He raised his hand. “I won’t hit, only push.”
“No way,” she bit off.
He took a slow step toward her, matching her retreat. “Might I remind you that you were the one who asked for this? Your fear is what’s stopping you here, nothing else.”
She reciprocated by taking two giant steps back. “No shit. Of course, it’s my fear stopping me. You’re going to kick my ass.”
His stare held firm, and he no longer approached her. “If I thought you truly needed more time to deal with this, I wouldn’t push you. But you went to Briggs’s, which showed bravery, and you handled the assignment last night. You have more guts than you think you do.”
She glanced around the empty cathedral. If she booked it, no one would see, and she wouldn’t die from embarrassment. “Clearly I wasn’t thinking straight when I agreed to this. Isn’t there a female guardian who can train me?”
As if she had said nothing at all, he continued, “The sooner you discover your abilities, the sooner you’ll realize you have no reason to be afraid. Then you can have that revenge that’s eating at you.” He took one step forward. “I know you believe my size matters here, but it doesn’t—”
“Liar,” she snapped.
Again, he took another step forward, closing in on her. “There are many female guardians, and they can hold their own against me. I’m being nice by only pushing you.” He stared down into her face with a firm look. “Now hit me.”
As if that would warrant her agreement, the big brute. “Might I remind you that I lived a simple life in Carson City with no idea about the Otherworld only a month ago?” She backed away from him, not caring if her fear showed.
He matched her steps. “This fear is part of the human that lives in you. It’s not a natural feeling for a guardian to be afraid. You simply have to see past it. The time to discover this is now. You want to find the wolf that killed your family. This is how you gain that freedom to hunt him.”
His words struck her in the heart and she stopped in her tracks. Kyden was right—she owed this to her family. Closing her eyes, she inhaled a deep breath, then she forced herself to put on a brave face. She opened her eyes to a dead-serious Kyden. “You won’t punch me back, right?”
He nodded. “Promise.”
Exhaling to shed the lingering fear, she approached him, drawing on the rage that she wanted to unleash on that werewolf. Not giving herself the chance to back out, and with a deep hatred fueling her strength, she cocked her arm back and landed a hard blow to his jaw.
Shocked, stunned, astonished, amazed—she experienced it all as she watched Kyden soar through the air.
I’m friggin’ Wonder Woman.
The moment he hit the floor, toppling ass over teakettle, that revelation vanished. He jumped to his feet and ran straight for her. Panic made her dizzy, and instinct told her to flee, but she doubted she’d escape him. She decided to take the chicken’s way out, she closed her eyes, waiting for the hit.
Waited…waited…waited.
Cracking open an eye, she noticed Kyden was an inch from her face. He gave her a shit-eating grin. “Plan to fight with your eyes closed, do you?”
She nodded with total certainty. “I ain’t fighting. I’m surviving.”
He chuckled. “Again.” He winked. “Level me.”
Not at all happy about it, she swung her arm back, then flung her fist straight into his stomach. He grunted, bending slightly from the hit, and she smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. Bringing her arm down low, she swung it up, hitting him square in the jaw.
Watching him soaring backward, Nexi didn’t waste her advantage. She lunged, plowed into him and they both slid across the floor, a tangle of limbs. As Kyden hit the wall, she bounced off his chest and laughed, shocked by her strength. They weren’t kidding about the guardian power; she’d knocked him around like a rag doll.
Him—Mr. Muscles.
“Hells-yeah, that’s awesome.” Jumping to her feet, she headed toward the center of the room when a scuffling sound came behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to discover that Kyden had risen, and not only that, but he was also charging straight for her.
Her sense of superiority vanished.
He connected with her before she even had a chance to move. Somehow he stepped in behind her, latched onto her arm, and gave her back a steady push. She flew across the room with his hard body braced against her back.
Before she could even get up, he leapt off, then hurled himself at her again. She rolled away, only to have him grab her arm. He tossed her across the room and she landed against the wall with a loud thud.
