Diplomatic Agent (The Empress' Spy Book 4)

by S. E. Weir

  It would have been easier to describe what he didn’t know about weapons than what he did.

  Still, Phina had a point to prove to the prick who thought she would fall all over him if he offered her lessons. She thought that over as she tugged on the straps to make sure they were in place. Perhaps she also had something to prove to her trainers.

  As she turned back to meet Jack in the middle of the floor, she realized she had something to prove to herself, too.

  Link stood quietly as his protégé drew her short swords and readied herself for the bout with one of his oldest friends.

  He remained silent as they fought, their swords moving so fast that he only caught the glint of light that reflected off the blades. Phina’s face remained composed but intent on her opponent. Jack’s impassive visage gradually grew darker as their bout continued.

  Interest piqued, Link kept his eyes on his friend rather than his adopted niece. He couldn’t understand what burr had gotten up his butt, but Jack was getting more frustrated the longer the bout went on.

  His gaze darted between the two until he began to compare them. Realization dawned.

  “Well, this is a hell of a thing,” Link muttered to himself before shaking his head in dismay.

  If he hadn’t been expected to retain his super alpha agent demeanor, Link would have run his hands through his hair. As it was, he shook his head again and let out a soft breath.

  When Phina had talked about making a pointed statement to those prurient pricks, why hadn’t he remembered Jack had one major trigger that would inevitably be pulled?

  Jack moved like a much younger man, his steps light and quick. He had the assurance of long years of practice.

  Phina danced, gliding fluidly from one technique to the next, her swords an extension of her arms. She didn’t have the experience, but she had the sharpness, strength, and agility to make up for it.

  It proved to be a magnificent demonstration of skill, one that would be talked about for years to come, he imagined. There was only one problem.

  But Jack’s pride had been pricked.

  “Damn it! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?” Link cursed under his breath as the fight kicked up in ferocity. If Phina hadn’t had all her enhancements, there was no way she would have been able to keep up with the man.

  Pride was Jack’s biggest weakness, and he hated being shown up by young “upstarts.” Knowing that, Link felt helpless. If he stopped the bout, he would be accused of favoritism even if he gave the win to Jack. Yet, they were using live weapons, which could easily harm one of the few people he trusted on either side.

  Link could only hope that both fighters would come through unscathed.

  Phina whirled to the side, then back as she avoided Jack’s swords. As she fought, she divided her attention so she could remain focused on her movements while accessing the part of her brain that filtered Etheric energy into her body.

  This technique had been drilled into her for hours a day while she had been on the Qendrok’s planet. The technique was tricky since she had to split her focus.

  However, she needed to replenish her energy after the last two bouts. She was pushing herself to meet Jack blow for blow, and it had been working.

  Perhaps it had been working too well because his eyes had grown cold and his attacks were becoming harsher as time went on. Phina didn’t know what his problem was, but she didn’t want to split her focus again to read his mind. Not yet, anyway.

  Instead, she nudged her connection to the Etheric to allow the energy to flow into her freely. Strength flowed into her body, her synapses sparking as her brain reacted faster to the stimuli.

  That was more like it.

  Surprised by her renewed focus, Jack didn’t hesitate to push himself into each strike, using techniques that made deflecting and blocking harder for her slighter frame. Phina pushed on, making sure that all her escapes from his blades came from her agility and skill in evasion rather than using her strength. To do otherwise would invite questions she didn’t want to answer.

  Just as she began to feel the strain in keeping up with him, Shaw called time. The two fighters froze in their positions, her right blade pushing aside his left while her left was brought up to block his other blade.

  The room fell into silence for a few seconds before the whispers resumed.

  Phina assessed Jack warily as she maintained her position, waiting for him to withdraw first. His gaze burned into her face. From two feet away, she had an up-close and personal view of his eyes as they switched between emotions.

  She decided that she would back away first and took a step back, her swords still raised. Her movement seemed to snap him out of his intensity. He straightened and lowered his swords, so she did as well. She followed suit as he sheathed the blades and shook her body out.

  “Ready?” Shaw called.

  They took their stances, eyes locked on each other. Phina began to worry about the steely determination on Jack’s face. Just what had he decided on?

  Before she could reach out mentally, Shaw called the start, and Jack shot forward with a punishing blow. She could tell he wanted to end the match quickly and too thoroughly for her liking.

  Phina dodged his first punch, swinging to the side and catching him on the ribs. She made sure the force of her strike was enough to bruise but not to break. As he brought his hand up to backhand her, she allowed him to get a blow in for appearances’ sake.

  She wished she could go full speed since it took more effort for her to pull her punches and maintain human speed than it did to let herself go.

  As the bout continued, Phina realized she would need another influx of energy to finish this bout and continue the plan she’d made with Link. She split her focus again, drawing enough energy to continue but not enough to get her buzzed.

