Chapter 46

The bananas hit the spot on the way to Basics that morning. When we arrived at Basics, bananas had been eaten. Just as Maximus mentioned the night before, Coach had paired us up. Just as he’d promised me, we’d been paired together.

Loren bumped shoulders with me as I started to walk off to where Maximus was across the gym. He’d secured us a sparring mat farther away from the main mat. Kairos stood there with Petyr and glared at me as I walked by. I thought about poking my tongue at him then decided against it.

Loren was paired with another second year. She was tall with long brown hair with pink streaks in it. Loren looked nervous as she took the mat with the girl. I remembered to file that away to ask her about later.

The most unfortunate part of the whole morning was when Bella walked up to the mat next to Maximus and I. Her partner was a thin man with honey-colored hair to match his eyes. Clearly, Valentin had told her he’d ended things with me because she threw me the smuggest smirk known to mankind. I scowled back at her before facing Maximus. I must’ve still had a sour look on my face because Max stepped in close and dropped his voice low to talk to me.

“Don’t worry about her,” he whispered. “I promise she won’t start shit with you.”

“Why?” I questioned. “You have dirt on her or something?”

Max smirked. “Just trust me, okay?”

I looked back at Bella. She was glaring at me now, eyes darting back and forth between Maximus and I. I wiggled my fingers at her and she huffed before turning back to her sparring partner.

“Okay!” Coach boomed across class. He’d used lesser Magiks to make his voice louder. “As you can see, everyone is paired up. This will be your sparring partner until after the Holiday break. Get used to it.”

There were a few disgruntled groans. Kairos and Petyr bumped shoulders in the middle of the room. My upper lip twitched. Coach blew his whistle. Everyone cringed as the sound rang through our ears. He’d still been using Magik and nearly blew out my ear drums.

“Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled. “Today we’re going to work on getting out of a ground pin. Moonraiser and Nguyen will demonstrate.”

Coach then motioned to where Kairos and Petyr were. Kairos took his place on the ground on his back. Petyr placed himself on top of Kairos like they were wrestling. Then Kairos got his arm across Petyr’s chest and shoved, hard. Petyr rolled to be under Kairos with a grunt.

“Good!” Coach called from across the gym. “Now demonstrate the reverse swing, Moonraiser.”

Kairos nodded at Coach once. Then he flipped to be on all fours. Petyr took his place behind Kairos and locked his arms around Kairos’s neck. Kairos wrapped his hand around Petyr’s arm, gritting his teeth. Then, in one effortless swoop, he yanked Petyr over his head so Petyr was on his back. There was a resounding thud when Petyr landed back on the mat.

“Good, again,” Coach yelled. “Now everyone work on their stances with their partners. A few of the third years and I will be walking around and giving pointers. Begin!”

I turned to look at Maximus with wide eyes. There was no fucking way I could throw all six feet and however many odd inches Max was over me. Furthermore, the set up for this drill was…precarious to say the least. I swallowed thickly.

Maximus nodded slightly at me. His pupils had blown wide as soon as Coach had set us off. The two of us slunk to the floor. I was still staring at Maximus like it was crazy I was supposed to know how to do this.

“Max, I—”

“Don’t worry,” he whispered back. “I’ll guide you through it. Get on your back.”

Heat flooded my cheeks. I tore my gaze from Max and did as I was told. I glanced up at him and say his face was also slightly pink. His eyes were nearly black with how dilated they were.

Maximus was on his hands and knees as I took my back. I tucked my knees in close to my chest, something Valentin had taught me to be able to kick at an attacker when they were above me. Maximus got slightly closer to me, his knees nearly touching the back of my thighs. Then, his hands grabbed my shoulders.

Immediately, the electricity I’d come to associate him with, exploded out of his palms. So much so that I gasped, my back arching off the floor at his touch. Max’s cheeks got pinker, his eyes darker. I furrowed my brows curiously then I felt it, the slight heat building deep in my core.

Oh.

I swallowed thickly and focused on the drill. I had to keep focused on the drill. I pressed my arm, horizontally against Maximus’s chest, just as Kairos had done to Petyr.

“Now what?” I managed to choke out.

“Use the force of your arm against my throat to cut off my breath,” Max said. I felt his pulse against my arm, beating erratically on the side of his neck.

Drill.

I thought to myself. I jammed my arm further into Maximus’s throat and got a slight nod from him in response.

“Good,” he gasped. “Now use your legs to bracket my hips and roll us over.”

I nodded in response. I kept my arm pinned to Maximus’s neck as I pulled my legs out from under him. I pinned him to his sides then shifted slightly down his body to his hips. Again, the jolts of energy burned through my skin and into his. Another wave of fire burned through my core. I bit my lip to keep the moan from slipping out. Maximus dipped his head slightly and grunted. I frowned, was I hurting him?

“Are you—”

“Finish the drill, Zora,” he grunted out, gaze still away from me.

I did as I was told and pressed hard on both my points of contact, swinging myself and Maximus over so that I was on top. His hands instinctively went to my hips, head shaking me free from the pin on his throat. Then, as soon as I was on top, I was on my back again with a thud.

Electricity surged through my bones and a slight cry escaped from my lips. Everything felt like it was on fire. I peeled my back off the floor and contacted Maximus’s chest. His head dropped to the mat next to mine and I heard a slew of curse words erupt from his mouth.

It didn’t matter that we were in Basics with the entire school. There was a wanton need surging through my body that I’d never felt before. Tremors shook me and I slammed my eyes shut. Then, they were gone.

I opened them and saw Maximus across the mat, on his knees. Above him, fist knotted into Maximus’s shirt was Thorne Blythwitch.