Page 47 of Rising Reign

I bared my teeth at him. “What weaknesses?”

Rhys shifted into professional mode. “You drop your guard when you’re thinking about your next attack move. It gives your opponent a chance to get in a blow.”

I thought about the battle with Dent in the alleyway and cursed. The damn vamp was right. It had begun to slip twice, allowing a blow to find purchase. My back teeth ground together. “All right. What else?”

“Your speed is one of your greatest hand-to-hand skills, but you don’t use it to its full potential,” Rhys went on. “You’re good with certain evasions, especially ducking low, but your footwork could be quicker. I’m going to set up some obstacle courses to help with that.”

“Running, yay,” I muttered.

Brix’s lips twitched, and he bent to kiss my head. “I’ll do them with you.”

I looked up at him. “You’re my favorite today.”

“Hey,” Puck protested. “I told you I’d make your favorite breakfast after training.”

I grinned at him. “Maybe you’ll be my favorite later.”

“That’s a little better,” he huffed.

“I want to know what you need Hera for,” Kingston demanded. “You aren’t telling us something.”

Rhys’s focus moved to the Arcane alpha. “After hand-to-hand, we’ll move to Wren’s shifting speed. She needs to work on her quick changes.”

I frowned. Rhys hadn’t seen me shift, so how would he know if they were fast or slow?

“Why?” Kingston ground out.

Rhys was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke. “I had a vision. If we don’t work on Wren’s shifting and empath gifts, she’ll die.”

Each word detonated like a bomb, leaving shrapnel in its wake. It wasn’t just the word die that left a heavy weight in the air, though. It was the word empath. No one but the guys knew what I was or that I had that gift. No one else knew because it put me at risk.

But, somehow, Rhys had found out. And as my mates all circled him, I knew this wouldn’t go over well.

29

KINGSTON

“If we don’t work on Wren’s shifting and empath gifts, she’ll die.”

Rhys’s words echoed in my head as the entire room crackled with energy. Empath gifts. Fear and rage battled for supremacy as I stalked forward. My hand lashed out, and I grabbed Rhys by the neck, lifting him into the air.

“Who told you?” I snarled.

Rhys clawed at my hand, his face turning an alarming shade of purple. “Told me what?”

“That she’s an empath,” I ground out as I gave him a good shake.

“Put him down, King,” Ender called.

“Give me one good reason why.”

Ender sighed. “He’s playing right now. He could kick all our asses with one hand behind his back. He’s going along for the moment, but that could change, and we need him.”

I studied Rhys for a beat as he stopped clawing at me and simply let himself hang from my grip. Vampires were strong, but there was something else about Rhys. Something…more.

I released my hold on the bloodsucker and dropped him to the floor, but he landed easily. He cracked his neck as if loosening the muscles I’d abused. “No one told me anything. I saw it in a vision. That’s all.”

Hera shifted then, moving toward Wren, wonder in her eyes. “I knew there was something different about you.” She reached out as if to touch my mate, and I moved in a flash.