David swiped up his bracers, sighing.
As he stepped closer, Cathaire said, “Today you fight the Savior. He’s the only one I believe you’d be willing to put some effort in for.”
He raised a brow. “You sure the crowds won’t revolt?”
A chuckle. “I’d like to see your ability, and you’ll never show it to me with your current partner.”
Anna’s delicate face rose to mind—her pure smile, the way she’d dragged her tongue up his stomach like the taste of his skin was a drug. He particularly hated training with her. Anyone who spilled her blood would pay with their own.
But he’d never admit that aloud.
“Fine, but for the record, I don’t think this will go well.”
After donning his gear, David submitted to Cathaire’s warm-ups and waited for the others to join. Autumn arrived first, followed shortly by Isobel. Like Bel, Autumn rarely trained. Unlike Bel, if she wasn’t training, she didn’t follow Sean around like a sycophant and sit at the edge of the clearing, drooling over him. Autumn was probably only here to head off the inevitable arguments after yesterday’s revelation.
Isobel wisely moved far away, sitting at the edge of the clearing with her usual notebook. Sunny smile in place, Autumn skipped to David’s side and took to her warm-ups with a steady stream of chatter that faded to the background as Anna arrived with Sean.
They laughed, both of them nudging each other, totally at ease. They had an effortlessness that he’d never possessed with Anna. From the beginning, a taut pressure had existed between them, probably because he’d wanted to fuck her the moment those blue eyes turned his way, and he’d been thoroughly lying to himself about it.
That seductive stare flicked David’s way, a sparkle of warmth trickling through her emotions. A flicker of guilt licked up his spine as he remembered he’d left heralonethe morning after he’d taken her virginity.
Dick move.
He should probably apologize for that at some point.
Some idiotic phantom took a brief hold of his consciousness, and he winked at her, then immediately hated himself.
Dear Mother.Was this what sharing Sean’s soul meant? Was he now someone whowinkedat women? How vile.
But a flood of red stained Anna’s cheeks.
Intriguing. Maybe Sean’s charm had its perks. Maybe if he played this right, she’d let him touch her again. And again.
Distracted, David missed the moment Cathaire barked out their pairings, but he straightened as Sean approached.
“Ran into your one-night stand in the cookery this morning,” Sean said, unsmiling.
“Was she walking funny?” David replied.
He snorted. “You’re such an asshole.”
“Sticks and stones.”
“Right.” Sean crossed his arms. “Ever think we’d be here?”
That David had no inclination to fight or even argue was a testament to how much had changed between them, but he stuck to the tried and true—brutal sarcasm. “If I had, I might’ve let you kill me.”
Sean’s smirk struck a familiar chord in David’s brain, like looking into a mirror. “I can try now, but I doubt I’d like the results.”
“Alas,” came his dry response.
A couple steps closer, Sean searched David’s face. “Bel said she did it at the bonfire. She put it in our cups.”
That long ago? The sudden squeezing pressure in David’s chest robbed him of breath. She’ddruggedhim.
Bitch.
“Do you feel different?” Sean asked.
