CHAPTER 82

Damian was in the courtyard, just as Rune said. He went through a series of precise movements, dressed in low-slung pants and boots. Faye wondered how long he'd been out here. Strips of his red stripped hair clung to his sweat-slick body. The hellfire cast bronze highlights onto his brown skin.

He stopped suddenly when Faye stepped onto Hell's landscape, the loose crystals grinding under her steps.

"Was starting to wonder if you'd show." He looked her up and down with a smirk as he flipped a blade the length of his forearm between his deft fingers. "Late night, dove?"

"How are you up so early?"

Damian shrugged. "Haven't been to sleep yet. The Shadow Prince teaches you to shield?" At Faye's nod, he moved to a clear area in the courtyard and gestured for her to join him.

"Thank you for this and the court," Faye said.

Damian laughed as his blade vanished, replaced with a slightly shorter one. "You'll be cussing me soon enough." He jabbed her shoulder with two fingers, taking at her when he made contact. "Shield yourself, always. Enemies can phase behind you and slip a knife between your ribs." He sniffed loudly. "You don't smell immortal. Be hard pressed to recover from a wound like that."

His words left her uneasy. She didn't expect anyone besides Alister to come for her. Faye called her power to her, pulling it up from its depths. Cold momentarily covered her as she shielded herself. Damian arched a brow and touched the tip of his knife to her shield, watching it light and sway around her.

Faye stepped away from his weapon. "Can you not point sharp objects at me?"

"It's a training weapon. Won't cut you." He dragged the blade over his forearm, proving his point. "Alister won't attack you with magic. He'll use steel, temper, and cunning. The man's brilliant."

"You know him?"

"No, but my order adopted many of his strategies. Darkness knows how Michelle and Julian produced a day-blood, but he holds his own against dark-bloods. Even crafted a spell that used blood as a conduit to break shields."

Faye's heart froze as cold slipped down her back. "Can he break shields?"

Damian nodded. "He binds the blood of a dark-blood to his blades. As long as the blood is darker than the person holding the shield, Alister's swords cut through them. Sure as a bolt of power would." Faye paled, and Damian smiled, waving a hand at her. "You won't have to worry about that, dove. Even if he still had a cache of the Shadow Prince's blood, you're far darker. He won't be able to break your shield."

"First rule." Damian stepped forward and jabbed her shoulder. The hit jarred Faye's teeth, forcing her to take a step back. "You'll feel the force that hits your shields."

Faye shifted her shoulder. "Have you trained anyone before?" Faye thought being thrown in a pool to learn to swim was traumatic. This was worse.

He gave her a feral grin. "Many, and they didn't whine as much as you."

"Did you teach Sadi?" Faye turned as Damian circled her.

"My kitten deals in an entirely different kind of warfare."

Whatever that meant. Faye sighed, "Do I get a weapon?"

He tossed her his knife and called an identical one. "Second rule," Damian lunged forward, arcing his knife at her face.

Faye reacted out of instinct. She gasped, bringing her arms up and stepping back. A wide band of power lashed from her. A sizzling crack filled the courtyard as Damian was hurled across it. His back met the stone wall with a sickening crack, and he dropped to the ground.

"Damian!" Faye rushed forward, stopping when Damian held a hand up at her, getting to his feet.

Rune appeared next to her, looking her over, then Damian. "Are you well?" He asked Faye.

"Yes, Rune, I'm fine. The one thrown across the courtyard," Damian answered, dusting himself off.

"He just scared me," Faye said to Rune, then turned to Damian. "Are you okay?"

Damian shook the crystal fragments out of his hair before he glanced at Rune. "She hits a bit hard." A dark gray light flashed over Damian several times as he strolled back to her. He looked Rune up and down. "You're in the way, friend." Damian flattened his hand to the middle of Rune's chest and pushed.

Rune didn't budge.

With a sigh, Damian addressed Faye. "Second rule. You need to be desensitized to having weapons swung in your direction. If you are afraid of the blow, you can never counter it. Sometimes you need to take a hit to land one."

He lunged at her, and Rune caught his wrist with a growl. "This is not training."

Ignoring Rune, Damian continued, "Third rule. Having a shield doesn't mean you're suddenly invulnerable." He hooked his foot behind Faye's ankle and shoved her to demonstrate his point.

Faye gracelessly fell on her ass and stared up to find Rune holding Damian by the throat.

The Familiar stood on his toes. "It's the best way to teach a lesson, Shadow Prince. Your dove is a tiny thing. Any male can pick her up with muscle and temper." He turned his head, unable to break free of Rune's grasp. "Now, I don't mind a hand on my throat if it's done in the right spirit. But I would ask you to romance me a little." To Faye, he winked. "He's not this rough with you, is he?"

Rune thinned his lips as Faye got to her feet.

"Alister is a master swordsman. He wields a sword and controls another two by his will. Do you want your mate to learn here or when your brother and his blades are trying to filet her?"

Rune reluctantly released Damian. "If you injure her, I will repay your kindness."

"Were you leaving, or did you want to go a few rounds of Pure Blood?"

Faye took Rune's hand in hers. "I'm fine. I threw him across the courtyard. He's careful, and the weapons are fake." Faye poked him in the side with her blade.

"I'll take good care of your dove. Make sure when the queen of our court is tested, her enemies regret the notion."