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possessive she still felt towards Noah. The night of Doug Brown s party pushed its way to the
forefront of her thoughts. That sophomore had riled Eden back then and she d felt so smug that Noah
hadn t been interested, that he d chosen to find Eden and leave with her. With everything that had
happened between them, she was so sure those feelings for him would at least be muted if not gone.
Why she d thought that she wasn t sure, considering every time she thought of Stellan, she thought of
Romany, and then thought of Noah and all the negativity she felt towards him threatened to rear its
ugly head again. And it wasn t just because his ex-girlfriend killed Stellan although that was a huge
part of it but also because all the time she d had fluffy feelings for him, he d actually been seeing
someone behind her back.
OK, ready to start? Noah asked, shrugging out of his jacket and throwing it to the floor offside
the mat. His pale violet eyes were full of patience and familiarity.
It was only yesterday that Eden had promised Cyrus that she would forgive Noah. And she had. I
have, she reminded herself. She got the importance of their duty now and Noah had just been
following orders. She forgave him. She did. She really, really did. She forgave them all. Except
Romany. Stellan s murderer could never be forgiven.
Sure. Eden shrugged, pulling off her sweater so she could train in her tank top. She grinned
cheekily at Noah as she threw it aside. So, does being Ankh mean we always get our own way?
He frowned. What are you talking about?
She bobbed her head towards the entrance where the two Neith had disappeared. Those guys
handing that mat over as soon as we walked in?
Ah. He nodded with a knowing, somewhat arrogant smile that tugged at something in her lower
belly. Yeah pretty much.
Chuckling at his unabashed superiority Eden shook her head. It s a miracle you haven t been
beaten up more.
Hey. Noah shrugged. Look, it s just the way that it is. We re old, we re more powerful and
we re the only ones that can take down the seriously strong soul eaters. We have to believe in
ourselves if we re going to face the kind of danger that we face. The Neith get that.
Eden thought of Natalie. Some of them certainly do treat you like rock stars.
He gave her a look that told her he caught her meaning but didn t respond. Instead he rubbed his
hands together. OK, I m going to come at you with a punch and I want you to use what you learned
yesterday to incapacitate me.
Now that he was getting down to business Eden tried to shrug off her wariness. Yesterday had
been fun but training with Noah made her nervous. She d seen him in action, felt how strong he was.
This& wasn t going to be easy. Exhaling, Eden took a defensive stance and waited for Noah.
His arm shot out, a blur of movement Eden hadn t ever encountered before. Despite his speed,
Noah s training kicked in and she stepped into the punch. Eden grabbed his wrist, rolling it as she
twisted his arm. Noah winced as she pushed him to his knees, putting pressure on his upper arm as
she pulled the arm upwards, poised to break it. She did it in seconds, as much of a blur as his attack
had been.
Noah grinned up at her. Good.
Thanks.
Uh you can let go now.
Oh, sorry, she mumbled, releasing him and watching with a little smidge of sadistic satisfaction
as he rubbed his arm.
You ve gotten stronger with the change.
At the comment Eden flexed her hands, staring at them. She didn t feel any stronger but she
guessed Noah would know. That s good though right?
That s excellent. Now, come on, let s see if you can get me into a neck crank.
For the next half hour or so Noah attacked and Eden defended. Smacking Noah to the mat time
after time was hugely satisfying and in a way was really helping along the whole forgiving him thing.
She thought maybe he knew that because he kept giving her these wry, knowing looks every time she
attacked him with more force than was necessary. He didn t say anything, just rolled his eyes at her
and went on to try something new.
OK. Noah sprung to his feet, barely winded by her last smackdown. The guy was like the
freakin Energiser bunny. This time when you defend, I m going to keep attacking.
Her heart was already pumping pretty fast. Now it spluttered.
Shake it off, Eden, she told herself. You can take him.
Hadn t she already?
I can do this.
Sure, she replied, keeping her face carefully expression free.
As he punched Noah stepped forward with his right leg. Eden pushed the punch away with force
so that Noah was thrown off balance, leaving his leg undefended. She pounded her knee into the side
of his upper thigh with total brutality and watched his eyes narrow with pain as his leg crumpled,
taking him to the mat. Stupidly triumphant, Eden forgot that Noah was fighting back and just stood
gloating as he fell. But as soon as he hit the mat, he swung his good leg up and caught her behind the
knees. Eden crashed to the mat, the air whooshing out of her lungs. She d barely blinked once and
Noah was on top of her, his strong upper thighs caging her legs, his lower legs trapping hers and his
hands gripping hers above her head. Trying to move was useless. She pushed her body up at him but
he wouldn t budge. Growling in frustration, she collapsed against the mat and glared up into Noah s
smiling eyes.
She was totally caught.
Told you I was going to fight back, he murmured.
The low vibrato of his voice sent a shiver down Eden s spine and she was suddenly completely
aware of the fact that Noah was straddling her. The heat of his body soaked into hers, his face inches
above her. Eden s breath caught and the sound seemed to make its way through Noah s body because
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