Rogue (Relentless Book 3)

“ARE YOU SURE you don’t want to fly home? It’ll take you four or five days to drive all the way across the country.”

Roland laughed and twirled the car keys in his hand. “Yeah, and that’s an extra four or five days before we have to face Uncle Max.”

Peter paled at the mention of his dad. “Maybe we should take our time. We could tell him the car broke down.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my car.” Jordan walked over and patted the hood of the Ford Escort she had bought in Butler Falls. She smirked at Roland. “But you should probably put some blankets on the seats to protect them from dog hair.”

He made a face at her but didn’t offer a retort, most likely because he was still feeling a heap of goodwill toward her. Yesterday, she had shocked him when she’d signed the car over to him, saying it had served its purpose and he might as well take it off her hands. I had a feeling that he’d be trading it for that Mustang he wanted as soon as he got home.

I smiled at their exchange, but my heart constricted painfully. Roland and Peter had been with me through so much, and I didn’t know how to do this without them. But they’d already lost weeks of school, and they had to get home if they had any hope of catching up and graduating this year. Plus, Roland had promised his mom they would head home the day after New Year’s, which was today.

Roland looked at me. “I guess we should get on the road.”

I pressed my lips together and nodded. I managed to hold back the tears until he walked over and pulled me into a tight hug.

“Don’t do that or we’ll never leave,” he ordered hoarsely. “And then you’ll have to explain to my mom and Uncle Max why we’re not coming home.”

“Sorry.” I let go of him and wiped my eyes. “You’ll call me every day until you get home, right? Do you have the new phone we got you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

I pulled a thick bundle of cash from my pocket and placed it in his hand. His blue eyes widened. “Whoa, what’s this?”

“You need money for the trip home.”

He tried to hand it back to me. “This is your money from the diamonds.”

“I don’t need it.” He continued to shake his head, and I gave him a watery smile. “It’ll make me feel better if I know you’re staying in decent hotels instead of sleeping in the car. You and Peter can split the rest when you get home.”

Peter came over and snatched the money from Roland. “I need a car too, buddy.” He grinned as he stuffed the money in his coat pocket and turned to hug me. “You gonna stay out of trouble?”

“Yes,” Nikolas answered for me as he and Chris came out of the house. He walked over to stand beside me. “Watch yourselves out there and have a good trip home.”

“Thanks, we will.” Roland held out his hand and Nikolas shook it. He gave me another quick hug before he and Peter headed to the car. A lump formed in my throat as they climbed in and Roland started the car. He rolled down his window and they yelled, “See ya.” Then with a wave they pulled away.

I watched until the white car disappeared around a bend in the long driveway. When I turned toward the house, Nikolas put a hand on my arm. “You okay?”

“Yes,” I lied. “Are you going out?”

“Chris and I are headed next door for a few hours to help them set up. I’ll be back before dinner.” The increased vampire activity in California had prompted the Mohiri to set up a temporary command center in the large house they had rented next door. Two units were arriving today with a truckload of equipment and supplies.

The thought of how quiet this place would be without Roland and Peter almost made me ask Nikolas if I could help him. I kept quiet because I didn’t want to be in his way.

After Nikolas and Chris left, Jordan and I went into the huge house that suddenly felt very empty. I turned to the stairs, intending to mope in my room for the rest of the afternoon.

Jordan caught my arm and swung me around. “Oh no, you don’t. You and I finally have this place to ourselves, and you are not hiding out in your room. Heb is making us some yummy snacks, and we are going to watch movies and stuff our faces.”

I let her drag me to the home theater room. “I think I’m getting sick of movies.”

“You’re not sick of these. I picked them out just for you.” She started the first movie and I turned my head to stare at her.

“Jane Eyre?”

She shrugged and settled back in her seat. “You love that book and I wanted to know what the big deal was. I also got Pride and Prejudice and Emma since you seem to like that stuff.” She watched the opening credits. “I don’t suppose there is any action in this?”

I didn’t respond at first until she gave me a questioning look. “Thanks, Jordan.”

She scrunched her nose. “Ah shit, don’t get all weepy on me. I thought you were past that faerie puberty thing.”

