Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger 2)

Proving just that, we both ignored him and got down to business. “Without your vision, you have to rely on your other senses. They’re just as important in hand-to-hand combat.”

I wasn’t so sure that was true, but I nodded nonetheless.

“Hearing. Smell. Touch,” Zayne went on. “All of those things will give away your opponent’s next move.”

“Especially if they smell bad,” Roth added. “Or they’re loud and clumsy.”

I grinned at that.

“You’re going to need to concentrate really hard to do this,” Zayne went on. “And I mean really hard.”

The corners of my lips started to turn down. “Okay.”

“You cannot allow yourself to become distracted. Everything in this room, especially the uninvited third wheel, needs to fade away.”

“Hey,” Roth scuffed. “That’s offensive.”

“This is my I-don’t-care face,” Zayne replied.

I planted my hands on my hips. “I think I know how to concentrate, Zayne.”

“And I think I’ve been around you enough to know that you have the concentration level of a puppy on its first car ride.”

Roth laughed.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. Could not argue with that observation. “I feel personally attacked by that statement.”

There was a low rumble of a chuckle from Zayne. “Once you concentrate, you’ll notice things you haven’t before. Okay? Let me know when you’re there.”

I stood there for a few seconds. “Ready.”

“You sure?” Zayne sounded doubtful.

“Yes.” I shifted into my stance, bracing myself as I waited for—

Zayne’s hand hit my forearm, startling me. I reached out and ended up brushing my hand over his chest, which meant he’d made his move. We tried again, breaking apart, and then he was on me once more. Again and again he moved, and I... I just stood there, missing his every move and virtually blocking air. Worse part was, he was pulling his punches and kicks.

“I can’t see you,” I said, dropping my arms. “At all.”

“That’s the point,” he reminded me.

“Well, yeah, but...” I trailed off, shaking my head as I opened and closed my hands.

“You can’t get frustrated already.” Zayne stayed close this time, not backing off.

“I’m not.”

“Sounds like it,” Roth chimed in.

“Am not.” I jerked my head in his direction.

Fingers curled around my chin, guiding my head back toward Zayne. “Yes, you are.”

I wanted to argue, but it was pointless, because I knew he was picking up on it. “I just... I don’t think I can do this.”

“You can,” he said, and I thought he’d stepped back. “And you will.”

I reached out, my hands feeling empty air. I’d been right.

“You knew he wasn’t there,” Roth said. “Right?”

Closing my hand around nothing, I nodded.

“How?” the demon persisted.

“I... I couldn’t feel his warmth,” I admitted, pulling my hand back and hoping that didn’t sound as weird as I thought it did.

“Demons are the same way,” Roth said. “We give off a lot of heat. If you can feel that, then you know one is close enough to touch. Too close. How about—”

Warmth danced along my skin. I lifted my hand before Roth could even finish. My fingers brushed against something hard and warm. Zayne’s chest. “I felt him get close.”

“Good.” This time it was Zayne who spoke, and I could feel the rumble of his words through my palm.

Without warning, Zayne grasped my arm and spun me around. “Get back into your stance.”

I did just that, spreading my legs and rooting my feet into the mats as I lifted my hands.

“Is he near you?” Roth asked.

I gauged the temperature of the air around me. “No.”

“Correct,” Zayne confirmed. “Concentrate.”

I inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly, focusing on the space around me. Not just for the temperature, but for any movement. There was nothing—and then I felt the slight change in movement around me. A stir of warm air, and this time I didn’t just stand there.

I struck out, hitting nothing. “Dammit!”

“Almost had me,” Zayne said, and my left ear tingled. I spun, kicking out, but he was suddenly at my back, his breath along the nape of my neck. “Almost.”

Spinning, I jabbed out my elbow, but with a whoosh of air, I felt him move to—to my right. I whirled, finding the space empty once more. God, this was making me a little nauseous. I thrust my hand out, and my palm glanced off him.

“Ha!” I shouted, having made contact—weak contact, but contact.

“Almost,” Zayne repeated.

Following the sound of his voice, I stepped forward and found nothing. Frustration piqued, I jumped when I felt the stir of air and landed unbalanced on the balls of my feet.

“Nice,” murmured Roth. “That would’ve been a kick to the legs.”

I smiled.

