Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106600 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 533(@200wpm)___ 426(@250wpm)___ 355(@300wpm)
This axe and shield aren’t the best weapons. They are only affective in close range combat. Lee’s swords allow her to keep a greater distance.
“What are you doing, Billy?” Ardan growls when I drop my guard and arms midattack.
“She will be fine. She’s trusting her instincts,” Lee says for me.
I hiss at her as I call two new weapons. Ninja stars appear in each hand. They are glowing blue and are cold to the touch as if made of ice. I begin to use the room as I run and circle Lee, throwing up a barrier to keep my attacks from harming anyone outside my opponent.
“I can feel your animosity toward me. It’s fueling a part of you. You want someone to blame, but it’s not that simple,” Lee calls after me.
“I thought we said no talking,” I say and toss one of the stars at her.
She blocks it with one of her blades and does the flash thing I’ve seen Ardan and the others do. I wonder if I can move that fast. As I have the thought, Lee pokes me in the butt with one of her blades as she appears behind me.
“Got ya,” she snickers.
I form another star to replace the one I threw and turn to toss the two I’m holding. Lee is fast, she disappears before either can nick her.
“She’s playing with you and getting under your skin. Don’t allow your emotions to give her the win. Make her earn your defeat. Use her overconfidence,” Ardan says in my head.
“How is she doing that thing? How is she moving so fast?”
“You can do it as well. See yourself forward then leap. She is right, you need to trust your instincts as you already have with your magic.”
I come out of my head and focus on using all I have learned. Lee does seem overconfident because she has knowledge I don’t have. She is also using my emotions to keep me from thinking and besting her.
I shove all my feelings down and go at her with skill and technique. Feeling like I need to find another advantage, I try to flash like she did. My heart pumps with excitement as I go from one side of the room to the next in the blink of an eye.
“That’s it, baby girl,” Ardan croons with pride.
I throw two more stars but they turn to water and drop to the floor in puddles just before slicing her skin. I stop and look at her in confusion. I had aimed to nick her arms.
“He will never allow you to hurt his mate,” Ardan says in my thoughts.
I huff and place my hands on my hips. Lee saunters over to me and tugs me into a hug, holding me so tight I can’t breathe. After the initial shock wears off, I return the hug.
“I couldn’t come for any of you until now, but make no mistake, I’ve wanted to since I was old enough to understand how to travel. I am not your enemy. I have always loved you even though you don’t remember me, I know you and I love you.
“I always have and always will and I’m willing to wait for you to learn to love me and let me in again. You are not alone, and no one will ever hurt you now that I’m here,” she whispers into my ear.
I tear up and grasp her tighter. Her hug squeezes out all my warring thoughts and the mistrust I’ve been harboring toward her. Somehow, I find the same enthusiasm I had when I found out I had three sisters.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I love you.”
The words are stuck in my throat. They are so hard for me to tell anyone. She gives me a squeeze as if to say she understands. I squeeze her back and give her a nod instead.
Ardan
“Next,” I grumble as I sit back in my desk chair and slouch in my seat.
My thoughts go back to training earlier. I’m proud of Billy. She did well. Lee is amazing too. I sense that Taylor and Ray will catch up soon.
As I told my brothers we should—the night Knox disappeared—I’ve been watching my mate and my brothers’ to see if anything else is changing about them. It’s been two days, and I can’t say anything has occurred to be alarmed about.
Although, I don’t know my brothers’ mates well enough to notice much, but I sense their increase in power. Billy, on the other hand, I know and there has been some subtle things that stood out while she was training.
I wish I were back in the training room instead of dealing with this. The craziness around here is only getting worse. I’m more frustrated than anything.
Some of this stuff shouldn’t be brought to me. At this point, I’m mediating nonsense. However, I don’t want this to fall on Kendrick so I need to weed out the foolishness that I can squash. I tune back in to the complaints as something catches my attention.