As it turned out, the day was not terribly exciting at all. Roger the trainer kept his snide remarks to a minimum under Cole’s watchful gaze, and the other recruits mostly treated Lucy and I like, well, like the new kids. Thank God it was only a four-month course.

Most of the day was spent in the classroom debating the politics and rules around being a spy for a private organization rather than a government one. It afforded us both more and less leeway in which lines could be crossed, and it seemed like eighty percent of becoming a successful agent was knowing which rules to break and when.

“This is stupid.” Cole yawned as the day drew late. “You two don’t need this crap. You’re already better than half the qualified agents in Omega.”

“Shh,” Lucy hissed. “I’m interested in this!”

Cole and I exchanged an amused look, but he shut up for a bit. Right up until Roger made some mention of the fine line between interrogation and torture, then flicked a small yet obvious glance at my dianoch.

In fact, most of the recruits glanced at Cole.

“Do continue, Roger. I’d just love to hear your thoughts on this subject.” He sat back in his chair and very deliberately cracked his knuckles. The class was warm, so he’d taken off his sweater, leaving him in a T-shirt that showed off his seriously impressive physique as he moved, his arm muscles flexing under colorful ink.

For a tense moment, Roger the trainer locked gazes with Cole, then backed off with a mumbled statement about “not wanting to start a moral debate.”

“What was that all about?” I whispered to Cole as Roger changed the subject and started clicking through a Powerpoint presentation.

“What was what?” He gave me an innocent look that I in no way believed.

“Fine, keep your secrets. I’ll get it out of River later.” I raised an eyebrow at him but wasn’t totally sure if I was threatening or promising. Both, maybe?

“I look forward to seeing you try,” Cole murmured back, and the look in his eyes was pure sex. My breath caught, and I had to forcefully tear my gaze away from him to concentrate on the lesson.

It would have been a lie to say I listened to or comprehended anything that was said from that point forward, thanks to Cole’s hand, which had somehow ended up on my leg. His fingers traced little patterns along the inner seam of my jeans, and eventually I gave up listening to Roger altogether.

“That was so interesting, don’t you think?” Lucy turned to me with a glowing expression, and I belatedly noticed the class was over already.

“Uh-huh, yup,” I said, blinking up at her. She’d changed her hair again, this time to a pastel rainbow, and it looked really great on her. Like she was part unicorn or something.

“Oh my God, you two.” She snorted, giving Cole’s hand on my thigh a pointed look. “You’re lucky your dad owns this place, or you’d totally be failing.”

“Don’t be silly, Lucy. I’ve got this.” I gave her a teasing wink, then took Cole’s offered hand to pull me up from my seat. The rest of the class had been filing out of the classroom, but one girl stopped and stepped into my path when I tried to leave.

“Did I just overhear that your dad is the Omega Director?” She gave me an up and down look that spoke volumes for what she thought of me. “No wonder you’re getting special liberties.”

A low growl rumbled from Cole’s chest, and I laid a palm against his sternum. The girl gave us both a bit of an uncertain look, then fixed her bitch-face back in place and flounced off into the corridor.

“She’s harmless, Cutie. Let it go,” I whispered when Cole’s body remained tense, and he snapped a sharp look at me.

“That name is going to stick, isn’t it?” He sighed, and the tension dropped from his frame.

“You bet. Cutie.” I grinned, leaving the classroom myself.

“You guys are so sweet it makes my teeth ache,” Lucy groaned. “I need to get to Finn’s for therapy anyway, so I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

“Sure thing. Promise I will pay attention tomorrow.” I held three fingers up. “Scout’s honor.”

“You were never a Scout, and you’re only saying that because tomorrow is combat.” Lucy rolled her eyes at me. “Okay, see ya.”

Her brightly colored head bobbed past the recruits ahead of us and disappeared down the stairs. Our classroom for the day had been located on the fourth floor of the training wing, and we weren’t permitted to use elevators. Guess it was forced exercise or something, not that it made a lick of difference to me.

