Fire Breather

31.

AFTER spending a few hours in Bodhi's room with Imogen and Liam, I had cut myself off from the wine and walked back to my room where I passed out on my bed. And for once I was having a dreamless sleep, my body needing all the extra rest I could get.

Until someone started pounding on my door, startling me awake.

"Fuck off!" I shouted, shoving a pillow over my head.

"Blaine." Stress was laced in the tone, making me pull my pillow away and open my eyes to see that the sun hadn't even risen yet. What the hell happened?

"Leave me alone or I'll punch you in the throat!" I groaned, rolling onto my back.

But then the door was busted open, and I sat up, my heart racing with panic as I formed five daggers out of blood beside my head without thinking. My eyes scanned the three bodies until I realized it was my brother, Violet, and Tavis.

"What the fucking hell is going on?" I demanded, the blood daggers disappearing while Violet rushed over to my armory, throwing the doors open and Xaden rushed over to my desk where all my weapons were.

"They're calling the full quadrant to formation," Tavis informed me, closing my door while my heart was startled.

I threw my blanket off and got out of bed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Put these on." Violet blindly threw my black trousers into my hands, reminding me I was standing in only my underwear and an oversized tunic.

"We're under attack, Blaine," Xaden dreadfully said, keeping his back to me.

My stomach dropped and I didn't say a single word as I changed as fast as I ever had, struggling to slip on my thigh sheathes. "What time is it?"

If the wards were falling and we were under attack, then by what? Venin or gryphons?

"Four twenty," Tavis answered, dragging my hairbrush through my hair twice before he started braiding it back into one braid.

"I-I just left Bodhi's room," I mumbled before sculling the canteen of water beside my bed to wash away the wine taste in my mouth. "Has anyone seen him, Imogen, and Liam?"

"Not yet but they would've been told by now," my brother answered before grabbing my boots and flight jacket. "If we're really under attack, then my guess is they'll order the older years to staff the mid-guard posts." He paused, pulling my flight jacket around my shoulders just when Tavis finished my hair, stepping back. "Nim is the rarest dragon. Blood wielding is the rarest signet. And you're the highest cadet of the first-years, Blaine. You could be leaving with us."

Nausea churned in my stomach, and it was then I realized I might not actually be ready for a real battle. "You have to be joking," I scoffed, not bothering to button up my flight jacket as I bent down, slipping on my boots. "I'm only a first-year. I don't know as much as you and Tavis when it comes to battle."

Just when I finished lacing my boots up and looked at my brother, he grabbed my shoulders, hardening his eyes on me. "You know more than you believe, Blizzy. We grew up on battle strategies. Hell, we even played out a few scenarios in the field near home when we were kids."

"He's right, Blaine," Tavis gently said, and I looked over at him near my door, my longsword in his hand. "From what I remember, you were a hell of a fighter back then too. Now, let's go."

Xaden pressed a kiss against my head before we slipped out of my room and into the sea of riders, all pulling on their own clothes to get to formation. Tavis blindly reached back, grabbing my hand through the adrenaline chaos and I allowed him, considering he was clearing a path with just his body.