Eden would slap him if he ever looked at her like that.
“Balls,” he whispered, crumpling the papers up and throwing them across the room into the waste paper basket with perfect aim. What had that nod meant?
***
“I thought I was sword training today?” Eden asked as Noah led her into the training room the next morning. With the Bank Holiday over, the room was much quieter; all the young warriors back at school, including Tobe and Cameron, leaving a few older ones who didn’t work or worked from home or went to college. They nodded deferentially to Noah as he walked in. Every single mat was being used and he drew to a stop to wait patiently for one to free up.
“Well?” Eden persisted.
After an almost sleepless night, Noah had decided to play it cool with her if he could. She enjoyed messing with him — he could tell — so he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
Even though he was desperate to know why she was talking to him again.
“Yesterday was good but you need to practice with someone stronger than Tobe or Cameron.”
“Cameron was pretty strong.”
He threw her a quick look. She was smiling smugly. What? Did she have feelings for that little Scottish knob? Noah grunted. “Not strong enough.”
“Well then, who am I fighting today? You?”
Was it just him or did she look a little wary about that? He grinned inwardly. “Yeah. As soon as we get a mat.”
“Hi, Noah.”
They turned and Noah was faced with one of the older Neith girls. Or woman, he should say.
Natalie. She’d been coming on to him pretty strong the first day he arrived at the training centre.
Natalie was Eden’s height with soft blonde hair and huge, gorgeous, chocolaty eyes. She also looked about twenty five, twenty six, and was exactly the type of woman he would have fooled around with before he met Eden. “Natalie.” He nodded politely.
The Neith beamed, clearly ecstatic that he had remembered her. “Nice to see you again. This is James.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of her sparring partner who looked a little disgruntled by her obvious interest in Noah. “We were just finishing up so you can have the mat.” Noah smiled. “Thank you, we appreciate it.”
Grinning suggestively, Natalie stepped a little closer to him and asked quietly, “You know I can stick around if you need someone to spar with?”
At the sound of Eden’s grunt, Noah flicked a look at her out of the corner of his eye. He caught her throwing the Neith a disbelieving and disgusted look. A rush of feeling shot through Noah’s veins. Was Eden jealous of the flirty Neith? He raised an eyebrow at the implications. Hmm. Maybe I should play on this, he mused. He could flirt with the Neith, try to make Eden jealous in order to force her to acknowledge that there was so much more between them.
Wait, what the eff?!
Irritated at his crazy thoughts, Noah shot an incredulous look at Eden. The girl was turning him into an idiot. Noah was not a game player. He was direct, honest and straight to the point. There was no way this-whatever this was — was going to change who he was.
He shot Natalie a cool look. “I’ve got a sparring partner, but thanks.” He took a gentle hold of Eden’s elbow and led her to the mat.
Eden couldn’t help it. She was majorly relieved that Noah hadn’t started flirting back with Natalie the Neith with the bedroom eyes. Her relief made her uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with how possessive she still felt towards Noah. The night of Doug Brown’s party pushed its way to the forefront of her thoughts. That sophomore had riled Eden back then and she’d felt so smug that Noah hadn’t been interested, that he’d chosen to find Eden and leave with her. With everything that had happened between them, she was so sure those feelings for him would at least be muted if not gone.
Why she’d thought that she wasn’t sure, considering every time she thought of Stellan, she thought of Romany, and then thought of Noah and all the negativity she felt towards him threatened to rear its ugly head again. And it wasn’t just because his ex-girlfriend killed Stellan — although that was a huge part of it — but also because all the time she’d had fluffy feelings for him, he’d actually been seeing someone behind her back.
“OK, ready to start?” Noah asked, shrugging out of his jacket and throwing it to the floor offside the mat. His pale violet eyes were full of patience and familiarity.