Her expression pulled a laugh from me. “Not quite. Aine says the worst of it is over, but I might have mood swings for a few more weeks.”

“Great,” she muttered.

We watched the first movie and were halfway through the second before Jordan began to fidget. I had to give her credit for making it that far since romantic period movies weren’t her thing. We ended up stopping the movie and talking about where Roland and Peter were now and wondering how the new command center was coming along. Eventually the conversation came around to Nikolas and me.

“So,” she began with a determined gleam in her eyes. “You never told me what happened Christmas Eve night. We’re alone now and I need details.”

“That’s because there is nothing to tell. We talked and fell asleep.”

She nodded slowly. “In your bed. Right. That’s why Nate and Tristan looked ready to skewer him with the turkey fork at dinner.”

I blushed, thinking about waking up sprawled across Nikolas on Christmas morning. He had planned to leave after I’d fallen asleep, but he’d dozed off, too, and I’d spent the entire night in his arms. Best Christmas present ever.

It would have been perfect if Nate hadn’t come looking for me when neither of us showed up for breakfast. I’d thought it was awkward the morning Tristan had found me in Nikolas’s apartment, but that was nothing compared to Nate catching us lying in bed together. The fact that we were both clothed and Nikolas was on top of the covers did nothing to placate Nate, and it had taken a whole day for him to stop glaring at Nikolas.

Jordan propped her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her. “You know, you must be the only female on the planet who would share a room – correction, a bed – with Nikolas Danshov and just sleep. Nuns would forget their vows if that male looked at them the way he looks at you.”

“We’re taking it slow,” was all I could say. Since Christmas Eve Nikolas hadn’t come into my room. He would walk me to my door and say good night with a tender kiss. In a way it felt like he was courting me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish he would ask to stay again. The more time I spent with him, the more I wanted.

She let out a pained groan. “How the hell can I live vicariously through you if you’re not getting any action?”

“You want action? I start my Fae training tomorrow. That should be a blast.”

She grinned. “No thanks. While you’re playing in the water, I’ll be sparring with your warrior.”

Coming from anyone else, that statement might have stirred some jealousy in me. I fixed her with a mock scowl. “Just as long as you remember he’s my warrior.”

* * *

A wall of cold water dropped down onto my head, and my arms flailed as the weight of the water knocked me off balance. I disappeared beneath the surface of the lake and came up sputtering and shivering.

“Why can’t I do this?” I wailed, pushing my dripping hair out of my face.

“You are not concentrating,” Aine called, warm and dry, from the shore.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “No matter what I do it gets away from me. It doesn’t feel the same anymore.”

Aine smiled patiently. “It is still your power, just more potent. You will soon get accustomed to it. ”

“Tell that to the gazebo.” The two of us looked at the ruins of the pretty little structure that had stood at the edge of the small lake at the back of the estate, until two days ago when a thirty-foot waterspout had turned it to kindling. Thankfully, no one had been close enough to get hurt.

Before the lake, we’d practiced in the pool. Chris had been sitting on one end, watching us, when I’d attempted to change the temperature of the water by a few degrees. He’d managed to get his legs out of the water right before it turned to solid ice. I wasn’t so lucky and it took me ten very cold minutes to melt enough ice around me so I could escape. I was still trying to live that one down.

Then there was yesterday’s debacle. Standing outside in the rain, I’d tried to use the magic in the water to form a shield over me. It might have been a nifty trick if I hadn’t created a mini lightning storm on the back lawn. It took Aine and me working together for a full thirty minutes to make it dissipate. Aine had attempted to cheer me up by informing me that most water elementals couldn’t even create a storm until they were fully matured, which for me would be in another five years or so.

“Perhaps we should start with something easier,” Aine suggested softly. She walked to the water’s edge. “Do you remember the first time you used your magic to call to the fishes in the valley lake?”

Despite my cold, wet state, I smiled at the memory of the trout nibbling at my feet that day. That whole afternoon held nothing but happy memories for me.

“Good. Now release a small amount of your magic to call to the fish in this lake.”

