Panting, I folded over, placing my hands on my knees for support as I gulped down breath after breath.
Despite the cold of the day, sweat wet my brow, dripping down the side of my face. The heat of the inferno Erik controlled was severe enough that I had no idea how my skin had not melted off the bone.
“You okay?” Erik asked from beside me.
“Fine.” I straightened, only for the world to tilt as my head stubbornly continued to spin. I was so weak. How could I even hope of standing against the Sidhe?
An arm came around my waist, pulling me towards him, his body supporting mine. A few breaths later, the world stilled, and I pushed him away.
“Stop it,” I snapped.
Confusion touched Erik’s features, softening them. “Stop what?”
“The hovering.”
“This is basically the first I have seen you all day,” he stated, observing my face as if looking for a hint as to what thoughts were running around in my brain.
I released a sharp breath. “If I fall, I can get up on my own. I don’t need your help.”
He scanned my face. “What’s with you?”
“Nothing.” I turned, marching away.
“We should take a break,” Erik said from behind me.
“No.” I continued forward.
A hand caught my wrist, halting me. “You are exhausted. We all are tired and can use a break to eat and rest.”
“I need to keep going.” My gaze dropped to his hold on my arm. “Unhand me.” Suddenly desperation came over me, pushing me to go, to keep moving. I couldn’t break. Not when I needed to improve. Not when resting threatened my mind from crumbling in on itself again.
I could hardly manage the mess I had become.
My life had turned into a nightmare I could not wake from. Landin was gone. There was no recovery from that. The cold within settled deep into my bones, one that could smother even the hottest of flames. I did not know whether this was something I could ever heal from. Even in the daylight, with my eyes wide open, I found myself too deep in the nightmare. My only hope was to keep moving, to never stop. To not think.
Erik’s gaze searched mine. “Pushing yourself without rest will only worsen the quality of your performance and growth. You will push yourself into the ground right where you stand if you keep going like this. Not moving forward in any way.”
His words were sound, but I was not in a place to hear him. I tried to turn and leave, but his hold remained. “Let. Go. Now.” I demanded.
Erik’s jaw clenched, yet he released me.
Spinning around, I didn’t even get to make a single step before a wall of fire formed, barring me from going anywhere.
“You are hurting, and you are using this training as a desperate escape from that pain. It is not constructive, nor is it helpful,” he said from behind me while I stared at the flames.
Pivoting, my glare clashed with his. Determination etched into his handsome face. There was no lenience in his stance on the matter, but this was not his home, not his lands. It was mine. I did not follow his orders.
My muscles tensed, my body growing rigid. “You seem toforget where you are. I will drop you to your knees if you do not drop the flames.”
Erik’s gaze narrowed, and he took a single deliberate step towards me. “If that is what you need to do. Then go ahead.” There was not an ounce of uncertainty in his tone.
“You think I won’t?”
Midnight blue eyes scanned my face. “I am certain you would if I were an actual threat.”
He was wrong.
I smirked just before shoving all my strength into the mist that filled his lungs in the blink of an eye.
