I cocked a brow and laughed. “You’re funny. Did anyone happen to mention I used to be an Enforcer for the Dominae?”

“Did anyone mention I was, too?”

I stilled. “Seriously?”

“Back before you were born, girl.”

“Well, then. I hope you fed well, too, old man.”

He tossed back his head and laughed. “This is gonna be fun.”

“If you two are quite finished, we’ll begin.” Tristan held his hand between us. Paused, building the tension. Horus’s gaze bore into mine, promising pain. I smirked back. “Aaaand… fight!”

Tristan backed quickly out of the way and went to join Nyx at the sideline. Horus and I each fell back into fighting stances. I balanced on the balls of my feet, ready to pivot for his attack.

Behind me, Giguhl and Adam clapped and called out encouragement. Behind Horus, Nyx and Calyx did the same.

Horus was absolutely still, but his shrewd eyes were assessing me for vulnerabilities. I was patient, waiting for the attack I knew was coming. He was too eager for this to let me get in the first hit. I decided to hang back, let him take the lead, get cocky.

Calyx grew bored as Horus and I took each other’s measure. “Are you guys just going to stand there or—”

The fist exploded against my jaw like a sledgehammer. My teeth slammed together, sending vibrations of pain through my head as it snapped backward. Stars danced in my vision. I shook it, pivoted, and delivered a roundhouse to his midsection.

Horus stumbled back two steps. Only two. I’d kicked him hard enough that his ass should have hit the dirt. But he didn’t grunt or even twitch an eye.

I raised my brows. Damn, this dude was tough.

As if to prove that point, he ran at me with his head down like a stampeding bull. His shoulder crashed into my diaphragm like a battering ram. The air whooshed out of me and my body slammed to the gravel. I brought my knees up and flipped him back over my head before he could settle his weight on top of me. I kicked my legs up and gained my feet just in time to receive a backhand.

Blood flew from my mouth and pain streaked through my jaw. I wiped the trickle of blood from my chin and licked it off while he watched. His eyes widened. I smiled.

He came at me with a flurry of fists. I ducked and weaved, delivering jabs to his stomach as I avoided his punches.

Adrenaline surged through my veins like a drug. Like cocaine and whisky and sex. It’d been far too long since I’d had a good old-fashioned fight, and I was enjoying the hell out of myself.

But his abs were like concrete and before long, the knuckle of my right forefinger cracked. Giving up on the jabs, I reared back and kicked. My foot slammed into the center of his chest. A loud crack as a couple of ribs broke. He flew back and crashed into the facade of the manor—twenty feet away. Plaster broke off from the wall and fell on his head.

Horus jumped up and shook the dust from his hair. He ran forward, executed two impressive handsprings, and landed in front of me with a wink. I stood my ground despite my shock. No one that large should be that agile. He bounced on his toes in front of me like a prizefighter. “Okay, I’m warmed up now.”

I laughed. “I hope so, Grandpa.” As I spoke, I lifted my leg to kick his chin. He caught my foot and brought his elbow down on my knee. A loud pop as the joint surrendered. An explosion of fire. I fell to the ground and grabbed my destroyed joint.

“Hey!” Adam shouted.

“Leave them be,” Tristan snapped.

Horus backed away to preen in front of his fans.

“Bullshit,” Giguhl said, and started to intervene with Adam. Rhea grabbed their arms.

“No!” I held up my free hand. The joint hurt like Hades, but it’d heal soon enough. Besides, one little injury wasn’t enough to make me surrender.

Adam, Rhea, and the demon stilled on the sidelines, their expressions part panic and part disbelief.

Using my hand for leverage, I got my good leg under me. I tested my right leg and winced. My blood was already working on the injury, but it’d be a while before I had full range of movement.

“Hey, asshole,” I yelled. “Anyone ever tell you not to turn your back on an opponent?”

Horus turned slowly, a cocky grin on his lips. He flashed a little fang. “You want more?”

“The man said it’s not over until someone taps a vein. And I suddenly find myself parched.”

Horus executed an it’s-your-funeral shrug. “Suit yourself.”

He ran at me again, his head down. Major miscalculation. At the last second before he impersonated a wrecking ball, I jumped out of the way and pivoted on my good leg. I grabbed his shoulder and used his forward momentum against him. He went down hard. I followed, slamming both my weight and my good knee into his back. He slid into the dirt face-first. My injured knee wouldn’t bend, so I balanced precariously on his back. Acting quickly before he could recover, I grabbed the vamp’s hair and jerked his head back. Just as I was about to slam my fangs into his jugular, he executed a death roll.

