Fate's Path
Training

We circled each other, neither of us moved to attack right away. Then she launched at me. I managed to catch her arm and duck to flip her over me. She landed hard, but attached to my arm, and pulled so that I fell beside her. We jumped up, I kicked, and when she dodged, I spun, aiming an elbow blow at her nose that she blocked easily. She pulled me back to press against her chest, an arm securely around my neck. I grabbed her arm and bucked so that she went flying over my head. She was back on her feet quickly, and her eyes ran up and down my body with a smile. I took this opportunity to flash behind her and jump onto her back. My legs locked around her waist and my arm around her neck. She growled and bent down to flip me off of her. I fell, and the breath left my lungs. I coughed and stood up, facing her with full determination. She had somehow gotten to a knife and was holding it like she was gonna throw it. Before I could react, she did. I vaguely heard Chris yell my as I raised my hands. I closed my eyes, waiting for the slice in my chest that never came. When I finally opened my eyes, Hex and the others clapping and cheering. I looked down and saw the knife barely grazing the cloth of my crop top.

I let out a show breath. Now that I was more relaxed, I could feel the magic flowing through me, to my fingertips then into the blade. I imagined the magic seeping back to the rest of my body. The knife fell and I turned my gaze to Hex after catching the blade before it hit the ground. “How did you know I would stop it?”

“About that... I didn’t. I just had faith that you would.” She fidgeted with her fingers. I glared, but we would settle this later.

We spent the next several hours training one-on-one, and seeing how each power coordinated with another’s. Logan can use some sort of lightning magic, which would explain the sparks I saw in his eyes before. Jamie has natural magic, meaning she can control any type of plant or make things grow where there was nothing. Hex is a magic user, she has her own spell book and everything, with spells I didn’t even know existed. I had been calculating the compatibility of each of my friends based on magic, and I wasn’t liking the pairings. Before I could contemplate about it more, Kiera plopped down beside me. I smiled at her. “How are you doing?”

She giggled wildly and grinned from ear to ear. “I should be asking how you are!”

I looked at her and my smile faded. “What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering she stood quickly. “Hey Logan!” My heart raced even before I saw him walking towards us. I was standing a moment later and elbowing Kiera in the ribs. “Piper here would love to train with you. Hand-to-hand.” Logan had stopped and I saw his red eyes darken as Kiera skipped over to Connor. I cleared my throat, and almost stormed over to yell at her. She was making living with her hard again.

“I am so sorry, she has no boundaries,” I rambled, and his eyes seemed to twinkle.

“I can tell. We should probably still train, though.” He smiled and lowered to a battle stance. I shrugged, might as well, and lowered into a similar stance. I was distracted by the way his eyes ran over me that when he attacked, his punch connected with my jaw. I stumbled but caught myself in time to swivel around and catch his fist. I aimed my knee at his stomach but he yanked his arm away and dodged. I remembered the last time I had trained with Connor at school and a smile spread across my face. Logan raised an eyebrow and didn’t have time to prepare before I dropped and kicked his feet out from under him. He fell with a grunt and I pinned him to the ground. My forearm was pressed against his chest and my knees were on each side of his waist.

I could hear his heart pick up beat fast, his breathing was uneven. I heard my own breath hitch when his hand grazed against my cheek. Before I ended up doing anything I would regret, I push myself away. I look up to see Connor staring at me. He looked uneasy of what had happened but I didn’t know what to say to him. My gaze fell to Logan and I turned quick enough to fall, barely managing to stop myself from doing so. I tried to walk past Jamie but she stopped me with a hand on my arm. Chris was beside her and I forced a smile.

“Princess? You okay?” Jamie asked, concern in her eyes, but I yanked my arm away. Everyone needs to stop asking me that every second. I finally walked past her, but she was the one to follow me. “I’m sorry. I know you must be annoyed by all the 'You okay?’s. I won’t ask it again right now. But there is something clearly bugging you. It is clear whatever it is might distract you from killing Max, so you should really talk about it. I will listen.”

I didn’t waste another second of silence. “I’m just really confused!”

“About Logan and Connor?”

My head snapped towards her. “How did you know?”

“I’m a people watcher.”

“No way! Me too!” I smiled, and this time it was genuine. I can see that we will be great friends. “So, from your watching, what have you figured out?”

She was grinning as she thought. “I can tell you that they both obviously love you. I know you just met Logan, but he has this weird thing that he would kill me if I told you about. I am assuming you and Connor have been through a lot, even kissed, but you haven’t officially ‘claimed’ each other.” She grew quiet and when she spoke again her voice was strained, like the words pained her. “At this point, you are going to have to choose. On one hand, you and Connor have a lot of history, but with Logan there is that mystery.” Her voice sounded dreamy at the word ‘mystery’. I glanced back and my eye caught on Hex for a moment before I looked back at Jamie.

“How long?”

She shook her head. “What?”

“How long have you and Hex been together?”

That made her entire face turn beet red. She looked down at her hands. “I have no idea -well, we aren’t together like that. We are just best friends.”

“Ah, in that case, how long have you loved her?” If possible, her face turned an even brighter red.

“It’s not like that, I don’t-" Jamie met my eyes and she relented, “How could you tell?”

“I am a professional people watcher. So, how long?”

“A few years.” She shrugged. “I just don’t know if she has ever felt the same way, and we are best friends so I didn’t want to ruin what we already had by making things awkward.” I almost thought about telling Jamie how obvious it is that Hex feels the same way but I held my tongue. Other people have their own relationship problems. I shouldn’t complain about mine. We continued talking for several minutes before Connor came over and asked to speak with me. Jamie gave me a quick wink and thumbs up before running back to train. Connor waited until we were closed in my room to do anything. Suddenly, he pulled me forward and kissed me. I let out a yelp, but my eyes soon closed and I kissed him back. Then I pulled slightly away.

“What was that for?” I asked. It’s not like I don’t love kissing him, but this seemed random and abrupt.

“I love you, and I don’t think I tell you enough.” He held me, but I could tell it wasn’t the only reason. Then I remembered the way he looked at me after training with Logan.

I shoved myself away. “This is because I got so close to Logan, isn’t it?” The look on his face confirms my thoughts. “For God’s sake! I am going to get close to him, I am going to get close to everyone in this house!” I see him flinch and my tense muscles relax. “Look, Connor, Demon, I love both of you. I really do, but I have to do something before I can make a final decision. Please, whatever you do, stay here.” I leave the room after he nods.