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“Vampires, by nature, are confident,” he answered. “You can use that.”
I blew out a laugh. “Another word for that is arrogant.”
“They’ll protect their heart over anything,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken.
“I know that?—”
He shot forward, and I raised the stake, slashing at his outstretched arm. He easily dodged it, and I let out a cry when he caught me above the elbow before spinning me around. My back smacked into his chest, his arm snaking around my waist to hold me in place. Then he snatched the stake from my hand, my tight hold on it doing nothing.
My breath caught in my chest when he pressed it against my back. It took me a second to realize that it wasn’t sharp, which meant he had flipped it and was using the dull end. I felt him shift, and his lips brushed against my cheek.
“This is another way to their heart,” he murmured in my ear as he slowly dragged the stake across my back until it was at my left side, and then he lowered it. “Angle it upward, and you won’t even have to use as much strength as you do when you have to go through the front of the rib cage. It’s mostly soft tissue here if you can get the right angle.”
I’d learned this from the Clovers, but Zan’s touch was making it impossible to voice that aloud. It was taking all my control to keep my heartbeat calm. He didn’t need to know how much my body reacted to his touch. His arm stayed around me, his fingers teasing the waistband of my leggings.
I stayed absolutely still when he slowly moved the stake to the middle of my back, right over my spine.
“If you can hit this exact spot and apply enough force, then it’ll give you the advantage.” He pressed the wood just a bit harder against my spine. “If it stays in their spine, then they’re paralyzed until they pull it out. If you put it right here, they won’t be able to reach it.”
“You must not see me as a threat if you’re telling me all of this.”
He chuckled. “Not entirely true. You’ve surprised me a couple times.”
“You’ve made your point,” I ground out. “Let me go.”
Instead of following my demand, he lowered his lips back to my ear.
“Get behind them before they do it to you,” he murmured. “Because once a vampire has you in this position, you’re helpless.” As if to prove his point, he lowered his head until his lips grazed the side of my throat, causing a shiver to tear down my spine. “Never give a vampire your back, Kali.”
“Except you, right?” I mumbled, my sarcasm thick.
“Do you trust me?”
My heart clenched, my mind flashing back to our night together when he first asked me that. My feelings about him were even more tangled than they were that night. The only difference was that my anger was much more potent now.
“You don’t want me to answer that,” I finally said, my voice tight.
He was silent for a few moments. “Then no. You don’t want me at your back. Only ones you trust.”
The stake was still pressing against my spine as his arm stayed tightly around me. My blood was boiling, knowing that he considered me helpless. I hadn’t joined the Clovers to let a vampire easily overpower me. Making a split-second decision, I planted my feet and then rammed myself against Zan. A jolt of pain hit me from the dull end of the stake, but it was worth it. He let out a snarled curse, his arm dropping from me as he stumbled away.
I spun around to see him dropping the stake and rubbing the middle of his chest. His eyes cut to mine, and I couldn’t smother my grin if I tried. He should have known what was going to happen. The dull end of the stake was on me, which meant the sharp part was pointed at him. Though I knew there wasn’t a chance to hit his heart from where the stake was on my spine. Annoyance gleamed in Zan’s eyes, but I thought I saw a ghost of a smile before he turned to look at his brothers when Viggo let out a snort.
“You can’t fight her,” Viggo stated, sounding torn between amusement and disbelief. “You can’t think straight around her. She nearly stabbed you—again.”
“I’ll do it.”
Pax’s words had shock swirling through me, and I watched with apprehension when he stood from the picnic table and strode toward me. Zan didn’t say a word, his posture going rigid as he stayed in front of me.
Chapter 17
Kali
“What are you doing, Pax?” Zan asked quietly.
“You want her to train. You can’t do that with a clear head.” Pax shrugged. “I can.”
Zan didn’t say a word, and I couldn’t see his face as he faced his brother, but his posture was still rigid as he remained between Pax and me.
