The shadow slipped past another window, and this time, Rhoan’s gaze flickered in that direction. Only briefly, but that half-second gave me an idea.
I twisted, spinning and lashing out with one bare foot. My heel skimmed his stomach, forcing him backward. His baton arced around, his blow barely avoiding my shin, then he followed the impetus of the movement so that he was spinning and kicking in one smooth motion. His heel whistled mere inches from my nose, and probably would have connected if I hadn’t leaned back.
He nodded approvingly. “Now, that’s a little more like it.”
I grunted, shifting my stance and throwing the baton from one hand to the other. The slap of wood against flesh echoed in the silence surrounding us, and tension ran across his shoulders. I held his gaze, then caught the baton left-handed and started to hit out. Only to pull the blow up short and let my gaze go beyond him.
“Hi, Jack.”
Rhoan turned around, and, in that moment, I dropped and kicked his legs out from underneath him. He hit the mat with a loud splat, his surprised expression dissolving quickly into a bark of laughter.
“The oldest trick in the book, and I fell for it.”
I grinned. “Old tricks sometimes have their uses.”
“And I guess this means you’re free to go.” He held up a hand. “Help me up.”
“I’m not that stupid, brother.”
Amusement twinkled in his silvery eyes as he climbed to his feet. “Worth a try, I guess.”
“So I can go?”
“That was the deal.” He rose and walked across to the side of the arena to grab the towel he’d draped over the railing earlier. “But you’re back here tomorrow morning at six sharp.”
I groaned. “That’s just plain mean.”
He ran the towel across his spiky red hair, and even though I couldn’t see his expression, I knew he was grinning. Sometimes my brother could be a real pain in the ass.
“Maybe next time you’ll reconsider the option of cheating.”
“It’s not cheating if it works.”
Though his smile still lingered, little of that amusement reached his eyes. He was worried, truly worried, about my part in the mission we’d soon embark on. He didn’t want me to do this any more than I’d wanted him to become a guardian. But as he’d said to me all those years ago, some directions in life just had to be accepted.
“You’re here to learn defense and offense,” he said. “Inane tricks won’t save your life.”
“If they only save it once, then they’re worth trying.”
He shook his head. “I can see I’m not going to talk any sense into you until after the sexfest.”
“Glad you finally caught the gist of my whole conversation for the last hour.” I grinned. “And hey, look on the bright side: Liander’s going to be mighty pleased to see you at a normal hour for a change.”
He grunted. “Well, if he wasn’t so damn clingy, he might see me early more often.”
I raised my eyebrows at the annoyance in his tone. “He gives you free rein to be with who you want. I hardly call that clingy.”
“I know, but—” He stopped and shrugged. “I don’t know if I can give him what he wants. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to.”
Which was almost exactly what I’d said to Quinn two months ago. It was amazing how our love lives seemed to be following similar lines—although my reasons for saying those words to Quinn were entirely different than my brother’s statement. Rhoan actually loved Liander. I couldn’t say the same about Quinn. Hell, we barely even knew each other beyond the realms of sex.And at least Liander had stuck with Rhoan, through good times and bad. Quinn had done a runner yet again, despite his declared intention of not letting me go until we’d fully explored this thing between us.
How he intended to do that from Sydney was anyone’s guess. Maybe he’d simply decided I was just too much trouble and it was better to walk away. Though given we were sharing some mighty erotic dreams, I doubted walking away was a real option for either of us right now.
I touched a hand to my brother’s arm, and squeezed lightly. “Liander loves you. And he’ll wait for you.”
Rhoan’s gaze met mine. “I’m not sure I’m worth such devotion.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m that devoted.”
He flicked my cheek lightly. “Yeah, but you’re my twin and my pack-mate. You have to be.”
“True.” I studied him for a moment, then said softly, “Just because our pack didn’t love us doesn’t mean we’re unworthy of love.”
