“We’ve been too lax.” Egan rapped his knuckles on the kitchen counter. “Yunez made a very good point in his parting shot to us.”
Jari sat on the couch and pulled my feet into his lap. My shoes hit the ground as he slipped his thumbs over my heels. The muted thump breaking up the silence.
Across the room, Nato and Egan had their own conversation.
“What do you mean, we’ve been too lax? This is the most secure place in all of Fennina.” Nato lifted his head.
“With Issy girl. We’ve spent the last three weeks wallowing in our self-doubt and pathetic feelings.” Egan scoffed as if he was disgusted with himself. “All we’ve done is lay around in here or in the courtyard. Barely talking to each other. You know what we haven’t done? We haven’t started training Issy on knowledge she needs to have. That should have been the easiest thing we did. Then there’s her powers. Fighting skills. Everything we should have considered as her Lusty Legion. Instead, the man that’s broken our fucking hearts by hiding who he really is from us, had to point it out.” Quick, heavy breaths poured out of Egan, as he glared out the window to the empty courtyard.
I turned to see if Yunez was still out there, and sure enough, he was. In those tiny briefs once again, doing some weird one-legged pose with his eyes closed. He looked like a serene work of art.
“Damn,” Jari cursed under his breath.
“I hate to say it, but you’re right. We need to focus on Isolde if she’s going to survive Rainer.” Nato strolled over to the window to look at Yunez.
A million different thoughts and emotions could be playing through his head, but I couldn’t decipher any of it. His expression was as flat as the floor of my old school gymnasium. There was no twitch or wrinkle to give anything away.
“Fuck, we should have started weeks ago. And Sage is going to hate it, but we need whatever information Yunez is willing to give us. We’re at too much of a disadvantage. Fuck.” The glass vibrated with Egan’s slap.
I raised my hand. “Is it weird I’m more concerned what Sage is going to do when Rand catches up to him?” And, that was a real fear. Sage was hotheaded and tended to act before he thought. Outside, Rand appeared remorseful, and would probably keep his distance to not cause any more hurt by his presence. But if Sage was doing something dangerous, Rand would intervene.
He squeezed my calf with one long-fingered hand. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Sweets. Sage won’t leave the grounds, and I’d bet my signed Taking Back Sunday CD that Rand is only following to make sure he doesn’t actually leave.” Jari loved emo music. Was obsessed with it in his younger years, collecting as many signed CDs as possible. I had no idea what he did now that CDs weren’t really a thing. Maybe when we were safe and all this was over, we could do something together. Jari seemed to always get shafted on his time with me.
“How do you know Sage won’t leave?” I tilt my head back, and Jari’s bright, morning blue eyes snared me completely.
A devilish smirk slid over his mouth, and he tapped a finger under my chin. “Is that a real question? He won’t leave because you’re here. No matter if we’re buried deep in Yunez’s fortress or the rest of us are with you. He won’t stray too far out of fear and love.”
I scoffed. Did he believe Sage loved me? If he had said that about Nato or Egan, I one hundred percent would have taken his words at face value. But Sage? A loud snort followed the scoff.
“Nice try, sliding that in there. Sage cares about me. Maybe even likes me a little. But not love.” This sweetness he’d shown to me since we entered the castle was amazing, I just didn’t think it would last. Sage was too much of an asshole for that. And yes, that was part of what I loved about his grumpy ass.
Nato stepped up to the side of the chair, pressing his thighs against the arm as he smoothed a hand down my hair. “Believe what you want. But right now, we need to work on your survival skills.” He glanced behind him and seemingly nodded at nothing. “Yunez has left the yard. Let’s go back out and get an idea of where your self-defense is. Then we can gauge powers.”
“Uh, no we can’t. I mean, we can work on self-defense, but my powers have been non-existent since we got here.” The weight of their stares scratched across my skin, and I had the sudden urge to dig my nails into my forearms. Occasionally, I had reached for the tendrils of fire that filled me up when we were in the chapel, or the sight as I looked at one of the guys. On top of everything with Yunez and Rand, I was angry and embarrassed about my lack of powers. I should have come into them by now with all my bonds, right?
