Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 77 - Lance - Four Days Ago

"I had you on that last one."

"Ha! You did not. If anything, you were closer to eating the dirt than you were to winning that round, and it wouldn't have made a difference. I beat you forty-eight to twenty."

"That's because you cheated," I point out.

"I never cheat."

I roll my eyes, stretching out my legs in front of me as I sit on the ground and touch my toes. Gods my muscles are tight after our four hours of training. The first two were the haziest. I was too busy letting anger cloud my vision to really remember to make smart moves and not ones that would have my energy tanking. When it did, I started relying on muscle memory and instinct to keep me from getting hit hard in the face or ribs by her.

She's fast and she's strong, and she totally cheated by doubling it using her immortal advantages. Don't get me wrong I love a good challenge, but she cheated. At least with Fauna, it was fair. Her strength and speed were twins to my own. It was like fighting a mirror that knew your every move and where you were going next before you could make the second move. The bruises and cuts then felt good, they kept me alert. Nilsa's, however, made me feel like I was a little kid getting beaten to a pulp. I suppose I am a kid in her eyes, but I'm still mad. She cheated.

"Dawn would've been proud to know that her son is greatly skilled."

"She's not dead," I say, glancing over to where Melody who's technically my mother stands nearby, watching Clarice and Darius take Rohana and Vlad two on two.

"Why do you sound disappointed by that fact?"

"I'm not, I just...I watched her get tortured to death. I can't look at...her without seeing her dismembered body laying on white sheets soaked in red. Can you really blame me for not celebrating the fact that I watched them tear her apart piece by piece for hours, and now, out of nowhere she's perfectly fine?"

"She's trapped within a horse's body with a horse's ass. Believe me, she's not necessarily celebrating it either. But you could stop giving her the cold shoulder."

"I'm not..." I drift off, not being able to lie when she lifts her eyebrow. I know I've been rather...cold to her, but she never said anything to anyone. She let us all think she died that night, and it's...everyone in my life seems to die or get taken or go into hiding because they can't be known associates of mine. Even my family left us until they didn't really have a choice and came to us in both pity and a rather crucial moment of aid.

So no. I'm not necessarily in a forgiving mood. Especially not now.

"At least your sister takes to her."

"My sister also doesn't remember a single thing about what happened," I retort, not bothering to hide my disapproval of that fact.

Her head snaps so quickly at me that for a moment I think she's snapped her own neck. "Your sister may not remember your happy childhood memories nor the deaths of the three most important people in her life, but what she does remember are those last nights in a dark cell where she was beaten and broken and forced to feel all kinds of pain. And yet here she stands, looking far happier than you - despite all that pain and suffering."

"She wouldn't have to remember those nights if it wasn't for him-"

"Oh, for Saint's sake-"

"He tortured her. He made her feel all those kinds of pain, and he..." I can't finish that sentence - for two reasons. One: I don't like it so much as thinking about it. Two: Darius is always listening with his ear in the wind. It's annoying.

"And none of that is forgivable-"

"Thank you-"

"-but you have no right to kill him," she finishes.