Shit, shit, shit. The last time I’d seen Cade, I’d kissed him smack on the mouth. It’d been amazing. Award-worthy.

And then excruciatingly embarrassing. Like any rational person would do, he’d told me it couldn’t happen again because we both worked for the Protectorate. A conflict of interest.

The worst thing was…he had a point. Workplaces and flirting were a recipe for awkwardness, at best, and lawsuits, at worst.

Heat burned my cheeks. As much as I still wanted him—and boy did I—all I could remember was the searing embarrassment.

But there was no way he was going to be my trainer. This had to be a mistake. My head buzzed as one of the other trainers stepped forward, a tall woman with long, blonde hair. She cleared her throat, then began to give a lecture about learning from a more advanced member of the Protectorate. I barely processed a word she said.

Then the trainers split up, each heading toward one of the trainees.

Of course, Cade stopped in front of me. We were a good fifteen feet from any of the other trainees, who’d gone off toward the side of the room. It felt like they were miles away. All I could see was Cade—broad-shouldered, quick-witted, handsome as the devil Cade.

“You?” I demanded.

“Me.” His low voice, coated in that sexy Scottish accent, wrapped around me.

“I thought you only took the most dangerous jobs,” I said.

“Aye.” He pointed at me. “And you are the most dangerous job.”

I scoffed. “Hardly.”

“You can blow up a house with your magic only partially charged. And you haven’t gained any more control over that magic in the two weeks you’ve been here. You’re a walking time bomb.” He towered over me. His shoulders were broad enough to block out the light from the windows, and his jawline could cut glass.

My breath shortened as I leaned my head back to make sure my glare landed solidly on him and tried not to focus on his heady scent. It was so good that it distracted me, and I couldn’t afford that. But I’d forgotten how tall he was. At least six and a half feet if he was an inch.

My mind went straight toward our kiss. The feel of his lips, the scent of his skin. It made my head swim.

I shook it.

Get it together.

To get my mind out of the gutter, I went through the sneaky moves I’d use to take him out, a habit I’d gotten into early in life. Right now, it was better than thinking about kissing him. And a dude as big as Cade would require some serious sneakery to take down.

“You’re thinking about how you’d take me out, aren’t you?” He grinned.

“Uh, no.”

He just grinned wider, becoming even more devastatingly attractive.

“Fine. Yes, I was. But how’d you know?”

“Great minds think alike.”

“Oh, you’re thinking about how you’d take me out?” Crap! I slapped a hand over my mouth as heat blazed into my cheeks. “And by that, I meant like a wrestling move. To take me out out. Like in a fight. Not like, in the other way.”

Holy fates, I need to be put in an insane asylum. Somewhere I’d never see humans again and be able to open my mouth. He’d just called me a conflict of interest. Now I was talking about dates?

The corners of his full lips pulled up in a smile and he nodded. “Of course. A wrestling move. Absolutely nothing else.”

“Why you?” I asked. “Couldn’t someone else train me?”

“I’m the only one who can withstand your sonic boom. If it goes awry and hits me, I’ll be fine.”

Right. Shit. Of course.

Back in Death Valley, I’d hit him with a sonic boom meant to pulverize his insides. He hadn’t even wobbled on his feet.

I couldn’t fight that logic.

“Fine.” I cracked my knuckles. “Let’s get this party started. What do I do first, Teach?”

“Let’s take it outside.”

“Fair enough.” I didn’t want to blow up my new home. Especially not a castle this cool.

“This way.” He turned and strode toward the door.

I followed him out of the castle, my eyes constantly darting toward him.

“We’ll go over there.” He pointed to a spot near the enchanted forest. “The magic of the forest might help give you some control.”

“Really?” I’d never heard of anything like that before.

“That’s where the dragons’ magic is the strongest. It’s the place they originally enchanted with their magic.”

“Is that why the Fae built their portal there?” I asked, wondering if I should mention the issue with the portal. But Hedy and Jude had it under control. And if I didn’t like what they told me about it, maybe I’d mention it.

I hoped they’d believe that it was a big deal. Because if they didn’t….I’d have to take matters into my own hands. Something was clearly wrong, and I couldn’t just ignore it.

