AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want to know how to defend myself, and I want to know now.”
She smiled wickedly.
“Well, what the hell are we waiting for?”
15
When casting the shield of protection, you needed to settle into a place of peace. Not so for the cast of battle, as Kat called it. There was no sweet, rhyming Latin phrase either. Only two words to call on this power.
“Flamma intus!”
I channeled theflame within, the power emanating from my core, double-punching Kat in the abdomen with the heels of my palm, then kneeing her to the floor. A pulse of white light brightened, then dimmed as she slid across the room all the way to the wall, on her ass.
The words gave me supernatural strength. Or perhaps the strength was already there and the words simply summoned it forward. Not sure.
Kat laughed but rubbed her bum with a grimace as she stood. We both panted from the last hour of exertion. Jude watched us without a word, leaning against the wall, arms folded.
“Well, you’ve mastered the casting, Gen,” she said, taking a deep breath. “But you need a stronger opponent to test it further. Jude?”
His eyes flicked from Kat to me, still stoic as the moment we walked in here.
“Wait, what?”
Me? Fight Jude? She had to be joking.
“Gen, I’m quite formidable, I’ll admit, but I doubt you’ll be attacked by someone of my build or stature. It’ll be someone much bigger, like Jude. Lower demons choose the big guys to possess for a reason, and all high demons choose a strong masculine build to shift into.”
Jude hadn’t moved, his eyes roving up and down my body. My sweaty tank clung to my torso and loose hair stuck to the side of my face. Having redone my ponytail twice, I tightened it once more as he shoved off the wall.
“Give her a weapon.”
Kat pulled a dagger from a sheath at her thigh, walking toward me.
“I thought we were practicing without weapons today.”
Jude started to circle. A primitive part of me stiffened.
“A demon won’t give up when you throw a few punches, even with the casting power. You need to cut them.”
“But I could hurt you.”
His mouth tipped up into a mocking smile. “You could try.”
His shoulders rounded in a relaxed posture. Muscled arms swung just barely at his sides. He was in no way threatened by me. He probably found this comical.
“No sifting,” I warned
“No need.”
He continued to stalk me with slow precision. Kat handed me her dagger. It was heavier than I thought.
“It’s too big,” I said, feeling the weight of the twelve-inch blade.
“Oh, I think you can handle it.” A dark mischievous look. Wait. Were we still talking about daggers?
Heat flushed my cheeks. He circled. I pivoted. Kat disappeared into the corner.
“No power this time, Genevieve.” His tone was heavy and dark with promise. A tingle shivered along my skin. “Let’s see if you can deliver more than karate moves.”
