Page 54 of A City of Smoke and Demons
‘Ez,’ Jem said, not lowering his guard. ‘First blood.’
Startled, Ezra touched his nose. His fingers came away smeared with red. ‘Huh.’
Jem was smiling as he let his fists fall.
‘You enjoyed that.’
‘Enjoyed beating you? Yeah, I did.’ Jem retrieved his shirt and used it to wipe the sweat off his face and torso. Ezra did the same, his chest heaving from exertion, a dull throb in the middle of his face. Jem turned to him. ‘You’re rusty, Ez.’
‘Cheers.’
‘I mean it. If you’re going to come with us when we hunt, you need to get yourself back to where you used to be,’ Jem said. In the background, Tobias groaned. That was motivation enough for Ezra, who nodded.
‘Consider it done.’
Tobias was going to be harder to win over than Analise. He jumped down from the platform, his shirt around his neck. She’d stopped looking at the floor; now, her eyes were tracing the curve of Ezra’s muscles—muscles he apparently needed to harden. Her cheeks flushed.
‘Enjoy the show?’ he asked.
She nodded, surprising him. ‘I think the best part was when Jem punched you in the face.’
For the next two mornings, Ezra was hauled from bed and dragged to the basement by Jem; on the third day, to Ezra’s annoyance, Tobias was waiting for them.
‘Oh, you’ve brought me something I can smash for breakfast.’ He chuckled, slinging an arm around Jem’s shoulders casually. ‘I know he’s your pet, but am I allowed to hurt him, just a little bit?’
‘Fuck off, Tobias,’ Ezra growled. ‘It’s too early for your shit.’
Tobias removed his arm from Jem’s shoulders, gesturing to the ring, blue eyes hard. ‘You’ve been away from the Gendarme too long, Ezra. Don’t you remember those chilly mornings in the training yard?’
‘I remember kicking your arse,’ Ezra said. ‘I remember—’
He broke off mid-sentence as Analise and Lira entered the basement. Analise was wearing the same skin-tight, black outfit as Lira, obviously designed for movement, but where the dark-haired demon hunter was all muscle and lithe limbs, the soft curves of Analise’s body were on display.
‘Fuck me,’ Ezra breathed.
‘I thought you said you’d be professional. Put your tongue back in your head,’ Jem scolded.
‘I plan on putting my tongue somewhere, but I can assure you, it isn’t in my head.’
Jem sighed. ‘I’d love to know how many times you’ve been slapped, Ez.’
‘It’s not as many as you might think.’ Ezra watched Analise run her hands over herself self-consciously.
‘He pays them to suffer his shit,’ Tobias put in.
‘And how much do you pay Jem?’ Ezra asked, while Jem groaned and muttered under his breath.
Tobias’ moustache twitched. ‘I pay him with my tongue.’
As he strutted away, Jem chuckled. ‘You walked into that one.’
‘Yes, I did. I don’t recall him having a sense of humour.’
‘He’s not as terrible as you think,’ Jem said with uncharacteristic fondness.
Ezra raised his eyebrows.
‘Would I bother with him if he was?’