  She had learned that unfortunate side effect from drawing too much Etheric energy at once right before a date with Todd. He had been a good sport about changing his plans from a sit-down dinner to a walking and talking date. It had taken Phina hours to be able to sit without getting the jitters. It had reminded her of the time before her coma when she couldn’t sleep because she had so much energy running through her.

  Phina’s attention was drawn back by a hard punch to the stomach. She blocked the next strike and narrowed her gaze on Jack. His expression showed he was happy to have landed a solid punch on her.

  She had to contain her response and remind herself not to meet his blows with equal force.

  There is more at stake here than your pride.

  Sundancer’s words reflected her own thoughts. He sent a wave of calm that helped her settle down inside again.

  That’s what I’ve been telling myself. Holding myself back is the pits.

  It’s the what? She could almost see his pink face cocked in confusion. Why is it a hole in the ground?

  It’s an expression, she tossed back at the same time she threw a punch that Jack blocked. Like it sucks, or it’s bad... Or it’s so bad and boring that it’s like a deep hole in the ground you can’t get out of.

  Right. The pits. Hmm. Watching you fight is the pits.

  Probably because I can’t fight at full speed. Which is why I said holding myself back is the pits.

  Well, I agree with you. You still have to do it.

  She darted back to avoid a strike that he followed up on. Phina feinted a strike to the right and swung around to hit his ribs in the same spot she’d connected with earlier.

  He countered faster than she anticipated, returning the favor with a bruising strike to her ribs.

  Ugh. Trust me, I have not forgotten that.

  Shaw tried not to flinch at every strike and blow that Phina took. Based on the curious side glances from Masha standing next to him, he didn’t think he managed it.

  “He’s really going at her, isn’t he?” Masha spoke softly.

  Shaw grunted an agreement. “He’s been in a strange mood with her lately. Not quite fixated, but definitel
y focused.”

  Masha nudged him with an elbow. “You’ve been rather fixated yourself, you know. Longer individual training, staring at her from across the room. You have some interest in our girl?”

  Shaw stiffened, his jaw rigid. “I am fulfilling my duty, Beta. Nothing more.”

  A sharp intake of air from Phina as she received a blow to the stomach caused Shaw’s attention to snap to the fight in alarm. After she continued, not slowed by the blow, Shaw’s shoulders lowered.

  Masha leaned closer, her face showing amusement. “You want to revise that statement?”

  “No,” he ground out.

  “I think you have to.”

  “No.” He pressed his lips together.

  Her face lit up in glee. “It’s pretty obvious. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”

  Shaw desperately glanced at the countdown clock, feeling like he was in the eighth circle of hell.

  “Time!” he called, relieved that he didn’t have to listen to Masha’s comments anymore.

  Jack and Phina disengaged and bowed their heads in acknowledgment of a good bout.

  Since Phina was the only one to reach the full time for all three bouts with the trainers, she had won this portion of the competition.

  Shaw could only see Jack’s back, but he saw Phina’s face. It seemed like the beta agent had made a comment to her. Phina was working to keep her expression impassive, but Shaw caught an emotion he couldn’t read before she suppressed it.

  Jack turned away from Phina but didn’t get more than a few steps before Alpha Agent Wells stepped forward.

  “Very good job to all our trainees! You’ve given us some great examples of your fighting style and shown the caliber of your skill!”

  He paused with his characteristic amused smirk as everyone in the room cheered and whistled. He held up his hands and continued, “Everyone else has had a turn to fight. Now it’s mine.”

  The room erupted in astonished murmurs. It had been years since Greyson Wells had fought in front of the majority of Spy Corps. Usually, he kept it to the practice room in the staff quarters.

  Jack Kaiser stepped forward to return to the middle of the room, but the alpha agent raised his hand. “Not this time, Jack. I’m going to spar with Phina.”

  Shaw glanced at Phina curiously. She hadn’t left the middle of the floor, and she had adjusted to a loose stance to keep her muscles from tightening. He wondered if she had known Greyson Wells was going to do this. She didn’t seem surprised by his announcement.

  Jack wasn’t happy, but he withdrew from the middle of the floor as Greyson moved forward to meet Phina.

  “Weapons?” Shaw called.

  The mentor and student locked gazes briefly before Greyson shook his head. “No weapons. Just hand-to-hand.”

  Phina removed the harness holding her two swords and placed them with the other weapons at the side of the mat. She removed her other weapons as well, leaving herself with only her hands.

  Shaw found that curious since she had fought every other bout while having weapons strapped to her. What made this one different?

  They circled the middle of the room, seeming to communicate without words. The two fighters had made it almost back to their original positions when Greyson finally spoke.

  “Don’t hold back.”

  Phina had no time to acknowledge the statement before the alpha agent surged forward at a speed that belied his age. At the same time, Phina ran three steps and jumped to wrap her legs around the man and swing to pull him down on the ground.

  Wells made a move on the way down that Shaw couldn’t see. As soon as they hit the ground, they rolled away from each other. They were on their feet and had moved to reengage within a second, their movements fluid.

