Spiritbound by Dani Kristoff

early.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Shouldn’t be too long now before the parents arrive to collect your little darlings.’
    ‘You forget. You were once a little darling.’
    He winked at her. ‘I still am. I’m due to hand over to the next teacher after the break, so we can set off then.’
    Grace walked over to the target with Declan following behind. ‘Do you mind if I have a go at this?’
    ‘I thought you didn’t approve of battle training.’
    She grinned. ‘I don’t. But this is useful for honing skills, no matter what you’re aiming for. I don’t think I’ve tried a game like this before. You’ll have to be kind.’
    Declan chuckled. ‘Sure, I can do that. Shall we compete or keep it friendly?’
    Grace took in the scatter of plastic pellets on the ground, noticing that there were two different colours. ‘Definitely competitive.’
    ‘You’re sure?’
    ‘You bet. You’re on.’
    With a click of his fingers, the pellets ordered themselves into two piles. ‘The object is to get as many pellets through the target hole as you can in the shortest space of time. They have to pass through the hole in the target, not around. The first one to get all of their coloured pellets through wins.’
    Grace nodded and folded her arms. ‘That sounds simple enough. Ready?’
    Her pile of pallets rose into the air, all neatly ordered in a line. Declan did a double take upon seeing it.
    ‘I thought you said—’
    Grace’s pellets began to move. Declan quickly gathered his and formed them into a swarm, all circling, ready to thrust themselves through the small target hole.
    Grace tilted her head to the side. Without looking at the target, her missiles shot through one by one. Declan’s pellets couldn’t compete, being knocked out of the way by the speed of hers. With a grunt, she felt a shift in his power and he aimed his pellets at hers, knocking them from their path. Pellets began flying in all directions as they shot through the air, ricocheting off one another.
    It became a battle between them rather than a battle to get the missiles through the target. The sounds of laughter reached their ears. Grace realised they had an audience as their pellets continued dancing in a halo, surrounding them from the ground to well above their heads. With a lift of her eyebrow, Grace channelled her pellets into the target opening using about ten to protect her line. He was good, but Grace was better. She was sending his pellets further afield on different trajectories and he had to use more magic to bring them back. His pellets raced back with speed and force that would hurt if they impacted on skin.
    A glance at his face, and she could see that it was a strain for him. Sweat beaded on his brow and he chewed his lip. He had underestimated her. She grinned and then her smile froze. His gaze was not centred on her but he had a faraway look as he stretched his senses out across the field, propelling his pellets as he did.
    The cheering grew louder. ‘Come on, Miss Riordon,’ shouted the children from her class.
    ‘Come on, Mr Mallory. Squash her!’ came the chant from his students.
    Grace only had a few pellets left and was set to win. Her smile was wide and then suddenly dropped when Declan grabbed her to him. Not quite registering what he was about, she was stunned when he tilted her backward and kissed her. His hot mouth captured hers and he went for it, sending his tongue to tease her own. Her mind went blank but her mouth was on automatic, responding to the kiss. Totally distracted, her pellets fell to the ground, while his rammed through the hole, ripping the target in the process. The cheers turned to yells and catcalls. Declan had won.
    He lifted his head away, yet kept his arms around her. She pushed her hands against his chest, and then wiped his kiss from her mouth. ‘Of all the mean tricks…that’s cheating.’ She was appalled at his tactics. How could he kiss her like that and still concentrate on his pellets? It was