Compel (Rae Wilder #2)

Chapter Three

I stood on the balls of my feet, ready to throw myself in there. Conall kept a restraining hand on my shoulder as I bounced up and down.

Alec lunged forward and Breandan side-stepped him easily. Twisting, Alec lifted up unto his hind legs to drag his paws across Breandan’s torso. His claws ripped into flesh drawing blood and my fairy roared. When Alec jumped, sank his teeth into Breandan’s shoulder, I snapped and spun around Conall to dart into the fray. I had zero idea what I was going to do to help in this situation, I only knew I could not stand by and watch these two boys tear each other apart.

Before I got two steps Conall was in front of me swinging his huge hand toward my face. I tried to block him, but the swing altered mid flow and jerked down to thump me in the stomach. Realistically, I knew if he wanted to hurt me, Conall could have hit me hard enough to break ribs. Instead, all the air left my lungs and my legs seemed to lock up. I staggered back and looked up at him wide eyed.

Breandan shot me a cursory glance out the corner of his eye. He made a low noise toward Conall, and my brother rolled his eyes. He came at me again and I rolled back, gaining my feet stand before him, hands fisted.

“What the hell are you doing,” I hissed.

“Today you learn how to fight.”

He came at me again, with the deadly grace of a cobra, this time his foot flew toward my upper arm, and I blocked him, barely. I still ended up being shunted two steps to the side from the impact.

Conall wrinkled his nose. “You have no technique, no instinct. You fight like a human. You must use all your senses; feel what I am going to do before I do it.”

“Now is not the time for this lesson,” I said seriously, trying to reason with him.

I pointed at Breandan and Alec who alternated between quick swipes and bites, to rolling around, pulling away, regrouping then attacking again.

Breandan’s torso was riddled with scratches. I swear my own skin itched in the exact same places.

“Never will you have a greater distraction than a friend in danger,” Conall said firmly. “You must remain calm and focused even in the face of losing everything you hold most dear.”

“Fine,” I said sweetly. “You asked for it.” I reached to magic and it flooded me with white-hot rage.

Conall’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You practiced as we ran.”

“Hell yes.” I sent a blast of golden energy his way and followed it through with a smack to his gut with my fist. Before he could recover, I darted round to his back, and kicked his leg out from beneath him. Conall fell, but he twisted round to land on the tips of his toes and the palms of his hands. His legs bunched up before he sprang up, body curving into a perfect crescent moon before landing lightly on his feet and shooting me a quick grin.

I laughed. “You think that’s good?”

He came at me, and I flipped backward, again, and again, cutting through the middle of Breandan and Alec’s fight, the amulets bouncing off my chest as I went. Though the world spun, but I was acutely aware of my surroundings. Before I was a fairy had I executed this move the world would have been a chaotic blur. Now I saw everything. I even saw the confusion flicker across Alec’s face when I passed him, my legs up in the air and my back arching. It was odd because he was a cat mid snarl, but still clear as day, I saw how startled he was by catching his eye. As I flipped upright, making an odd square between the four of us I thumbed my chin at Conall who looked mildly impressed.

Breandan’s gaze locked on mine. Mischief flicked across his expression and he winked at me. At the playful gesture, my mouth dropped open.

My brother waved me forward the same time Breandan rushed forward to meet Alec’s charge. I somersaulted over and he slipped under me. Our faces came inches away from each other. His silver eyes twinkled at me before the love in them was replaced with hardness as his gaze twitched to lock on Alec.