Crown of Serpents (Book 1 of the Serpent Bloodline Trilogy)

Chapter 10

I'm sore all over but I try to hide it, and I think I'm doing an amazing job. Yesterday, after breakfast, Xavier came to talk to me in the training grounds, he had made me promise to train with him every day.

Never specified when, but he did get me up before the sun rose scaring me half to death, and he went along and said, "If you're not ready to fight when you first wake up, you're not ready at all."

I glared at him but didn't say anything. It seems that's happening a lot lately.

I've gotten on most of my gear—I'm wearing this every day— and just finished my braid when he practically breaks my door by knocking on it. I curse him, and he does the same.

I don't think we're getting anywhere.

I run outside of my room and to the training grounds, and he's already standing there, with no weapons. I raise a brow, and he nods a response.

That was rhetorical, idiot.

"We're doing hand-to-hand."

I take off my sheath and drop it to the ground. Okay, I think I'll be fine.

I already have my wrists wrapped, and I walk over to him so we're face to face. Or rather, face to chest, but whatever.

I can acknowledge that this man is very handsome, but he's incredibly arrogant and rude.

"Should we get started?" And the sentence is barely out when he kicks out, hitting me in the knees and making me fall to the ground.

"Shoot!" I shout, and I swear I can hear him chuckle.

Well, curse him.

I jump back to my feet, and run over, wrapping my arm around his neck and using my momentum to bring him backward.

It partly works, making him stumble, but he grabs my legs, and I nail him in the jaw.

He hardly grunts, dropping me on the floor and all the air leaves my lungs. I don't have time to move before he's on top of me. He lifts my hands above my head and uses one hand to hold them there.

Heat creeps up my cheeks, and I struggle under him, trying to find some weak spot.

If I could just...

I knee him in the balls.

He swears, and his grip loosens on my wrists. I use his weight to roll us over so I'm on top of him.

"I might now be that good with magic, but I'm a heck of a puncher."

"I could tell."

He reaches up and grips my shoulder.

The bad one.

I hardly hold in a shriek, and I try to twist him off of it as quickly as I can, but his grip just gets tighter, he twists it backward, and I am forced to follow his movements. He lifts me off of him, and as soon as he's able to, he grabs my other arm.

I'm straining against him, and pain explodes in my collarbone.

I'm cursing like a sailor by now, trying to shake him away.

I go to knee him again, but he avoids it easily.

I try to go through the other techniques I was taught to get out of this position.

This was one of the easiest. But his grip on my shoulder is swaying all of my clear thoughts.

He leans down to my ear, "You know in this position, you could wrap one of your legs around mine."