Page 50 of Stealing Embers
But this isn’t an eighteenth-century duel, and “honor” isn’t the watch-word I care about. I get that this is training, but the real world is life or death. A real survivor will use every skill she has in her wheelhouse—even the unsavory ones.
Steel’s low groans turn into coughs.
He stumbles to his feet, his face still red as he stands with his hands on his knees doing some sort of breathing thing that sounds an awful lot like Lamaze.
I roll my eyes.
Tilting his head, he catches my gaze. Fury churns like molten lava in his eyes.
“What . . . was that?” he spits at me.
I thought there was hate in his glare before. I was wrong. What was certainly no more than cold indifference has transformed to hellfire burning in his eyes.
I walk toward him with a paper-thin façade of calm masking my true emotions.
Pausing briefly before brushing past him to get to the locker room, I put as much ice into my words as I can muster.
“That’s how I survived on my own.”
I march through the throng of Nephilim, who give me a wide berth. I don’t allow myself to steal a glance over my shoulder to catch Steel’s reaction. After all, no one ever got where they were going by looking back.
Chapter Fourteen
“You’re insane if you think I’m going in there after what happened this afternoon.”
Ash stands in front of me with crossed arms, hip jutting to the side, determined to stare me down.
Pfft, like that’s going to intimidate me. I’m waiting at least a week before I show my face again.
“You have to eat.”
“You know I don’t. I ate yesterday. It won’t be another three days before I start to get hunger pains. Nice try though.”
Because of our strange eating habits, the academy only serves one meal a day. Our school days are extra-long as well, because we only require a few hours of sleep a night. I have a lot less free time than I’m used to. I don’t really mind, but right now, I’m not eager to mix and mingle.
Why didn’t I just let Steel humiliate me instead of going all She-Hulk in front of the entire upper class?
Squeezing my eyes shut, I scrub a hand across my face. The heat of embarrassment from my stunt earlier still hasn’t faded.
“Emberly!” Ash stomps a foot. Dropping my hand, I hold back a smile. I’m more than content to stay on my bed right now. It isn’t the four-poster beaut I woke up in a couple of days ago, but it’s still one of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept in.
“It’s not that I don’t want to spend time with you, it’s just—”
A sharpbanginterrupts me.
“Yo, Ash! Emberly! Let’s go!” Sterling yells through the door.
A smile blooms on Ash’s face. Her expression makes me decidedly uncomfortable.
“Have a nice meal,” I say.
“Come on in, Sterling.”
The door swings open to reveal Sterling and Greyson. Sterling has a hand covering his eyes and the other outstretched in front of him to feel his way forward.
“Everyone decent in here?” he yells unnecessarily.
Greyson stands a few steps behind him, shaking his head.