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"Too afraid of the havoc that you would no doubt cause,mon coeur," Auguste answered.
Strangely, that was the answer that seemed to please Esther best. Amon was scowling at the very suggestion, but Ezra, who'd managed to currently hold his visible form, nudged the sphinx's side and whispered in his ear.
"Will you go to battle?" Hunter asked me, his arms crossed over his bare, green-toned chest. He'd been circling my training with Hywel, watching us with a similar study as Laszlo did.
I opened my mouth to answer what I thought was obvious and found something entirely different falling from my lips. "I don't know."
My men bristled, Asterion and Conall looking stormy and full of objections, Hywel and Laszlo only exchanging a glance.
"That's not something that needs a decision presently," Laszlo cut in quickly. "We only seek to arm Evanthia to our best ability. She has our swords, but she deserves her own."
Hunter glanced speculatively over his shoulder to where his own little family was gathered. "It is of great relief to me to know Hazel has her own defenses," he said gravely, nodding. Then his head tipped, and he grinned at the woman. "Little one, would you like to learn to fight?"
"I wouldn't mind trying," Hazel said gamely.
The six-armed giant followed her up, scowling, but led her to the wall to choose a weapon.
"Oh, come now, Amon, what harm can it do?" Esther coaxed, her arms around the sphinx's shoulders.
"Oh, swinging about blades for fun, yes, of course, no one was ever injured by the edge of a sword," Amon muttered, but Esther was pecking her lips along his jaw and his own mouth was twitching with a smile. If he was objecting now, it was only to keep her drawing him out.
I turned to Laszlo and smiled. "Now see what you've done."
Laszlo peered over the rims of his glasses at me in a stare that made my toes curl in my boots. "Instruct them, dear one. I want to see what you remember."
"Aren't you clever,cariad," Hywel purred to our gryphon before leading the rest of the men away.
* * *
"Does it hurt much?"I asked Esther, leaning to her ear and glancing down at the small bandage wrapped around her upper arm.
She was dressed in a grand confection of a gown, jewels and lace dripping over her bound form, full skirts puffing softly at her waist. She had, in fact, been injured during training, a small cut on her upper arm that had sent the whole room into a flurry of action, her men rushing toward her and everyone else sweeping quickly toward the exit. I'd heard the vampire snarl and Esther squeal, and then the doors had been discretely snapped shut on the scene.
"Not at all," Esther said, shrugging and smiling. "Auguste can heal that sort of thing."
I glanced across the table at the vampire who was speaking with the half-fae, Jude Piper, and thought he looked rather pink in the cheeks tonight.
"If I didn't know better, I'd guess you got that cut on purpose," I murmured to her.
Esther laughed and choked on a sip of her wine, her own cheeks flushing. "Who's to say youdoknow better?"
What a wonderfully wicked girl, I thought, grinning and turning away before she and I both started cackling over our desserts. I caught the eye of the shimmering demon at Hazel Nix's side and paused, holding my breath. We hadn't spoken yet, and he was one of the more taciturn members of the party, but I wondered if that had anything to do with our shared history. Slowly, deliberately, Constantine nodded to me. I answered the gesture and his shoulders eased, Hazel leaning unconsciously into him as if sensing his nerves.
"Our paths never crossed," Constantine said, low enough it barely reached my ear. His head tipped, a bird-like movement, and he blinked. "I was worried we might have."
My heart thumped unsteadily in my chest, and under the cover of the table Conall's hand clasped tightly around mine, his eyes turned warily toward the demon.
"He knew better," I said, and that seemed to catch the attention of others, Hazel glancing between Constantine and me.
"Knew better?" she asked, frowning. Her shoulders straightened, and it was clear she was ready to defend the man.
"Is it…is it true one of your aspects gives extreme pleasure?" I asked carefully.
Constantine dipped his head. "Not the one he preferred. He used Antin solely as a brief balance to the pain, a method to remind the victim of their suffering."
I resisted my shudder, held my spine straight, and ignored the stares we received from around the table. "The pain wouldn't have done me any harm, though. And I suspect one…onetasteof the pleasure would've cut through my starvation quite smoothly," I said, an awkward laugh crawling up from my chest.
"You mean if Antin had touched you—" Hazel asked, frowning.
