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He attempted to grab my arm again, but this time, I was onto his tricks. He kicked out, at quarter speed for him.
I barely dodged it.
Lorian grinned. He was having fun. My temper sparked, but I refused to let it get the better of me once more. I dodged the arm he swept toward me, kicked him in the knee, and sidestepped, jabbing my elbow into his gut. Triumph roared through me.
He let out a pleased laugh. Despite my annoyance, something warm took up residence in my stomach. No one pushed me to be better like this man. So I let a hint of my power out. Just enough to slow his speed. I turned, and there was my opening.
I slapped him across the face.
I wasn’t dumb enough to punch him. I’d probably break my hand—at least bruise my knuckles on his hard head, and I needed to be able to use my hands. The shocked, heated look Lorian gave me made my heart stutter.
Enough that I lost my grip on the threads of my power.
I was flat on my back and staring up at him a moment later.
“A good start,” he said, his voice tight.
I wiggled, attempting to push him off me. He played with one of the curls that had slipped free from my braid.
I was panting. That was the only reason I couldn’t seem to stop breathing in the scent of him. My body was reminding me of what it had been like the last time we’d been in this position, lying on soft sheets.
My mouth had gone dry. “Let me up.”
His gaze dropped to my lips. I tensed. If he kissed me, I didn’t know if I would have the willpower to stop. I might bury my hand in his hair, urge his head closer, wrap my legs around him…
He was gone a moment later, hauling me up next to him. My head spun.
“We need to get moving,” he said.
I attempted to give him back his dagger, and he shook his head. “Keep it.” Unbuckling a leather sheath from his arm, he handed it to me.
I’d lost my weapons that night when I’d freed the hybrids. It felt good to have a knife again. The leather was still warm from his body, and I waited until he’d turned back to his horse, stroking it.
The sheath was far too large for my arm, so I slipped it around my thigh. It slid a little against my leather pants, but it worked. Lorian turned back to me, his gaze dropping to the sheath, and his eyes darkened.
“Let’s go.”
I nodded, enjoying the feel of his gaze on me despite myself as I strolled toward my horse. I swung my leg over her rump, took the reins from Lorian’s hand, and gave her a nudge. He caught up to me, and we rode in silence for the next couple of hours as our horses plucked their way across the plain toward the forest in the distance. I was tired of traveling across the scrubland, which offered little shelter and made me feel as if there were eyes on us.
The back of my neck itched. Someonewaswatching us. From the hard expression on Lorian’s face each time I looked at him, he felt it too.
“How much longer do we need to travel?” I asked.
“A few days once we hit the forest. We’ll enter the fae lands from the Gromalian border. The Gromalian king has problems in this part of his kingdom.”
“Problems like what?”
He gave me a faint smile. “Problems like rebels of his own.”
“Hybrids?”
“Both hybrids and humans. The rebels welcome all. They’ve managed to take control of an area to our north, near the intersection of the Gromalian and Eprothan borders.”
“I thought that was where some of our people were crossing from Eprotha? Would the rebels attempt to stop them?”
“There’s still a large expanse that is a kind of no-man’s-land. The rebels aren’t stupid enough to attempt to cut the fae off from our kingdom.”
“What do they want?”