I opened my power and immediately a golden cloud began to form around me in the waist-deep water. Something tickled my toes and I peered down at the small school of carp swimming around my legs. On the surface of the water, a pair of turtles moved slowly toward me. Watching my magic finally behave the way it was supposed to gave me a much needed boost of confidence. Aine was right; I’d just needed to start small and get a feel for it again.

“Wonderful!” Aine called. “Now pull the magic back to you.”

I summoned my power to pull it back inside me. But instead of moving toward me, the cloud continued to grow and spread out into the lake. “Just great,” I muttered as I struggled to rein it in.

“Don’t fight it. Call to it.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” I said through clenched teeth. “It doesn’t seem to want to listen.”

“Your magic is a part of you, Sara, and you control it as you would your arm or leg. You do not fight to raise your hand; you simply do it.”

I took a deep breath and made myself relax and stop fighting the magic. What was the worst that could happen anyway? As long as I didn’t try to use the magic, it didn’t matter if it filled the lake. Eventually, the water would absorb the magic and all would be normal again.

Right. Because that was always how things worked for me.

I don’t know who was more shocked when a long brownish green… thing erupted from the center of the lake. A garbling roar rent the air before the creature dove beneath the surface again. Seconds later, it reappeared, skimming across the lake toward me. My mouth fell open at the sight of the ten-foot creature that had a dragon’s head, legs, and wings and the long thick body of a snake.

I scrambled for the shore, struggling to run through the waist-deep water. Behind me the dragon snake thing roared again, but I didn’t stop to look back. Whatever it was, it looked and sounded pretty pissed off, and I wasn’t about to stay in the water with it.

Three feet from the shore, I slipped on a rock and landed on my back in the water. Frantically, I scuttled backward as the creature closed in on me.

“Sara!” Nikolas pulled me from the water. He threw me behind him and faced the creature with his sword raised.

The creature leapt at us and Nikolas’s blade scored its underside as it sailed over our heads. It roared in pain and tried to fly away from us. It had been agile over the water, but it didn’t fly as well over land, and it wobbled as its small wings fought to keep it airborne.

“Don’t hurt it, please,” Aine cried as Nikolas started toward the struggling creature. “It is a drakon, a water dragon, and they are almost extinct. It means no harm.”

“I know what it is.” Nikolas looked angrier than the drakon. “It could have killed Sara if I hadn’t gotten to her first.”

“It is merely distressed because it was awakened from its hibernation. Sara is undine. She never has to fear any creature that lives in the water.”

“It attacked her,” Nikolas countered stiffly.

Aine’s red curls bobbed when she shook her head. “No. It attacked you because it thought you were hurting her.”

I looked at the drakon that was flying dangerously close to the ground now. It certainly didn’t look like much of a threat to anyone. If anything, it looked ready to collapse. I saw dark red blood dripping from the cut in its long belly.

“We need to get it back to the water,” I told them. I made a move toward the drakon, but Nikolas caught my hand.

“Nikolas, come with me if you’re worried, but we can’t let the poor thing die.”

“Poor thing?” He sighed and released my hand. “I can’t wait to see what Tristan thinks about your newest pet.”

“I didn’t say I was keeping it,” I muttered as the three of us approached the tiring drakon. Really, what the heck would I do with a water dragon, of all things? Although, the lake at Westhorne was much nicer than this puny one, so maybe he would be happier there. I wondered if water dragons and kelpies got along well together.

Nikolas laughed. “You’re already trying to figure out how to get that thing back to Idaho, aren’t you?”

“No,” I retorted halfheartedly.

Aine raised a hand and a breeze came up, lifting the drakon three feet off the ground. It was barely moving through the air now and we had no trouble catching it. Nikolas reached out to turn its body toward the lake, and the drakon twisted and snapped its fanged jaws at him.

“Stop that,” I scolded, and it swung its head in my direction, looking so much like a normal dragon that I expected flames to sprout from its mouth. Instead, it made a loud mewling sound and stared at me with large unblinking eyes.

I patted its scaly side and it didn’t try to eat me, so I figured I was safe. I moved in front of it and began walking backward toward the lake. “Come on, fellow. We’ll get you back home.”