Guardians clearly were more resilient. The pushing and shoving wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t painful and it definitely didn’t hurt as much as she imagined it should have. One thing, though, became increasingly obvious—her fear had taken a back seat. Apparently, she liked fighting.
Lurching to her feet, she twirled away just as he lunged forward. Not like she made it far. He grabbed her arm, stopping her spin, and pulled her tight against his hard, thick chest. She narrowed her eyes, trying to think up her next move, but the moment she caught sight of the heat in his features, her reprimand faded.
There, in his eyes, his desire was laid bare, for her to touch if she wanted, and for her to claim. Trapped in his smoldering stare, her breath hitched, and his expression became determined. But just as he leaned down to her, her damn pride held more strength than the heat flaring between them, seeing that she never did like to lose.
Using his hesitation to her benefit, she kicked out and nailed his shin, hard.
He stumbled back, then a slow grin filled his face. “There you go, Álainn. That’s exactly right. Always use any advantage you can to disable your opponent.”
Her win over Mr. Muscles might have pleased her, but this new smile from him took precedence. His grin bordered on devilish, and it warmed and liquefied her insides. Now she regretted that her pride made her kick him away instead of staying there in his arms and giving him that second to act.
With her victory, the lust had faded from his eyes, replaced by pride. He took a step toward her, not looking like he planned to toss her to the ground to do naughty things with her, and not even like he hunted her for more training, when suddenly, Haven called, “Oh, good. You’re done. We’ve got somewhere to be.”
Jerking her head toward the doorway, she found Haven leaning against the wall, smiling at her. “Somewhere to be?”
Haven skipped through the cathedral and winked at Kyden. “The guardians can’t have all of you—you’re part witch, too.” She looked to Nexi, clearly aware of the heated exchange she and Kyden had shared moments ago. “I wanted you to come see what witches do, who we are, just more about that side of you.”
At the thought of more training, Nexi groaned. This was enough. “Which would be?”
Haven smiled. “Magic, of course.”
Chapter Seven
The castle belonged in a Gothic horror film. One square tower made up the main structure, which was the Council’s Hall and foyer where the portal was located, and four slender towers peering high above the castle were the residences for the Council’s Guard and for the supernaturals in training. The stone walls were overrun with ivy, stretching all the way to the slate roof while four large gargoyles sat at the edges guarding the grounds.
Nexi tore away from the view behind her, not convinced those gargoyles weren’t real. She matched Haven’s stride and approached the garden in the Otherworld, her focus landing on the forest off in the distance. Not as if it was a normal forest, since it was, in fact, the gateway to the supernatural realm.
Located in Scotland, at St. Andrew’s Castle on the shores of the Black Sea, was the entranceway into the Otherworld. If a supernatural who lived in the Earthworld wanted to travel into the supernatural realm, they could simply step near the ruins of the historic castle and the magic would carry them into the Otherworld. A human would simply see the ruins of a once beautiful castle.
Nexi hadn’t believed that part until she passed from the Otherworld to Scotland, more than a dozen times. It hadn’t mattered where she entered the forest either, the second she stepped into the woods, she’d teleport to St. Andrew’s Castle.
As she strode along the grounds of the Otherworld near the garden, a light breeze wrapped around her, raising goose bumps on her skin. She inhaled the rich, sweet scent emanating from the thousands of brightly colored flowers, neatly tailored bushes, and small trees that decorated the garden.
Haven nudged her arm and waggled her eyebrows. “So, what’s up with you and Kyden?” She beamed, thoroughly proud of herself. “I knew something was brewing between you two, but Finn told me to stay out of it.”
Nexi chuckled, since clearly Finn’s advice wasn’t followed. Not that she minded Haven being up in her business; she liked Haven knowing about her life. “I’m not sure what’s going on between us,” she admitted.
When they reached the cobblestone pathway, they could follow it to the garden straight ahead, or go to the right toward the town in the Otherworld. That was home for the families of the Guard who wanted a more normal life for their children than one they’d get living at the castle, as well as for the supernaturals who were raised in the Otherworld and didn’t want to live in the Earthworld, or so Haven had told her.