Elias lunges at her, trying to tackle her from the side. She pivots at the perfect moment, dodging, and brings an ornate blade up to block the blow of Kaiden’s dagger this time. Her fist is curled around the handle, able to use the versatile blade for offense or defense in this position. She acts like she doesn’t even notice the wound on her arm, swiping the matching weapon from the grass and dual wielding to deflect their attacks.
She’s an angel of death, and I need to make her mine.
“What’re you doing here, Vyrian?” Kahl asks, keeping one eye on us and the other on their coordinated attack of their sister.
“Came to pay you for my bow.”
Kinsley snorts. “Yeah, sure, okay. I’m sure you were so excited to give us your money you couldn’t wait until you saw us Monday.” He grunts as Ezra’s elbow drives into his stomach.
“How’d you know?” I tease, but it comes across breathless, Ezra taking up my entire focus.
She drops to a sudden crouch, narrowly avoiding the punch thrown to her head and swiping her blade full force at Kaiden’s shin. They aren’t pulling their punches here. If she were to hit him, she could very possibly cut through to the bone, and when Kinsley lands a solid punch to her ribs, I want to tear him apart.
I can hear Ren’s teeth nearly cracking, his jaw is clenched so hard. His hands are fisted at his side and I watch him war with himself to storm over there and kick her brothers’ asses. It has to be worse since he carries the official title of her bodyguard, though I’m not faring much better myself.
“Four against one hardly seems fair, why not even the odds and let us spar with you?”
Ezra catches the side of Kahl’s knee with a sharp kick and he goes down with a howl of pain. “Motherfucker, Ez!”
But she doesn’t let up, despite the fact her face is pinched with concern. She drops the blade in her left hand and throws her entire body weight into the punch, driving her fist into Kahl’s temple. He goes down hard, but she’s already rolling, picking up the blade as Kaiden lifts her by the leg.
She swipes the blade across his forearm, falling in a heap beneath a shower of blood. “There wouldn’t be anything for you to do,” she pants, grunting as Kinsley embeds a throwing knife into her calf.
She jerks it out and whips it right back at him, catching him in the shoulder. Elias and Kaiden converge on her, landing a few good hits before she cuts her way through them too.
What feels like an eternity in hell, but is likely only ten minutes, Elias is the last man standing as Ezra taps out with his knee pressing on her windpipe.
I’ve never killed a kid, but a teenager is a good place to start.
He helps her to her feet and over towards us, ignoring the triplets knocked the fuck out in the yard. Soren storms over, scowling, and starts assessing her injuries. She’s got a limp right now and whether it’s from the fact the triplets are down for the count or he just can’t stand anymore, he lifts her up to carry into the house.
“Calm down, Ren. I’m fine,” she placates.
Elias snorts. “The man wanted an excuse to touch you, don’t be fooled.”
I shoot one last look over at my bosses before following them into the house. Soren sets her down on the bathroom counter on the first floor, the room big enough for all of us to move around in easily. He’s mumbling profanities under his breath as he grabs a wet washcloth and starts cleaning the filthy cut on her upper arm first.
“That was...not what I expected of training. That was full out sparring.”
Ezra gives me a proud look. “And I kicked their asses.”
I grin at my psychotic angel. “That you did.”
Elias rolls his eyes, leaning against the wall. “You didn’t give it your all; you’re still pulling your punches.”
Ezra grimaces. “I don’t want to actually kill you guys; just maim you a little.”
Elias’ eyes soften. “You’re going to need to get past that and stop letting me win.”
She winces as Soren pours antiseptic over all of her various cuts.
“Sorry, little dragon. I don’t want them getting infected,” he rumbles, starting to wrap a bandage around her leg.
“As long as I knock the three of them out, they’ll never know,” she tries to justify as Elias shakes his head.
“They know, Ez, they just don’t call you out on it ‘cause they know we push you enough as it is.”
Soren grabs her by the hips and helps her to her feet. She thanks him and takes a step, favoring one side, and I stop her before she leaves the bathroom.