Ahead of us, the girl who had just been a snotty child was reaching the top of the stairs when I noticed the door to a supply closet open.

“Watch out!” I screamed, seeing what was about to happen but reacting seconds too late. The girl looked up at my yell but didn’t move quick enough to avoid the cart of cleaning equipment as the janitor pushed it out of the closet and straight into her.

Knocked off balance, she stumbled a bit, then caught herself against the railing at the top of the stairs with her weight halfway over it.

“Fuck, are you okay?” I yelled, hurrying over to her. As I stretched out my hand to help her right herself, there was a sickening screech of metal, and the railing gave way below her.

“Shit!” I dove forward, reaching to grab her as she fell, but our fingers barely brushed before the girl plummeted four stories down and hit the ground with a sickening crunch.

Cole hauled me up and pushed me toward the stairs. “Go quickly. While she’s possibly still alive. I’ll take care of witnesses.”

Not needing to be told twice, I raced down the stairs at only marginally more than human speed and left Cole to clear out the other recruits who might see what I was about to do. Lucy gave me a quick nod as I passed her, and I knew she’d follow me down and clear any spectators on the way.

“Fuck,” I breathed, reaching the girl. Thankfully, she was still alive, but only just. Her wild, panicked eyes locked on mine like she was a horse in a storm, but it wasn’t hard to assume that the fall had broken her back. She was totally paralyzed and couldn’t speak.

“Stick with me; it’s not as bad as it all seems,” I muttered, and her eyes screamed at me that I was a fucking lunatic. Whatever, she didn’t need to like me so long as I could save her life.

Placing my hands on her skin, one on her forehead and one on her chest, I closed my eyes and opened myself to that warm, comforting, wild magic that was coursing through my body.

Each time I used the magic in this way, to heal someone, it seemed to come easier to me. Not just that I knew what to do, though that was certainly part of it, but it required less effort to start the process. This time it was almost instantaneous. When I opened myself to the magic, it rushed down through my fingertips and into the girl’s broken body like it was excited. Like this was what it was meant to do.

My hands warmed on her skin, and the distinctive sensation of fur tickled at my palms, just the same as it had when I’d healed the little girl in Harrow, leading me to think maybe this girl was a wolf too? I guessed time would tell, and it had to be preferable to dead. Right?

While the process was definitely getting easier, the amount of energy or magic needed really seemed to depend on the extent of the injuries. Where healing the little wolf pup of the tranquilizer drug had only made me a little light-headed, I knew for sure this one was going to knock me around a lot worse.

As the tingling sensation receded from my hands, retreating back into my core where it seemed to live, I was hit with a wave of exhaustion that had me reeling.

“What the fuck did you just do to me?” the girl whispered, sounding horrified.

For a moment, I hesitated while I thought about how to explain things, but the look on her face was sheer disgust, and I was barely holding my lids open.

“Nothing. I was just checking your vitals, but I guess you weren’t really that hurt after all.” My voice came out as thin and weak as my explanation, but I was way past giving a shit. I’d just saved this chick’s life, and she was looking at me like I’d just spit on her.

“Fucking freak,” she snarled, scrambling away from me and taking off out of the building like I’d just grown three heads. Hell, maybe I had; who knew what my magic was capable of?

“Vixen,” Cole said quietly, placing his large palm on the back of my neck. “Can you walk? We need to get you home.”

“Doubt it.” I snorted, and he clicked his tongue, sweeping his strong arms under me and picking me up bridal style. “Great, now I’m a damsel in distress.”

“Quit complaining, Vixen. Isn’t this what boyfriends are allowed to do?” he teased but laid a gentle kiss against my temple.

“I wouldn’t know.” I yawned. “I’ve never had one. Is it?”

“No idea,” he replied, carrying us back to the apartment in long strides. “I’ve never been one.”