Lowering myself, I dragged my rucksack down off the bed and retreated to the only place in the room that felt remotely safe—under my bed, dust bunnies and all.
After a minute or so, the dull ache and sharp pains had tears prickling the corners of my eyes. I concentrated on easing my breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Again, and again.
My eyelids grew heavy.
Someone was shaking me. My eyes shot open. I expected to see Tysion and his minions, but it wasn’t them.
A female’s face stared back at me. A finger to her lips, she ushered me out from under the bed. I gritted my teeth against the pain in my side and slid into the open. The female stood, offering me a hand. I grabbed it and heaved myself up. She gestured toward the exit and tugged my hand a little.
Wary, I scanned the room for half a heartbeat, searching for why the fae might’ve woken me. The alarm hadn’t sounded; every bed was occupied, all except one. And there was only one female in my pack—this must be Adrianna.
She tugged again. No closer to an answer, I decided to go with it for now. I nodded and followed in her footsteps while my gaze swept over the sleeping forms of the other fae. My heart nearly burst from my chest when a pair of eyes met mine. The lanterns shed enough light to reveal Frazer, staring. He did nothing. I breathed again.
Once we’d reached the exit, Adrianna inched the door open and waved me through. I stepped out to a royal blue sky with a thin hazing of indigo.
A click behind made me turn around. Adrianna closed the short distance between us and whistled softly. I waited for their arrival. Sure enough, the firelights appeared and lit the female and the darkness up with their fiery glow.
“D’you know who I am?”
I nodded, still suspicious. “Adrianna.”
She leveled me with her eyes. No hint of a smile. A tilt of the head, assessing.
Ancestors help me.
We were the same height, but unlike me, she wasn’t gangly. Her long limbs were strong and sure. An athletic build gave her enough curves to cut a striking figure in her uniform. A thick, black braid snaked down between graceful navy wings that were scaled. They caught me by surprise as they were so unlike the leathery hide I’d become accustomed to. Almost lizard-like. Her skin was bronze and her eyes a crushing azure blue. But it was the row of rings piercing her ears and the delicate silver tattoos marking her forehead and collarbone that held my attention. In short, this ridiculously elegant female embodied everything it was to be fae. So, what in the stars could she possibly want with me?
I got my answer in the next heartbeat.
“And you’re, Serena.” My name rolled off her tongue. Her voice was velvety, with hints of an accent. “Today, I’m going to stick a wing out and help you, but you only get one day. After that, you’re on your own.”
I studied her posture; her stiff back and the tightness of her face. She seemed uncomfortable as if she might be doing this against her better judgment. “How will you help me?”
“I’m one of the best fighters here.”
I didn’t doubt it.
“And it’s a small thing, but I’ll show you my morning routine.” She shifted and looked to the sky. “It might be too much for a human.” My guard went up at that. “Because the only way you’ll survive here is by training harder and longer than everyone else, even when injured.” Her eyes went to my ribs, like she knew the pain that dwelt there. “And when others rest, that’s when you pick up a weapon.” She maintained a detached air—one that made me wonder why she was bothering with me in the first place.
She sighed softly through her nose. “And I suppose I’ll get Tysion and the other two to leave you alone.”
“You can do that?”
Adrianna cocked an eyebrow. Uh-oh.
“It’d be my pleasure. I’ve been looking for a reason to smash their wings into the dirt.” And with a cruel smile, she added, “I got them to leave your shit alone, didn’t I?”
“My …” Something clicked into place. “You stopped them from stealing my stuff—how?”
I was in awe.
A shrug, as if it were nothing. “There’s more than one way to skin a korgan.”
I blinked. Korgan?
“I’ll keep them off your back, but that’s it.” Adrianna put her hands on her hips. “Don’t come crying to me every time you stub your toe, got it?”
I didn’t stop to think. I nodded sharply.
“Good. Follow me.”
She whirled and headed left. I had to take two steps for every one of Adrianna’s, despite our legs being the same length. And the pain in my side meant every breath lashed against my lungs like a burning whip. I bit down on the discomfort and didn’t complain or ask where we were going. Adrianna didn’t seem the type to invite questions or excuses.
But as we veered off the path, I almost came to a halt. The only thing ahead seemed to be the lake. She might have noticed my hesitation because she said, “We’re going out there to jog around the lakeshore and then swim.”
I sped up. “Won’t we freeze?”
It wasn’t Gauntlet-cold, but there was still a coolness to the air.
“I won’t—you might.”
Rutting hell.
Adrianna nodded to the lake. “There’s a platform that I swim to, but it’s in the center of the lake. Your ribs are bruised, so when the pain gets too much, turn back.”
“What’s too much?”
“After you’ve vomited and before you’ve passed out.”
I felt myself shrink. “What about our clothes? How do we get them dry in time for training?”
Adrianna gave me a sideways look that I recognized from my days in Tunnock. It was the what’s-wrong-with-you face.
“We don’t keep our clothes on,” she said, bemused. “We’ll leave them on the shore and pick ’em up afterwards. You’ll warm up once we’ve run around the lake. You won’t catch the sneezes.”
Dread sluiced through my veins as I caught another glimpse of the deathly black mass of chilly water. Nerves fired sparks into my gut. I’d loved swimming in the rivers and shallow pools of Tunnock, but they looked like mere puddles compared to this.
Adrianna came to a stop lakeside and turned my way. “I will only say this once because I don’t want you moaning—you’ve got very little muscle.”
As if I didn’t know.
“Running and swimming should build your endurance and strength without putting too much strain on your body. You want to tone and condition it, not break it. Remember that. Also, the cold will teach you how to control stress responses, but there’s another obvious advantage.”
“Mm.”
“You won’t lose time bathing in the barrack baths.”
No wonder this girl—female—was one of the best if she never even slowed to wash herself. I prayed she didn’t believe food was an inconvenience, too.
“Let’s go.”
She set off running. I wept on the inside.
For five minutes I tried to keep up and failed. For the following twenty, I blanked out. My focus narrowed to keeping my body working, one foot in front of the other, sucking air into ragged lungs, and wiping burning sweat from my eyes.
Finally—finally, I saw Adrianna stop up ahead. I was wheezing, my side screaming, as I reached her and collapsed to my knees. My starving lungs drank in the air like nectar. Dry retching came next. Thank the stars my stomach was empty.
“You sound like you’re dying.” Adrianna held out a hand.
“I think I am.”
She pulled me up and straight into a walk. My muscles were jelly.
Leading me close to the water’s edge, Adrianna released me and started to strip. My face burned as she bared her breasts; I looked away, embarrassed.
“Do you like females?”
A blunt but innocent question.
Surprised, my gaze went to hers. She stood without a stitch on, and yet she owned every inch of it. I didn’t have a frame of reference other than myself, but I felt like a pale, slack-jawed mortal looking upon a bronze goddess. It hurt to compare. Safe to say, Adrianna was bringing out my insecure side.
“Your blood’s heated,” she said by way of explanation.
“Oh … it’s not for that reason.”
Her head tilted, so I added, “Humans in the Gauntlet aren’t used to seeing anyone naked, not until they’re married.”