Tempest Unleashed by Tracy Deebs Page B

feigned.
    I thought you were supposed to be training me, not trying to kill me.
    For one second there was a deadly serious look in his eyes, one that sent shivers—and not the good kind—up and down my spine. Then he grinned, and the tension dissipated. Trust me. If I’d been trying to kill you, you’d already be dead.
    Why does that not reassure me? I asked, eyebrow raised.
    I don’t know. I certainly meant it as a reassurance.
    And not a threat?
    His face went blank. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
    Of course you don’t. I glanced over my shoulder at the now-empty training circles. So, can I expect this kind of thing every day that we’re under the water?
    Not at all. He grinned wickedly. That was just a warm-up.
    Fan-tas-tic. So not. What happens if I can’t keep up? Theoretically?
    He glanced down at my stomach wound. Oh, you’ll keep up.
    How do you know? Was he impressed with the spear? With my technique?
    Because the alternative sucks. And you don’t strike me as suicidal. With that parting shot, he took off for the castle, hand pressed firmly over his wound.
    I watched him go, wondering if Hailana had brought him here to help me … or destroy me.

Chapter 9
     
    Two hours later, I was still stewing over the whole encounter. Sabyn might be an incredible fighter, but he was also a world-class jerk. The idea that I was going to have to spend hours every day learning from him, training with him, made me insane. Particularly considering his last comments.
    Keep up or die? What kind of teaching strategy was that? I mean, I’m all for real-life experience, but Sabyn was taking it to a new level.
    I finally gave up any hope of concentrating on my other duties. I’d tried to focus on my homework for mer-school, but since I was new to the whole underwater-world thing, my teachers were treating me like an imbecile. And I could memorize only so many ocean species a day before tangling with a great white seemed like entertainment instead of certain death.
    My other studies—watched over by Hailana—were even less interesting. She’d given me a new book last week— An Unabridged History of Mer Society. It was two thousand, three hundred and ninety-four pages long. And it was definitely not a page turner. Hailana swore there was a lot of useful stuff in there, but then she thought there was useful stuff in the princess etiquette class she was making me take as well. And call me crazy, but learning to float with a book on my head or learning the entire lineage of the merCrown somehow didn’t seem quite as important as finding a way to bring down Tiamat.
    I’d said as much to Hailana a million times, but so far, she hadn’t budged. And whenever I asked any questions about Tiamat, she found a way to change the subject. Which was crazy, but then it hadn’t taken me very long to figure out that Hailana wasn’t necessarily playing with a full deck. And the deck she was playing with was definitely a little … confused. I wasn’t sure that senility hadn’t driven her just a little bit around the bend.
    The only good thing we agreed on was that she let me train, let me figure out how to use my powers these last few months. Besides my time with Kona, the hours I spent in the training circle with Jared were the only things that kept me sane.
    Except now, it looked like even that sanctuary had been taken from me. I fumed as I swam away from Coral Straits and out into the ocean. I wasn’t planning to go far, but I was going stir-crazy sitting in my room. Besides, I figured I should take advantage of my free time. Between school and training and learning to be an “adviser” to the merQueen, I didn’t get nearly enough of the stuff.
    Part of me wanted to hightail it over to Kona’s, to pour out my latest problem in his lap and let him solve it, but just the idea seemed ridiculous. Kona had enough to worry about right now without my adding to the mix complaints about my psycho-Queen and new trainer. I had