Damn him. He knew I would not back down from a challenge like that. I turned and stomped back to the center of the arena. “Fine, but don’t blame me if I knock you on your butt again. And you owe me for making me believe I killed you.”
Nikolas’s husky laughter followed me. “Okay. What do you want?”
I watched him walk toward me and smiled. “I need to go into town this week to pick up a bunch of stuff for Oscar before he gets here.” I had a suspicion Nikolas had never been inside a pet store, let alone picked out kitty litter. Maybe those muscles would come in handy.
His brows drew together. “Oscar?”
“My cat. Nate is bringing him when he comes for Thanksgiving.”
“Oh.” I could tell by his expression he had expected me to ask for something bigger than a ride to the pet store. Maybe next time I’d think up something more impressive.
We spent the next hour working on my ability to summon my defensive power. It wasn’t easy to stimulate it without a demon nearby, and I flatly refused to let Nikolas use his as bait again. After forty minutes, I started to get a feel for it and managed to send a few sparks flying from my fingertips. Nikolas made me concentrate on that until I started to tire and my stomach began to growl. I didn’t admit it, but I was pleased by my progress by the time we broke for lunch.
“When do you want to go into town?” Nikolas asked, opening the door for me.
“Can we go this weekend?” I asked eagerly. I had plans this afternoon.
“I think we can arrange that.”
Thinking of my afternoon plans reminded me I hadn’t thanked him for what he had done for the hellhounds. “Chris told me you were the one who had Hugo and Woolf sent here. Thank you for doing that.”
“You don’t have to thank me. They belong with you.”
A companionable silence settled over us as we walked across the grounds, but it was broken when Nikolas muttered, “That boy is going to cut his own head off.”
I followed his gaze to Michael who was swinging a slender sword in an unsteady arc as he practiced some moves near the edge of the trees. As if he sensed our eyes on him, Michael stopped mid-swing and stared at Nikolas in awe before he looked away shyly.
I watched Michael thoughtfully and let out a quiet sigh. “Can I exchange the trip into town for something else?”
Nikolas stopped walking and gave me a questioning look. “You don’t want to go into town?”
“I do, but I want something more now.”
Interest sparkled in his eyes. “All right, let’s have it.”
“I want you to teach Michael not to cut off his head.” Nikolas gave me a puzzled look, and I shrugged. “He needs a lesson in sword fighting a lot more than I need a ride to town. Besides, you have no idea how much this will mean to him. He looks up to you a lot.”
Nikolas looked at Michael, and his gaze was unreadable when it returned to me. For a moment, I thought he was going to say no. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” I replied, and I meant it.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do for him, but no promises. And I’ll still take you into town.”
I imagined Michael’s excitement when Nikolas offered to work with him, and I couldn’t restrain myself. I threw my arms around Nikolas’s waist and gave him a quick hug. “Thanks!” Shocked by my actions, I pulled away from him and hurried toward the main building before he could see the hot blush creeping across my cheeks.
* * *
“You’re serious? You are actually going to take those two monsters for a walk?”
“Don’t call them that, Jordan. You saw how good they are with me. They’re like big puppies.”
Water sprayed across the table and a few drops landed on my face. I wiped them away as Jordan grabbed a napkin to clean herself up. “You have one twisted imagination if you think those mons – er – brutes are like puppies. I’m starting to think there is something way off about you, Sara”
“Scared?”
“Not.” Her lips curved into a pretty smirk. “Despite your weirdness, your cluelessness when it comes to men, and your complete lack of fashion sense, I still believe there is hope for you. Besides, you are the only other female here I can actually be around for more than an hour.”
I plucked a grape from my fruit bowl and threw it at her. “You keep insulting me and you can find someone else to play dress up with.” Not that I had any intention of allowing her to turn me into her life-sized doll.
“Speaking of dressing up, did your warrior boy see you all prettied up last night?”
I rolled my eyes. “He is not my warrior, and you were totally wrong about him. I might as well have been wearing a pillow case.”