Chapter 25
The left hook comes from nowhere, catching my jaw. I go down hard.
“Shit. Are you okay?” Elle asks, standing over me. I give a weak nod, and she helps me stand up. “You have to focus,” she says. I nod again, resetting and settling back into my usual stance.
After my disaster of a date with Asmo, I desperately needed a run to clear my thoughts.
The moment I woke up, I went on a six-mile run, then immediately sought out Elle and asked if she could meet me to train.
I never imagined that I’d be spending my Saturday mornings engaging in physical combat, but here we are.
After two weeks of training, I’m able to string simple movements together and attack, not just dodge blows.
“Want to keep practicing but add in some of your magic?” she asks.
I nod eagerly. I’ve been asking her if we can add my magic in, but the answer has been no.
She’s been wanting me to get a solid base of physical training before adding that portion in.
I’m surprised she’s asking me about it today.
I don’t feel like I’ve fully mastered the physical training portion yet, but I’m not going to say no.
“I’m going to attack you slowly, and I want you to fight back using a combination of your magic and your physical skills. Don’t worry about hurting me because you won’t,” she says. “You don’t have to do anything specific with your magic. Just do what feels right.”
I nod again, and she frowns at me. “You okay today? You’re oddly quiet.”
I shrug. “It was a weird night with Asmo, but I’ll tell you about it later.”
She nods in understanding, then begins to move toward me, throwing a slow punch in my direction. I immediately knock the punch away using my hand. She repeats the movement with her other hand, and I do the same thing.
“If you’re just going to use physical skills to block, I’ll start coming faster.”
True to her word, she throws a faster punch.
I bring my magic to the surface and concentrate on using a small gust of wind to knock her hand out of its path.
She gives me a brief nod of approval. She starts to run toward me, albeit slowly, and I dodge out of her way, sending another gust of wind to prevent her from running back to me for a second attempt.
“Let’s liven this up a little,” she says. We’re in the basement of the training center, and she walks to the weapons wall and selects a sword from the collection of deadly instruments.
My mouth goes dry, and my heart rate begins to increase. Surely she doesn’t mean to use that on me?
“Are you joking right now?” I ask her.
“No! This is more realistic. Come on,” she says, then runs toward me.
She wields the sword like it weighs nothing, swinging it toward me effortlessly.
Again, I block her movement with a wall of wind.
She uses the sword to slice through the wind, and then she’s through, running toward me again. Think, think, think.
I summon water and wet the ground in front of her, then send a wave of freezing wind over the water.
The water instantly freezes, and she loses traction, slipping on the ice and landing on her ass.
She looks at me, a smile on her face, before rolling off the ice, sword still in her hand, and lunges at me.
Fucking hell, Elle.
I summon fire, and I put a protective ring of fire around me, the flames dancing high. A small bead of sweat forms on my forehead from the heat radiating around me. Elle circles the border, trying to find weak points, trying to get inside the circle without harming herself. But she can’t.
She lays the sword down and gives me a deep bow.
“I surrender,” she says, a smirk on her face.
I let the flames die and jump into the air, exclaiming, “Yes!”
“That was impressive! Really fast thinking. You also didn’t freeze as soon as I started pressing you more. You thought fast and creatively. Well done,” she says with a huge grin.
We continue practicing for the next hour, with her pressing me harder and harder, forcing me to use different sources of my magic and use them creatively to defend myself. I have a hard time attacking her and tend to just use my magic to fend off attacks.
“We need to work on you getting over your fear of attacking,” she says as we grab our waters and exit the basement.
I sigh and say, “Yeah, I just don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“That may be the only way you survive, Mae. Do you think the cambion felt that way? No. And thank the Mother Asmo wasn’t scared to kill to keep you safe.” She glares at me pointedly before opening the door back to the first floor.
I stare at the scene in front of me.
A black snow leopard cuts through the air, paws reaching for a massive grizzly bear.
The bear swats it away, but the leopard isn’t deterred.
It bounds back up and darts behind the bear, pouncing on its back.
Before it can sink its teeth into the bear’s thick, fur-lined neck, an enormous white wolf pounces on the cougar, knocking it from the bear.
But before the bear can escape, the wolf leaps onto its back.
In an instant, the bear transforms, forcing the wolf to leap away as his massive form gives way to…a very nude Barrett.
