Shadow Kin

by M. J. Scott

  “Good,” Guy said. “That’s settled.”

  Simon’s expression was concerned as he looked from Guy to me. “I think I’ll come too, just to make sure no one ends up bleeding to death.”

  Guy laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt her.”

  I tilted my head at him, hands on my hips. “What makes you think I’m the one in danger?”

  The weapons hall was exactly that. A single-storied stone building standing squatly on a substantial portion of the grounds to the rear of the Brother House. Inside, it was one huge rectangle, divided into smaller rectangles only by the changing surface of the floor. One-quarter flat slate tiles, one-quarter packed dirt, one-quarter cobblestones, and the last pale yellow sand.

  The walls were lined with long, low wooden benches and hung with row upon row of swords, axes, longbows like Liam had used, crossbows, pikes, and other various metal and wooden instruments of destruction. High windows let in plenty of light.

  Which meant that I’d be limited to only my physical abilities. Looking over the twenty or so assembled men, most of them even younger looking than Liam, I didn’t think that was necessarily going to be a problem, despite the scowls of disapproval several of them directed at me. Not happy with a female in their hallowed halls?

  Guy bellowed at them to line up and then Liam started taking them through a series of moves I was familiar with—stretches designed by the priests of a sect from the Silk Provinces. But I merely watched, trying to get a feel for the men I could be fighting.

  The novices wore loose wool breeches and sleeveless tunics in various shades of gray and dirty white. The Templars, apart from their crosses, didn’t seem to be overly fond of color. They all had cropped hair and sported identical looks of concentration as they began the drill.

  Beside me, Simon and Guy watched too. Guy’s expression was finely calculated between intimidation and intent study. I wouldn’t want to be the student who fumbled a drill in front of him. But no one made any overt errors at this point. Simon, on the other hand, wore an expression that I couldn’t quite interpret.

  The novices moved smoothly through the sequence, muscles flexing in unison. Some of them shot hostile glances my way whenever they faced me. I resisted the urge to smile. They were like the young Beasts, full of swagger and ego. And like the young Beasts, they were well trained. To a man, they were tall and strong and moved in the same lithe powerful way as Simon and Guy and Liam. Nerves balled in my stomach. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea after all.

  But I wasn’t about to act like a weak female and prove their prejudices correct. I channeled the nerves into concentrating even harder on the men, picking out weaknesses. Eventually the sequence came to its conclusion and Guy barked a few more orders. The knights fetched swords from the racks on the walls—no wooden practice weapons here, it seemed—and paired off in neat rows along the length of the hall.

  “Do you want to watch or work?” Guy said to me.

  “Work.”

  He nodded toward the racks. “Pick a sword.” He turned to Simon. “Do you want to drill with her?”

  Simon shook his head. “You know the answer to that.”

  They exchanged one of their inscrutable looks. Guy shook his head and turned back to me. “You can drill with Liam.”

  I did as I was told. But I took my time, testing the blades to find one with the correct balance and weight, wondering why Simon had refused as I did so. He knew how to fight; he’d said Guy had trained him. Why deny himself the opportunity to practice? I pushed my puzzlement away as I studied the swords. If I wasn’t focused, then I’d come off second best on the practice ground. None of the blades was perfect, given they were sized for men, but I can handle a heavier sword than any human female my size and I found a close enough match without much trouble.

  I took my place opposite Liam. We were working on the dirt, which was perfectly fine by me. I’d been trained to fight anywhere. I rarely met resistance. My powers allowed me to use stealth and most of my victims never saw me. But assassinations weren’t the only thing I did for Lucius, and, even with my training, Simon’s sunlight had given him the advantage when it mattered most. I frowned, remembering, and almost got clobbered by Liam when Guy yelled out the first command.

  I ducked just in time and came back to full alert, shaking off embarrassment. Liam’s white teeth gleamed at me as he grinned. I set my own teeth. There was no way I was going to let myself be bested in front of all these knights.

