Page 19 of Legacy of Temptation

“But it’s flawed.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“If you fail to kill your target, you can’t use that move again.”

“Of course, I can use it again.” Heat seared her cheeks at the realization that Keeley and Benji had apparently grown bored of the weapons and were watching from the edge of the mat. Hopefully, they’d seen her epic takedown and not just the humiliating aftermath.

Logan popped to his feet. “No, you can’t. I’ll show you.”

“It’s okay, really. This can wait until the sparring class tomorrow when I’m in sweats and a T-shirt.”

“I won’t be your instructor tomorrow, and what you’re wearing is fine. Like I said, you need to be ready to fight in an evening gown.” He waggled his brow. “Or naked.”

He was way too charming for his own good. “Yeah, well, you’re wearing tactical pants and a T-shirt, and you still got taken to the mat by a girl in heels.”

“Touché.” He offered his hand to her. She could have popped to her feet just as easily as he had and thrown in a backflip for good measure, but she couldn’t reveal all her secrets all at once. The Elders would be apoplectic enough at what she’d already revealed.

Dumb klutz? I don’t think so.

But it couldn’t hurt to be polite. Reluctantly, she took his hand and let him tug her to her feet.

“Let’s go again,” he said. “We know what to expect from each other. Show me what you got.”

“Yeah, do it,” Sig called out as he joined the others. “I’ve never seen her spar with anyone except reporters.”

God, she couldn’t stand that guy. “Perhaps,” she replied calmly and through gritted teeth, “you’d prefer to take on Logan?”

Sig’s blue eyes flared slightly, but the shit-eating grin came back a heartbeat later, probably after his weasel brain came up with a way out of having to go up against a guy who was bigger and in better shape than all of them.

“I’m not the one he wants on the mat.”

“Come on, Eva.” Carlos said as he tested the edge of a wicked-looking blade he’d taken off a rack. “You haven’t been to one of my classes in weeks. Let’s see how you’re doing.”

She would kill him later. Maybe with that demon blade he was fondling.

There was no way out of this without looking like a fool, so she gave a resigned shrug and turned back to Logan. “Fine. But faces are off-limits.” She paused. “And breasts.” Getting boob-punched was not fun.

Logan’s smirk was shockingly sexy. “Sure thing.”

She sank into a defensive stance, fists up and ready for whatever he did.

Except it turned out she wasn’t ready for the way he strolled in a circle around her, his gait loose, shoulders relaxed, hands at his sides. He was either very sure of himself, or he doubted her skill.

Probably both.

She was going to look like an idiot, wasn’t she?

No. Now wasn’t the time for the doubt demons. The figurative kind, not the evil, in-the-flesh devils. Still, she’d banish them with a mental mantra she’d relied on since she was six years old, and a demon had haunted her dreams. She took comfort in words she’d been taught to repel it before she got a ward tattooed around her navel in a more permanent solution.

I exorcise you, spiritus diabolica!

Doubt demons banished for the moment, she returned Logan’s cocky smile. “If you’re waiting for me to throw the first punch, you’ll be waiting a long time. I’m not going to give you what you’re expecting—”

She didn’t even see him move. One moment, she was standing there, fists up, feet in a right-foot-forward combat stance. The next, her spine was getting intimate with the mat, and she was gasping for air. Again.

“Not. Fair,” she croaked.

Laughing, Logan offered her his hand once more. This time, she refused it. If he was going to play dirty, she could too.

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