It was only yesterday that Eden had promised Cyrus that she would forgive Noah. And she had. I have, she reminded herself. She got the importance of their duty now and Noah had just been following orders. She forgave him. She did. She really, really did. She forgave them all. Except Romany. Stellan’s murderer could never be forgiven.
“Sure.” Eden shrugged, pulling off her sweater so she could train in her tank top. She grinned cheekily at Noah as she threw it aside. “So, does being Ankh mean we always get our own way?” He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
She bobbed her head towards the entrance where the two Neith had disappeared. “Those guys handing that mat over as soon as we walked in?”
“Ah.” He nodded with a knowing, somewhat arrogant smile that tugged at something in her lower belly. “Yeah pretty much.”
Chuckling at his unabashed superiority Eden shook her head. “It’s a miracle you haven’t been beaten up more.”
“Hey.” Noah shrugged. “Look, it’s just the way that it is. We’re old, we’re more powerful and we’re the only ones that can take down the seriously strong soul eaters. We have to believe in ourselves if we’re going to face the kind of danger that we face. The Neith get that.” Eden thought of Natalie. “Some of them certainly do treat you like rock stars.” He gave her a look that told her he caught her meaning but didn’t respond. Instead he rubbed his hands together. “OK, I’m going to come at you with a punch and I want you to use what you learned yesterday to incapacitate me.”
Now that he was getting down to business Eden tried to shrug off her wariness. Yesterday had been fun but training with Noah made her nervous. She’d seen him in action, felt how strong he was.
This… wasn’t going to be easy. Exhaling, Eden took a defensive stance and waited for Noah.
His arm shot out, a blur of movement Eden hadn’t ever encountered before. Despite his speed, Noah’s training kicked in and she stepped into the punch. Eden grabbed his wrist, rolling it as she twisted his arm. Noah winced as she pushed him to his knees, putting pressure on his upper arm as she pulled the arm upwards, poised to break it. She did it in seconds, as much of a blur as his attack had been.
Noah grinned up at her. “Good.”
“Thanks.”
“Uh you can let go now.”
“Oh, sorry,” she mumbled, releasing him and watching with a little smidge of sadistic satisfaction as he rubbed his arm.
“You’ve gotten stronger with the change.”
At the comment Eden flexed her hands, staring at them. She didn’t feel any stronger but she guessed Noah would know. “That’s good though right?”
“That’s excellent. Now, come on, let’s see if you can get me into a neck crank.” For the next half hour or so Noah attacked and Eden defended. Smacking Noah to the mat time after time was hugely satisfying and in a way was really helping along the whole forgiving him thing.
She thought maybe he knew that because he kept giving her these wry, knowing looks every time she attacked him with more force than was necessary. He didn’t say anything, just rolled his eyes at her and went on to try something new.
“OK.” Noah sprung to his feet, barely winded by her last smackdown. The guy was like the freakin’ Energiser bunny. “This time when you defend, I’m going to keep attacking.” Her heart was already pumping pretty fast. Now it spluttered.
Shake it off, Eden, she told herself. You can take him.
Hadn’t she already?
I can do this.
“Sure,” she replied, keeping her face carefully expression free.
As he punched
Noah stepped forward with his right leg. Eden pushed the punch away with force so that Noah was thrown off balance, leaving his leg undefended. She pounded her knee into the side of his upper thigh with total brutality and watched his eyes narrow with pain as his leg crumpled, taking him to the mat. Stupidly triumphant, Eden forgot that Noah was fighting back and just stood gloating as he fell. But as soon as he hit the mat, he swung his good leg up and caught her behind the knees. Eden crashed to the mat, the air whooshing out of her lungs. She’d barely blinked once and Noah was on top of her, his strong upper thighs caging her legs, his lower legs trapping hers and his hands gripping hers above her head. Trying to move was useless. She pushed her body up at him but he wouldn’t budge. Growling in frustration, she collapsed against the mat and glared up into Noah’s smiling eyes.
She was totally caught.
“Told you I was going to fight back,” he murmured.
