Shadow Kin (37 page)

Authors: M.J. Scott

BOOK: Shadow Kin

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As soon as I became aware, the need swooped and flared, almost causing me to stumble as a fierce piercing jolt of desire shook through me.

Night-scalded
hell
. I blinked sweat out of my eyes and redoubled my efforts, hoping I could drive the need out through sheer physical exertion. It had worked in the past.

It didn’t work so well now.

“Stop!” Guy roared. My sword met Liam’s for one final ringing clash that echoed around the hall as everyone else drew apart faster than us. There were murmured comments from the knights as I turned to face Guy, sword still at the ready.

Perhaps they thought I couldn’t hear, but my ears caught the muttered “What’s she even doing here?” perfectly clearly.

Apparently Guy’s hearing was quite acute as well. “
She
,” he said with deadly emphasis, “is here to show you puppies how things are done in the real world.” He strode across to the wall and selected a short sword.

My heart sank. Fight Guy? While fighting the need? Not quite what I was hoping for.

“Lily, would you care to demonstrate what a real fight looks like?” Guy hefted the sword. I was glad he’d chosen a smaller weapon than his usual blade. I had a chance of getting within reach of him without getting my head taken off.

I looked across at Simon, the reason I was here in the middle of all of this. The one who’d turned my life upside down, and suddenly in place of the need, there was anger. Fury almost. What right did he have to bring all this trouble into my life? “I’ll fight Simon,” I said coldly.

Beside me, Guy made a half-choked sound of amusement.

Simon’s eyebrows shot up. Then he shook his head sharply. “I don’t fight for entertainment.”

“Scared to fight a girl?”

He stood there, arms crossed. “No. I’m not going to fight you, Lily.”

I set my teeth as my anger kicked up another notch. Did he think just because he’d bested me once he could do so any time he chose? I reached for the dagger at my hip, transferring my sword to my left hand. “Well, if you won’t fight for entertainment, how about for real?” I said, and launched myself across the floor.

I watched Lily’s face as she came toward me at a flat run. She was serious, that much was plain. Something had pushed her too far and right at this moment, I didn’t doubt she’d draw my blood if she could.

I didn’t want to fight but I was going to have to. A few rounds at least, until she calmed down. I drew my sword, waiting until the last possible moment before raising it to meet her blow and spin away.

Across the sand Guy grinned at me. The bastard was enjoying this. Well, his turn would come. Lily’s next attack came lightning fast and for the next few minutes I was occupied with stopping her from succeeding in taking my head off.

She was good. More than good. I already knew that. And, as we fought, I felt the familiar unwanted exhilaration sing through my veins. It felt good to have the sword in my hand, good to swing it.

Too good.

Which was reason enough to shut her down as soon as possible. My opportunity came soon enough. She overreached after a particularly vicious flurry of blows and tipped slightly off balance. I took advantage of her distraction as she tried to recover to duck under her guard, reached out and pressed my hand against her neck, sending a jolt of power down the nerves of her arms to numb them. Her sword and dagger fell to the ground.

“Bastard,” she hissed. “That’s cheating.”

“I said I wouldn’t fight you,” I replied. “So, your choice. Do you want the use of your arms back?”

She bared her teeth at me but nodded.

I bent to retrieve her weapons, keeping my eyes on her to make sure she didn’t decide to try to kick me in the head. “All right. Now, if you want to hit someone, I’m sure Guy will oblige.”

“Fine,” Lily spat. “A real warrior would be more of a challenge anyway.”

I shook my head at her. “We’ll talk about this when you’ve calmed down.” I reversed the nerve block, passed her the sword and dagger, and stepped back off the sparring field.

Lily glared at me for a long ten seconds or so, then turned to Guy. “You have any problem fighting me?” she said.

He shook his head, grinning nastily. “None whatsoever. Real-world rules okay by you, shadow?”

“Real-world rules?” she questioned. “What are those?”

“Anything goes,” Guy said, and drew his sword.

Five minutes later I was beginning to wonder if I’d made a mistake in reversing the nerve block. Lily didn’t seem to have calmed down any. She and Guy were fighting like oldschool gladiators.

I kept my hand on my sword, ready to intervene and fighting down my own instinct to join in with an effort of will. I sparred with Guy occasionally to keep my skills in, but we didn’t fight full out. I had stepped away from that path a long time ago and didn’t want the reminder of just why I’d made my choice.

Lily flipped backward to avoid Guy’s sword swinging almost too fast to see at her torso. She landed in a crouch, swept up a handful of sand, flung it at Guy’s face, and then drove forward with a flurry of blows that had the watching knights roaring approval and Guy retreating.

But only for a moment. Guy grinned fiercely, feinted, executed a neat spin of his own that finished with a side kick that would’ve broken her ribs had it connected. Having been the recipient of just such a kick on more than one occasion, I winced reflexively.

But Lily just dodged, her eyes fixed on Guy, sword flashing as she attacked again.

