Page 268 of Dirty Hit

“I thought you’d insist on chaperoning,” Faythe mused as he passed.

“Do try not to kill each other. I would stay, but I have far better things I could be doing. Precious time, impending war and all that.”

Zaiana assumed that meant going to see his mate.

“I’m going to supervise.” Nerida’s gentle voice echoed behind Faythe.

She was one of the very few people Zaiana actually enjoyed seeing. Except finding out what had happened to the healer, her wrath swirled like priming shadows. Being blood-related to the one who’d stripped her of her power made her anger boil more. Nerida’s power wasgood;she wasgood.It was so wretched to be stolen into a wicked vessel.

“We’re going to be fine,” Faythe said, but their eyes caught on each other, knowing that couldn’t be promised since they would be unleashing a colossal power and had a natural ability to provoke each other.

“This might be better tested outside,” Zaiana warned.

Nerida came up with Faythe. She said, “You’re not going to tap into the full power anytime soon. Faythe has a lot to learn about breathing, patience, and control. I’m here to help with that too. Waterwielding is the core element for it, opposite to all that comes naturally to Faythe.”

“So we’re schooling a hotheaded child,” Zaiana gibed.

Faythe glowered at her. “I haven’t had centuries to master all things,” she said flatly.

Zaiana often forgot about Faythe’s mere fraction of years in comparison. Faythe had much to learn, but in truth, Zaiana was in awe over the control the heirdidhave in such short time.

“The ruin is going to convince you you’re dying over and over again. It doesn’t want a master—it wants to masteryou.You let it in Rhyenelle, and if it weren’t for Reylan—his Mindseer ability and your bond—you likely would have been lost as a vessel to it forever.”

Faythe visibly paled and shifted her weight between her feet. “I didn’t mean to. Until that point, I was able to open myself to small doses of the power, then Atherius died…there were so many shadow creatures killing through the city, and I…gave in.”

“You gaveup,” Zaiana said. Harsh, maybe, but in her experience, it was the only way to drill the lesson deeply. She crossed her arms, pacing around Faythe. “Letting anger consume you, being reckless—that’s easy. Control, remembering you have people counting on you to make it outalivedespite your grief—that’s what takes strength.”

Faythe nodded, attentive to her words. Zaiana thought maybe this wouldn’t be so tedious after all. Maybe their lessons would be amicable.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Reylan

“They’re going to kill each other!”

Reylan’s head whipped to Nerida, who burst into the drawing room. It had been a week since Faythe started training with Zaiana and the ruin.

He ran from the room, with Kyleer, Izaiah, Nik, Tarly, and Tauria in tow. They’d been discussing various enemy sightings and repositioning of certain squads. While the bigger battles that would see great numbers fighting had not broken out yet, smaller fights were happening throughout the kingdoms.

It was how war always went. They were testing each other. Trying to figure out strategy and numbers and coordination in preparation for a bigger attack.

Reylan felt for Faythe, who closed herself off to him when she trained with magick. It distracted him, worried him, and to keep his own mind sharp for his role as leading general, he had to agree it was best for both of them. So when he reached through their bond, beyond the block, all he felt was a rage of power.

He’d been uneasy about Zaiana training her from the start, and if the dark fae harmed her…

Following Nerida and his own direction to Faythe through their bond, they burst out into the thick snowfall of the back courtyard.

Sure enough, the source of the blasts and currents of energy drew their eyes up to where two forms could be spied through the bursts of colliding light. With the velocity of power they threw at each other, amplified by the ruin, it was just as well they’d taken to the skies.

Reylan assessed their battle, and it did seem vicious. They attacked each other unfalteringly and with full force. He tried to reach Faythe’s mind for an answer to whether he should intervene, but her block on their bond was solid.

“They do seem a little intense,” Izaiah commented. “But Faythe always did respond better to force. She’s a ball of chaos.”

Reylan was trying to decide if Zaiana was using harsh methods to train Faythe, or if they truly had hit heads and their violence had turned genuine.

They were shooting stars of gold and purple. Putting his concern aside, it was a stunning spectacle to watch the pair fully unleashed.

Nerida said, “They’ve never attacked this hard at each other before. Zaiana was frustrated and started goading Faythe, mentioning her failures and how more people will die if she doesn’t train harder, and Faythe…well, she justerupted!”

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