Akarnae (38 page)

Alex’s favourite exam by far was for her Equestrian Skills class, where she’d had to complete a cross-country course in the forest. She’d ridden a horse named Fiddle, and together they’d jumped logs, dodged low swinging branches, trudged through a muddy riverbed, swum through a creek, scaled and descended a steep hill and galloped across grassy fields. At the end of the exam Alex had been covered in mud and scratches, but she’d still had a smile on her face from the exhilarating experience.

It would have been great if all of her exams could have been so much fun—but they weren’t. Alex’s brain had strained so hard for the answers to her Medical Science and SOSAC exams
that she’d actually wondered if Jordan had been right about it oozing out of her ears.

“Only four more to go,” Bear said, moaning in pain as he reached for his menu. “Six down, four to go. We’re over halfway. Just two more days left.”

Alex wasn’t sure if he was encouraging them or encouraging himself, but either way she was glad for it. It gave her the energy boost she needed to force down some food before following her friends to the Rec Room where they began to revise for their exams the next day—History and Species Distinction. While neither subject would be easy, at least they didn’t have practical components, which would hopefully allow her body the chance to recover. She desperately needed the reprieve, especially considering that Friday was going to be terrible, with both her Chemistry written exam and lab experiment,
and
her Combat assessment.

No, she definitely wasn’t looking forward to that, even if it meant the end of her exams.

Thirty-Eight

Alex stared out at the
colossal Arena on Friday afternoon and tried to convince her body to take the necessary steps forward.

“Come on, Alex,” she murmured to herself. “You can do this. In a few hours you’ll be all done. Don’t let the butthead scare you.
You can do this!
”

“Do you need a push?”

Alex whirled around, embarrassed to find Kaiden watching her with undisguised amusement.

“Uh—no, thanks. I’m good,” she said, trying to stand a little taller.

“Let’s get in there, then,” he said, his blue eyes filled with laughter. “We wouldn’t want to be late for the
butthead
.”

Alex felt her face flush and she quickly strode down the hill, hoping he wouldn’t notice her embarrassment. Too late, she realised, when she heard his quiet chuckle from behind her.

She entered the Arena with her head held high, determined not to show her fear to anyone else. The rest of her classmates were already there, stretching and talking quietly amongst themselves. She sat down near them—not too close—and began her own warm-up routine.

Ten minutes later Karter walked in and the six of them stood to attention.

“Today’s the day we find out how much you’ve learned this year,” he said without preamble. “Pair up.”

As usual, the group split in two, a pair of boys together—Brendan and Nick—and a group of three—Sebastian, Declan and Kaiden. Alex, as always, stayed on the outside and waited for further instructions.

“Are you deaf, Jennings?” Karter barked. “I said
pair up
.”

“But—” she swallowed her protest when he turned the full force of his glare on her. He wasn’t really going to make her fight with them, was he? Her classmates had spent years learning how to attack and defend. She, on the other hand, had spent barely a few months learning how to duck and dodge as things flew at her face. There was simply no comparison.

Knowing she had little choice in the matter, Alex looked over at the boys, wondering who she should pair herself with. Their faces showed everything from contempt to curiosity, and it was clear that none of them wanted to be stuck with her.

She wasn’t sure how it happened—perhaps they’d noticed her miserable expression—but as she watched, Declan and Kaiden looked at each other in silent conversation and then began a paper-scissors-rock contest. Kaiden’s scissors cut Declan’s paper, causing the big guy to sigh in disappointment before he detached himself from the group and walked over to join Alex.

“You
so
owe me for this,” he told her in a whisper.

Alex nodded mutely, knowing that he was putting not just his grade on the line, but also his dignity.

And then she realised exactly what that meant.

Alex turned to look at her partner, taking in all six feet and four inches of pure muscle. She’d gone up against him once before and ended up unconscious. She wasn’t exactly excited about a repeat performance.

“Right,” Karter said, interrupting her internal freak-out. “This is a three-hour exam. The first hour and a half will focus on attack and defence. You’ll fight for fifteen-minute intervals
with a three-minute break after each match to catch your breath and swap opponents.”

Alex swallowed nervously when she realised that meant she would have to fight all of her classmates at one stage or another.

“The last hour and a half will be something different,” Karter added vaguely, before further describing what they were about to do. “Your first three rounds are unarmed combat, followed by staff and finally sword. If your opponent overcomes you to the point that you admit defeat—or I admit it for you—then you’re out and you have to wait for the next round. Now find a space and get ready to begin.”

Alex gaped at him. Surely that wasn’t it? What about rules? Safety? Were they going to get any protective padding? Or at least a helmet?

“Do you need a push now?” Kaiden whispered as he walked past her. From anyone else she might have thought it was unnecessarily cruel, but she could see the compassion in his eyes. He, at least, understood that what Karter asked of her was impossible.

“Come on,” Declan murmured, indicating for her to follow him to a free space. “And don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you.”

“Don’t,” Alex said firmly.

He paused and turned around to look at her questioningly.

“Don’t go easy on me,” she told him, not wanting him to forfeit his grade for her. “Just do what you would normally do.”

“But… No offence and all, but I’ll probably hurt you,” he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. His muscles flexed with the movement, hinting at the strength she already knew he commanded.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said, mustering up a wry smile.

He laughed lightly before turning serious. “It’s not a fair fight.”

“Is it ever?” Alex asked, shrugging. “Please don’t hold back on my account. Maybe we’ll both get lucky—if you knock me out again, I’ll get to skip the rest of the exam.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said with a slight grin, continuing towards the far side of the Arena.

