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“Don’t encourage her, Lyson. If you feed a wild animal, it will continue to come back for more. And sometimes they bite.”
“Apologies, sir,” he said while Lyric stomped her foot and glared daggers at us both.
“No need to apologize.”
I handed him my wooden sword and nodded to the weapons stand. Obediently, Lyson returned the bokkens to the rack. I respected how he handled everything with care, even the practice swords.
“Why don’t we end our sword training for the day? I know some of your friends have planned an archery challenge with one of the all-female tracking units. Go enjoy an hour of free time for once. You can resume your duties when you return.”
“Thank you, sir!” he shouted, already halfway to the gate.
I almost grinned at the speed his long frame managed as he tore out of the courtyard. Oh, to be so young again.Was I ever that young?I could hardly remember.
I’d grown up fast under the fog of oppression and war. I could only thank whatever gods remained that we had managed to end Samael’s rule. Until Draven took over as Shadow Lord, over two decades back, life in these lands had been brutal.
Lyric’s shoulder bumped mine, though not enough to knock me off balance. She was losing her touch. I told her as much.
“Where are they going?” she asked, ignoring the dig.
“Well, mother hen, they’re going to play war games in the woods.”
“War games?”
“Think of it as a more intense game of hide-and-seek where being found is far from fun. Bragging rights are important around here and we’re all sore losers.”
Lyric grinned brightly. “Those females are going to eat him alive.”
“They are. I’m thinking some already have.”
Lyric frowned. “He needs to meet someone his own age.”
“What makes you say that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems right. He’s young and awkward. He should be with someone who isn’t expecting something suave to come out of his piehole. I mean, his first time should be—”
I barked out a laugh, a hand over my stomach. “Ah, gods, Lyric. I sometimes forget your demon DNA is broken. That male that you insist on seeing as a child, who is only a handful of years younger than yourself, is no virgin.”
Lyric slapped my arm. “My DNA is not broken, dickhead! And what do you mean he’s not a virgin? He’s the youngest one here and he acts it. His immaturity makes him seem like a toddler on steroids. And all the female warriors are at least twice his age.”
“Ok, maybe it’s not broken. But your Adrestian half is dominant and you never had the teenage sex drive of a demon. Plus, Lyson is nearly 18 and looks much older than he is. The females here might view him as too young, but there’s a reason he and his peers spend so much time in the neighboring towns when they have downtime.”
She said nothing, so, because I could, I added, “Might I also remind you that Draven is quite a number of years older than you?”
“Oof!” I grunted, spinning away in case Lyric decided to land another blow to my abdominals.
“He looks less than 30 and you know it!”
She was right. Most species of Other didn’t look their age, and Shadow demons were practically immortal. If I’d had enough oxygen, I’d have laughed again at how offended she looked. Lyric took an aggressive step towards me before thinking better of it. Slowly, her index finger lifted and tapped the skin on my cheekbone.
“You shaved off your beard. It makes you look more like Draven.”
“Is that why you hit me?”
“Yes. I wanted to wipe his look off your face.”
I couldn’t help stretching my lips. Lyric was quick-witted. She fit well with our merry little band of misfits. She also made it easier to get along with my cousin, softening his moods in subtle ways.
Though she’d been joking, she was right. On the surface, Draven and I did bear a striking resemblance, enough that we’d often been mistaken as brothers. We had the same pale silver eyes that hurt to look at sometimes. They were our mothers’ eyes, sisters who’d passed shortly after their mates had met tragic ends. I, at least, had had my mother and father until well into adulthood. Draven had been a youngling when his parents perished.