  Guy started shouting instructions in rapid succession and we moved to his commands. Blocks and thrusts and parries blurred together. Liam was good, but despite his height advantage, my experience let me hold my own. Still, he didn’t hold back and I rapidly started sweating.

  It felt good to move. To do what I was trained to do. To lose myself in the rhythm of combat and not think.

  But slowly, even through the dance of strike and counterstrike, through the need to focus on the sharpened steel being swung at my head and the man swinging it, I became aware that part of me wasn’t paying attention to the fight. Instead, part of me was tracking the sight of all the male bodies around me, the play of their muscles, the smell of their sweat.

  Tracking and wanting it.

  Wanting them.

  Not just Simon, who stood on the sidelines, as strong and sure as any of them, the light through the windows making his hair glow bright gold. No, this wasn’t caused by him.

  As soon as I became aware, the need swooped and flared, almost causing me to stumble as a fierce piercing jolt of desire shook through me.

  Night-scalded hell. I blinked sweat out of my eyes and redoubled my efforts, hoping I could drive the need out through sheer physical exertion. It had worked in the past.

  It didn’t work so well now.

  “Stop!” Guy roared. My sword met Liam’s for one final ringing clash that echoed around the hall as everyone else drew apart faster than us. There were murmured comments from the knights as I turned to face Guy, sword still at the ready.

  Perhaps they thought I couldn’t hear, but my ears caught the muttered “What’s she even doing here?” perfectly clearly.

  Apparently Guy’s hearing was quite acute as well. “She,” he said with deadly emphasis, “is here to show you puppies how things are done in the real world.” He strode across to the wall and selected a short sword.

  My heart sank. Fight Guy? While fighting the need? Not quite what I was hoping for.

  “Lily, would you care to demonstrate what a real fight looks like?” Guy hefted the sword. I was glad he’d chosen a smaller weapon than his usual blade. I had a chance of getting within reach of him without getting my head taken off.

  I looked across at Simon, the reason I was here in the middle of all of this. The one who’d turned my life upside down, and suddenly in place of the need, there was anger. Fury almost. What right did he have to bring all this trouble into my life? “I’ll fight Simon,” I said coldly.

  Beside me, Guy made a half-choked sound of amusement.

  Simon’s eyebrows shot up. Then he shook his head sharply. “I don’t fight for entertainment.”

  “Scared to fight a girl?”

  He stood there, arms crossed. “No. I’m not going to fight you, Lily.”

  I set my teeth as my anger kicked up another notch. Did he think just because he’d bested me once he could do so any time he chose? I reached for the dagger at my hip, transferring my sword to my left hand. “Well, if you won’t fight for entertainment, how about for real?” I said, and launched myself across the floor.

  I watched Lily’s face as she came toward me at a flat run. She was serious, that much was plain. Something had pushed her too far and right at this moment, I didn’t doubt she’d draw my blood if she could.

  I didn’t want to fight but I was going to have to. A few rounds at least, until she calmed down. I drew my sword, waiting until the last possible moment before raising it to meet her blow and spin away.

  Across the san
d Guy grinned at me. The bastard was enjoying this. Well, his turn would come. Lily’s next attack came lightning fast and for the next few minutes I was occupied with stopping her from succeeding in taking my head off.

  She was good. More than good. I already knew that. And, as we fought, I felt the familiar unwanted exhilaration sing through my veins. It felt good to have the sword in my hand, good to swing it.

  Too good.

  Which was reason enough to shut her down as soon as possible. My opportunity came soon enough. She overreached after a particularly vicious flurry of blows and tipped slightly off balance. I took advantage of her distraction as she tried to recover to duck under her guard, reached out and pressed my hand against her neck, sending a jolt of power down the nerves of her arms to numb them. Her sword and dagger fell to the ground.

  “Bastard,” she hissed. “That’s cheating.”

  “I said I wouldn’t fight you,” I replied. “So, your choice. Do you want the use of your arms back?”

  She bared her teeth at me but nodded.