“It’s the reason they were able to build the portal there, aye,” Cade said. “Wait here a moment.” He jogged toward the forest and disappeared inside, returning after a few moments with an armful of large, dead branches.

His expression upon leaving the forest was slightly off—wrinkled brow, worried eyes.

“What is it?” I asked, wondering if he felt it too.

I couldn’t be crazy. I’d really seen that black oil slick and heard the monster that had tried to escape.

“Forest feels off,” he said.

I was about to open my mouth to explain, but he shook his head. “Could just be me. Years of war have made me wary. But you need to train.”

He turned away from me to set the sticks up in a semicircle, each about thirty meters from the other. He dusted off his hands and looked at me. “Targets.”

“All right.” I rubbed my sweating palms against my jeans. I’d focus on this for an hour, give Hedy and Jude long enough to figure out the problem in the forest, then I’d maybe mention it to Cade.

Everyone was right, anyway. I really needed to get a handle on my magic. The amulet Cade had given me before to help me control my magic had been a temporary stopgap. I needed to be the one driving this car.

“So, you just want me to blast one?” I asked.

“It’s a start.”

“Yep.” One that I wasn’t feeling super great about. But I tried, because what else was I going to do?

I sucked in a deep breath and called upon my magic. As usual, it zipped around my chest like a lightning bug on speed. Finally, I caught it, mentally gathering it up and hurling it outward.

The sonic boom plowed into the ground about ten meters to the left of the tree branch.

I winced.

I was bad.

“Again.” Cade crossed his arms over his chest.

“Okay.” I sucked in another deep breath and tried again.

Missed.

Frustration welled in my chest, a hard knot.

“Has it always been like this?” Cade asked.

“Getting worse lately.”

“All right. Try again. This time, clear your mind.”

I did as he said, but this time, the sonic boom that plowed out of me was so large it destroyed all the branches and created a crater in the lawn.

I gasped and stumbled backward. “Crap!”

Cade frowned. “Did you mean for it to be that big?”

“No!” I shook my hands as if I could force the frustration out of me. “It just does that sometimes.”

“Wild card.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t make a habit of getting down on myself, but damned if it wasn’t hard when I was faced with the reality of what my magic was becoming.

What I was becoming.

“But you’re not terrible with a sword, or you’d be dead.”

“I’m excellent with a sword.”

His face creased with doubt. “You’ve got skinny arms. You were good in Oregon and Venice, but you weren’t fighting a real warrior.”

“Like you?”

“Exactly.” He drew a sword from the ether, a long blade that looked wickedly sharp. “Try me.”

“Oh, so we’re doing this now, are we?” Excitement thrummed in my chest. I drew my own sword, which was so much lighter and smaller than his.

He approached, sword raised.

Holy shit, this was happening. I grinned. This was something I could do. We circled each other, probably looking ridiculous. Anybody my size with a lick of sense wouldn’t go up against a god of war who was six and a half feet tall.

Fortunately, I had more skill than sense.

He lunged first, and I darted left and blocked with my blade. The sheer strength of his blow bent my arm backward, and I barely slipped away in time.

The next strike was even harder, making my arm go almost numb. I dodged, then pretended to stumble.

He didn’t fall for it, backing up instead of pouncing as I’d hoped.

“Clever,” I said.

“Always.”

I went on the offensive, charging and swiping out with my blade. Before his could block it, I sliced down, toward his legs. He danced back, sparing himself a slice by mere millimeters.

His appraising eyes met mine. “Nice.”

“Like I said…excellent. Even against a god of war.” I lunged again, this time trying a move that required more speed than strength.

Unfortunately, he was fast, too. He knocked my blade aside with his and reached out with his free arm, grabbing me around the waist and swinging me to the ground.

“Ooof!” Pain flared in my back as I scrambled upright, barely keeping a grip on my sword. I danced back from him. “Are you tempering your strength?”

“How could you tell?”

“My bones aren’t broken.”

He grinned. “Fair assessment.”

“Well, don’t pull any punches with your sword work. When I beat you, I want it to be real.”

“Beat me?” He laughed.

“What? God of war doesn’t mean god of swords.”

“We’ll see.”

“Hmmm, we will.” We went round and round like that, striking and defending, parrying and blocking. I landed a couple light blows, but he was too fast to ever take a real hit.