“Completely non-existent? You can’t feel them at all?” Egan’s brows popped up.
“The only times they ever made themselves known was…when we were in danger. Or when I needed them.” Look at me, talking about my powers like they were separate entities. I was such a weirdo. At least the guys didn’t comment on it.
Nato rubbed his thumb and forefinger across his forehead. “I should have been thinking about all this before now. Before it was thrown in my face.” He sighed and turned away from me. “What the fuck have we been doing?” He muttered under his breath.
Egan walked over to Nato and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We were processing the truth about Yunez and our history. We were shocked and glad to be alive. That’s not bad and it’s not wrong.”
The self-recrimination burned my skin when Nato looked at me, and it seemed like an apology was on the tip of his tongue. But those weren’t his next words. “Go get something on that you can work out in, Isolde. We need to see what we’re working with.” Nato left us to go into the bedroom. When he came back, wearing the equivalent of Fennin workout gear, he didn’t look at anyone as he continued outside and shut the door gently behind him.
Damn. Our Zen moment shattered so easily and now they were about to kick my ass. I’d always been more of a lover than a fighter. Actually, never a fighter. Even when the school bully squeezed pickle juice down my back at lunch one day, I’d only sucked in a deep breath, glared fire at her, and walked away. What school sold dill pickles at recess anyway?
“Let’s get this over with.” I left the guys and quickly changed. The comfy shift dress was not going to work for this needed torture session. Our trunks were in the closet, and most of my stuff wasn’t on hangers. I found a pair of linen pants and matching top that would do.
The guys were already outside in a circle. Egan was loose and relaxed like the animal man he was. Our fearless leader had his arms crossed, impatiently waiting for us to get started. Then there was Jari, beaming with hands braced on his hips. He was doing his best impersonation of a charismatic super hero. The only thing he was missing was his cape.
Even though it was funny, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh. Underneath it all, worry strained their postures and bracketed their smiles. We had been effectively bitch-slapped to the present; it was going to be a painful ride.
They hadn’t noticed me yet, so I took my time reaching them. Anxiety smothered me with its hindering arms. I had no idea what to expect. I stopped on the edge of their ring and waited for them to notice me. Jari, my carefree jokester, was the first one.
“Ah, Sweets. You’re not shy, are you?”
“No. But how about a demonstration first to make sure I understand what you’re looking for?” I grinned, hoping my unease wasn’t so easy to read.
Nato shook his head as Egan started speaking. “That’s a good idea. What we’ve decided is to come at you individually to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. It wouldn’t hurt for you to get an idea of how we fight hand to hand.”
“It would be better to catch her off guard.” Nato extended an arm for me to join him in the middle.
“What harm is it? Egan and I’ll demonstrate. Right, Egan?” Jari stepped into the middle of the circle, and Egan joined him. I loved him so much at that moment, I could have kissed him. While I was changing in the bathroom, they must have changed as well. Gone were the long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Now th
ey all work black shorts and the Fennin version of a sleeveless shirt. The linen didn’t quite look as badass as Earth clothes, but they still had the Karate Kid vibe going on.
The two circled each other as Nato sat beside me. He grumbled the whole time, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from Egan and Jari long enough to give him a shut up look.
They must have been counting in their heads or something because they both sprang into action at the same time. They grappled and rolled before springing apart, only to do it all over again. It wasn’t a fistfight or even martial arts. It was some kind of weird shit that was almost too fast for me to see. Everything about Egan was feral and wild, while Jari was controlled but fluid movements. It was barely two minutes before Egan pinned Jari to the ground with a playful snap of his teeth.
I slow clapped and picked my chin up off the ground. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“See!” Nato tossed up his hands. “This is why I didn’t want to do a demonstration. You two shits were showing off, and now you freaked her the fuck out.” Nato did a damn good impersonation of Egan’s growl.