  With a combination of rapid flowing movements, deflections, and using the force of the other person against them, the two fighters flowed around each other like water.

  Shaw’s mouth dropped open and he didn’t notice. The alpha agent fought better than the last few times he had seen him. His face showed intensity but also amusement, a far change from the dour, stoic face he had shown for much of the last ten years.

  More than that was the change in Phina. She held her own easily, confidently, and with a hint of amusement as well. He began to wonder if she had been holding back this whole time, but that would be a ridiculous thing to think. Right? There was no reason for it.

  As several strange and startling reasons listed themselves in his mind, Shaw began to wish Masha would start making outlandish comments again.

  It was certainly less dangerous than the thoughts that flashed through his head.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Large Training Room

  Phina slid to the side to avoid getting taken to the mat, then twisted into a roundhouse aimed at his face. The slippery man deflected it and brought down a knife-hand strike to hit her in the shoulder.

  She dodged out of the way, escaping with just a light tap.

  Come on, Phina. Give them a show.

  Hearing the mental nudge from Link and sensing an amused cat grin from Sundancer, Phina decided to bring out some of her showier moves, although they were more difficult to do without being able to move at full speed.

  Adding a side ariel here, a twirl or spinning back-roundhouse there, Phina lengthened her combinations and added more movements. Link dodged or deflected most of her strikes and kicks, but the point of the bout wasn’t to score.

  It was to show how many ways she could kick a man’s ass.

  After another minute of showboating, including a move where she lunged into a handstand and caught Link around the neck with her feet and pulled him to the mat, Phina decided that it was time to get serious.

  Phina dropped the gymnastics and moved on to the quick and dirty techniques that Todd had taught her, as opposed to the strike and takedown method she’d learned from Maxim or the fluid and graceful deflect and strike method she’d learned from Link. Whatever action Link used, she did the opposite. If Link used a lengthened strike, she used a short block. If he used a graceful deflection, she used a brutal kick. The result brought tension to their bout that hadn’t been there before.

  Just as they approached a full minute of this tension where the audience had been gasping and staring with bated breath, Jack called the time.

  Phina threw herself into a backflip, landing several feet away. Link had jumped back as well, so they were a couple of yards apart. They bowed to each other as almost everyone in the room erupted in cheers and whistles.

  As she straightened, Phina glanced at the agent who had prompted the demonstration and found him gaping at her with disbelief. She grinned. Her message had been received loud and clear.

  Jack joined them on the floor and raised his hands for silence. After a few seconds, the cheers and clapping reluctantly died down so everyone could listen.

  “After that demonstration, it may be anticlimactic to announce Seraphina Waters as the winner of the bouts today,” Jack announced dryly.

  The cheers grew even louder. Jack had to wave his hands again several times to quiet them. Phina knew that many of the agents hardly knew her and were only reacting to the show she and Link had put on. Still, she couldn’t control the smile and flush that warmed her face as she bowed her head in acknowledgment.

  “Thank you.”

  Her bashfulness only served to heighten the volume of the cheers. Jack’s subsequent announcement giving Felan and Savas second and third place respectively was anticlimactic in comparison.

  Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base

  The devoted man entered the presence of his Empress and bowed before her.

  “I’m waiting.”

  Dread filled him at the flat tone in her voice. “My Empress?”

  “Have I or have I not informed you of the danger Seraphina Waters poses?”

  He swallowed roughly. “You have, my Empress.”

  “H
ave I or have I not given you the command to kill this traitor before she destroys the Empire?”

  “You...you have, my Empress.” He had to force himself to speak above a whisper.

  “Have you killed this traitor?”

  Her soft but stringent tone caused frozen ripples of dread to run down his spine.

  “No, my Empress,” he responded softly.

  The silence stretched into eternity.

  “Have you decided to turn against me, my chosen warrior?”

  Shock broke the hold on his body, and his head jerked up as he protested, “No, my Empress!”

  He looked down immediately, but he hadn’t seen her face through the shadows.

  Only her glowing red eyes.

  Silence fell as the devoted man suppressed his nervousness. Red eyes meant anger and temper and death. Finally, the Empress began to withdraw, her voice echoing in warning.

  “You have three more days.”

  The devoted man waited quietly, anguish in his heart. Either he betrayed his beloved Empress...

  Or he killed a woman he had come to respect and admire.

  Phina started awake, her heart racing. Sundancer yowled as her movements dislodged him from his position at her back.

  “Quiet, Sundancer. Listen. Don’t you feel that?”

  The Previdian tilted his pink head, ears perked.

  Phina held still as well, perched on the edge of her bed with her eyes closed to better feel the fluctuations of the Etheric. She whispered, “There’s been a disturbance.”

  Yes. He turned his head toward her, showing the glowing eyes of a predator, but Phina felt only comfort in his presence. It feels familiar.

  Her eyes flew open. “It does, doesn’t it?” She opened her senses fully. “Doesn’t it feel…”