Same for me. Though there were a few moments that made me feel like I might lose a limb, I dodged them by a hair.

Sweat pearled at my temples and my mind was laser focused.

I did better this time, meeting him evenly, as long as he used his sword and not his strength.

Finally, he stepped back, hands raised. “A draw.”

Man, he looked good when he was fighting. I grinned, propping my sword blade on my shoulder. “You’re too scared to keep going. You think I’m going to beat you.”

“No. But I can see when I’m evenly matched. You’re good.”

“I know I’m good.” I tapped my chin. “Actually, I remember saying I was excellent.”

“I wouldn’t disagree.”

“Good.” I went to point my sword at him and crow a little more—had to take the victories where I could get them—then it dawned on me. I lowered my sword. “Heyyy.”

“Aye?”

“Did you do that to get my confidence up? Pick something I’m good at?”

“Are you accusing me of pulling my punches?”

“Not with your sword, no. You’re sweating. And you were really trying there. I tied you fair and square. All I’m saying is that you might have had an ulterior motive. My magic may be a disaster, but no one has ever doubted I’m a badass with my blade. So you weren’t testing my blade.”

“Fine, I may have been—” His eyes widened on something behind me.

I whirled, sword raised. The forest was cast in shadow from the setting sun. Something flashed out of the corner of my vision. Cade’s arm?

A massive beast hurtled out of the forest, thundering toward us on giant hooves. The monster was the size of a truck, a great skeletal boar with pieces of tattered flesh and muscle hanging from its bones. Its head was huge, with giant fangs and two long tusks. Eyes of flame blazed at us.

A zombie boar? Or a hellbeast?

Was it the thing from the portal?

My heart thundered in my chest as the monster charged us, his hoofbeats shaking the ground beneath my feet. The creature reeked of death and evil.

Joy sang through me, tinged strongly with fear. I felt like I was back on top of the buggy, fighting monsters in Death Valley.

This was what I loved. What I lived for. Where I felt most comfortable. I might have been scared out of my pants, but it was my usual.

I sucked in a deep breath, shoved the fear aside, and called upon my magic, grabbing hold of it and hurling it outward. The sonic boom exploded, shooting through the air and plowing into the beast, scattering its bones like candy flying out of a gruesome piñata.

Then the bones disappeared into thin air.

The boar—all evidence of it—was gone.

What the heck?

Understanding dawned. It hadn’t been the monster from the portal. My heart thundered, from fear and joy and stress all at once.

I turned on Cade, noting the smile on his face. A sexy smile, that bastard.

I pointed at him. “You did that.”

“What?” He held up his hands, trying to look innocent.

“You’ve never looked innocent a day in your life, so don’t even try.”

He grinned.

“You got my confidence up with the sword fight, then used magic to create the boar.”

“I can’t create boars.”

“No, but you could throw something that could create a boar. Some kind of fancy spell made by Hedy, maybe?”

His eyes flickered.

I pointed at him. “Gotcha. That’s what you did.”

“And you blasted it away on the first shot.”

“I do best under pressure. When the threat is real.” I shrugged. “Or feels real, at least.”

“Which is what I suspected. Well done, Bree. Your magic might be going haywire, but we can count on you in a dangerous situation.”

I returned my sword to the ether. “Of course you can. My whole life has been a dangerous situation.”

“Aye. It’s what made you strong.”

Well, I didn’t hate the sound of that.

My gaze darted toward the forest, the memory of the portal distracting me from the compliment. Sure, it was Jude and Hedy’s job to figure it out. Not my place. I was a trainee, after all.

Ha. As if that would stop me.

I’d never been very good at following rules, after all. And this was important. I knew it was.

“Cade, there’s something I have to tell you.”

His gaze changed, turning almost wary.

Shit. He thought I was going to talk about us. There was no us. And I wasn’t dumb enough to force the issue. I had to have my pride, after all. “There’s a problem in the forest. A portal. I saw it when—”

“Bree! Cade!” The shout cut me off.

I turned, spotting Jude, Hedy, and the librarian coming out of the forest.

Potts, I thought he was called. I’d only met the stooped old man once, and he’d been a grouch.

