The basement had changed since the day Thomas first handed them wooden staffs and told them to swing. Back then, Niall had tumbled over his own feet, Courtney had dropped her staff twice, and Katherine had somehow set the dummy on fire before she even knew she could do that. Now, three months after saving Carlyle and finding Dean, the basement felt smaller — not because it had changed, but because they had.
"Again," Tierney called out, her arms crossed as she watched from the corner of the room, sharp eyes tracking every movement.
Katherine moved first, her sword cutting through the air in a wide arc. Carlyle ducked under it and shot back with a blast of water that caught her in the shoulder, spinning her sideways. She recovered fast, planting her feet and sending a wave of heat in his direction that made the air between them shimmer.
"Not bad," Carlyle said, shaking the water off his hand with a grin. "But you telegraphed that."
"I know," Katherine said, rolling her shoulder. "I wanted to see if you'd bite."
"Did I?"
"You ducked the wrong way."
Carlyle opened his mouth, closed it, and then pointed at her. "Okay. That was actually smart."
Across the room, Dean was running Niall and Kristen through a different drill, the two of them circling him with their weapons drawn. Niall had his bow materializing arrows in quick succession, each one aimed just close enough to be a real threat. Kristen blinked in and out of sight, reappearing at different angles, her dagger catching the light every time she did.
Dean moved through it all like he had eyes in the back of his head, ducking an arrow, sidestepping a blink, never raising his voice.
"Niall, your left shoulder drops when you release," Dean said, spinning away from a near shot. "If I were an enemy I'd have your throat by now."
"I'd like to see you try," Niall muttered, materializing another arrow.
"Don't tempt me, kid."
On the far end of the basement, Courtney sat cross legged on the floor with her moon blade resting across her knees and her eyes closed. Thomas stood a few feet away, watching her carefully, arms folded.
"You're thinking too hard," Thomas said.
"I'm concentrating," Courtney replied without opening her eyes.
"There is a difference."
"Thomas."
"I'm serious. You are trying to force it and that is not how Blood Magic works. You know that by now." He crouched down to her level, lowering his voice. "Stop thinking about what you want it to do. Start listening for what it wants to do."
Courtney was quiet for a moment. Then the faintest blue light flickered at the edge of her blade, there and gone in less than a second.
Thomas smiled. "There it is."
"I felt that," Courtney said, her eyes snapping open.
"Good. Hold onto that feeling and we'll start again tomorrow." Thomas stood up and looked around the room, taking stock of all of them. Something in his expression settled, like a man quietly proud of something he wasn't going to say out loud.
It was Kristen who noticed her first.
She had blinked to the far corner mid-drill and landed right next to the staircase, dagger raised, when she spotted the figure standing at the top of the stairs watching them. Kristen lowered her weapon slowly.
"Uh," she said. "We have company."
Everyone stopped.
KaSandra stood at the top of the stairs in her long dark coat, her cat eyes glowing faintly gold in the low light of the basement, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth like she had been standing there long enough to enjoy the whole show.
"Don't stop on my account," she said. "You were all looking quite impressive."
"KaSandra," Tierney said, her voice carrying a note of knowing. She had that look on her face, the one she got when she already understood something the rest of them hadn't caught up to yet. "It's time, isn't it."
KaSandra descended the stairs slowly, her coat trailing behind her, and she let her golden eyes sweep across every face in the room before she answered.
"Yes," she said simply. "It is time to find the last three."
The basement went quiet. Not the tired quiet of a training session winding down, but the kind of quiet that settles over a room when everyone in it realizes that the thing they knew was coming has finally arrived at the door.
Katherine looked at her mother. Tierney looked back at her daughter and gave a small nod, the kind that said I know and I'm here and we do this together all at once.
"Okay," Katherine said, turning back to KaSandra, her chin up. "Then let's not waste any more time."
KaSandra looked at her for a long moment, and her smile deepened just slightly.
"No," she agreed. "Let's not."