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“And how many did you get right?”

Daphne’s hand curled into a fist. “Two.”

“Out of?” I asked as I approached. I felt a grin draw to my face. Daphne’s head was tilting back further and further with each step I took closer.

Daphne tried to look down, but I caught her chin with my finger. Her skin was warm, her aggravation pumping her blood harder. “Twenty.”

My whole body tensed with shock. That was incredibly unlike her.

But I sure as shit was not pointing that out. She was hard enough on herself.

I shrugged, like the answer was simple. “It’s because you’re doing it after the fact.”

Daphne chuckled and I had to stop myself from wrapping my hand lightly around her throat, just to feel the vibration of her laugh against my palm. “Oh yeah?”

“You always practiced with a person, for one,” I flicked her chin, my grin widening at her head knocking back an inch. “And in real time. Guessing the moves before they happened. Not after.”

Daphne’s eyes bounced around my face. Then the muscles in hers dropped to an adorable scowl. I loved how much she hated it when I was right.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “How do you propose we solve that?”

“Hit me.”

Daphne’s jaw went slack. “What?”

“Hit me,” I repeated.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you want to.” Daphne’s eyes went wide. But she didn’t look averse to the idea. She actually looked borderline excited. “This will work. I’m not an easy opponent. It just makes sense.”

Daphne’s eyes danced over my face. “Are you sure you aren’t just doing this to show off your skills with a sword?”

I laughed low. “Oh, I’m always looking for a reason to do that. This is just an added bonus.”

Daphne didn’t make a move though. Her back was perfectly straight, her hands squeezing into fists. Her frustration wasn’t going to let her enjoy this unless I took extreme measures.

I reached around her shoulder and pulled lightly on her ponytail, trying to ignore the jolt the soft strands sent down my arm. “Come on.”

Daphne crossed her arms. “I’m tired, Lukas,” she grumbled. “I’m not going to be good at this.”

“Shut it,” I chastised lightly. I wanted—needed—the fire back in her eyes. “Yes, you will. And if not, then we’ll figure it out.”

She stalled again, looking up at me with those pretty hazel eyes but not moving an inch.

“Hit me,” I said again, the words rumbling from somewhere deep in my chest.

Daphne’s arm reared back, her hand curling into a fist before driving it toward the underside of my chin. She was quick and used my focus on her to surprise me. But not enough to stop my arm from shooting up to block her swing.

I had to smile at the grumble that escaped her throat. “Good. Now that you have that out of your system, let’s get started.”

Daphne’s nostrils flared a little. “That did make me feel better.”

I laughed and she closed her eyes, squaring her shoulders again. She breathed in, letting her mind connect with her power and prepare to rely on it to preempt my strikes. She’d told me once it felt like a form of meditation. If she was that tapped into her power, it acted on its own accord.

I wasn’t lying when I told Daphne using me would work better than Lia’s machine. If this was harder for her, then we were going to have a serious discussion about solutions.

If only so I didn’t have to watch doubt creep into her eyes and force down my desire to soothe it. I’d seen it as a privilege once, to help ease her mind. But now it was just another memory of who we used to be before she’d left me.