Page 103 of Savage Fate

“Getting a little slow now that you aren’t training every day, are you?” Hawk danced out of my reach, taunting me. “Are you out of shape, Tate?”

I snorted. “And here I thought you wanted me to take it easy on you. Why provoke me?”

He shrugged and gave a light chuckle. “Because it’s more fun.”

Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I ducked under his arm, letting my smaller stature work in my favor. He never sawmy hit to his ribs coming and grunted at the impact. I went the extra mile just to annoy him and swept his legs out from under him as he tried to grab me.

As Hawk fell toward the ground, I dropped and thrust my hand out, catching his head before his skull slammed into the grass. He would have been fine, but I’d rather not rattle his brain more than it already was.

He grinned despite losing the round. “Thanks for catching me, Strawberry Shortcake.”

“What are best friends for?” I never thought I’d be able to call him that again after what happened between us, but staying in Mohan Wilds had healed some of the deep pain within him, and he didn’t hate my guts anymore.

Before I could reach my hand out to help him, Hawk did one of those fancy flips and landed on his feet, pulling me up with him. Ryan was thoroughly impressed, clapping for his new hero.

“Size doesn’t matter when you’ve got skill.” Hawk, of course, used this to make a point as if his loss was planned. “Tate’s small, but she can take on opponents twice her size or more.” He draped his arm around my shoulders and tucked me into him, winking at Mina.

The strawberry blond shifter rolled her eyes even as she tried to mask her smile. Hawk’s charm was definitely getting to her.

“When do we get to learn how to use a sword?” Will, Mina’s twin, sliced the air with an invisible blade. “I’d look badass with a sword. I’ll name it Beast Slayer.”

Mina scoffed. “Fighting with a sword in a video game is not the same as real life, Will. You look like such a tool right now.”

Even though she had no sword training, Mina had improvised when the nest of agrigon demons attacked us. Her brother could probably pick up on it quickly too.

“I’m excited just to learn more defensive skills.” Hailey was also watching from the sidelines. After Fane and I returned toMohan Wilds, she approached me and asked if I could teach her some moves. She never wanted to be in a vulnerable position for the Collective Hunt or this other cloaked group to snatch her.

Hawk jogged toward the deck and grabbed his water bottle from the steps. “Swords will come later, but I like your enthusiasm, Will. Knowing how to wield one is pretty awesome.”

“Aw, can’t you and Tate just give us a little show with swords?” Ryan asked. “That would be so cool!”

I chuckled as I passed Hawk’s newest fan en route to the deck. “Maybe next time.”

He turned his puppy face on Hawk and pinched his thumb and index finger together. “How about a minishow?”

Immediately falling for the kid’s pleading, Hawk angled toward me. “Maybe we could do just a little display.”

“You are such a softy, Brycen.” I chuckled and bent down to grab my water, and the backyard suddenly spun.

Oh shit.

Not this again.

Chapter

Thirty-One

I grabbedthe railing and landed on my ass as I took a seat, trying to play it off. The backyard whirled like a merry-go-round, and my stomach heaved.

Thankfully, not much was in it.

After returning to Mohan Wilds, those pesky side effects had also slowly returned. I’d had a few dizzy spells, and my appetite had diminished. My hands hadn’t started shaking.

Yet.

What was the deal? I’d felt so much better in Blackwater Falls and Illyria, so I’d thought the withdrawals had run their course.

The back door opened, and my neck tattoo tingled as Fane stepped out, his burning gaze settling on me. A flood of heat penetrated my veins at his mere presence. Now that Kaspin’s spell had been removed and Fane didn’t want to kill me, he couldn’t stop touching me.

---