Page 32 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“I…”

“Leave, Odessa.”

“Of course,” she said with a small bow before leaving the training building.

“Look at you,” Luka said the moment the doors closed behind her. “Taking a stand against not one, not two, butthreepeople.”

“Shut up,” Tessa snapped. “I still don’t want to talk to you.”

“Then why not let me pass the time in the cells like your Dex suggested?”

“He’s notmyDex,” she muttered, focusing on the power still pooling in her hands.

Luka only grunted a sound of acknowledgment, but she could feel him watching her. With an exasperated huff, she closed her fists, extinguishing her light as she said, “What?”

Luka raised a brow. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t need to. You’re staring at me.”

“If memory serves, you like it when you can see me.”

Tessa pursed her lips, her power and the bond vibrating in her soul while she held his stare.

“So what now?” Luka asked, taking a few steps to the right.

She turned to keep him in her sight. “Now nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She turned more as he kept moving. “Yes, nothing. What are you doing here, Luka?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“No.”

He nodded, still moving. “It’s important, Tessa.”

“I don’t care.”

“Clearly,” he deadpanned. “Then I suppose we spar. If I win, you speak with me about some important matters. If you win, I sit quietly until Lord Jove returns.”

“I’m not going to spar with you. You’ll win,” she argued.

“Yet you’re already in a defensive stance.”

“I…” She trailed off, looking down to find her feet planted in the same godsdamn position he’d made her stand in for hours during all their training sessions.

That was when she realized he’d been circling, and she’d done this naturally, preparing for an attack.

“You did this on purpose,” she accused.

“Seemed like a waste not to utilize the space, and we have time,” he said. “Glad to see you retained everything since you left.”

“This isn’t the type of training I do with Odessa,” she said, still not breaking her stance for whatever reason. “She’s teaching me to use my magic. It’s not physical training.”

“What a waste,” Luka scoffed.

“It’s not a waste,” she retorted, resisting every urge to stomp her foot at his arrogance.

---