“Hey, speak foor yoourself,” Logan defended with a growl.
The Sabre cast a glance toward the sky with its swirling creatures. Then he looked at me. “You lost your rapport with them, didn’t you?”
I swallowed. “Yeah.” My mind had been on Matt.
“They would have shown us the approaching guards,” he pointed out. Then he turned to Maddy. “And you dropped the block.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I thought we were safe.”
Cody rubbed his face.
“It was my fault,” I said. “I should have kept contact with the bird things and told Maddy to hold the block.”
He gestured to the guards, and they came closer. “Have you notified those inside?”
“Not yet,” one answered.
“Let us continue the exercise,” Cody said. “We need the practice.”
They looked down at their fallen comrade, who obliged them with a loud snore. One of them grinned. “He looks peaceful.”
The other guard nodded. “We’ll continue our patrol.” They headed off.
Cody looked at me. “What next, team leader?”
I stared at him, incredulous. “You still want me to lead after that?”
His lips twitched. “Leaders aren’t born. They are made. So lead on.”
I took a deep breath, and bent to help strip the guard.
* * *
A sweaty, tired, and somewhat discouraged bunch stepped through the academy’s gate. We’d been caught not once, but twice more before we managed to “complete” the mission. And Mari’s assistance in distraction had toppled a historic relic. She looked particularly morose.
Cara was waiting for us, standing in the moonlight.
The Watcher wasn’t alone. The big scary Bellati stood with her and Aria, who embraced Lucas.
“You and your magic finger,” the Dragona teased him.
“It’s not his finger you are usually complimenting,” the large guy rumbled in a voice that rivaled Tyrez’s. The energy swirling around him riveted me.
Cara smiled at our disheveled states. “Went about as expected, I see.”
“They did better than my first training mission,” Cody said.
I regarded him with surprise. “We failed. Utterly and completely.”
He raised a brow. “You did very well. The mistakes you made were due to lack of experience, not ability. You need to work on your focus, but that comes with time.”
It stiffened my resolve to do better, as it was likely intended to.
Lucas and his two mates were already well ahead. Maddy and her three Dires had shifted to beast and raced off into the forest.
Mari stomped steadily beside me as I leaned closer to Cara. “Who is that big guy?”
Her brows rose. “Nikolai? He’s one of my people.”
