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“That’s not really my—”

“Prisca.”

Lorian’s voice was hard. I sighed, taking a single step closer. His stance was loose, his hands by his sides. As if I wasn’t even a threat. Annoyance rumbled in my chest. He smiled as if he knew.

“I’ll even let you have a knife,” he said, throwing me a dagger. I somehow managed to catch it by the hilt, and his smile widened.

Annoyance turned to fury, and it got very quiet inside my head. I could do this. I refused to let him see how my body responded when he was close.

I circled him. He moved with me. I had to be fast.

“Anytime,” he taunted me. “We don’t have all—”

I struck, taking the distance between us in a long jump. He caught my left wrist in his hand. Fuck.

I slashed at the back of his hand with my dagger. He sucked in a breath but didn’t let go, so I attempted to pull him off-balance with my left arm, aiming my right elbow at his face.

My elbow glanced off his chin. Not good.

He tensed. Using his hold on my wrist and my own unbalanced body, he threw me over his hip.

I gaped at him like a fish on land, winded.

“What have you learned today?” he asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bandage, which he tied around the shallow cut I’d given him. The bastard would probably heal it within minutes.

And me? Istillcouldn’t breathe. I gasped uselessly for air.

Lorian leaned down, taunting me once more. “I would hope you’ve learned that you don’t attack those bigger and stronger than you without a plan in place.”

I managed to roll onto my belly, weakly getting to my knees. Since I was able to keep my breakfast down, I counted it as a win.

He’d goaded me into this attack. I groaned, stumbling up to my feet. “You’re a bastard.”

“Andyoushould never attack without using your power first.”

My lower lip stuck out before I could stop it. Lorian’s gaze dropped to my mouth, and his expression tightened.

“Using my power would be cheating,” I snapped.

Lorian slowly raised his gaze, until it felt as if he was caressing every inch of my face. When our eyes met, he stepped closer, his eyes burning into my own.

“When it comes to your survival, you cheat,” he snarled. “You cheat and you lie. You fight dirty. And you do whatever else it takes to stay alive.”

“Even with you?”

“Even with me. You can work with Galon on your physical training. Your aunt can help you with your power. But when you train with me, you use both together.”

He seemed to be waiting for me to agree. “Fine.” I wasn’t stubborn enough to say no to the kind of training that could save my life.

Since he’d already humiliated me enough for one morning, Lorian taught me how to lash out with my front leg to dislocate someone’s knee. I’d get more power from using my back leg, but he wanted me to be able to strike fast.

We switched to knife work, and he showed me interesting techniques that included dropping down and slashing my blade across leg muscle, tendon, even hamstrings. It was brutal, necessary training. And hopefully, if there ever came a time when I couldn’t use my power, it would help.

When I was leaning over and panting, hands on my knees, he just angled his head. “Defensive training next.”

“Are you—”

He launched himself at me. Since I’d seen him spar with Galon and the others, I knew he was moving at about half speed. And yet I still barely darted out of the way in time.