no formal training, but who had managed to kill the giant with only a slingshot and a stone, saving the entire army.
As Solo spoke, interest sparked in Vika’s eyes. “And you think someone like me can save an army?”
“I will give you something better than a yes or a no. I will give you something to think about. We have both admitted that we believe there is another world in operation around ours. I’ve seen it.”
“I have, too!” she said.
Her enthusiasm made him smile. “Humans, otherworlders, it doesn’t matter. At our core, we are spirit beings. We have souls and bodies.”
“That’s what I thought!”
“You are a spirit, eternal; you have a soul, your mind, will, and emotions, and you live in an aging body. Your spirit is attuned to the unseen world. Why else do you think you can see into it?”
“How do you know this?” she asked.
“My mother taught me.” And so had X and Dr. E. “I wasn’t sure I believed her at first, but intense study proved her right.” He’d wanted to know more about the creatures following him. He’d wanted to know whether or not he was crazy.
“Go on,” she said, interest clearly intensifying.
“As spirits, we have more direction than we realize. Listen deep inside yourself. There’s a knowing that supersedes emotions and mental capabilities. That knowing will lead you to victory every time, if you’ll pay attention to it.”
She closed her eyes, concentrated. One second passed, two. Her eyelids flipped open, and she frowned with disappointment. “I listened, but I didn’t sense anything.”
“Sometimes it takes time and practice, shutting out the rest of the world, the noise.”
Her lips pursed with a hint of irritation. “There’s a problem with your theory: I don’t hear any noise.”
“Actually, you do in your head,” he said, and she couldn’t refute it. “Everyone battles their thoughts at some time or another. Negative thoughts, wrongful thoughts, wicked thoughts. You have to cast them down and refuse to dwell on them.”
“Why?”
“If you entertain one, it will welcome another, and the more you entertain those, the stronger they become, developing roots and sprouting thick sprigs of leaves, until you can no longer see through the dark forest in your mind.” He knew that firsthand.
She deliberated for a moment, nodded. “You’re right.”
“Always.”
She snorted. “So what happened to the boy after the fight?”
“He became a symbol of victory to his people and was later crowned king. Now, allow me to help you, Vika. There’s a very good chance I was placed in your life for this reason. And besides, if you want a different life, you have to do something different.” The words gave him pause. He was beginning to sound like X.
Well, that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Solo waved his fingers. He would be careful of her injuries, but he would teach her the way Michael had taught him: hand-to-hand combat, inflicting whatever was necessary to force the knowledge into the well of instinct.
“Truly?” she asked.
“Truly. You must always be ready to defend yourself against whatever comes against you, and learning the rules of battle is a good start.”
She deliberated for a moment more, sighed. “Oh, all right, but only because I’ve always wanted to be a queen.” Her hand at last fluttered to his, and he gently tugged her to her feet. She inhaled sharply and swayed, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her upright.
In the place where his own instinct swirled, he wanted to shout with satisfaction. A beautiful female—this beautiful female—leaned against him, resting her head in the hollow of his neck, trusting him.
“Just need a moment to steady,” she murmured.
He caressed the line of her spine, the exquisite curve of her waist, and had to grind his molars to stop himself from groaning. Slow and easy, he reminded himself. He’d known this would be difficult.
“You’re so hot,” she said.
“Sorry,” he said, but he knew she couldn’t hear him.
“It’s nice.”
Really gonna kill me.
“This won’t make me like my father, will it?” she asked.
And there was the crux of the problem, he realized. He moved his hand up, up, and tilted her chin. “He fights to inflict pain. You fight to save. You’re nothing like him, and you never will be.”
Tears of gratitude welled in her eyes, and his heart suddenly felt as if it was being squeezed by an iron fist.
“Ready?” he asked. Any more waiting, and they wouldn’t get to the fighting.
“Ready.”
For the next several hours, he taught her how to (properly) make a fist, exactly