“Don’t get cocky,” Zayne warned.

The next second proved exactly why I shouldn’t, because I missed Zayne by a mile on the next swing. The next punch I threw was just another glancing blow, as was the one after that and after that.

“Almost.” Zayne danced around me, and I played pin the freaking fist on the Warden.

A game I sucked at.

And I was really beginning to hate the word almost.

“You’re losing your concentration,” he told me. “Take a breath and refocus, Trin.”

“I’m concentrating.” I whipped out a leg, and this time I didn’t come anywhere near him. Anger turned my blood to acid as I moved, seeking Zayne through the pinprick holes.

“Trin.” Zayne’s voice was a low warning, and I knew what he was saying.

Air stirred around me again, and I lashed out with my arm. I went a little wild with the punch, but it was too late to pull back. Going too far, I lost my balance. Zayne must’ve seen that, because I felt his hands on my shoulders. Neither of us could regain our footing, so when I fell, he went down with me. I landed on my back with a grunt, Zayne on top of me.

I swung at him again, since I knew exactly where he was now, but Zayne caught my wrists and pinned them above my head before I could make contact.

“You lost your focus,” Zayne said.

Fury roared through me as I lifted my hips, managing to get one leg free. “No, I didn’t!”

“Yes,” he said softly. He pressed down, and when he inhaled, his chest pressed against mine. In the darkness of the blindfold, all I could feel was him and his warm breath against my lips. I stopped fighting and didn’t dare move. Not a fraction of an inch. “You did lose focus.”

My hands opened and closed fruitlessly against the mat. “How do you know?”

“Because you got frustrated.” His voice was low, still incredibly soft and gentle considering he was pinning me down. “And that got the best of you.”

I pressed my lips together to stop the denial.

Zayne’s grip on my wrists slackened. His hand slid down the length of my arm, over my shoulder. He cupped my cheek. “You were doing really well.”

“No, I wasn’t.” Sweat dampened my brow. “I was barely able to get near you.”

“But you did get near me.” He shifted slightly, and his thumb grazed my lower lip. “This is the first time you’ve tried this. You’re not going to be perfect right off the bat.” His chest rose against mine again, sending a prickle of heat down my spine. “You have to give yourself time.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted in a whisper.

“I know you can,” he insisted, and my next breath came out shaky. “I don’t have a single doubt in my mind.”

I wished I could see him. His eyes. His face. See how he was looking at me, because if I could see that faith he had in me, then maybe I could feel it.

Zayne’s thumb moved again, this time sweeping across my bottom lip. My breath hitched as a sweet rush of unwanted anticipation surged. “Okay?”

I had no idea what he was asking, but I nodded, and then neither of us moved beyond our rising and falling chests. My arms were still stretched above my head. I could move them, but I didn’t, and I knew his mouth was still close to mine because his breath teased my lips. I would have given just about anything to know what he was thinking right then. If he felt that anticipation, if he was brimming with yearning for what couldn’t be.

Maybe there was something to other senses heightening when you couldn’t see, because I swore there was a tension to the air that hadn’t been there before. I could feel it.

“Question?” Roth’s voice broke the silence, and holy crap, I’d forgotten he was there. Zayne had, too, based on the way his muscles tensed against me. When Roth spoke again, amusement practically dripped from each word. “And I’m asking for a friend. Exactly what kind of training are you guys doing right now?”

10

Training while blindfolded could not have ended more quickly. Zayne had rolled off me and helped me up. The tie had come off next, and I sort of wished it hadn’t, because I’d rather not have seen Roth’s oddly smug, grinning face.

We hadn’t stopped training, though. We’d moved on to fighting without the blindfold, and out of what I guessed was boredom, Roth had gotten in on the action. The demon was actually helpful, for the most part. Then Layla had called, and he’d poofed out of the apartment.

Just blinked right out of existence.

Yet another ability I wished I had.

Patrolling that night hadn’t turned up anything remotely exciting, and I was wondering how long we were going to roam around aimlessly before we found something—anything—that would lead us to the Harbinger.

The following morning, I’d just finished pulling my hair up in a ponytail and was about to join Zayne on the mats for more blindfolded training when my phone rang from the nightstand. The moment I saw Thierry’s name, I almost let it go to voice mail. But I couldn’t ignore his call.