“You should focus on holding the middle with two hands. It will help you gain better control.”
“Show me.”
I use my own sword, moving slowly so that she can match the movements next to me. Her eyes don’t waver as she focuses on the positions my hands take with each move.
“Wait.” I set down my sword and step behind her. My mind goes blank for a moment when the scent of her hair envelops the space between us. I’m ashamed of how hard it is for me to refocus.
“What are you doing?” Her body tenses slightly when I wrap my arms around her, reaching for where her hands are holding the grip.
“Your hands are too close together. Here.” I reposition her hands so that they’re farther apart. I can feel her body relax against mine as I move the blades around, shifting her hands along with mine. “Do you feel that?”
She nods and when she turns her head to look at me it feels far too intimate. She must feel the same way because she quickly turns back around.
“That feels a lot better.”
“Good.” I let go and take a few steps back. “Now, let me see you do it yourself.”
It’s impressive how quickly she’s able to pick things up. Even when she reverts back to her old habits, she catches herself and readjusts all on her own.
The next hour, we spar and make small talk, carefully staying away from the topic I know is on both of our minds. By the time we say goodnight, I expect to feel the pull of exhaustion. Instead, I’m met with only the feeling of buzzing energy as my head hits the pillow and the thoughts that had kept me awake before have suddenly been replaced by images ofher.
Chapter 26
Reign
“What did you decide?”
“I want to talk to him.”
I went back and forth about it all night, but I know I’ll regret not saying goodbye if this doesn’t go the way we want it to. Whatever version of Damien is here now will have to be good enough. Maybe the version of him that I fell for is still somewhere inside of him and that version deserves a goodbye.
“Okay. I’ll take you to him, but you can’t let him know the real reason you’re there. I don’t want him knowing what is coming next,” Ryder warns.
I nod, agreeing to his request. Despite everything that has happened between me and Damien, I wouldn’t want him to knowdeath is knocking.
When we make it to the room they’ve kept him in the past month, Ryder doesn’t bother coming in with me. Instead, he tells me he’ll wait for me on the outside and to take my time saying what I need to say. It’s moments like this that remind me how different he is from his father.
There’s a thick stone wall separating the room into two parts. It’s not until I step around to the other side that I see Damien chained to the reclined, stone slab. He looks exhausted like he hasn’t slept in a week.
When he finally notices me, he sits up and the shocked looked on his face tells me he had no idea I was coming. My heart plummets into my stomach the moment our eyes lock. The last time I saw him was in the palace during the attack.
“What are you doing here, Reign?”
“Ryder told me you were here. I had to see it for myself.” The two of us fall silent, neither one of us knowing what to say next.
How could two people so madly in love with one another become whatever this is?
“I suppose Ryder told you that Slader is working on repairing my memories,” he finally says.
“He did. Do you feel any different?”
“I’m not sure how I feel anymore. Everything comes in waves these days.”
Again, I can’t seem to find the words to say. Last night I had planned out a whole speech and now that I’m here, nothing seems to be coming out.
“There’s a memory of mine that had been hidden,” he mutters in a voice so low I have to look at his lips to make sure I’m hearing him right. “It wasn’t one of the ones Slader manipulated. It was just one that had been suppressed as he likes to put it.”
“What was the memory?” Part of me is scared to know but I ask anyway.
