Blood Guard : A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Bladed Princess Book 1) by Eve Bale

Author:Eve Bale [Bale, Eve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-02-03T16:00:00+00:00

12

Pierce slowly circles me. “Better. A lot better. What finally made it click?”

I know he’s talking about my grip on the sword since my swing still leaves much to be desired. I can’t tell him it’s because two Bladed tried to kill me the other night and how, in that moment of sheer terror, I realized I’d been holding the sword wrong.

Well, I guess I could tell Pierce, but that would lead to questions, and questions would get back to Dimitry, and practice would be over. Then I’d be relegated to the role of a princess with her guard to fight all her battles for her and protect her while she sits in the presidential suite of the Palms Casino Resort.

“Now, we work on katas. Your form needs a lot of work.”

“But it’s slow. When do we get to the actual fighting?”

At first, it was interesting when Pierce told me he’d be teaching me kenjutsu, a kind of Japanese sword martial arts which involves a lot of sparring. But then he told me that no, we would start with kendo, which meant I had a ton to learn before I’d move on to sparring with someone. Learning I’d just be repeating the same moves over and over soon killed my enthusiasm and my interest.

Pierce is unmoved by my whining. “When you learn proper technique, you’ll also gain muscle memory. Without it, speed is useless.”

I stare at him. “So what was the chasing me around with a sword about then if technique is so important?”

“Entertainment.” One of the Bladed snorts. I tense, thinking maybe it’s one of the killer Bladed come to mock me during my lessons.

Pierce doesn’t look away from me. “Braden. Punishment detail. Two weeks. You can guard my office.”

A peek over Pierce’s shoulder reveals a furious dark-haired vampire glaring at the back of Pierce’s head. If I was Pierce, I’d be terrified. But not Pierce.

“Three weeks, and you can empty my trash each night. Keep glaring like that and you’ll be watering my plants and walking my dog around the block.”

Wow, so this is what a patient and tolerant supervisor in the Bladed looks like, huh?

When Braden shifts his glare to me, I return my attention back to Pierce.

“Now, what’s this urgency to move on to fighting when you couldn’t hide your relief at getting out of practice the other night?”

“I had stuff to do,” I lie. Yeah, stuff like nearly getting your head cut off. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“I needed to know what you do in high-stress situations. There’s also the matter of instinct.”

As he talks, he’s straightening my back with a tap at the base of my spine. Done with that, he shows me the first drill and I move through it. “Too fast. Again, but slower. Until you get it right more times than wrong, this is the speed we’re going at.”

With a heavy sigh, I work through the drill with my wooden sword, knowing that once again, in the increasingly crowded gym, I’m the sole focus.

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