Page 122 of Anywhere

“Come wit me, my dear. We got some clothes pickin’ ta do,” Sammy said with just as much excitement as the other day. He smiled and held out his elbow while his soft green eyes glittered with merriment. He was like a wild wind all by himself.

I looked up at Rhys, much preferring the idea of training than doing anything with clothes. As if reading my thoughts, he smiled.

“Belle be by later ta continue trainin’ ya wit da smaller sword.”

“What ‘bout Mari?” I asked, excited to see her.

He shook his head. “Belle said dat she be gone to da mainland an’ won’t be back fir a few days. No worry, as soon as yer done with Sam ya can be meetin’ us out back fir ya trainin’.”

“Dis is gonna be so much more fun den trainin’,” Sammy said as I took his offered elbow. Then he led me out the door like his feet were aflame.

As nice and helpful as Sammy seemed, was it wrong that I preferred to roll around in the dirt with Rook and Rhys? Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for what I felt would be a battle of a different kind.

Rook

“Fuck,” I yelled as the hardwood cracked me in the elbow, and sent a jolt up my arm, making my fingers numb. Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned fistfight? This canne and sword work was for the birds.

“Yer dead again,” Rhys said, holding the tip of the wooden sword under my chin. “Ya need ta quicken yer feet. Yer clumsy when ya tink ta much,” he snarled, then marched away.

I bit back the angry retort I planned on spewing only because I knew that, despite the smile he put on his face, he wasn’t over his friend being killed.

We took Caitlin’s brutally mangled body to her parents. The look on her father’s face when he answered the door was an image I would never forget. It was morbid and something I never wanted to experience again.

Rhys was trying to open up to me, but he was still too quiet and closed off. Even our connection during sex was strained with sadness. I was an extrovert when it came to my emotions. If I was angry, you fucking knew it. If I was sad…Oh, you definitely knew it. If I was broody…Well, I was broody a lot, so who knows? But Rhys? He held it all in, and I fucking felt all his turmoil, too. I hadn’t thought about that in the library. Not that I would take the merge back, but I wasn’t prepared. I was left with all the feelings and none of the context.

He wore a mask of stone and went about his day like the maelstrom of pain inside didn’t bother him. The issue was that I felt the shit storm brewing in him like a cyclone headed for shore. In this case, I was the shore.

“Fuck, man, you are pissing me off today,” I grumbled and rubbed at my sore arm.

“Yer slow. Ya be dead in an instant,” Rhys said.

I spotted Riegan on a balcony, and she smiled as soon as my eyes found her. Too many damn R names in one place, if you asked me. Ronan was cool in a creepy way, but Riegan gave me a once-over that I knew well. You learned those looks when touring. The ones that said all you have to do is nod toward the VIP area. She was smokin’, and a few short weeks ago, I would’ve been all up in her business.

Now here I was, the dutiful partner while Rhys cracked me with a fucking wooden sword like he was enjoying the bruises he was putting all over my body. Then again he probably was and here I thought I was the one that enjoyed doling out pain.

At least Elewyen was having a better time with Belle. I watched the two women in the other training area as they sparred, and my blood pounded a little harder at the sight of that short kilt and her long legs.

Taking a deep breath, I tried for calm and reasonable—two things that were not my strong character traits.

“I managed to block you for a solid five minutes before you hit me, Rhys,” I said as I shook my arm to regain feeling.

“Aye, but it no’ good enough,” he said and then took a sip of water. “Let’s go again. I’ma wantin’ ya ta be able to handle a solid twenty before we move on ta somthin’ else.”

“Twenty! Have you lost…” I bit my lip to hold back the last part of the sentence. “Fine, but I need a break. My fingers are still tingling,” I said, then I felt the anger in my chest.

My head snapped up to look at Rhys. His eyes narrowed into thin slits as he tossed his water bottle down on the ground and marched towards me, his wooden weapon spinning in his hand.

“Back off, Rhys,” I said, but he kept coming, and I knew, by the look on his face, he was going to take the swing at me no matter what I said. “Rhys.”

I brought my arm up at the last second and blocked the blow with the thick leather armour on my forearm, but it could only block so much of the pain, and I winced with the force of the strike.

“Rhys, what the fuck?” I tried again, but it was like he couldn’t hear me or didn’t give a fuck.

With a yell, he swung again, this time for my side, and I twisted awkwardly to avoid the blow. He didn’t relent, and soon I was on my heels and backing up as I moved my wooden sword to counter the attack. The sound of wood cracking echoed in the still evening air.

Unlike at Injerbreck, Glentruan had a large training facility with multiple areas and obstacles in the way. I used a tree to dart around and duck as the weapon came for my head. Little bits of bark flew off and hit me. That was a deadly blow, regardless of whether the sword was wood.

“Rhys, cut it out,” I tried again as he rounded the corner. “Enough, man! I get it!”