I crashed into the gravel.

And Horus crashed into me.

His hand found my knee and squeezed. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming. Cold sweat bloomed on my chest. Horus lowered his face into mine.

“Scream for me.” His fingers tightened. My fangs ground together and I writhed under his grip, but I didn’t make so much as a whimper.

From far away, males shouted. An argument. I blocked it out and focused all my attention on Horus. My right hand was pinned under his body, but he was so sure the pain he was inflicting would unman me that he hadn’t bothered with my left. I worked it down until my fingers wrapped around the twin targets.

He stilled. I squeezed. He paled.

I smiled despite my own pain. “Scream for me.”

We lay there like that, him putting insane pressure on my knee and me squeezing his balls like vise. A hush fell over the courtyard. Who would break the stalemate first?

I twisted my fist. He whimpered. His eyes watered and he started to tremble. But the stubborn bastard didn’t release me.

“What’s it gonna be, Horus? I can handle a permanent limp, but do you really want to be stuck singing soprano?”

“Fuck. You.” His face had gone red now. He lifted his face to the sky, whether to pray or escape the evil smile on my lips, I didn’t know.

After that, it was over quickly. I clenched my fist one last time, applying a little English to his testicles. He yelped. I released.

He was so relieved he eased up on my knee. I reared up and snapped my fangs into his jugular.

I didn’t indulge, though. The instant I broke the skin, I pulled back. No sense adding more insult. He’d fought dirty but he’d fought well.

I fell back into the gravel, panting against the throbbing pain in my knee. Horus curled up into the fetal position, cupping his bruised balls.

The courtyard was silent for a couple of beats. A few seconds later, the rhythmic sound of slow clapping filled the clearing. I raised my head to see Rhea, Calyx, and Nyx applauding. All the males were too busy shielding their pelvises with their hands and averting their gazes.

Except Giguhl, who threw me a thumbs-up. “Told ya to go for the ’nads!”

I let my head fall back to the gravel. A quick assessment told me that in addition to the knee issue, I also had a broken finger, at least one black eye, several contusions on my jaw, and a broken nail.

In other words, I felt freaking awesome.

When Adam finally got over his fear for his own testicles, he came over and kneeled next to me. I knew it was him without looking because his sandalwood scent preceded him. I opened my eyes and smiled.

“How you doing?” His hands ran over me, checking for broken bones. When he reached my knee, I hissed. He released it immediately and shouted for someone to bring ice.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “It’ll be right as rain in no time.”

He glanced over to where Calyx and Tristan were helping Horus off the ground. “He probably needs the ice more anyway.” He looked back down at me and smiled. “Remind me not to pick a fight with you—ever.”

I glanced down at his pelvis and grinned wickedly. He grimaced and held out a hand to help me up. Giguhl rushed over and got my other arm and wrapped it around his shoulders. “Dude, you were awesome!”

“Thanks, G.”

“Seriously, it was great to see you back in action.”

I smiled. “It felt good.” I winced as I accidentally put too much weight on the knee. “Mostly.”

“Sabina!” Tristan snapped.

We all stopped and hobbled around so I could look at him. “Yeah?”

“See to your wounds. We’ll proceed with the next test tomorrow at dusk.” He looked at Rhea. “A moment?”

Rhea nodded and went to follow him after shooting me a thumbs-up. Nyx followed them in, but Valva lingered.

“Someone’s in trouble,” Giguhl singsonged.

“Whatever,” I said. “I only did what he asked me to do. You’d figure he’d be glad I could hold my own.”

“Ah, don’t let it bother you,” Adam said. “You did good, babe.”

With that, he turned to guide me toward the bungalow. Giguhl started to go with us, but Valva called out. “Giguhl? May I speak to you for a moment?”

Adam and I shot Giguhl a concerned look. He sighed and waved us on. “I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Are you sure?”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah. Might as well get this over with.”

I patted his arm. “Be strong.”

Chapter 24

I sat on the couch with my injured knee propped on some pillows. Adam had insisted I sit still while he checked over my wounds. Really all I needed was some blood, but I felt weird asking him for it. I didn’t want him to think I saw him as a convenient blood dispenser. Besides, I was kind of enjoying his ministrations.

He sat on the coffee table with my injured hand in his lap. Fashioning a splint out of a stick and some tape, he started wrapping my broken knuckle. “So, the first test went well, I think.”