Page 97 of War of Her Heart

My eyes widened, and I took a step back. “So what you’re telling me is . . . we need to make sure that you don’t get mad?”

He raised an eyebrow at me before he realized what I meant. “I guess so,” he mumbled.

I looked back at the caves, still nervous about what might be lurking inside.

“I like your training attire.”

I looked at Bash to see him smiling down at me. A ploy to obviously take my mind off the monsters in the caves.

“I couldn’t very well wear a dress to train,” I said, rolling my eyes. I had put on a fitted, long-sleeved top, leather pants, and a pair of black boots. An outfit I deemed suitable to do anything Bash had planned for today.

“Well, it suits you, love.” Bash reached and brushed a strand of hair off my shoulder before resting his hand there. A small tingling sensation came over my body as Bash removed the glamour that had been hiding what I looked like now.

“My god, you’re beautiful,” Bash said as he dragged his hand slowly down my arm. He removed the glamour any time we were alone in my room, and he always said the same thing. Eventhough I’d heard it so many times from him now, it still sent butterflies through my stomach every time.

“No. None of that right now,” I said, taking a step back. “I want to learn.”

“Oh, I have plenty of things I can teach you,” he mumbled as his eyes drifted down my body.

My cheeks reddened, but I quickly turned away to try to keep his focus off of the reaction my body had given him.

“There’s no need to hide what you’re feeling. We are mated now. I cansenseanything I need to know.”

I knew he was right, but I couldn’t help my instinct, which was to mask my emotions.

“Can we please just start? I’d like to get out of monster land before nightfall.”

He chuckled. “I’mnot training you.”

“What do you mean you’re not training me?” I asked.

“Well, for one, training can be difficult and I do not wish to have a phoenix pissed off at me, and two, all I can think about is ripping those clothes off of you so I don’t think much training would go on.”

I rolled my eyes before throwing my hands up and saying, “Who’s training me?”

“I am.”

I whipped my head around to see Adar walking towards us.

Oh, fuck me.

He must’ve been hiding behind the pile of broken rocks behind us, waiting for Bash to break the news to me. Adar didn’t hide the way he felt about me. He didn’t like me. He probably had no interest in helping me and was just obeying the order of his Sovereign. Why would Bash choose him to train me?

“You’re joking, right?” I said, looking back at Bash.

“No. He is the best one to help you.”

“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to learn how to use my gift,” I said, crossing my arms.

“I’ll be back to get you later.”

“Bash, n—” he was gone before I could finish.

I stayed facing the other direction away from Adar. If I had known he would be the one to help me, I would’ve refused to come. That’s probably why Bash didn’t tell me.

“You can ignore me. I’ll sit right here until he comes back.”

“Why did you even agree to help?” I asked, keeping my back to him.

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