“I saw your mask on the floor where you dropped it, the one decorated with serpents. That was yours, wasn’t it?”
He’d been upstairs, searching for the amulet, when he saw her walk down the hallway of the matriarch’s house, dropping her mask on the floor. It wasn’t until he’d walked into the altar room and seen her standing there, smelled her as he grabbed her waist and put his hand over her mouth, that he realized he couldn’t reveal that he knew her and use her name, so “viper” had just come out.
“Yes, that was mine,” she said, testing the grip of the daggers in her hands cautiously.
“Well, there you go. It suits you,” Ty said, grinning at her.
Ena smiled back, a dark grin he hadn’t seen before spreading over her face. It almost reminded him of the way she looked when she gave in to hervisanis—calm, in control, and powerful.If he was a lesser man, he would be intimidated, but he just found it hot as fuck.
“Okay then,” she said. “Show me what to do with these things.” She held the daggers out before her, inspecting them like they were likely to bite her.
“Well, first you have to work on your stance, like this,” he said, bending down and grabbing her thigh to move her leg into the proper position. He still wasn’t totally used to her wearing pants all the time—he’d only ever seen her in dresses before. Her thigh was supple to his touch, but muscular underneath. He resisted the urge to stroke his hand up and down it, or Iblis-forbid, bite it. Turner was still standing on the sidelines watching, though, and he didn’t necessarily want such an attentive audience for the things he wanted to do to her.
“Good,” he said as he stood up and assessed her stance. “You feel how steady you are in that position?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Ena said, looking down at her feet.
“Okay, now weak spots to go for, when you’re close to your opponent,” Ty said, stepping closer to her. She looked up at him with big blue eyes and he felt his heart stutter.
Fuck, she was pretty. She probably had no idea what those eyes did to him.
But, Iblis take him, that would have to wait until later. This was important for her.
“The throat,” he said, bringing her arm up so her dagger lay across his throat. “Underneath the ribs,” he said, bringing her arm down so the dagger was now pointed at his gut. “And, of course”—he guided her hand down with both of his, so the dagger was right at his balls—“the groin.”
“Hmm,” Ena said playfully, looking down at where her dagger was pointed. “You’re a bold daemon helping a witch put a dagger right to your balls.”
Ty chuckled before leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I know you wouldn’t dare. You like them too much. And plus,” he added, his voice dripping with lust as he ran a hand through her hair and tightened his grip on a handful of it. “If you did try something, you know I’d punish you for it.”
Ena gasped, a small sound that sent a shot of blood right to his cock. Turner could definitely overhear them, but Ty couldn’t help himself.
Ena was too much fun to play with.
“Okay, now,” he said, releasing her hair and pulling away from her again before things escalated. “I want you to come at me with those and we’ll go from there.”
Ena stood for a second, assessing, clearly unsure of where to begin, but Ty saw the moment she decided to just go for it. Her weight shifted forward, and she swung out quickly with the dagger in her right hand, going for Ty’s throat.
Ty, being a daemon, was naturally faster, so he dodged her easily, but then she changed hands, swinging towards his stomach with her left.
He was impressed with her natural instinct, but he dodged that one easily too.
“Not bad,” he said. “Try again.”
She tried a couple more times, missing him handily each time, and he could tell she was getting a little frustrated.
“Why don’t you have a weapon?” she asked, huffing a little bit. “Or am I too bad to even warrant that?”
“This is about you getting more comfortable with your strikes, not about defending mine, yet. Now try again, but this time, go for the gut first, then the throat in a combination move.”
She did as she was told, and she was honestly a natural. She had excellent control over her body and her movements, and her balance was impressive.
But Ty knew she was the type of person who got upset when they couldn’t do things perfectly the first time. That was why she never backed down from his challenges—she hated to lose.
The next time, he told her to do the same move again, but faster, and when he dodged her easily again, Turner laughed from the sidelines.
“What’s so funny?” Ena asked Turner, her voice snippy. “I didn’t ask for this, you know.”
“No, no, I know, it’s just…reminds me of my youth. Me and Steig going after this bastard, who could easily dodge us, at least at the beginning. It wasn’t until I got older that I could kick his ass.” Turner smiled at him, crossing his arms where he stood watching. “So don’t worry. It takes time, but you’ll get there.”
