Page 144 of The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating

Shit.

I landed hard, but scrambled to my feet when I saw him advance.

He paused. “Still glad I let you fall?”

I rolled my shoulder and winced at the twinge of pain. My body would have plenty of new bruises after today. “You’re being an even bigger jerk than usual.”

He flashed me a grin. “I wonder why. Could it be that I’m trying to avoid climbing on top of you and doing something really stupid?”

I formed a curved blade. “Again.”

My next blow was fueled by a confusing swirl of arousal spiked by his words. We parried for another few minutes, shadows clashing, boots scraping. Sweat slid down my spine. My entire body thrummed with exhilaration. I needed something else to focus on, or this sparring session would end very badly.

“So, Perris,” I started. If anything would cool me down, that subject would. I lunged, and Kazimir parried. “He shouldn’t have made it so far from Solandris in that condition.”

Kazimir lunged again, and I had to deflect. I aimed a slash at his midsection. He danced away.

Finally, having proven I was out of breath, he slowed enough to talk. “Go on.”

“What if,” I said, breathing hard, “he wasn’t poisoned in Solandris, but in Arvoryn? Then they sent him to your outpost as a show of cooperation?”

Kazimir paused, considering. “Morana, you mean.”

“Who else?” I pressed. “She had the means and opportunity.”

“Possible. Morana does keep a nice stock of lethal goodies. But how would she know he had information? Why not keep his visit a secret and use his information for herself?”

“So maybe she invited him,” I said, thinking aloud. “Then poisoned him, all on Auremar’s orders.”

A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “You’re trying very hard to pin this on Morana.”

“She’s a spider. She lures everything into her web,” I retorted, my muscles burning as we circled each other. “You, for instance. She fucked you, didn’t she? So maybe she thought another gullible courtier would be easy to manipulate, too.”

Surprised fury swept across Kazimir’s features, but it made him pause for half a second. “I—” he managed.

And in that moment of vulnerability, I kicked him hard in the balls.

He made a strangled sound and dropped. Hard. For a moment, I feared I’d gone too far. Attacking the Dark Lord’s manhood might be crossing a line, even in training. My breath sawed in and out of my lungs while Kazimir glared up at me from the floor, clearly furious with himself for giving me that opening.

A bolt of savage satisfaction shot through me. “You told me to stop holding back,” I said. “Consider that mission accomplished.”

“I can’t believe I let that land,” he rasped.

“Believe it.” Then I stepped closer, planting my feet on either side of his legs and pointing my shadow dagger at him. “I could kill you right now, if I wanted.”

He squinted up at me, pain and grudging respect warring in his expression. “Are you thinking about it?”

“If you died, I’d have no one left who could handle the Heirloom.” I sighed dramatically, letting the shadows around my fingertips fade. “So... no. I guess I’d rather keep you alive.”

He let out a faint huff that might have been a laugh. “I can think of nicer ways to express your fondness, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Kazimir shifted like he might rise. Then, with a sudden upsurge of motion, he swung a leg around, knocking one foot out from under me. I yelped. My knees buckled, and I crashed to the floor, my back painfully slamming the stone. The air whooshed from my lungs.

A second later, he pinned me with his weight. One of his hands grabbed my wrist, easily prying away the new shadow blade I’d tried to conjure. His free arm pressed down against myshoulder, trapping me. He was breathing hard, lips parted, eyes wild.

A slow grin spread across his face, transforming it from merely handsome to devastating. “Never assume your opponent is defeated until they’re actually dead.”

My mouth went dry. “So what’s next? Planning to silence me for good?”

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