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His gaze found mine, and I felt my cheeks heat as memories from last night assaulted me. Those eyes darkened as I walked toward him.

“What happened?”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he let it go. For now. I had no doubt he would bring it up later when we were alone. I’d messed up by assuming I could climb in and out of his bed and pretend nothing had happened.

Lorian was indeed a patient man. He was slowly chipping away at my defenses, and I’d gotten too close.

“Where’s Galon?”

“Galon is busy,” he told me. “We’ll work on your sword work this morning and switch to knives later this afternoon.”

My stomach fluttered uneasily. I hadn’t planned for this. No, I’d planned to spend the day avoiding him and rebuilding my defenses. I narrowed my eyes, watching him pick up a couple of training swords.

Was Galon truly busy, or had Lorian convinced him to step aside?

I took the wooden training sword he handed me, the hilt scraping against the new blisters on my palm.

He was still watching me too closely, and I swung the sword, stretching my neck. The hybrids were going about their own training now, although they’d left us a training space that was far larger than we needed.

I raised one eyebrow. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The notion was ridiculous, of course. I’d seen the way he’d moved when the iron guards had attacked us in that forest.

He gave me a slow smile. A smile that told me he was picturing me naked. My cheeks heated, and I sent him a killing look.

His smile widened, but his nod told me he would behave. For now. My heart jumped at the thought of finding him in my tent again.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to distract me from the way you’ve been sneaking around,” he said.

I went still. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lorian lunged at me, his sword aimed for my chest. I parried, conscious of the fact that he’d slowed his speed to a crawl.

He shook his head, dropping his sword to his side.

“You’re trying to match my strength. That will hurt your hand, tire your muscles, and eventually, you’ll drop your sword.” His expression tightened as he finished speaking.

This was why I generally preferred daggers. But they would require me to be fighting up close. “What should I do, then?”

“Timing, technique, and leverage. You already know you need to work on your footwork, but you’re quick and agile. That means your goal should always be to avoid the full force of your opponent’s attacks. You need to learn to anticipate their swing and react just before the strike would land, using their momentum to deflect the blow. And you’ll need to learn your angles so you can redirect with the strongest part of your blade.” Lorian lifted his sword and tapped the section closer to the hilt. “Then, you’ll learn counterattacks and how to exploit weaknesses.”

“I’ll never be good enough to hold my own in time.”

“You don’t need to be,” Lorian said. “You’re going to learn how to fight with a combination of your sword and your power. If there ever comes a day when your power fails you and I’m not there—” a dangerous light entered his eyes “—you’ll at least know enough to stay alive until I can get to you.”

Something wrenched in my chest. He spoke as if the idea of his not being by my side was ludicrous. And yet, we’d be separating. Soon.

Lorian was watching me closely. Probably reading far too much on my face. I managed to make my expression blank, and he swung his sword once more.

This time, I attempted to redirect it. But he dropped his wooden sword and stepped behind me, his hand sliding to mine where it gripped the sword. “This would be easier if we had someone to attack so I could show you. Perhaps I should ask one of the hybrids.”

His voice was amused, but I could sense weariness beneath it. I opened my mouth, but he was already leaning over my shoulder, adjusting my sword as his hand found my hip. My skin tingled, my breath caught, and I had to prevent myself from closing my eyes and soaking in the feel of him. Instead, I stepped to the left, following his motion, and he nodded, drawing back.

“Again. Slowly.”

He swung, his sword aiming for my head. This time, I changed the angle of my strike, darting right as I parried. When I pushed his sword aside without my arm howling at me, I let out a pleased laugh.