With innate grace, Egan popped back onto his feet and held a hand out to Jari, who happily accepted the help.
“Whatever, Nato. It was all fun. Iss, we aren’t going to go at you like that. We all know you haven’t had any training.” Jari dusted the back of his shorts off.
“Nope. I’m pretty sure if trouble comes my way, it would be best if I hid under the bed, or behind the door. You know, where the bad guys can’t see me.”
With a slow, sensual prowl, Egan managed to make me forget the current topic of conversation. He shot me a half-grin as he reached behind his head and snagged his shirt, pulling it up until it peeled away from his body. His abs rippled with every movement.
A finger touched my chin, right under the left side of my mouth. “You have a little drool.” Jari chuckled.
Damn. All the nerves wracking my body evaporated with a smoldering look from Egan, and a nice, up close glance at his half naked body. We hadn’t had sex in weeks.
None of us.
What the hell was wrong with us? Were we all that shell-shocked that we completely forgot about everything but brooding? Apparently. All the latent pent up need came back with a vengeance, pummeling my core with hot pulses of desire.
Hands shoved under my armpits and lifted me off the nice plush, safe grass, and right into the arms of my animal man.
“My turn first.” His voice deepened as heat filled his gaze.
“Fuck.” It just popped out.
“I’d love to. After.” He grinned down at me indulgently.
I shook the cobwebs from my head and stepped back. “Alright, I’m not a coward. And, I’m not a procrastinator…much. Let’s do this.” I did my best crouch with my arms up and motion for him to come at me with just my fingers.
Instead of instilling the proper amount of fear and awe, all three guys bust up laughing. They laughed so hard, they fell into each other, grabbing their stomachs.
“Yuk it up. Fuckers.” I grumbled as I straightened. I wasn’t wasting my energy if they weren’t going to take me seriously.
“Sorry. So sorry.” Nato wheezed. That uncontrolled voice was so out of character, I would never have known it was him if I hadn’t seen his lips move.
I glared at them, even after they collected themselves and made another circle around me. Or triangle? Since there were only three of them.
“Ah, Iss. You’ve never had to fight for anything in your life, have you?” Nato smiled and I wanted to gouge his eyes out and do a testicle transplant.
“You can stay out of the bedroom when I’m sexing everyone up later.”
That shut him up so quick, I nearly burst out laughing.
“That’s not fair. They laughed too.” He pointed at Egan and Jari, who both remained silent. Smart of them.
I shrugged. “They didn’t continue to taunt me.”
His brow furrowed, and he was clearly at a loss of words.
I chuckled and cocked my hip out to the side. “I’m kidding. No one is getting any tonight.” The entire world stopped breathing and the brightness of my grin could not be contained. “Okay, boys. As painful as this is going to be, I’m ready.”
In the span of a heartbeat all of the light atmosphere melted quietly into the ground, leaving behind a heavy cloud of determination.
I think they were determined to keep me alive.
I was determined to not look like an idiot.
Egan came at me first. There was no warning. I was patiently waiting for Nato to give a signal, and then Egan was knocking my feet out from under me.
“Oof.” I landed on the grass, sufficiently knocking the air out of my lungs.
“Are you all right?” Egan and Jari’s heads blotted out the sun above me. It was a good thing concern laced their brows, otherwise there would be hell to pay. And by that, I meant when I was trained and could actually dole it out.
“Fucking dandy.” Jari helped me up, and I assumed the position in the center again.
This time it was Jari that attacked me. I at least saw him coming. Not that it did any good. He freaking flowed sideways or some shit and body slammed me into the grass.
“Stop, stop.” Behind Jari, Nato was waving his hands wildly. “This is pointless. We wanted to test her skills and reflexes, but clearly Isolde has none. We’re going to have to start her teaching as if she was a first year in Yunez’s training.” I wanted to snap at him out of irritation and embarrassment, but the grimace on his face shared just how painful it was to watch.