“What is this? Attack Barrett Day?” he huffs, standing and walking to the edge of the training room. His backside is on full display, powerful back muscles covered in thick, curly hair. I stifle a smile. He digs in one of the bags against the wall and pulls out a pair of shorts to slide on.
The wolf and leopard transform, revealing August and Koa. Barrett tosses them each a pair of shorts.
I shoot a glance at Elle, but her eyes are locked on the scene in front of us. I clear my throat, and August’s gaze snaps toward us.
“Mae!” he exclaims, a pair of blue shorts now slung across his hips. “Sorry, we didn’t know you were watching. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have shifted so carelessly.”
I wave him away. “Sorry to intrude. It was cool to watch.”
Barrett downs an entire glass of water, then rolls his eyes. “Yeah, cool to watch me get beat up.”
The training center doors open. The two Serpent Princes stride in, both dressed in black training gear.
“Ah, we thought you two were too scared after yesterday’s fight,” Barrett jabs at them playfully.
“Cute,” Asmo mutters.
Barrett gestures toward Elle and me. “We do have an audience, so please refrain from shifting while facing them.”
Asmo and Marik glance toward us. Asmo’s gaze lingers momentarily on me before flitting back to the group of shirtless High Princes, but Marik smiles when he sees me. Beside me, Elle plops down on the training center floor. She stretches her long legs out, then leans back on the palms of her hands.
“This is about to get good,” she mutters.
I join her on the floor, watching as the two newcomers begin a series of dynamic stretches.
“Remember, no cheap shots,” Barrett says, eyes glued on Asmo.
“The enemy will use any advantage they can get,” Asmo counters.
Koa sighs, sounding utterly exhausted. “How many times do I have to remind you that the kingdom has been at peace for centuries? There is no enemy.”
Asmo walks gracefully as ever to the opposite side of the training room. “That callous attitude is the reason Mae got hurt on your watch.” I bristle at the reminder. So does Koa.
I’m not sure how I could have missed it, but at some point, Asmo removed his shirt. And every single inch of him is lined with cut muscle. He rolls his shoulders back in one fluid motion, his black snake tattoo moving as he carefully stretches each muscle.
Koa rolls his eyes. “Whatever, man.” He turns his back on Asmo.
That was his first mistake. In the blink of an eye, Asmo shifts.
A massive light gray snake with a body the width of a tree trunk slithers across the mat toward Koa with an alarming speed.
Koa whirls, shifting in an instant to his leopard form.
His answering snarl raises the hair on the back of my neck.
Asmo slows as he circles Koa, trapping him inside.
Koa could jump, but I have no doubt that Asmo would be able to snatch him up in his powerful jaws with one quick movement. Instead, Koa sinks into a prowl, sharp teeth bared, a low growl emanating from his throat as Asmo continues to circle him.
“Cut the shit, Az,” Marik calls from the edge of the room.
Asmo circles Koa once more, then slowly begins to widen the circle around Koa, creating open space for him to exit the entrapment.
Asmo gives him one more glare, then turns his gaze to me. I inhale sharply.
The snake’s eyes are still Asmo’s, the light green still surrounding the black iris. He slithers toward me slowly. I sit up, aching to be near him. My hand twitches as if it has its own desire to touch Asmo’s scales.
Then, Koa makes his second mistake.
He pounces directly onto Asmo’s back.
His black claws pierce Asmo’s gray scales, drawing blood in an instant. Asmo whips around, thrashing his massive body and sending Koa flying. His feline form hits the floor with a thump.
Asmo slithers toward him with a speed I didn’t expect and angles himself over Koa. He opens his massive jaw, a luminescent strand of venom hanging from a fang the size of my hand.
Koa whimpers and shifts to his human form. Asmo doesn’t take his eyes off Koa, who lies naked before him, hands up in surrender. Blood drips from Asmo’s back, eight bright red streams spilling down the curves of his back.
“Az,” Marik warns, voice low.
And just like that, it’s over. Asmo shifts, naked backside on display as he stands over Koa, still lying on the ground.
“What the fuck, man?” Koa shouts, now covering himself with one hand as he uses the other to stand.
“You started it,” Asmo fires back as he turns, both hands covering his groin.
My cheeks warm as I watch him, as I eye the muscles surrounding his hips.
“You want to get onto me about cheap shots?” Asmo fires at Barrett.
“Maybe talk to the pussy cat next time. Jumping on my back instead of facing me head-on?”