The drakon switched direction and followed me, assisted by Aine’s breeze. Nikolas walked several feet out to my right, ready to come to my rescue in case Aine was wrong about the drakon not attacking me.

When I reached the water’s edge I took one step into the water, and the drakon followed me in. Aine released it and it immediately dove into the lake, rolling on the muddy bottom and making the water too murky to see it. A minute later, it reappeared, floating on the top of the water, half submerged like an alligator.

I crouched in the water. “I’m sorry I woke you up, and that the mean warrior cut you.” Behind me Nikolas snorted, and I smiled.

The drakon blinked at me but did not move.

“You can go back to sleep now. I’ll try not to bother you again,” I told him.

He answered by rolling over in the water and showing me his pale belly that sported a two-foot long gash created by Nikolas’s sword. Blood still seeped from the wound that looked painful and deep.

I felt my power stirring at the sight of the injury, but I was afraid to attempt to heal the drakon. What if I used too much and hurt him instead?

“What’s wrong, Sister?” Aine asked softly and I told her my fears. She came over to lay a hand on my shoulder. “You will not harm him.”

“How can you be sure?”

“It is not in you to harm an innocent creature.”

I looked at the drakon again. “Not intentionally, but I could hurt him by accident.”

“Aine is right,” Nikolas said, prompting me to face him. His gray eyes held mine. “Remember the day I made you use your power on me?”

How could I forget? For a long agonizing moment, I thought I’d killed him. I shivered at the memory of my power throwing him across the arena.

“Your power could have hurt me that day, but you wouldn’t let it. Your instincts kicked in because you didn’t want to hurt me, just like you don’t want to hurt this creature.”

My chest warmed at the unwavering faith I saw in his eyes, and I managed a small smile before I turned back to the drakon. It had drifted closer to me, and I reached for it tentatively. The scales covering its underside were softer than the ones on its back, and I was surprised to feel how warm it was. I ran my hand along its belly, and it wriggled closer to me until it was pressed against my side. I moved my hand closer to the wound, and my power pushed against the walls holding it back, trying to go to the injured creature. Nikolas and Aine had faith in me, but did I trust myself enough to release the power?

A shudder went through the drakon before a wave of pain assailed me. I couldn’t let it suffer. Please, don’t let me hurt it.

“Nikolas, I need you to leave,” I said without looking at him. “I know you think I can do this, but I can’t… not with you here. I won’t risk it after what happened when I woke up.”

“Okay. I’ll see you back at the house.”

It surprised me when he didn’t argue. A month ago, he would have refused to leave me.

I waited until I could no longer sense him before I opened my power to let a trickle escape. As soon as I called on it, it tried to surge forward, and I pushed it back again. Before the liannan, my power had flowed through me like a warm, gentle current. Now it was hot and forceful like a river of lava. It didn’t really burn me, but sometimes it felt like it wanted to consume me – or the part of me that was not Fae.

There was a time when I would have been happy to get rid of the “beast” in my head, but I would do anything to protect my Mori now. When I’d first awakened from my long sleep, my Mori had been huddled, terrified, in the back of my mind. Even unconscious, my body had instinctively erected a wall around the demon to keep it safe from my out-of-control power. Still, it had taken me days to soothe my Mori and convince it I would never let it be harmed.

I fortified the protections around my Mori, and then I reached for my power again. This time I anticipated my power’s behavior, and I grasped it firmly as soon as I opened the gate. Instead of letting the power flow freely as I used to, I guided it through my body, down my arms, and into my hands. It tried to leap from me to the wound beneath my hands, but I maintained my hold on it. It took me a minute of deep breathing to gather my courage before I let my power trickle into the drakon.

As soon as I entered the creature’s body, it was like the last few weeks had never happened. No longer fighting my control, my power immediately went to work knitting together the severed tissue. The drakon shuddered beneath my hands as the healing fire closed up its wound and eased its pain. I closed my eyes as relief swept through me. I did it!

I ran my hand along the drakon’s belly where the cut had been. “I think you and I are both going to be okay,” I crooned softly as I pulled the power back into me. It didn’t come as easily as it should have, but I was too happy about my success to care. I finally had a feel for this new power and a better understanding of how to handle it. I remembered being six years old and having to learn how to use my strange new power. It was like that all over again, only this time I wasn’t doing it alone.

