I turned around to see Desmund striding across the lawn toward us, wearing jeans and a thin gray sweater that clung to his muscular body. In the months since he’d recovered from his illness, he had returned to his former warrior physique and his skin had taken on a healthy glow again. Today his hair was tied back in a ponytail, showing off his handsome aristocratic features.

Jordan let out a low whistle. “Damn! He makes me wish I was male. And gay.”

“Did you forget our training?” Desmund asked me as he stepped onto the patio.

“I was hoping you’d forget.” After three days of training with Desmund, I longed for our quiet times together in the library at Westhorne. He was on an unrelenting mission to teach me to bond permanently with my Mori or to go insane in the process. It was like a freaking boot camp. If I thought hiding would get me out of working with him, I’d be under my bed right now.

His dark eyes gleamed wickedly. “Oh no. I have something new planned for us today.”

I think I actually gulped. My eyes went to Jordan who gave me her “oh shit” look. “What is it?” I was almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Nothing you can’t handle.” He beckoned me with a wave of his hand.

“Later,” Jordan called, and I thought I heard her mutter “maybe” under her breath.

We walked to the house, and he opened the door for me. “Wouldn’t you rather play checkers?” I asked him when he steered me toward the training room.

He laughed richly. “I’d love a game later, if you’re still talking to me.”

That doesn’t sound good.

I sensed Nikolas before we reached the gym. At the door to the room I stopped at the sight of him stacking weights on one of the mats. Desmund gently nudged me into the room. “Nikolas has agreed to join us today to help with a new training technique I’ve devised for you. We’ll start with our normal routine and take it from there.”

Our normal routine consisted of me joining with my Mori for as long as I could stand, which was usually less than thirty minutes. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to merge with the demon; I just couldn’t handle the constant onslaught of emotions and the alien power flowing through me. I had no idea how the other Mohiri lived with it every second of their lives, and I wasn’t surprised that orphans went insane if they were not taught to control their Mori.

Nikolas nodded to me but didn’t speak as I walked to the center of the room where he had laid the weights. I closed my eyes and lowered the wall holding back my Mori. Its emotions, which had been muted, brushed against my mind – mainly its joy at being close to its mate. A few months ago, it would have rushed forward, but ever since the onset of my liannan, it moved slowly and warily. I assured it every day that I’d never hurt it, and I thought it was finally beginning to believe me.

It stopped and I knew it was feeling for my Fae power. Glow? it asked fearfully.

No glow, just us. I opened my mind to the black shapeless blob.

Solmi! A bonded Mori had a one track mind; all it cared about was its mate. The demon forgot its fear and pressed against my mind eagerly.

No matter how many times I merged with my Mori, I reeled from the sensations and myriad of emotions bombarding me. I gritted my teeth and let the initial wave wash over me. After a minute, my Mori reined in some of its emotions until I could think clearly again. It had taken us weeks, but we were both slowly learning how to join without overwhelming each other. I took a deep breath as it slowly released its dark power into my body until my muscles quivered from the increased strength.

“Are you good?” Desmund asked.

I opened my eyes. “Yes.”

“Okay, we’ll start with the smaller weights and work up to the larger ones. You know the drill.”

I moved to the first set of kettlebells that were forty pounds each. After ten reps I moved on to the sixty-pound weights and did ten more reps. The heavier the weights, the more I had to tap into my demon’s strength, allowing me to gradually widen our connection. By the time I got to the eighty-pound weights, I had so much power coursing through me I felt like I could lift one of my trainers.

Nikolas and Desmund stood off to one side as I went through my workout routine, and I heard enough to know they were talking about Vancouver. I almost lost my concentration a few times, trying to listen to their conversation.

“I’ve never seen them behave that way,” Nikolas said. “There were enough of them to wipe out several teams.”

Desmund nodded thoughtfully. “It is unusual to hear of that many vampires working together.” His voice lowered, but not enough that I couldn’t hear him. “I am amazed you did not suffer casualties.”

“I am too. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were trying to capture us, not kill us.”

A tremor went through me and my Mori, and I lifted the kettlebells with more force than was necessary, sending one of them flying away from me. The thought of Nikolas in the hands of vampires made me want to retch and hit something at the same time.

Nikolas retrieved the weight and brought it back to me. “Are you okay?”

“Great,” I lied. “Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”

He smiled and laid the weight at my feet. Then he went back to stand near Desmund again. I tried to tune them out, but it was no use. Nikolas hadn’t said much about what had happened that night in Vancouver, and I was dying to hear more.

“You are fortunate then that help arrived,” Desmund said.