“On my count,” Karter bellowed, his voice carrying around the massive area. “Three, two, one,
begin
.”

Alex frowned when Declan hesitated. “You’re not afraid to hit a girl, are you?” she taunted. “You never used to be.”

He narrowed his gaze but still didn’t come at her. Alex noticed Karter watching them and she knew that, even though
she
was destined to fail this exam, she wouldn’t let Declan go down with her.

It took a lot of goading—and some low blows on her part—until Alex was able to convince Declan to fight. Even then, he still wouldn’t flat-out annihilate her, but he put up a pretty good show. Alex, however, was more impressed by her own much-improved reflexes, which helped her stay on her feet far longer than expected. The last time she’d fought Declan she’d acted on pure survival instinct, whereas this time she was actually in control. And it felt
good
.

At least it did until he managed to catch her around the waist and wrestle her to the ground, trapping her in place.

“Jennings, you’re out,” Karter called across the Arena, as if she hadn’t already realised as much.

Declan eased up off her back and she rolled over, accepting his offered hand. They walked together to the side of the Arena and watched the rest of their classmates attack each other. Alex couldn’t help noticing that they were all much more violent than Declan had been.

“You’re not too bad, you know,” he said kindly. “Much better than last time.”

Alex snorted and rubbed a tender spot where it felt like he’d almost shattered her thigh. “Yeah, right.”

“I mean it,” he said. “You dodged most of my attacks. Your reflexes are excellent.”

“But I completely suck at attacking,” she said.

“That’s because you don’t have any experience. With a bit of work, I reckon you could learn how to hold your own.”

“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said. “But we’ve still got over two and a half hours of this exam left and no one can learn
that
fast.”

“Yeah,” Declan agreed, wincing with sympathy. “Not your best afternoon.”

Soon Karter blew his whistle to signal that the first interval was over. None of the others had been defeated. She had a feeling it was going to be a very repetitive—and painful—afternoon.

As Alex continued swapping through partners, she realised that Declan had been way more than easy on her. Her reflexes continued to help her during her unarmed combat with both Sebastian and Nick, but ultimately both boys brought her down hard—and with much more force than Declan.

But none of her unarmed matches were anywhere near as bad as her round with Brendan, where they attacked each other with heavy wooden staves. Again, the only thing that kept Alex in the fight was her ability to duck and dodge every time he swung the weapon at her. She probably ended up more injured from throwing herself to the ground over and over again to avoid the wooden staff than from any actual contact with it—at least until he clipped her in the stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs and winding her. She automatically doubled over into
a protective ball with her arms wrapped around her abdomen, and he took the opportunity to swing the staff up at her head, smashing it into her skull.

He must have completely pulled back on his attack, since while it hurt like crazy, she was only dazed for a few seconds, as opposed to unconscious or dead—both of which could have been possible.

The hit still disoriented her enough that he was able to use the staff to trip her over and onto the ground, pressing the weapon firmly against her windpipe.

Karter’s call of “Out, Jennings!” was definitely a welcome relief. Especially since it meant she only had one more opponent to face before the first part of their examination was over.

As Alex took her place in front of Kaiden, she felt her heart thudding erratically in her chest. Of all the matches, this one was the most dangerous. The swords they were using weren’t wooden practice weapons—they were the real deal and they had
very
sharp blades.

“Do you know what to do with that?” Kaiden asked.

She looked at the sword glinting dangerously in her hand and jabbed it forward in three quick, consecutive thrusts. “
Stab, stab, stab
, right?”

“There’s a little more technique to it than that,” Kaiden responded dryly. “Finesse. Etiquette. It’s like a dance.”

“And then you
stab, stab, stab
,” Alex said again. “Right?”

His lip twitched as if he was holding back a smile. “Why don’t you give your method a go and see how well it works for you?”

“Nah,” she responded. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

This time he did smile. His entire face lit up with the expression and she felt as if she’d been winded by the wooden staff all over again. Alex knew she had to get her head back on straight, but she was still a sixteen—nearly seventeen—year-old
girl and he was way too attractive for his own good. Even covered in dirt and sweat, with his messy dark hair plastered to his head, he was still gorgeous. She’d noticed before—how could she not after observing him and the others for months?—but she hadn’t had many opportunities to be up close and personal with him. And now they were about to attack each other with lethal weapons.

Sometimes, life just wasn’t fair.

“Three, two, one,
begin
!” Karter called out for the final time.

Alex brought her sword up in front of her, balancing her feet and distributing her weight evenly. If ever there was a time when she needed to pay attention to a fight, it was now. Not only was Kaiden talented, but he was also fast and creative. She didn’t stand a chance against him, but she wanted to at least put up a bit of a fight—hopefully without losing a limb in the process.

“Ready to dance, Alex?” he asked, his eyes sparkling with the challenge. “I’ll lead.”

She didn’t get the chance to respond before he lunged at her, thrusting his sword towards her abdomen. She blocked him just in time, and the force of their two blades clashing caused her to back up a step in order to brace herself against his strength.

Alex stared at him in shock, certain that if she hadn’t blocked his sword it would have sliced her in half. All he did was wink at her and pull his weapon back before thrusting it towards her again.

Game on,
she thought as she deflected his attack and knocked his blade aside again. She didn’t wait for him to come around a third time, and instead she pivoted to aim a powerful side-kick at his stomach. He was too fast, jumping out of the way with ease.