“Okay, buddy, you are as good as new.”

I stepped back and the drakon rolled until he was right side up. He stared at me for a few seconds, and then he leaned in and licked my face with a long forked tongue. Before I could react, he spun around with amazing speed and headed toward the center of the lake. He leapt into the air and dove into the water without making a splash.

I wiped my face with a wet sleeve. “Ugh, dragon spit.”

“You did it, Sister. You healed him.”

My face split in a wide smile as I trudged out of the lake. Aine rushed over to hug me despite my wet clothes, and we laughed together.

I pulled away. “I can’t believe it. After all the times I lost control of my power this week, I think I finally get it.”

She nodded happily. “I don’t know why I did not see this sooner. Healing is second nature for you because you have been doing it since you were a young child. Water magic is still quite new to you, which explains why you have been struggling with it. We should have started with what you knew best.”

“How can we do that? We don’t exactly have any injured animals around here.”

“No, but we can go find some that need your help.”

Go out and help sick creatures? “Can we go now?’

Aine laughed and shook her head. “I think you’ve done enough for today. Plus, you are starting your other training this afternoon.”

I grimaced at the reminder that I was resuming my Mohiri training today. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to work with Nikolas. Who was I kidding? He was going to push me until I collapsed or begged for mercy – maybe both. Jordan had trained with him yesterday, and she’d nodded off during dinner last night. That did not bode well for me.

“Tomorrow when I return, we will go find something you can heal,” Aine promised. Even though the estate was surrounded by faerie protections, Aine did not like to stay here long. After our training she always returned to Faerie until our next session. Eldeorin, on the other hand, loved the human world. Now that I no longer needed his constant presence, he liked to go off on his “pleasure excursions” as he put them. I didn’t ask and I hoped he never felt the need to share them with me.

“Okay,” I conceded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She hugged me goodbye and did her disappearing thing. I’d asked her yesterday if I would ever be able to do that and she’d said only time would tell.

Nikolas was waiting for me when I walked out of the woods. “I told you that you could do it.”

“You were supposed to leave,” I accused mildly.

He smiled as he fell into step beside me. “I did leave. I know it worked because you have that look.”

“What look?”

“The one I like seeing on your face. You look happy.”

“I’ll be even happier if you tell me I don’t have to train this afternoon,” I suggested hopefully as we neared the house.

He chuckled and opened the door for me. “Nice try. Get cleaned up, and I’ll see you after lunch. Oh, and you might want to eat light.”

I groaned and tried to ignore the laughter that followed me as I climbed the stairs to my room. I should probably skip lunch altogether and take a nap instead. Something told me I was going to need it.

After a very light lunch, I joined Nikolas in the gym they had set up on the first floor of the huge house. When I walked in, I saw it was laid out like the training rooms at Westhorne. I bit back a groan when I saw the bag in the corner, and I think my muscles actually ached at the memory of the workouts Nikolas had put me through back then.

Nikolas was waiting for me, and he smiled as if he was remembering, too. He immediately got down to business and gave me some stretching exercises to do. Once I had warmed up, he waved me over to the center of the room.

“The first thing we’re going to do is see what you remember from our training.” He held up his hands. “Show me a straight punch.”

I positioned my body like he’d taught me and struck his palm with my right fist. Then I shifted slightly and did a strike with my left one.

“Palm heel strike,” he ordered and I executed it as I’d been taught. I was surprised at how easily it came back to me after all these weeks. The endless drills he’d put me through had worked.

“Good,” he said after I’d done a number of strikes. “Now go to the bag and show me the kicks I taught you.”

I demonstrated the front kick, back kick, and round kick several times. Then he began calling out strikes and kicks, forcing me to change positions quickly to perform each one. A fine sheen of sweat covered my body by the time we stopped twenty minutes later.

“Very good. You remembered everything.”

“I had a good teacher,” I said, absurdly happy that he was pleased.

His trainer expression slipped and a small smile appeared. “All right, I think you are ready to learn a new strike. This one is called an elbow strike.” He proceeded to demonstrate it for me then had me try it. We worked on it for ten minutes before he switched to a vertical front kick. Once I had that technique down, he made me alternate between the two. I was panting by the time he was satisfied I had them down.

