out, try drawing it in."
"What?"
"Try drawing it in," he said. "Think of it like... drinking through a straw."
That had to be the most bizarre way to describe it, but I understood what he meant. My heart trembled. The ball of light wouldn't kill me, but it damn sure would hurt if I got it wrong. I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the ball of light. Slowly, the steady blue color that it had been started to change, revealing multi-color threads within it. They shifted and swirled around my hands as I imagined drawing it in. It stuttered and resisted until slowly, I could feel the heat of it turning to warmth and seeping into me.
Then, I could feel his anger and frustration, his regret and pain.
My eyes pricked with tears that weren't mine to shred. There was so much pain, so much despair, and loneliness beneath the raging fury that struck at me, fierce and determined.
"David--"
I grit my teeth, trying to bear through it. "I'm fine."
He came over, drawing the orb away from me and dissolving it. The loss of it left me unsteady. The emotions washed through me, rioting through me. He cupped my face. I heard him talking to me through white noise. His eyes widened as he looked down at me. Then, there was the faintest scent of hope coming from him.
Silence fell around us, and I looked up at him.
"How do you feel?"
I blinked at him. "What's going on?"
His lips twitched. "I asked how you were feeling--"
"You haven't been yourself since we talked with Lucy. Are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
Trent said nothing for a moment, and his gaze locked onto mine. There was a storm in his eyes, a turbulent mix of frustration, determination, and a touch of desperation. He took a deep breath as if preparing to share something he had kept hidden.
"I've been looking into some things," Trent said and clenched his jaw. "Let's say that a few things have come to light that make me want to paint a few walls in blood, but given what you've demonstrated, there's something I want to work with you on."
"What's that?"
"... a way to clear the werewolf virus from your system."
My heart skipped a beat at his words. Clearing the virus?
"Is that even possible?"
"I don't know," Trent said. "It's certainly not going to be a simple task, and I can't promise it'll work, but I believe there is a chance."
"How big of a chance?" I asked.
He smirked. "For you? Bigger than many others."
I bit my lip and nodded. "Why?"
The curse was something every werewolf had been born with or given at some point in their lives. As far as many knew, it was as much a part of us as anything else, but Trent wouldn't have brought it up if he didn't think that it was something worth exploring, something worth attempting.
"A lot of reasons, but mostly, your mother was a White Moon wolf," he said slowly. "If Lucy and Duke, as direct descendants of Selene, are having visions of her, there can only be two reasons for it: the curse or the bloodline, and I'm willing to bet the curse is the stronger reason of the two."
I tilted my head. "I haven't had any visions or dreams about this Selene yet."
"Yet," he said. "And that means nothing. Selene has a plan that involves a lot of people. She's not so powerful that she can peek in on everyone at the same time. Given your circumstances, I would think it'd be very hard to try and keep a constant eye on you."
I laughed. "I guess so."
"I have a theory that the bloodline allows them to see into her mind, but it's the curse that allows her to see into theirs... And by extension anyone who has been infected with the curse."
He turned to me. I could see in his eyes that there was something else he wasn't telling me. I thought back to the storm of emotions in the ball and rolled my aching shoulder.
"You're thinking that's how she knows I have it."
His lips twitched. "Among other things. We can't do much about Amos or any of the other werewolves in the pack, but honestly, I don't think they're in much danger."
"Danger?"
Trent nodded. "Anyone who can see into your mind is a danger. It's just a step away from controlling."
I frowned. "It didn't sound like in Lucy's dream that Oren was having that problem."
"I know," Trent said. "Something to be looked into more extensively soon enough. I'm not concerned about her having eyes and ears here. I'm concerned about hands, and as far as I can guess, the only hands she'd have here would be Duke, Lucy, and you."
I grimaced. "My mother... wasn't directly related to Selene was she?"
"No." He snorted. "Don't worry, you're not lusting after a distant cousin or anything... Though considering royalty, you could do worse."
I wrinkled my nose. "No thanks."
"What do you know about the curse?"
"Just what I've read."
"Do you think it's much different than other curses? Other communicable curses, that is?"
I frowned at that. Admittedly, I wasn't far along enough in my magical studies to really have a good answer to that, but Trent wouldn't have asked me that if he didn't think I had the ability to answer it.
"Maybe... more complex, but... fundamentally, I don't think so." I frowned. "Most communicable curses are passed through the exchange of bodily fluids."
"But you can't make someone a werewolf by kissing."
"No, but..." My eyes widened, and I looked at him. "It's a blood curse."
"Ten points," Trent said.
Blood curses were harder to break than other communicable curses because of how much blood a person had and what it would take to cleanse all of it. I frowned, turning it over my mind.
"You think it's possible without knowing the exact makeup of the curse?"
He smiled. "I think that if you were free of it, you'd be able to see the makeup of it."
I blinked at him. "You're going to have to start from the beginning."
He grinned. "Let's get you cleaned up and fed first. We'll go outside."
I wasn't sure how to feel about the grin on his face, but I got up and headed to the showers. Everything in me ached, but that ache was starting to fade quickly.
Too quickly.
I frowned at the bruise I'd gotten earlier. It was practically gone. Werewolf healing or not, it was going away much too fast. I dried my hair and got dressed.
The light of a candle flickered in my peripheral, and the realization struck me like lightning.
I raced out of my room, half dry and half naked, until I reached the courtyard where Trent was.
"Dragons?" I asked, staring at him.
He grinned. "Ten points for accuracy. Take twenty for speed."
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