How many times had he said that to me over the years? And yet now, when the crunch came for him, he wasn’t truly ready to believe it himself.
His smile was sweet, but sort of sad. “The difference between you and me is the fact I don’t want to settle down. At all. I want to be free to be with whomever I choose, whenever I choose.”
“Whomever?” I interrupted, with more than a little annoyance in my voice. “Don’t tell me you’re still seeing Davern?”
Rhoan had the good grace to look uncomfortable. “Only when he’s in town, and that’s not often these days.”
“But didn’t you tell Liander you two were no longer an item?”
“Well, we aren’t. We’re more occasional lovers.”
“A nitpicky difference Liander will not appreciate.”
He shrugged. “Look, maybe my inability to commit is just a part of what I am.”
I knew he was referring to his sexuality more than his being a guardian or a half-breed. And that angered me.
“Liander’s just like you, and he wants to settle down. Don’t start making excuses just because you’re scared.”
He raised his eyebrows, yet there was a keenness in his silvery eyes that suggested I was right on the mark. “Scared?”
“Yeah. Settling down means making a commitment. And you don’t want to commit to anyone because of what you do, not because of what you are. Admit that to yourself—and him—if nothing else.”
“He deserves more than just a part-time partner.”
“Maybe he does,” I agreed, eliciting a startled response from Rhoan. “But neither you nor I have the right to decide that for him. It’s his choice, his life.”
He chuckled softly, then leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “You’re pretty clever for a girl. And I hope you take note of that advice in your own life.”
“Me? Take advice? It’ll snow at Christmas before that ever happens.” And given December was the first of the summer months here in Melbourne, something pretty disastrous would have to happen to the climate for that to occur. Though given the weird turns my life had been taking recently, snowing at Christmastime wasn’t altogether beyond the realms of possibility.
Nor was me actually taking some of my own advice.
I gave him the baton, then shoved him gently toward the exit. “Go see him, and make sure you talk to him.”
“You don’t want me to walk you up to the change rooms?”
“Nah, I’ll be all right.” The arena was fully monitored by security whenever anyone was down here training, but I had no doubt Jack would also be around somewhere. He had a vested interest in keeping me safe and whole. Not only because he wanted me on this mission, but because he wanted me as a full-fledged guardian. “I’ll see you here tomorrow morning.”
He nodded, tossed the towel around his bare shoulders, and headed off whistling. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one anticipating a good time tonight.
Grinning slightly, I headed down the other end of the arena where my towel and water bottle waited. I grabbed the towel and wrapped one end around my ponytail, squeezing the sweat from my hair before wiping the back of my neck and face. I might not have been fighting to full capacity tonight, but we’d still been training for a couple of hours and not only did my skin glimmer with heat, but my navy T-shirt was almost black with sweat. It was just as well I could shower here—with the way my luck had been running of late, Kellen would be waiting for me by the time I got home. And as much as most wolves preferred natural scent over synthetic, right now I was just a little too overwhelmingly natural.
I reached out to collect the water bottle, then froze as awareness surged, prickling like fire across my skin. Rhoan had left, but I was no longer alone in the arena.
My earlier intuition had been right—crap had been about to step back into my life.
And it came in the form of Gautier.
Towel still in hand, I casually turned around. He stood at the window end of the arena, a long, mean stick of man and muscle who smelled as bad as he looked.
“Still haven’t managed to catch that shower, I see.” It probably wasn’t the wisest comment I’d ever made, but when it came to Gautier, I couldn’t seem to keep my mouth shut.
It was a trait that was going to get me in trouble—if not tonight, then sometime in the future.
He crossed his arms and smiled. There was nothing nice in that smile. Nothing sane in his flat brown eyes. “Still jumping mouth first into situations even the insane would think twice about, I see.”
“It’s a failing of mine.” I idly began twirling the towel and wondered how long it would take security to react. And if Jack would let them react.
“So I’ve noticed.”