Dread filled me when he said we were done with the bag, because I knew what came next. This was when he would work me with the weights and skipping rope until I could barely stand. He called it conditioning. I called it torture.

He surprised me by heading for the door instead of the weights.

“We’re done?”

“No, we’re going to add something new to your training.” He opened the door and waved me through it.

I couldn’t imagine what it could be, but if it got me out of weight training, I was all for it.

We went outdoors and around the side of the house where three wooden targets had been set up. On the grass near them was an assortment of knives, crossbows, and swords. I chewed my lip nervously at the sight of the swords, hoping he wasn’t going to ask me to use one. The deadliest weapon I’d held was a knife, and I didn’t think I was ready for anything bigger than that.

“What would you like to start with?” Nikolas asked, surprising me again.

I didn’t need to think about it; I immediately went for one of the crossbows. It was a lot bigger and heavier than the one I’d used in Los Angeles, and it felt awkward in my hands. “How do you use this thing?”

Nikolas took it and explained all the parts to me. “This is a recurve bow,” he said as he put it to the ground and cocked it. “It’s a little harder to load, but it has more power than a compound bow. It’s a great weapon once you get a feel for it.”

“I’ve never seen you use a bow,” I said as he brought the bow up and faced the first target.

“I prefer a sword.” He released the bolt and it whistled through the air to sink into the center of the target. “But I’m proficient with most weapons.”

“Of course you are,” I said dryly, earning a smile from him.

“Want to give it a go?”

“Sure, as soon as I grow enough muscles to cock it.”

He chuckled and showed me how to put my foot in the stirrup and where to place my hands on the string. I pulled the string back and settled it in the locking mechanism.

“Okay, what now?”

“Now, you aim.” Stepping behind me, he turned me to face the target. Then he showed me how to position the bow and aim. His warm breath on the back of my neck was more than a little distracting, and I had trouble paying attention to his instructions. That was probably why my bolt missed the target by a good three feet.

He picked up another bolt and handed it to me. “It’ll take a while to get used to.”

“They make it look so easy in the movies.” I grunted as I cocked the bow again. Then I lifted it and aimed at the target. It was a lot easier to concentrate without Nikolas standing so close, and I let out a slow breath as I peered through the scope and lined up the target. I knew my aim was good as soon as the bolt left the bow, and I whooped when it embedded itself in the target next to Nikolas’s.

Someone whistled, and I looked around as Chris approached us. He went to the target and examined the two bolts in the center. “Very nice, Sara. Now let’s see you do that again.”

I loaded another bolt and took aim. Chris put a good distance between himself and the target, but it wasn’t necessary. My bolt hit so close to the center that it left a long gouge in the one Nikolas had put there. I shot two more and they lined up beside the others.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Chris exclaimed when Nikolas and I walked over to examine the target. The three of us stared at the five bolts embedded in the center. They were so close it was difficult to pull them out.

“I told you she was a natural.” Jordan jogged over to join us. “Freaky, isn’t it? It must be some faerie thing.”

I frowned. “Hey, maybe I’m just good at something.”

Chris let out a laugh. “Sara, I’m not that good, and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“Right.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I saw you practicing at Westhorne, and no one is as good as you with a bow.”

Nikolas studied the target. “There is another way to test your aim. Let’s try you on the knives.”

“Knives?” That didn’t sound as safe as the crossbow.

“Throwing knives.” He went to the pile of weapons and picked up a leather harness containing six silver knives like the ones I’d seen him use before. “These are different from the dagger I gave you. They are a little smaller and heavier, and balanced in the center.” He laid one of the knives across his forefinger to show me. Then his hand blurred as he grasped the knife and sent it flying into the center of the second target.

Chris took one of the knives and copied Nikolas, nailing the third target. I hadn’t even seen him aim. Not to be outdone, Jordan held out her hand and Nikolas laid a knife in it. Her knife hit just inside the center ring of the second target.

“Show-offs.” I felt inadequate next to the three of them. Sure I was a good shot with the bow, but knives were a whole different matter.

