in the ass,” Levi muttered as I led him out of the office.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I grinned and yanked him along.
Something in my heart told me Levi’s story was tragic. And even though my heart didn’t beat anymore, it had grown lately. There was always room in a heart to love more people, and I loved Levi. I was pretty sure Levi wouldn’t want my love. It was clear he didn’t love himself. Loving other people was going to be difficult for him.
Too bad. So sad.
He was now stuck with me and my love.
Lord Wrangler Tough Skins was going to love me back even if I had to beat his ass into realizing it.
Chapter Thirteen
“No magic. Hand to hand and no death blows allowed,” I instructed as I kicked off my combat boots and removed my crown.
“Reasonable,” Levi said as he too took off his shoes. “Death blows would be redundant seeing as how you can’t be killed.”
“True,” I agreed, shrugging out of my jacket and tossing it on the pile. “But you can.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he said.
I eyed him curiously. He ignored me and walked out to the middle of the room.
“You want to explain yourself?” I asked, following him.
“Nope.”
The fight training facilities at the Cressida house were top-notch, including a gym with every machine known to man. There was a boxing ring on the far left side and a three-mile circular running track. Right smack in the middle of the cavernous room was an empty area covered in mats for sparring. Sparring was the polite term for Immortals beating the crap out of each other.
Bleachers flanked the room on both sides. Right now, the training area was empty. It wasn’t surprising since most of the Vamps were in the Situation Room creating a plan of action. While I should be helping, Ethan was correct. The amount of tension inside me made me a ticking time bomb. An hour of violent physical exertion should calm me down.
There was power in stillness. I walked to the center of the mat and waited. I quietly claimed my space. More often than not, it threw my opponent. It didn’t throw Levi. He did the exact same thing. My adrenaline spiked with excitement. Other than Ethan, I didn’t have many worthy sparring partners.
Levi grinned.
I grinned right back.
Shaking his head, he ran his hands through his dark hair and sighed. “This doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to beat up my newly found, unwanted sister.”
I bit back a whoop of joy that he’d called me his sister. I ignored the unwanted part. The more he said the word, the closer he was to having to love me, or at least like me.
“Look at it this way,” I suggested. “Shortly, I’m going after Zombies. Think of this as a warmup session so I can stay focused. It would suck all kinds of ass if I took down the entire state of California. You feel me?”
“You’re insane,” Levi replied.
“Yep. Pretty sure you inherited that gene as well.”
Levi stared at the floor for a long moment then chuckled. “As you wish.”
The Demon charged me with such speed it almost made him disappear. Almost. With a grunt of determination, I dropped low and moved to the left. Extending my leg, I focused solely on the blur of movement. My moves were as fast as my brother’s. My leg undercut him, sending him hurtling a hundred feet through the air and landing with a profane-laden thud in the bleachers.
“Excellent,” he shouted, getting up and shaking it off.
“Thank you.”
Levi eyed me with delight. “You good with blood and broken bones?”
“Yep. I heal fast,” I said, my excitement matching his. “Are you partial to your nose?”
His head tilted to the side. His expression was wary. “No. Why?”
“Because I’m going to break it.”
Lord Wrangler Tough Skins’ laugh echoed through the enormous room and made me feel happy and tingly. Granted, we were discussing mutilating each other, but it was the way of our kind. Love and respect came in violent packages in the Immortal world.
“Good luck with that,” Levi said, moving faster than he had only moments ago.
“Luck is for pussies,” I hissed as I took the full brunt of his huge frame and landed on my back.
As Levi was about to pin me, I rolled out from under him, jumped to my feet and gave him a kick to the head that sent him staggering back. The idiot was grinning like a fool. Each blow I threw