I touched where she’d hit my collarbone. The ache hurt more than usual.
“I thought you came to spar; talking is not sparring.”
“Can’t I do both?” I quipped.
“No,” she kicked at my feet, and I hit the floor, hard. “You’re slow today.”
When I didn’t get up immediately, Renata let out a sigh.
“We both want to make the vow eventually, when we’re free.”
I looked up, rubbing my sore ankle.
“Doesn’t that scare you? The idea of fusing your soul with another? It can never be undone.”
“Nothing scares me anymore.” She lightly kicked my wounded ankle, and I flinched. “Now, are you done nursing that scratch?”
“Yes,” I muttered.
“Good, then get up. Your stance was all wrong. That’s why it was so easy to knock you down.”
I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the dull throb spreading up my leg.
I swung at her, but my arm felt like lead, barely rising fast enough to meet her strike. She easily sidestepped, her foot catching my ribs, and I stumbled backward, gasping. My vision swam, the harsh lights above the gym streaking my peripheral.
Renata didn’t give me a moment to recover. She lunged again, fists moving too fast for me to track, and I blocked clumsily, the force reverberating up my arms and into my shoulders. My breath came in shallow bursts, each inhale tasting metallic.
“You’re holding back,” she said, her voice sharp.
Instead of explaining how strange I felt, I nodded stiffly, circling her, trying to look more in control than I was.
The next flurry of strikes forced me backward, sliding across the mat. My knuckles scraped the thin padding, leaving little welts, and the floor smelled faintly of old blood and sweat. My chest heaved, and I felt a strange flutter in my temples—lightheaded, dizzy—but I pushed through, parrying her blows as best I could.
“You’re… slow,” she said again, breathing evenly, like she hadn’t exerted herself at all. “Why?”
I struggled to catch my breath; black spots speckling my vision.
“Honestly, I’m not sure.”
“Does Rowan know?”
I deflected. “WhereisRowan?”
“If he didn’t tell you, then he probably didn’t want you to know. Now, answer my question.”
“It’s nothing. I just feel weaker today, that’s all.”
Her expression shifted for a second, almost imperceptibly, but I caught it. She was concerned.
“Have you noticed a shift in your mood at all?”
I scoffed, “I’m not going mad.”
“So you have talked to Rowan about the effects.”
“Yes, I’m aware of them.”
Renata crouched over me, studying me. “You’re hiding something,” she said.
