Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(11)

“Umm,” I froze as the students, older than the elements class but still not quite my age, gawked. More than one snickered. “I haven’t been issued a dagger.”

“Oops.” Charles scratched his nose.

James stared for a moment, his deep brown eyes flat. Finally, he tweaked his head toward the wall o’ death. “Get one.”

“Yup. Okay.” I hurried over and reached out for a smallish blade—until I noticed a skull on its hilt.

“Yuck,” my hand flinched back. I scanned the area surrounding it, seeing every type of sharp object in existence. Great, curved blades gleamed against the gray wall, heavy and intense. Not for me. I moved down, noticing a polished wood stick with a chain leading from the tip. At the end of the chain was a ball with spikes. I grimaced again. Finally my eyes settled on a dagger about the length of my forearm with a straight hilt and no frills.

As I grabbed the hilt and pulled it from the wall, the expertly polished handle slipped. The blade went skittering across the floor, straight at the center of the class.

“Crap!” I screeched.

“Great gods, jump!” James shouted.

Barely missing the ankles of a beautiful, redheaded girl, the blade did a pirouette, sparkling for a second in the dim lighting before it stilled.

“Sorry!” I held up my hand to ward off the death glare from James. “It’s my first day.”

“Have you ever even held a dagger, human?” James asked with a mystified voice.

“Or should we call you pet?” the redhead asked with a sneer.

The term punched me. I’d just chosen my new mortal enemy overachiever. I would be better than her at this stuff if it killed me.

I frowned, but didn’t say anything. I did almost chop the girl’s foot off. I kind of deserved that comment. Still, though…she better look out. I was gunning for her.

“Once,” I answered James quietly. “I used it in the battle not that long ago. Or fight? I don’t know what you guys call it? Before that, I used a letter opener because I didn’t have anything else on me at the time. Besides a whistle. The whistle actually came in handy. Surprisingly…”

Charles’ forehead hit his palm.

“You were in the battle?” A sandy haired boy smirked at me, nudging a black haired boy standing next to him. “Doing what? Hiding under your master’s bed?”

He also just made the list.

James clapped, quieting the snickers, but not dislodging the sneers. “Fine, pick up your weapon. You are way behind, but apparently one of the undisclosed higher-powers thought you needed to start this class right now, rather than waiting the few weeks until Mira starts the next one, so I guess we’ll have to do.”

Oh yeah, great. Thanks, James, for pointing that out. My classmates don’t hate me enough as it is…

Suppressing a grumble, I scooped up my dagger .

“Showboat,” Charles whispered under his breath, eyeing a lovely blonde with giant boobs.

“Like I meant to sever toes,” I snapped, trying to pay attention as James spoke about elements and metals and God only knew what.

“Okay, practice.” James clapped again. That must’ve been his thing.

Clapping.

It was better than that weird maw sound Master Bert made.

“What am I practicing?” I asked Charles out of the side of my mouth.

Charles backed away quickly as James stepped up beside me. “Problem?”

My face heated. “Oh, no. Not at all, no. I was just…”

James’ eyebrows nudged his hair line.

“Turning the blade a color?” I finished hopefully.

“You are infusing your blade with power. If you are able to do it, your blade will turn a color, yes. Probably a lovely shade of purple, if you’re lucky.”

Riiight.

I glanced around. Everyone else had their blades basically glowing, with only a few still working on it. None of them showed any real strength at it, though. Not like Charles or Stefan— My groin swelled and my sexy systems started to ache. Since I’d seen him earlier, the craving had come back in force. His smell, his hard chest, his — “What is that…smell…” James glanced around, trying to identify it.

“Warm cookies fresh out of the oven. Delicious.”

Two other men looked our way, sniffing.

“Okay, glowing sword, coming right up.” I closed my eyes, belatedly remembering that this was a different exercise than the fire element one I’d just practiced, and tried to shift gears. Too late. A sudden onslaught of power flooded me. It sneaked in from everywhere, boosting my power-level and clawing at my middle. Joy, heat, bliss, lava— Too much. I needed brakes!

A large palm met my cheek with surprising force. My head whipped around, power sizzling through my body and out through my limbs, finding release.

Everyone gasped.

I opened my eyes to a flaming sword. Bright red light streaked out of the tip and zipped into the ceiling above, tearing a shallow hole before soaking into the walls.

“Thank God it was pointing up,” I whispered with shock.

“Who sent you here, human?” James asked in a suspicious voice. His eyes swiveled to Charles, for the first time realizing I had a guard, not a fellow classmate. If there was one thing Charles did not need help with, it was operating a sword.