The low vibrato of his voice sent a shiver down Eden’s spine and she was suddenly completely aware of the fact that Noah was straddling her. The heat of his body soaked into hers, his face inches above her. Eden’s breath caught and the sound seemed to make its way through Noah’s body because she felt him tense and watched his eyes narrow and darken as they drifted over her face to her lips.
Attraction rippled in waves off of both of them and Eden couldn’t remember where they were or what they had been doing. All she cared about was the delicious tingling in her body, the flush of heat that held her captive, the way the sight of Noah’s mouth and strong jawline and throat sent dangerous shivers cascading over her and caused a strange but pleasant tug in her lower abdomen.
His lidded eyes drew back to hers and Eden felt triumphant at the sight of Noah’s desire. She had been right. He did want her.
“I hope I am not interrupting.”
They both froze.
Cyrus.
With a hastiness that was almost comical Noah slid off of her, throwing her a desperately pleading look as she gasped at the feel of his body whispering over hers.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, not sure what she was apologising for and feeling very stupid all of sudden. No longer able to look at Noah, Eden scrambled to her feet to face Cyrus and Val. Her guardian didn’t look angry but he was certainly eyeing Noah strangely. And then she saw it. The dark flash of warning in his gaze. When Noah tensed beside her she knew he had gotten the message.
Eden glanced at Val for reassurance and only saw resignation on her face. Eden frowned at that.
“Eden,” Cyrus spoke, drawing her gaze back to his. His eyes were carefully blank once again.
“You will resume training with Valeria with Noah coaching.” Neither of them argued as Val joined Eden on the mat and Noah stepped off to the side beside Cyrus. As she began to spar with Val, a studied politeness developed between her and Noah. On the outside it was as if nothing had happened. On the inside… Eden couldn’t stop remembering what it felt like to have the pressure of Noah’s body on hers. It was the most delicious feeling she had ever felt. She’d felt so awake. So real. It unlike anything she’d ever felt before and it was as addictive and as needy as her soul eater hunger had been but it didn’t incite feelings of terror and horror within her.
Instead, it made her feel hot and electric all over. Not at all the kind of feelings she had time to dwell on at the moment. In fact… they were kind of brilliantly inconvenient.
Val’s knuckles brushed her cheek in a punch and the Ankh stepped back impatiently. Noah clipped at Eden to focus, his business-like tone icing over some of the earlier warmth. She threw him a dirty look and kicked Val’s legs out from underneath her.
Chapter Thirteen. Breathless Clarity
Despite Cyrus’ optimism that her training would progress quickly Eden still hadn’t gotten around to sword training yet. Instead she had been training nonstop in hand to hand combat all week. Things between her and Noah were a little strained. They had come to a truce of sorts and she was probably politer towards him than she’d ever been, which made her awkward, and she had the feeling it was making Noah uncomfortable. She just didn’t want to ignite the spark between them again, and teasing and grouching at him as if he were a friend would certainly do that. As for Noah, Eden wasn’t sure what his deal was. On the one hand he’d diligently avoided physical contact with her since their ‘mat’ moment but on the other she got the feeling her politeness was driving him nuts. She didn’t mean to drive him nuts. She just… jeez, thinking about Noah would give her a headache if Ankh were capable of the affliction.
So focusing on her training not only felt great, but it took her mind off things. Eden had mastered combat and was eager to go on her first hunt. Cyrus and McLeish were positive that there was a group of soul eaters in the city. There had been two murder cases in the last few days and in each case the family members had stated that the accused had been acting very uncharacteristically for days before the attack. They spoke of two women who had been easy going, run-of-the-mill nice, and how they had suddenly undergone some extreme behavioural changes. That and an apparent sighting by one of the Neith was enough for them to go on. However, the den, if there was one, wasn’t above the club in New Town. Cyrus and Val had been out with the Neith hunting and investigating, scouring the entire city for any new leads on where the soul eaters could possibly be holing themselves up. The fact that there had been no word made them suspect the den had moved to a private residence. With Val and Cyrus out hunting that left Noah back at the house to babysit her.