Although, probably not as painful as experiencing it.
Somehow, I manage to sit up and drape my arms over my legs. As I was catching my breath, the guys scattered around me in similar positions. Should I have been embarrassed I was such a low level we had to start at the beginning?
Nah, I was grateful for the break.
“Issy girl, we’re going to start at the beginning. But we’re going to push you fast and hard. Now that we’ve been smacked in the face with a good and healthy dose of reality, there’s no time to waste. You’re essentially going to have to complete all seven years of our training in a few months.” The sun in the lavender sky highlighted the dark auburn streaks in his hair.
“Yeah, right. I’ll try, but I’m telling you, don’t hold your breath.” I plucked a few strands of grass and tossed them at Egan. I had confidence in myself, but I also knew my limitations. And my limits were saying hard fucking no.
The middle door to the courtyard banged against the wall as it swung open, and Fab Cab came strolling through with a flourish, his arms held high, fingers splayed perfectly with a swish of his wrists. He was every inch the madam in this moment.
“Never fear doll, Cabbie is here to save the day.” He beamed and his black, floral print jacket flared out behind him. He really liked that pattern. He had it in both robes, and everyday wear.
“Cabbie!” I hopped up with far more strength than I thought I had left in my body. “It’s so good to see you. But why are you here?” Part of me wanted to run over and hug him, but another part said we didn’t have that kind of friendship. Calm hugs were okay, but running into his arms seemed next level.
The guys all stood up in varying speeds around me, alternating between glares and suspicious looks. Wait, Cabbie wasn’t a Manno was he?
“How did you know where this place was? Or where to find us?” Nato separated himself from our group, and subtly positioned himself in front of me.
Damn. Good point. Was this going to be our life from now on? Questioning everything and everyone? That sounded like a horribly lonely future, and one I’d fight tooth and nail to avoid.
“Don’t be so suspicious.” Cab rolled his eyes. “Yunez said you all needed some help in training Isolde, and that you weren’t likely to accept help from him anytime soon. So, I packed up some of my girls, and here I am.” He planted his fists on his hips and nodded behind him as a few of the Cherri
es, dressed in tight spandex outfits with high heeled combat boots—at least they were dressed—piled through the doorway with a gold and mauve painted trunk between them.
“And where do you think you are?” Egan crossed his arms as a lone lock of dark red hair fell in his eyes.
A tense vibe snaked through the air around us. He was fishing. Egan probably wanted to know if Cabbie knew about the Mannos, and the change in the air meant the others wanted to know too. I whipped back around to pierce Cabbie with my stare as we all waited for him to answer.
A deep furrow appeared in between his immaculately shaped eye brows. “What are you all smoking? We’re in one of Yunez’s safe houses. He just met me at the door and escorted us to our quarters down in the wing next to this one. What’s with all the salt? Did he hit on Isolde?”
The guys visibly relaxed, and Jari strutted over to Cab to pull him into a man hug, slapping his back a couple times. At one point, Cab’s hand did try to snake around Jari’s hips, but Jari was too quick. He caught him by the wrist and held his hand away from his body.
“Unh-uh, that’s for Iss only. She gets incredibly angry and won’t put out for days if I let anyone else touch it.”
Look at Jari trying to use me as a buffer between him and Cabbie. I snorted and pushed through the guys to get my own hug. When Cabbie saw me coming, his smirk turned into an impossibly wide smile and he held open his long, lanky arms.
“Are these boys treating you right?” He swooped me up and rocked me side to side as my feet swung in wide arcs.
“What’s your definition of right?” I asked as the guys scoffed behind me. Cabbie winked and set me down.
“Then it’s a good thing I’m here. Farrah,” he snapped his fingers at one of the girls holding the trunk. “Come here.”
Secrets of the Mazza: A Paranormal Romance (Mazza Series Book 3) Page 2