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time being, I was mainly there for her to talk and vent to. Which was funny because when we “talked,” she did all of the talking, and I mostly nodded. But, it seemed to work for her.
    I watched as Brennan and Shanti finished with another late evening training in the loft. They sparred while I sat on the stairs and watched. She was getting stronger, more confident. Bren was a good teacher.
    He knocked Shanti down, then helped her back up again as she grimaced. “I’m never going to beat you,” she groaned.
    Brennan laughed. “Why not? You’re a vampire. You’ll give me a run for my money some day.”
    She shook her head. “You’re like, a foot taller than I am and about a hundred and fifty pounds heavier. No way.”
    Brennan glanced at me. “You’ve seen Molly fight.”
    “That wasn’t even a fight. She had those guys down before they even knew what was  happening. And they were street thugs. Not like, uh, you.” She said, and I felt her embarrassment.
    Brennan met my eyes again, raised an eyebrow. I gave a tiny nod. Knew what he was going to do.
    “Well. Should we see how Molly does against me, then?” Shanti looked between Brennan and I, nodded. I got up and strolled over to the training floor. Faced Brennan, remembering the first time we’d done this.
    “Rules?” I asked, smiling a little.
    He smiled back. “No punching in the face.” I met his slate blue eyes, couldn’t look away. He continued, slowly, and I knew he was remembering, too.
    “None of that mind control bull shit. Other than that, use what ya got,” he said, repeating words he’d said what felt like a lifetime ago. We looked at each other for a minute. We hadn’t sparred since the incident with the Puppeteer, in which she’d used Brennan and nearly killed me. He hadn’t let himself even come close to hurting me again. And I had my own issues with doing this.
    I finally nodded, and we started. I got the first hit in, a punch to his gut. He grunted and swung, connecting with my side.
    “You’re holding back, Molly,” he murmured.
    “So are you.” I pushed him away, swung at him again.
    We kept fighting, eventually loosening up. Soon, our fight became a dizzying clash of punches, kicks, shoves, and feints. Before long, we were both sweaty, and breathless, and lost in the ebb and flow of battle. I could feel how much he was enjoying it, and, to be honest, I was, too.
    “Come on, Molly. Don’t make me a liar. Show her what a little woman can do to someone like me,” he said, grinning. Then he feinted and stuck his leg out, tripping me. I fell, then jumped back up. He went for me again, overbalanced, and I took advantage of it. I kicked his legs out from under him, shoved him to the ground, pulled his arm roughly behind him. I held him down, straddling his back.
    He groaned in annoyance, tried to flip me off of his back. I’m little, but I’m solid. I just pulled his arm back harder.
    “Hey. All right. You win,” he said, laughing. I let him go and stood up. Then I reached out and held out a hand, helped him up.
    “That was good,” he said, winking at me.
    “It was. Thank you for not pulling my hair this time,” I said.
    “Thanks for not kicking me in the nuts. Much appreciated.”
    I laughed, really laughed, surprising myself. He grinned at me, still held my hand. I turned to see Shanti watching us.
    “Uh, that was crazy. I am never going to be able to do that.”
    “Sure you will. You’re in good shape. You’re young. And vampires are fast and strong. You are going to be a force to be reckoned with, kiddo,” I said. Brennan nodded.
    She shook her head. “Remind me not to piss either of you off. That’s all I’m gonna say.”
    Brennan laughed. Shanti strolled over to the fridge, grabbed some blood, and then went up to her room. I grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking it. Brennan hunted through the fridge, muttering about grocery shopping. He ended up snagging a slice of