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He lifted his chin and smiled at her. “Hello, Katana. If you’re looking for Valeen, she left with Hel. But I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

“Where did they go?”

“Calladira.”

That was home of the woodland elves, and a strange place to be when the portals were open and the Council of the Gods wanted them dead. “Why would they go there?”

Thane set the whetstone down beside him. “To kill their new lord, I suppose.”

“Did he do something?”

“He starved Valeen and kept her locked in a room for weeks. And pretended to be a close friend of mine and then betrayed me. So yeah, he deserves what’s coming.”

Katana took a sharp inhale. After seeing what Valeen was capable of it was difficult to imagine anyone keeping her locked up. “How could an elf do that to her?”

“Katagas serum,” he said with a shrug. “It takes away your powers temporarily.” It was strange he was so nonchalant about it. She’d never heard of a serum capable of quelling a goddess’s power… but perhaps it was because she was mortal now. Which meant this serum would likely work on her too. She already felt weak and the thought of losing her magic made her stomach queasy.

“Well, to be honest I am bored, so I came to watch how you all train. I always thought it was fascinating to watch sparring matches even if Atlanta said it was not proper for females.” Several groups of soldiers clashed swords or shot arrows in the training grounds nearby. The smell of sweat swirled with blossoming cherry trees in the air.

“He didn’tletyou watch soldiers train?” Thane’s cream shirt was partially unbuttoned revealing hints of his smooth muscular chest.

“I did on occasion without him knowing.”

“He sounds like an asshole.” His hands came up in a sort of surrender gesture. “Sorry if that offends you.”

“No, I agree. He was… an asshole.” She giggled having never used that slang word before. It was more freeing to say that than she realized it would be.

“Have you ever trained in any self-defense?”

“I was more into fashion and dancing. And when I was immortal what did I really have to fear until…” she let out a sigh and stopped her mind from wandering to darker things.

“Do you want to learn?”

“Should I?”

“Every female should know the basics of how to defend herself.” He hopped to his feet, plucking a small dagger from his belt. Taking it by the blade, he held the handle out to her. Slowly, she reached for it and wrapped her hand around the onyx stone. The only weapon she’d ever wielded was a kitchen knife to cut fruit. This felt heavy in her palm, more than physically. This blade was meant for taking life.

“Now I assume you have powerful magic which should be your first line of defense, but it never hurts to have a weapon if you get cornered or for some reason you can’t use your powers.”

Her magic warmed under the surface of her skin at the mention of it. She’d never used it to harm.

Thane pointed at his upper left rib cage. “This is where you want to stick someone if you can.” He took her wrist and pulled her closer, then brought the dagger point to his chest. “It’s the heart. No one survives a dagger to the heart unless they’re immortal. The bones protect your vital organs, so you’ll have to push hard and try to get between the ribs. Strike fast.”

Her arm trembled but she nodded. “Alright.” She took a few steps back and practiced thrusting the dagger in the air.

“Harder than that,” Thane said.

Piper and Leif left their post of spectating the soldiers and wandered over. Leif had several leaves and small sticks in his wild red hair and a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but his playfulgrin said he didn’t care about his rough appearance. “Have her strike the tree trunk over there,” Piper said. She crossed her arms and scrutinized Katana from head to toe.

Suddenly she became self-conscious if she was holding the dagger correctly or if she looked silly. She certainly felt ridiculous stabbing the air. And Piper was a seasoned warrior. They all were.

Leif grabbed Thane’s shoulders, turned him, and pointed to a place in his muscular back. “You can stab here to get the kidney. It’ll drop even the largest of males or monsters.” He took Katana’s wrist and tugged her over to Thane’s front, putting them toe to toe. She swallowed hard and had to look up to see his green eyes. There was an intensity there she’d never seen before. Almost as if he was afraid to breathe. “Say this big lug has you cornered and you’re too close to get a good shot at the heart, reach around and jam it into his kidney. Several times if you can.”

Fennan joined in the chorus next, crossing his arms with a grin. “I’d pay to see you do it to Hel.”

“Hel?” she whispered. Why would they want that? But she couldn’t focus on anything but Thane. She was left breathless with their bodies nearly pressed together, and she angled the blade’s point at his back. They were talking about violence and killing, yet this was the opposite of that. A swirl of heat and pheromones wrapped around her. Warmth pooled in her lower belly. She pressed her free hand against his abdomen and lightly scraped the dagger over the thin fabric of his shirt, trying to find the correct spot. “Here?”

Thane took her arm and guided it upward an inch or so. “Here.” His voice came out raspy.