Soul Bound

Chapter 26

RPOV

The trials. They had been brutal. I had seen novices getting attacked in all sorts of situations. They were attacking in groups now too, to simulate the latest change in Strigoi strategy. I had had two encounters already and I took the guardians down. I was surprised at how easy it was. My own battle instincts and Dimitri's training prepared me well. I was worried about nothing. But I knew they were starting slow. They had to come up with something more for the girl who had three molnijia marks. But I was vigilant.

We were following our Moroi's classes and for the first time I was happy I had Christian as a charge and not Lissa. Lissa was in advanced calculus now and her next period was advanced ancient languages. I would die of boredom in this. But I was with Christian in cooking class. Although I never expected Christian to take this class, he was surprisingly good at it.

We were exiting the class and moving towards the cafeteria when I felt him. I could always feel him. Or smell him? I didn't know, I just knew when he was near. And usually, that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside. But not today, today it signaled danger.

He was coming at me together with three others. I pushed Christian behind me and blocked the incoming attack. I didn't only have to worry about Dimitri, I also had to take down three others. I needed to take the others down first and fast so I could focus on Dimitri. The real threat.

I blocked his second attack and kicked him in the gut, sending him backward. I engaged one of the others and staked him fast. He was so focused on my fight with Dimitri he hadn't seen me spin around and turn the fight on him. I grabbed the second one and used him as a shield between me and Dimitri. But the other guardian wasn't making this easy. He punched me and I stumbled back. I had been working on a new move. If I succeeded you couldn't block it. He tried to punch me and I grabbed his hand, twisted it and brought it down. I used my second hand on the ground to support my body. I swung my legs up and around his neck and in the motion of the movement brought him down. I staked him the moment he hit the ground. I looked up at Dimitri and I saw surprise and pride in his eyes. But I still had one left and Dimitri, I was now trapped in between the two.

All of a sudden the third guardian was on the ground. Eddie had come to my rescue, leaving me to deal with Dimitri. I had been waiting for this. And I could see he had too.

We moved towards each other. We had sparred a hundred times, but this was different. This was more intense. On the one hand, I knew Dimitri wanted me to win, but I also knew he wouldn't go easy on me, as a matter of fact, I knew he would give it everything he got, and so would I.

I punched, he blocked. He kicked, I blocked. It was like a dance. I could almost hear music, but it was the sounds of our bodies clashing, but it had a certain rhythm to it.

We were starting to gather a crowd. Dimitri and I weren't the only ones who were curious as to who would win.

I was getting tired, but so was Dimitri. I slipped up and he had pinned my hands behind my back, holding them in place. My back was pressed against his hard chest and I could feel his labored breathing. It was met with my own. His breath was hot on my neck and in that moment it wasn't about the win any more or about the other people who stood around us, we were in our own little world.

I knew from our time together at the ski lodge that sex and fighting were very similar to us. They came from the same animalistic place. And just like then, Dimitri seemed to match me at every turn. Feeling the same kind of adrenaline rush. We were made for this.

I could feel his grip lighten slightly because of the effects of our proximity. I pulled my wrist out of his hand before he had a chance to 'bite' me. I grabbed his arm and swung him around and on the ground. I immediately straddled him and placed my stake over his heart, 'killing' him.