Despite my own dislike of the whole situation, I had to admit I was torn between pleasure at the sheer beauty of her in full flight, braided hair swinging behind her, the sleek lines of her body arcing gracefully, and heart-clutching fear that one of them was going to get seriously hurt.

Steel rang as they fought. Fought dirty. Nothing measured or by the book. They both used elbows and fists, feet, and the terrain as they battled. Exactly the way I’d been taught all those years ago.

I watched, pulse pounding, as Lily ducked another potentially fatal blow, ran full tilt past Guy to leap and grab a shield from the wall and send it spinning back toward him. Guy moved, but not quite fast enough, and the shield caught his sword at precisely the right—or wrong–angle and sent it flying from his hand.

Lily pressed the attack, reversing her sword neatly to drive the pommel like a hammer toward Guy’s head as he recovered from the force of the shield’s impact. Her shirt was wet with sweat, turning it transparent in places. She wore something underneath, but it didn’t do much to hide the swell of her breasts beneath the thin cotton.

Suddenly I wanted everyone else to disappear, so I could tackle her to the sand and get my hands on her again. Work out the adrenaline and confusion in a way just as primal as the fight going on in front of me.

Guy dove for his sword, but Lily kicked it out of his reach. Then a crazed smile lit her face and she threw her own sword away, switching to kicks and blows.

Her speed and ferociousness—a stomach-jolting reminder of exactly who she was and how she’d gotten that way—as she closed with Guy was breathtaking, but without the sword, Guy had the advantage of height and reach and weight. Within a minute or so, Guy stepped close, ducked her flying punch to his head, caught her, twisted, and sent her sailing through the air to land in a crashing series of rolls in the sand.

“Enough!” The words tore from my throat before I was even aware of opening my mouth. Guy turned and held up his hands with a nod. The novices broke into a round of applause as Lily lifted her head from the sand, body tensed. She registered that Guy wasn’t attacking and relaxed before rolling slowly to a seated position. When our gazes connected, she looked surprised to see me, as though she’d forgotten I was there.

Her cheeks were flushed from the fight, but it seemed to me they grew suddenly pinker. Her hand came up to smooth the hair from her face, tongue flicking quickly to moisten those lush lips. She pushed to her feet, the action pressing her breasts forward against her shirt again.

Gods and suns. What was wrong with me that seeing her like this—seeing her display those skills that made her a killer—only made me want her more? Her eyes stayed with mine and the air seemed to crackle between us.

Which wasn’t going to do either of us any good while we were stuck in the gods-damned Brother House.

Guy came toward me, brushing sand from his clothes, looking disgustingly cheerful. “She can fight, little brother.”

I kept my eyes on Lily. She stared back. “Yes, I know. Still, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break her. We’ve spent quite a bit of time healing her the last few days.”

Guy laughed, then winced, touching a reddened mark on the side of his face. “As long as you ask her to extend me the same courtesy. Ow,” he said meditatively, feeling along his jaw. Then his attention snapped back to his novices. “Right, puppies. That’s how it’s done. Now, stop lazing about. Liam, second drills, please.”

I didn’t pay much attention as the knights exchanged their swords for long padded staffs. Instead I crossed to Lily, who stood on the sandy square brushing her clothes clean, much as Guy had done.

My hands itched to help her. “Need some assistance?” I said softly.

Her pupils flared, her eyes clear of their earlier fury, and unless I was imagining it, her cheeks darkened further. But she stepped out of reach.

“No, thank you,” she said slowly. She swiped at her sleeves a few more times, then dropped her hands.

Damn. This was almost as awkward as those first few minutes on the roof. She was jittery around me. Nervous as . . . well, as a virgin who’d been deflowered and wasn’t sure of her lover’s response the morning after. Was that why she’d been so angry earlier?

Not that I could do anything to reassure her right now. Not with this particular audience. “Are you done here?”

She looked past my shoulder, at the sparring knights, a peculiar expression shading her face for a moment. Then she nodded. “Yes. I’m done.”

Chapter Sixteen

I kept my distance as we walked back to the main building. Adrenaline from the sparring session buzzed through me, but underneath the high, the need sang too. Simon smelled far too good.

My surge of anger had faded, burned away by exertion. Though Simon’s reluctance to fight still puzzled me. I sighed, feeling suddenly tired. And in need of clean clothes. I rubbed my forearm where it was scraped from one of my falls. I could feel similar abraded patches on my ribs and left thigh. Leather would have spared me those.

“Let me see that.” Simon reached for my arm.

I twitched it away. “It’s just a scrape. And why I need more leathers,” I said.

He frowned but didn’t try again. “Are you planning on picking more fights?”

“Who knows what I’ll have to do in the next few weeks?” I said. “Why didn’t you want to fight me?” I added.

“I don’t believe in violence.”

“You fought at Halcyon,” I objected. He had fought me at his house too.

“I will fight to defend myself. I don’t do it for entertainment.”