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I stayed in the temple’s lower level, training and doing anything I could not to think or sleep while Camilla worked. Sweat slid down my spine as I leaned forward, taking slow, deep breaths. Hours I’d spent down here, and it still didn’t feel like enough. The last blade I had hurtled through the air was a fraction slower than before. I needed to be faster. I sighed and stood, wiping my brow with the edge of my tank top and glancing around the room. This place was a sweeping display of half-crumbled ruins, but it was home.
The swords and assortment of daggers I had accumulated when I raided the remains of Novas stuck out of the various training dummies scattered across the large beige stone room. My chest heaved, but I wasn’t tired, not by a long shot. If I wanted to kill Kaden, I had to be stronger and meaner than him. I picked up another forsaken blade, repeating every move Samkiel had taught me, every technique, every breath, and stretching exercise, seeking to make myself stronger than even him. No one could stop me now. No one could touch me. I would be a force of nature, ruin, and destruction. I would never be her again, never that weak emotional excuse of a person ever, ever again.
“Raise your arms, Mer-Ka.” My father nodded as he raised his arms, showing me what he meant. He held a dagger that shimmered like glass. He told me he’d bought it from a merchant during a shopping trip in our small town. It looked similar to the one I held, the hilt gleaming. I wanted that one, though, and he said I could have it once I earned it. It was midday, the sun beating down on my back, making my garbs stick to my already sweat-drenched skin.
“How much longer do I have to train, Papa?”
A soft chuckle left his lips as he pointed the dagger at me. “You asked for this, remember?”
He wasn’t wrong. I dropped my arm, the muscles singing in relief. “Ain is good with helping you and Ma with medicines and the people here, and I-I don’t know where I fit in.”
“And you assume fighting and blades are for you?” A look crossed his features, one I had not seen on him before. He wasn’t scolding me by any means, but it was as if he knew a secret I didn’t, and I was close to finding it.
“It’s freeing in a way. It’s like a dance except with sharp objects.” I smiled.
“Yes, and it is also a good skill for you to have so that you may protect yourself and our family if need be.” He smiled slowly as the sun hit his face, making him seem almost divine. The mess of shaggy, thick hair curled in different directions, the same as mine. My mother always said that I got my looks from my father. We both had the same inky dark hair, bronzed skin, and fire. She always spoke of the fire.
“Okay, then teach me, and then we eat.”
He chuckled. “And then we eat.”
I wanted a place, a purpose, something beyond hills of sand and everyday tasks. I couldn’t explain it, and my parents only looked at me strangely when I told them I dreamed of a world past ours, past the stars.
The memory faded. I threw another forsaken dagger at the makeshift stone target across the room. The ones I’d thrown earlier were all embedded into the skull-shaped head—two for eyes, three for a smile, and two in the throat. I tossed the last dagger between my hands. The room was a disaster, just like me. Stone targets had been reduced to ash and rubble in every direction.
“I found—”
The dagger left my hand. It stopped mere inches from Camilla’s face, and she held it there with that glowing green magic. The dagger clattered to the ground as she lowered her hands.
I wiped the sweat from my brow. “Don’t sneak up on me.”
“I called your name, but you were busy.” She waved to the room, rectifying the mess I had made. My chest tightened, remembering how easy it was for Samkiel to clean up every mess I made.
My teeth clenched, hating the memories and what they made me feel, hating that I felt anything at all. “If I want you to fix something, I’ll ask.”
“If you’re going to train to kill Kaden and a god, you’ll need more than bricks and fake dummies. I can help.”
I put my hands on my hips, tipped my head back, and sighed. “You said you found something. What is it?”
“Wolves.”
That’s all I needed to hear. Without a single word, I nodded and passed by her, heading up the carved stone steps. I needed to take a shower and change. If wolves were moving through the forest, it meant they were comfortable enough to come out to hunt, which was great for me and terrible for them.
Fifteen
Dianna
The dart connected, drawing a long groan out of Julian.
“Bullseye.” I grabbed the glass and downed the werewolf blood inside before slamming it back on the table. “I guess I should come up with another word for it since I hit your balls with that one.”
Julian hung suspended on the far wall, covered in sweat. He howled, his entire body shuddering when I tossed another dart, and it found its mark.
My heels echoed against the scarred wooden floor. A few drained bodies slumped against the far wall, and the two pool tables were overturned.
“You really won’t tell me where your dear old dad is, will you?”
He shook his head as I neared, one bloody eye glaring at me, the other lost somewhere across the room.
