Page 32 of Forged Bonds

Afew days later

“If you use a sword like that, you’ll die,” I snapped, grabbing the handle of the blade out of Oswald’s loose grip. “What’s going to happen when it comes into contact with something, huh? You lose your grip and become weaponless.”

Oswald rolled his eyes with a faint smirk. “I’ve got my weapons regardless, angel. They’re right here,” he said, flashing his fangs at me.

The man was possibly the bulkiest of all of us, his arms muscular enough to hold an axe, and yet he was horrible with every weapon imaginable.

I would know.

We’d tried them all.

Not once did he get frustrated at his lack of skill, either. All he did was look cocky, like he wasn’t going to be the weak link to get us all killed when we took on Kylan. Having his life saved by a witch’s curse wasn’t going to happen more than once.

“Fangs aren’t going to work well against an army of vampires with all manners of magic and weapons they’re actually skilled at using.”

I almost called him out on referring to me as ‘angel’, but I knew he was doing it to antagonize me. Oswald was a test for my patience, and I wasn’t sure if Freya had put him up to it or if he was doing it all on his own. “He is right, Ozzy,” Nolan said from the sidelines.

He was perched on a chair with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. There were other things the leader of this company could be doing, but he was part of the pack now and needed to learn to fight as a unit with us. He hadn’t done much fighting.

Nolan spent all his time with a hard on tenting his cargo shorts, eye-fucking Oswald’s pecs and ignoring his shitty weapons handling. His attention would drift across the room to Freya every once in a while, before he dragged his gaze guiltily away from her.

“Kylan’s guys are going to be everywhere, and fangs work best on people slower than us. Try getting to me with your fangs alone.”

He rose to his feet, clad in brown sandals of all fucking things. I sighed and stepped out of the small training ring we’d created on one of the lesser-used floors. Considering the staff were all trained assassins, you’d think they would have had something like this already. They didn’t, Clement claiming their staff kept sharp with hands-on training and didn’t need time in a ring.

Oswald eyed Nolan hungrily, and I wondered if I was about to bear witness to a porno. If he got his teeth into his mate, they would fuck right on the scuffed floor. It was one of the many interesting but unnecessary tidbits of information I’d learned about them over the past few days.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Every time Nolan moved, I was reminded he was way more deadly than he appeared. He zipped around, evading Oswald’s clumsy attempts to snatch him up. When they were starting to pant from the exertion, he delivered a swift kick to the back of Ozzy’s knees, causing him to fall to the floor. One hand in his hair, he mimed snapping his neck, clicking his tongue. “And then, you’re dead,” he said. “Pick a weapon and get good at it. I’d rather not have you on the edge of death again considering our souls are bound.”

He sounded like it inconvenienced him, but I’d seen the way they looked at each other.

It was how I looked at Caspian. They’d just been a hell of a lot faster at figuring out their emotions.

Thin fingers brushed against my neck and I sighed, my body shivering. I turned to face Caspian with a raised eyebrow. “Are you done?”

“Freya likes my fighting style. We mesh well. She’s having more trouble with Emmett, but they’re working on it,” Cas said, gesturing over his shoulder to the other area.

“She likes your fighting style because you stand on the sidelines and support. The woman needs to learn how to let someone else lead.”

“We all know that’s never going to happen.” He was grinning at me, and I huffed. “How are things going with the cat?”

His gaze slid to Oswald, a little wary. They’d gotten along poorly when he’d been a familiar, and Cas was still hesitant to let down his guard around him. It would be a problem in a battle setting, so I’d have to throw them together in training eventually. “He’s shit at everything,” I said.

“At least he has sharp teeth.”

“It’s his only asset.”

“He’s strong too,” Cas said. I noticed him watching the flex of Oswald’s muscles as he tried again to take down Nolan with only his fangs. It was working about as well as it had the first time.

“Strong won’t do him much good if there’s a sword through his heart.”

And if he got his heart punctured and died, we’d have to piece Freya back together. She’d shatter from the loss, and might get herself killed when she went on a rampage. I nearly groaned aloud. He shouldn’t even be coming with his skill level. I wouldn’t allow it if I had any say in the matter. Unfortunately, any command I gave was guaranteed to be denied by Freya, Nolan, or both. In this case, they both wanted Ozzy to come.

Fucking idiots.They were the ones who loved him. I couldn’t care less if he died, and I was somehow the one who cared the most about his damned life.

“His familiar magic can protect him,” Cas said.

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