Page 57 of Tender Thorns
I drop my lips to the top of her head. “Stuck implies I would want some other outcome. My only regret is not finding you sooner.”
“Because then I would be trained by now,” she surmises.
“No, little flower. If I would have found you sooner, you wouldn’t know half the heartache you do.”
“You’re making it hard for me to stay mad at you.”
“I am? That’s a relief.” I pull back just enough to show an air of restraint I don’t feel. There’s no one in this room who could mistake what she is to me, but I don’t need to give them a demonstration.
“I’m not really mad,” she hastily says, peeking up at me.
“I know. I also know we have two more hours today to make you into a deadly weapon.”
“Just two hours, huh? Am I going out on a secret assassin mission tonight?”
“Already planning another death?” Briar’s eyes widen in shock at hearing Syrinx’s voice behind her—more proof that I need to focus, because I didn’t know she was so close either.
“I was joking,” Briar defends needlessly.
“Poor taste, wouldn’t you say?”
“Are you here to train, Syrinx?” I question flatly.
“No,” she scoffs, as if it’s beneath her.
“We are.”
The banshee’s eyes slit. “That’s precisely why I’m here, to seemynovice and make sure she’s getting the instruction she needs to make it through the Undertaking. It would be a shame if she didn’t.”
I’ve never been one who needs to prove themselves, but Syrinx staking her claim on Briar nearly pushes me over the edge. “She’ll make it. I will make sure of it.”
“You and Kage?” Syrinx cranes her long neck while she pretends to search for the demon. “Our Briar seems to have captured his attention too.”
I see where she thinks she’s going with this. She’s trying to make me jealous and pit me against the demon. It proves how blind she is to anything but the pursuit of power if she thinks it could work.
“Me, Kage, and anyone else who’s needed.”
“Funny you should say that…” She tilts her head and returns her attention to me.
It’s easy to ignore her goading comment and not askwhyshe thinks it’s funny I would say that. I have no interest in her theories.
Syrinx’s mouth tips down farther as seconds tick by, until she eventually caves. “Whispers and coy touches aren’t going to keep her alive or this institute in first place. Unless you think her continuing to sell herself is her only hope at winning, I suggest you actually educate her for what’s to come.”
Briar’s small hand fists in the back of my shirt. The hold is only a reminder of what’s really important and would do nothing to keep me from killing the banshee if things were different. It would be foolish to attract the gods’ attention, especially after the way I became a fallen. I liked the idea of toying with them before, when I had nothing to lose. It’s likely what gave me the motivation to come to Ivy, but I now realize my fate was alreadyset in motion, and finding Briar here is the only thing that matters.
However, I can’t let her insult go completely unanswered. “Careful, Syrinx. Most have limits, but I do not.”
The banshee’s shoulders roll back in a useless attempt to seem imposing. “Good, I’m counting on it.”
BRIAR
I exhale when the headmistress saunters away as if she didn’t just poke a sleeping dragon, but it’s not like she’s the one who has to deal with it.
Ziv watches her retreat, and the muscles in his back are tense enough that I’m worried he’s about to spring forward, or maybe use those glorious black wings I’ve only seen once. The urge to distract him sits on the tip of my tongue, but it takes me precious seconds to actually get the nerve to speak.
“You were telling me about my elbow,” I remind him, neglecting to mention the more personal aspects of our conversation. Syrinx may be a bitch, but she’s right—there’s no place for flirting here, and Ziv knows it too. That’s why he started the session the way he did, but I let my feelings get in the way.
“Your elbow is best for attacking soft places—eyes, ears, nose, throat, and groin,” he begins, still not looking away fromSyrinx’s retreating form, but I take his response as a good sign he’s going to let her leave and not kill her.
