Page 16 of Lady of Darkness

Rage roiled in her gut. “You are an ass,” she hissed, her voice lethal.

A half grin kicked up on his mouth. “Most would agree with you, Lady, but the fact remains that you throwing a fit does not get you what you want. I am not Cassius.”

“Donotmake assumptions about things you know nothing about.”

Ryker smirked at her. “I do not need to assume anything. It is clear how every man in your life feels about you. It was evident the day I watched them with you in the training barracks. Drake sees you as a little sister to protect. Mikale sees you as a pet to be tamed and prized. And Cassius—”

There was a deafening boom. Birds flocked to the sky as branches from the surrounding trees crashed to the ground and shattered into thousands of pieces. Ryker pressed himself flat onto Scarlett, pressing her into the ground. She could feel his heart racing as fast as her own, and she could feel every part of him against her, something inside her seeming to flicker in response.

In the silence that followed, Ryker slowly sat up, rolling off her and sitting back on his heels. She pushed herself up onto her elbows and surveyed the clearing around her. Shards of black littered the surrounding area. She pushed herself higher into a sitting position.

“Are you all right?” Ryker asked.

She didn’t look at him as she reached out a hand to touch one of the shards. They were branches, but they were black as night. They had been frozen and then shattered when they fell to the ground. She looked at the trees. All were perfectly normal, their bark brown and leaves green, just as a tree should be in midsummer. There was no ice anywhere else.

“Scarlett,” he said quietly. She turned to Ryker to find him staring at her. “Where is your ring?”

“My ring?” she asked, looking down at her hands.

“Yes. The ring you said your mother gave you.”

“I didn’t put it on this morning. I didn’t even think of it as I rushed out to meet you. What does it matter anyway? Branches just… exploded everywhere. How the hell does that happen?”

Ryker didn’t say a word, finally tearing his gaze from her and looking around. He took the shard Scarlett was holding and turned it over in his own hands. After a moment, he stood and held out a hand to help her up. Her legs were shaking as she took it, and he yanked her to her feet. She stumbled forward, Ryker catching her in his arms. And as they stood there, Ryker steadying her, she again felt as if she knew him. It was the same feeling she’d had when she’d watched him leaning against the wall in the training barracks.

“Have we met before?” she asked, working to keep her voice from trembling at what had just happened.

“What?”

“I swear we’ve met before. I feel like I recognize you in some weird way…” she trailed off. Ryker seemed to consider something, but then he was quickly lowering his arms.

“I am pretty sure I would remember if I had met such a skilled, albeit incredibly spoiled Lady, in these lands,” he said, starting back down the path. “Come on. I am going to show you how you could have broken my hold and been an actual challenge in that little fight we just had.”

Scarlett stuck her tongue out to his back and started to trail after him, shards of shattered, frozen branches crunching under her boots.

CHAPTER 5

SCARLETT

“You need to strengthen your core. It will help you maintain balance even when your opponents are physically stronger than you,” Ryker told Scarlett, reaching down to help her from the ground where he’d knocked her on her ass…again.

Scarlett scowled at him. “Just add it to our training routine,” she grumbled, as she was yanked to her feet. Her legs were sore from the extra two miles he’d made her run that morning when she had asked him if that ever-present scowl was permanently stuck on his face, and her arms were sore from the new maneuvers he’d been making her practice over and over. Her shoulders hurt in places she didn’t even know they could hurt. She was looking forward to a hot bath before bed tonight to soothe all the soreness.

“Oh, there are lots of ways to strengthen your core. I am sure Mikale could help in more ways than one,” he said, winking at her.

“Mikale is a fucking ass,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

After a few weeks of training and studying him, this new place of easy teasing and conversation was one that Scarlett didn’t mind. They were far from friends. She still annoyed the hell out of him. He still said things that pissed her off. More than once she’d announced they were done for the day. The days following such a time,he usually made her run extra miles and seemed to “accidentally” strike her harder with whatever weapon they were training with.

They had begun sneaking in evening sessions a few times a week when possible. She had forgotten what it was like to be in control of her body and had found comfort in her old habits and ways as she sparred and felt her muscles regaining lost strength.

One such evening, when he had again brought up her relationship with Cassius, she had announced they were done for the night. She had chucked her short sword to his feet and turned on her heel to leave, and a second later, she had found herself on her back in the training galley. Ryker had tackled her and was not only sitting on top of her, but pinning her arms to her sides. She knew all kinds of fancy maneuvers. Ryker had even taught her some new ones since the clearing, but that did nothing when he still had brute strength on his side.

“You do not get to decide when we are done,” he had snarled at her, his lips set in a feral sneer.

“Get. Off. Of. Me,” Scarlett had replied, her voice a lethal whisper as she enunciated each word.

His face had turned smug as he stood and snapped, “Pick up your weapon.”

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