“That’s odd. Potts doesn’t leave his library unless forced.” Cade turned to me. “Are you talking about one of the portals in the forest? Is that where they are coming from?”

“Yes. Maybe they should tell you.”

The three of them hurried toward us, Potts moving much faster than I’d have expected him to. He looked to be about a hundred and fifty if he was a day. Worry creased Hedy’s brow, and her face was slightly blackened by silver dust. Magic gone awry? Jude’s expression was stern, as usual. Ready to deal with the problem, whatever it was.

They stopped in front of us.

Jude’s gaze landed on me. “The portal is a problem, Bree. Good job spotting it.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s going on?” Cade asked.

I was bouncing on my feet, dying to know what the heck was happening in the forest.

It was bad. I knew it like I knew I liked pink cocktails.

Jude nodded and explained the problem I’d found. “Hedy just finished her tests. She revealed the dark curse on the portal—the one that you could see, Bree.”

“There is something slowly leaching out of the portal. A spell.” Hedy’s gaze turned to me. “But you said that a creature tried to climb out? And it spoke to you?”

“Yes. It told me to come to it. It probably would have tried to get to me, but the portal stretched, holding it in.”

“This has never happened before.” Cade’s brow furrowed. “We need to perform recon.”

“Can’t you just destroy the portal to keep the curse from coming through?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no,” Hedy said. “It is far too ancient, which means the magic is too strong.”

Damn.

“Recon is our best option.” Jude nodded. “Potts confirmed that no one has used that portal in over three hundred years.”

“The records don’t lie.” Potts’s voice was whispery with age. He looked like he should smell of dust rather than evergreen.

“I have a map,” Jude said. “It’s old and incomplete, but you can use it to start your recon.”

“Good,” Cade said. “I can start right away.”

Jude pointed to me. “Bree as well.”

Potts huffed. “I still say she’s too young! Untrained.”

“That may be true,” Jude said. “But she’s the only one who has seen the monster. Felt its magic. It called to her.”

“I can track it,” I said. “Or at least identify it. The magic was unique. That’ll help.”

Potts made some grousing noises, clearly unable to contain himself. “But she’s only completed her first tests. She has so many more to finish! She’s unproven.”

While I was annoyed, he did have a point.

“We can count on her in true danger,” Cade said. “I vouch for Bree.”

My cheeks—and my heart—warmed at his words.

“As do I,” Jude said. “I know it’s unusual to send a trainee on an important job like this, but Bree is unusually talented. This can count as one of her tests.”

Heck yeah. One less timed fight in the forest was fine with me. I hated the false danger—give me the real thing any day.

“Thank you,” I said. “I won’t let you down.”

I hoped.

Was I cut out for this? I didn’t know, but I was going to try. I had to try. The monster who’d called my name made that clear.

“See that you don’t,” Jude said. “And you’ll have to be careful. Remember what I said about the Fae. With the portal locked, we are no longer invited there. This threat may be coming from them, or from someone else. But be quick on your toes.”

“Don’t piss them off and start a war, you mean.”

“Exactly.”

“And hurry. That magic is spreading.” Hedy’s gaze was dark with worry. “And it’s the darkest we’ve ever seen. This is a serious problem.”

“So, we need to go into the portal to find where the spell is coming from,” I said. “And stop it.”

And figure out why the heck it said my name.

That was freaky.

“Exactly,” Jude said. “But to get through the portal, you need to make sure the dark magic doesn’t cling to you. It would coat you like oil, and there’s no telling what it could do to you.”

“I have a contact in Edinburgh who can help.” Hedy handed me a glass vial full of the oily black substance that glazed the portal. It prickled against my palm. “She’s an Eclektica. A jack-of-all-trades who deals in spells. She can sell you something that will make you immune to the curse so that you can pass through unharmed. She’ll also give you a key to help you unlock the portal. It’s been closed so long that it will take special magic to open it.”

“We’ll go find her right now,” Cade said.

“Go to the Whisky and Warlock,” Hedy said. “Tell Sophie at the bar that you need to see Tabitha. She’ll take you where you need to go.”

“Thank you for this chance,” I said. “I’ll find out what’s going wrong.”

“We hope you will,” Jude said.

Hedy’s gaze turned concerned. “In fact, we’re counting on it.”

So was I.