Nikolas handed me a knife and I took it reluctantly. I must have made a face because he smiled. “It’s actually fun when you get the hang of it.”

I hefted the knife, trying to get a feel for it. Unlike my dagger, this knife was entirely silver to make it difficult for a vampire to pull it out. I couldn’t help but remember the first time I’d seen knives like this. Nikolas had thrown them at Eli to stop him from taking me from the alley in Portland.

Chris came to stand beside me. “Here, watch me.” He took a knife and slowly demonstrated how to position my body and where to hold the knife. He drew his arm back then swung it forward, more slowly this time, sending the knife into the target with a soft thunk. “Now you give it a go.”

I mimicked his movements, but the knife felt awkward in my hand, and I was sure I was going to slice my fingers off. Chris repositioned my hand on the knife, then stepped back and told me to throw. I did and the knife spun through the air and hit the ground a good five feet from the target.

“Not bad for your first throw,” Chris said as he went to collect my knife and those in the targets.

I snorted a laugh. “Not bad? I totally sucked.”

“You still have all your fingers and none of us are bleeding, so I’d call it a good start.” He walked back to me and held out one of the knives. “Want to go again?”

“If I say no, will you let me stop?”

He flashed his dimples. “We could always try the swords.”

“No thanks.” I took the knife and got into position again.

“Here, like this.” Jordan moved to stand beside me. Chris handed her a knife and she showed me how to hold it, explaining how it should feel in my grip. Then she slowly drew her arm back and swung it forward without releasing the knife so I could see the angle of her arm and the point at which she would release the weapon. She did that several times until I thought I understood the basic principles of knife throwing. Then she released the knife and it hit a few inches from the center.

“Do you need me to show you again?”

“No, I think I got it.” I lined up the target and threw my knife. It nicked the bottom of the target before it stuck into the ground.

“Much better.” Chris passed me another knife. This one actually stuck into the bottom of the target. So did the next four.

“How many do I have to throw?” I asked when Jordan went to collect the knives.

“We’ll stop when you can hit the second ring from the center,” Nikolas said.

Chris laughed. “We might be here a while.”

I punched Chris’s arm. “You’re family. Aren’t you supposed to be encouraging me or something?”

He snickered and jumped back out of my reach.

He was right, it did take a while. I threw dozens of times, and my arm was aching and my fingers hurt by the time I finally landed a knife in the elusive second ring. It wasn’t by chance either. It might have taken me a while to get a feel for the knives, but once I did, my aim improved. My next three knives hit the same ring. The fourth one nailed the center one. After that, every knife I threw hit home.

“Damn, you are lethal with those things,” Jordan exclaimed. “If you weren’t my BFF, I’d be totally jealous right now.” She cocked her head to one side and studied my target. “Who am I kidding? I am so jealous.”

Chris smiled broadly. “Cousin, if you are half as good with a sword, you are going to make one hell of a warrior.”

I flushed from their praise. “Let’s not get carried away.”

Nikolas hadn’t said anything, and I was nervous to look at him and see his expression. It surprised me how much I suddenly wanted his approval.

“Great work, Sara.”

The sincerity in his voice sent warmth through me. I turned to face him and the admiration in his eyes made my stomach do a little flip. If someone had told me a month ago that I’d react this way to a man’s approval, I would have laughed at them. But Nikolas wasn’t just any man. He was a fierce warrior and a strict trainer, and he did not throw his praise around lightly.

“Thanks.”

“We’ll add weapons to your daily training routine.”

I dared to hope. “Does that mean I don’t have to use the skipping rope anymore?”

“Nice try. We’ll start working out after this.”

The three of them laughed. I thought Jordan, at least, should’ve had compassion for me after her workout with Nikolas yesterday.

I barely made it through dinner that night without falling out of my chair. Nikolas had made up for the lost weeks and had put me through a grueling workout. I was pretty sure Chris had been right and a little payback was involved. After dinner, Jordan wanted to watch a movie, but I declined and dragged my aching body to bed. What I wouldn’t have given for thirty minutes in one of the healing baths they had at Westhorne. I was out as soon as my head touched the pillow.