She’d tried to say she was perfectly OK with Mhairi and the rest of the Douglas’ but Cyrus was adamant Eden remain in the company of an Ankh at all times. She could tell being left out of the hunt was chafing Noah. She could tell because it was beginning to chafe her. Ten days she had been in Edinburgh. Ten days that might as well have been ten years she felt so different. She was changed.
She was strong. Powerful. Capable. She was ready to be redeemed. Pity Cyrus was erring on the side of caution with her. She was so ready to pick up a sword and learn how to use one of those bad boys.
Despite her impatience, Eden wouldn’t take back one day of training. Sparring with Cameron and Tobe with Noah coaching had been a lot of fun. They got her sense of humour and it helped that Tobe’s was as equally as biting as her own. Sometimes other Neith had joined them. Two in particular had shown up a few times, a couple of college kids called Mark and Shona. Eden couldn’t stand the girl. Shona reminded her so much of the girls she’d left behind at South Salton High. Snide and superior. What Eden found particularly irritating was Shona’s attitude towards Tobe. She was constantly sniping at the younger Neith and although Tobe was pretty good at handling herself, it was driving Eden nuts. Whatever the girl had against October, Eden was getting plenty fed up of her and had to keep reminding herself that Cyrus wanted her to make as best an impression as possible on the Scots so that her heritage wasn’t drawn into question by an already wary McLeish. It helped that Shona’s boyfriend Mark was an actually pretty OK guy. Eden wondered what in hell he saw in the blonde though. Unfortunately, despite the other Neith quite happily taking turns to spar with Eden, Shona hadn’t volunteered, disappointing her greatly. She was pretty sure a hefty smackdown would have eased her irritation somewhat.
Friday night had come around all too quickly and Eden hadn’t been looking forward to being cooped up again. So it was a pleasant surprise when Noah said he’d gotten permission to escort Eden, October and Cameron out for the night. They were going out for dinner and then onto a movie. It was all so normal.
Eden loved Edinburgh at night. There was so much light despite the darkness, so much energy and life. They jumped on a bus that dropped them off on Princes Street, and Eden soaked up the sight of the castle looming in the distance. Her breath still caught every time she looked up at it. October nudged her forward and she followed her companions, watching lots of men in sharp shirts and cologne, women all dressed up in their high heels and dresses, clack back and forth as they soug
ht the next greatest restaurant and bar. Noah smiled at her as he caught her glancing back at the castle again and she shrugged him off with a sheepish smile.
As they passed the gardens and the Scott Monument, Tobe turned so she was facing Eden and began walking backwards. “You have to come back to Edinburgh at Christmas time. The both of you.
This place is beautiful. They put white lights on all the trees and there’s a German market that smells amazing and a small fun fair with this huge ferris wheel all lit up. Princes Street at night on a cold Winter’s day is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Even if I do say so myself.” Tobe grinned.
“She’s right,” Cameron agreed. “It’s really Christmassy. There’s even ice skating down in the gardens.”
Christmas had never been a big deal in the Winslow Mansion. Since it was a religious holiday and not a soul eater’s religion, they pretended on the outside with everyone else, but on the inside there was no decorations, no tree, no presents. Unlike birthdays, Christmas was blown past with Ryan handing them a wad of cash and telling her and Stel to buy whatever they wanted.
“I wouldn’t have thought you guys celebrated Christmas.” Eden frowned.
Tobe shrugged still walking backwards, impressing Eden with how she managed not to trip or knock into anyone. “Well of course we don’t go to church or anything like that but many people who celebrate Christmas don’t go to church.”
“You go to the service,” Cameron murmured at her.
Eden could swear she saw Tobe’s face flush red as made a face at him. “Service?” Tobe huffed, “What? It’s cool OK.”
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