Change of Darkness (The Change Series Book 3) by Jacinta Jade (best new books to read txt) 📕

‘You heard that, hey?’ She smiled at Loce to take any sting out of her words.

He nodded. ‘And I heard you got Drosni in your elite unit.’

Her smile fell away. ‘Unfortunately.’

Loce smiled sympathetically. ‘He’s an odd one. Incredibly skilled, but odd.’

Siraay pressed her lips together, not convinced. But then she remembered her purpose here this morning and brought out her most charming smile. ‘I’m sure you’re right. He wouldn’t be in an elite unit unless he was good enough to be there.’

Loce nodded, smiling back.

She kept up the cheery facade. ‘So, where shall we start this morning?’

‘How about drills, then as many bouts as we can manage before the sun rises another span?’

‘Let’s do it.’

They worked for a while together on technique first, Loce leading Siraay through a series of drills as a warm-up in the cold room, then correcting her when he thought she was slightly off. Usually, it was just small adjustments like the angle of her wrist, or just too much bend in the knees, that required her focus.

Otherwise, he was quick to admit that she was adapting swiftly and already seemed to have improved in the few days she had been with them.

Which made Siraay curious. ‘Why is that?’

‘Sorry?’ Loce frowned at her in polite confusion.

‘My fighting ability,’ she said, gesturing at herself, his eyes following the casual flick of her wave down past her bare abs. She had purposefully chosen to wear a short top that morning. ‘How is it that I can improve so drastically in such a short time?’

Loce’s eyes moved up and away from her midsection to refocus on her face. ‘It’s simple. You’re not the same person you once were.’

‘But my body is the same. And my mind hasn’t been altered, only different parts accessed.’

‘Ah,’ Loce said, holding up a hand to make her pause. ‘But it has. This person you are now has different drives, different wants and needs. They have always been in you, only they were buried. A subset that wasn’t drawn upon, as it were.’ Loce gestured to her body. ‘Your fighting skills are similar. Your mind knew the patterns, knew what was required, but your former self wasn’t as adept as you are at physically acting on those patterns.’

Siraay frowned as she thought through the logic. ‘So, I always had access to this level of skill, but I never used it?’

Loce shook his head. ‘No. You had the ability but not the access. Slightly different.’

‘And now …?’

‘And now you have both the access, and the capacity, to use the knowledge you have. And fewer qualms about using it. So yes, as you become aware of your capability, your skill will improve accordingly.’

Siraay nodded, both because she was absorbing the information and because she wanted Loce to feel like he was imparting important knowledge on her. Even though she had already guessed at most of what he had just told her.

After more drills, they switched to sparring, and this time, the fights were more evenly matched, although Loce was still winning the majority of them.

Just.

After one particularly hard-fought match, she said to him, ‘I almost had you that time.’

Loce chuckled, wiping sweat from his brow. ‘Not even close.’

‘No?’ She turned to face him, putting a hand on one hip. ‘I think I can beat you in the next round.’

He chuckled again. ‘And if you don’t?’

Perfect. Just what she wanted. ‘Well, I guess we can work that one out afterwards.’ She kept her tone friendly and casual, throwing in another wave of her hand that drew his eyes down and over the planes of her stomach, her muscles glistening with sweat. ‘But if I win, I want some information.’ She smiled teasingly at him.

He raised an eyebrow, smiling back. ‘And what information might that be?’

She twisted her head away slightly, pretending to frown down at her pants a little as she flicked imaginary lint from one leg. ‘The prophecy.’

Her downward glance gave Loce time to hide his surprise, but she could still sense it in the air.

‘I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.’

She looked up in pretend surprise. ‘Really? I thought you would know, being such a favoured archon to Chezran and all.’

‘Favoured?’

‘Mmmmmm,’ she said, nodding, rolling her shoulders. ‘He listens to you. After all, you were the one who infiltrated the Resistance training camp. Who passed on the information about our unit. About me. Why wouldn’t he tell you everything?’

A pause, which Siraay filled with a sensuous curling of her mouth and a slight bat of her lashes. Old tricks, really, but on a male like Loce, who must have spent most of his life being trained for one purpose, it was more than effective.

‘Of course,’ he agreed swiftly. ‘The prophecy. What do you want to know about it?’

She almost groaned out loud in frustration but merely smiled again. ‘I’d never really heard of it until Chezran mentioned it. I didn’t want to look like I didn’t know what he was talking about, though, so I didn’t ask about the exact wording. But I thought maybe you could tell me.’ A half-truth. In her dream last night, which she didn’t think had been just a dream, Chezran had mentioned it.

Just not to her.

She could see Loce weighing up his choices, could almost read the thoughts going through his mind. If Chezran had mentioned it to her …

‘Well, I can’t remember the exact wording myself right now, but can I get back to you later?’

‘That would be fine,’ she said, barely suppressing her excitement.

‘That’s if you win, of course,’ Loce amended, grinning.

***

It was a difficult fight, and probably the longest of the morning, but by using every trick she knew, and making up a few more on the spot, Siraay managed to flip Loce over her shoulder and onto his back and then pin him to the floor with one knee.

Not that he seemed that upset by her win, promising to get her a written note about the prophecy later that day after