  I bent to retrieve her weapons, keeping my eyes on her to make sure she didn’t decide to try to kick me in the head. “All right. Now, if you want to hit someone, I’m sure Guy will oblige.”

  “Fine,” Lily spat. “A real warrior would be more of a challenge anyway.”

  I shook my head at her. “We’ll talk about this when you’ve calmed down.” I reversed the nerve block, passed her the sword and dagger, and stepped back off the sparring field.

  Lily glared at me for a long ten seconds or so, then turned to Guy. “You have any problem fighting me?” she said.

  He shook his head, grinning nastily. “None whatsoever. Real-world rules okay by you, shadow?”

  “Real-world rules?” she questioned. “What are those?”

  “Anything goes,” Guy said, and drew his sword.

  Five minutes later I was beginning to wonder if I’d made a mistake in reversing the nerve block. Lily didn’t seem to have calmed down any. She and Guy were fighting like oldschool gladiators.

  I kept my hand on my sword, ready to intervene and fighting down my own instinct to join in with an effort of will. I sparred with Guy occasionally to keep my skills in, but we didn’t fight full out. I had stepped away from that path a long time ago and didn’t want the reminder of just why I’d made my choice.

  Lily flipped backward to avoid Guy’s sword swinging almost too fast to see at her torso. She landed in a crouch, swept up a handful of sand, flung it at Guy’s face, and then drove forward with a flurry of blows that had the watching knights roaring approval and Guy retreating.

  But only for a moment. Guy grinned fiercely, feinted, executed a neat spin of his own that finished with a side kick that would’ve broken her ribs had it connected. Having been the recipient of just such a kick on more than one occasion, I winced reflexively.

  But Lily just dodged, her eyes fixed on Guy, sword flashing as she attacked again.

  Despite my own dislike of the whole situation, I had to admit I was torn between pleasure at the sheer beauty of her in full flight, braided hair swinging behind her, the sleek lines of her body arcing gracefully, and heart-clutching fear that one of them was going to get seriously hurt.

  Steel rang as they fought. Fought dirty. Nothing measured or by the book. They both used elbows and fists, feet, and the terrain as they battled. Exactly the way I’d been taught all those years ago.

  I watched, pulse pounding, as Lily ducked another potentially fatal blow, ran full tilt past Guy to leap and grab a shield from the wall and send it spinning back toward him. Guy moved, but not quite fast enough, and the shield caught his sword at precisely the right—or wrong–angle and sent it flying from his hand.

  Lily pressed the attack, reversing her sword neatly to drive the pommel like a hammer toward Guy’s head as he recovered from the force of the shield’s impact. Her shirt was wet with sweat, turning it transparent in places. She wore something underneath, but it didn’t do much to hide the swell of her breasts beneath the thin cotton.

  Suddenly I wanted everyone else to disappear, so I could tackle her to the sand and get my hands on her again. Work out the adrenaline and confusion in a way just as primal as the fight going on in front of me.

  Guy dove for his sword, but Lily kicked it out of his reach. Then a crazed smile lit her face and she threw her own sword away, switching to kicks and blows.

  Her speed and ferociousness—a stomach-jolting reminder of exactly who she was and how she’d gotten that way—as she closed with Guy was breathtaking, but without the sword, Guy had the advantage of height and reach and weight. Within a minute or so, Guy stepped close, ducked her flying punch to his head, caught her, twisted, and sent her sailing through the air to land in a crashing series of rolls in the sand.

  “Enough!” The words tore from my throat before I was even aware of opening my mouth. Guy turned and held up his hands with a nod. The novices broke into a round of applause as Lily lifted her head from the sand, body tensed. She registered that Guy wasn’t attacking and relaxed before rolling slowly to a seated position. When our gazes connected, she looked surprised to see me, as though she’d forgotten I was there.

  Her cheeks were flushed from the fight, but it seemed to me they grew suddenly pinker. Her hand came up to smooth the hair from her face, tongue flicking quickly to moisten those lush lips. She pushed to her feet, the action pressing her breasts forward against her shirt again.

