Whirl by Emma Raveling

Author:Emma Raveling
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Emma Raveling
Published: 2011-09-18T14:24:02+00:00

FOURTEEN

Over the next two weeks, my life settled into a routine. Every afternoon, I attended recruit classes with Ryder, Cam, and Alex, absorbing as much information as possible.

Ryder and I met in the small basement of the demillir dorm after curfew every night. Slipping out of the ondine dorm was easy, but sneaking into the demillir dorm was always a bit trickier. The lobby guards there were more watchful, probably used to and even expecting trouble in a residence full of teenage boys.

The dorm basement had a makeshift workout room, filled with mats and a few punching bags for impromptu sparring and training.

In the beginning, Ryder handed my ass back to me at the end of each session. Mornings were spent in a haze of pain as my muscles struggled to recover from the previous night's practice.

Speed was the essential problem. No matter how hard I struck back, Ryder's trained demillir quickness was difficult for me to match.

But I was learning how to push my body to its limits, and in a recent session, I'd even managed to get in a low, roundhouse kick that was hard and fast enough to bring him down. Not much reassurance as far as fighting Aquidae went, but I felt a small victory.

Chloe and Aubrey insisted on helping me get through my schoolwork, and so we usually gathered in my room after dinner.

But after a few nights, I think they were beginning to realize it was a lost cause. I didn't care enough about my studies to put much effort into it. The school year was going to be over in a few weeks, anyway, and my only concerns were training and magic.

Nexa's first lesson bothered me, and I often spent time in bed thinking it over. But no matter how many times I went over it, I couldn't understand what she wanted me to do.

"I can't figure it out," I groaned. "That crazy woman is messing around with my head."

Chloe, Aubrey, and I were supposed to be working on a report for Broussard's class, but my thoughts kept returning to magic.

Aubrey studied me. "Maybe the phrase has something to do with the source of your Virtue."

"It can't be." I shook my head. "I stood like an idiot in the ocean and it didn't have any effect."

"I didn't mean literally," Aubrey answered dryly. "I meant the phrase might be a metaphor for how to access your source."

I bolted up, latching on to her suggestion like a drowning person. "You think?"

Chloe played with a ball of water she had summoned between her hands. "Maybe. But the source of an ondine's energy is different for everyone. Learning how to tap into your magic's deepest core…" she shrugged lightly, "that's probably something you need to figure out on your own."

"So not helping, Chloe," I snapped.

Chloe looked slightly surprised and hurt by my outburst, but didn't say anything.

"We don't have Virtues, Kendra." Aubrey's tone was soft, which somehow made it worse. "We'd help you if we could."

Of course, they would.

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