  Gods and suns. What was wrong with me that seeing her like this—seeing her display those skills that made her a killer—only made me want her more? Her eyes stayed with mine and the air seemed to crackle between us.

  Which wasn’t going to do either of us any good while we were stuck in the gods-damned Brother House.

  Guy came toward me, brushing sand from his clothes, looking disgustingly cheerful. “She can fight, little brother.”

  I kept my eyes on Lily. She stared back. “Yes, I know. Still, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break her. We’ve spent quite a bit of time healing her the last few days.”

  Guy laughed, then winced, touching a reddened mark on the side of his face. “As long as you ask her to extend me the same courtesy. Ow,” he said meditatively, feeling along his jaw. Then his attention snapped back to his novices. “Right, puppies. That’s how it’s done. Now, stop lazing about. Liam, second drills, please.”

  I didn’t pay much attention as the knights exchanged their swords for long padded staffs. Instead I crossed to Lily, who stood on the sandy square brushing her clothes clean, much as Guy had done.

  My hands itched to help her. “Need some assistance?” I said softly.

  Her pupils flared, her eyes clear of their earlier fury, and unless I was imagining it, her cheeks darkened further. But she stepped out of reach.

  “No, thank you,” she said slowly. She swiped at her sleeves a few more times, then dropped her hands.

  Damn. This was almost as awkward as those first few minutes on the roof. She was jittery around me. Nervous as . . . well, as a virgin who’d been deflowered and wasn’t sure of her lover’s response the morning after. Was that why she’d been so angry earlier?

  Not that I could do anything to reassure her right now. Not with this particular audience. “Are you done here?”

  She looked past my shoulder, at the sparring knights, a peculiar expression shading her face for a moment. Then she nodded. “Yes. I’m done.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I kept my distance as we walked back to the main building. Adrenaline from the sparring session buzzed through me, but underneath the high, the need sang too. Simon smelled far too good.

  My surge of anger had faded, burned away by exertion. Though Simon’s reluctance to fight still puzzled me. I sighed, feeling suddenly tired. And in need of clean clothes. I rubbed my forearm where it was scraped from one of my falls. I could feel similar abraded patches on my ribs and left thigh. Leather would have spared me those.

  �
��Let me see that.” Simon reached for my arm.

  I twitched it away. “It’s just a scrape. And why I need more leathers,” I said.

  He frowned but didn’t try again. “Are you planning on picking more fights?”

  “Who knows what I’ll have to do in the next few weeks?” I said. “Why didn’t you want to fight me?” I added.

  “I don’t believe in violence.”

  “You fought at Halcyon,” I objected. He had fought me at his house too.

  “I will fight to defend myself. I don’t do it for entertainment.”

  “Why not?”

  “That’s a long story.”

  “Well, we’re stuck here together for now, aren’t we?”

  “Some other time.”

  “Why not now?”

  “I’m not in the mood for remembrances right now, Lily. Particularly not those remembrances. Like you said, we have time.” His voice gentled on those last few words, but his eyes were distant blue.

  Perhaps we didn’t. Neither of us knew what might be coming. I needed to know now. Not just so I knew if he would fight beside me, but because I wanted to know the man.

  “Tell me,” I said softly. “You’re good with a sword. Why won’t you fight?” I hesitated, then laid my hand on his arm.

  He pulled his hand away as though I’d burned him. “Because I like it too much.”

  I turned and walked away, moving fast. Gods. I should have kept my mouth shut.

  But Lily wasn’t the kind of woman who’d let the subject go, and sure enough, I heard her footsteps start behind me after a few seconds.

  Gods and fucking suns.

  I didn’t want this. Not now.

  There was a door beside me in the corridor. I grabbed the handle, and was inside, locking the door behind me before I had time to think. Considerate of the Brothers to leave the key. Better still, the room—some sort of office—was empty. I took a few steps, wondering what in hell I was going to do next.