King of Tides (The Immortal Iron Brothers #3)

Chapter 28

Seasoned Warriors

“ B illy and I will train together,” Lee says before anyone else can make assignments.

Ray and Taylor walk off together without asking any further questions, as they have already been in their own little bubble together. I roll my eyes at them and turn my attention back to Lee.

I look at her curiously. She has an unassuming look about her. I won’t say she can kick my ass and I wouldn’t say she can’t.

In all honesty, I’m not sure I or any of my sisters truly know how to use our magic in battle, which is what this training session is about.

“I will bind you for now, but I still want you to be careful,” Reilly says to Lee.

Ardan frowns. “No magic for today. Let them hone their combat skills. Let’s see what comes naturally to them.”

“Billy and I will display seasoned warrior skills,” Lee says and lifts her head. “But Ardan is right. She and I don’t need to use magic today.”

“How do you know I will have skills?” I pipe up.

“Trust me.” She winks.

“Trust you? You are the only one who seems to remember we’re related from a past life, and I’ve spent my entire life not trusting a damn soul. You’re going to have to do better than that, sis,” I say and pop my hip as I cross my arms over my chest.

“Good to know I’m not the only one who gets the cynicism at will,” Ardan snorts.

I glare at him. He purses his lips and looks away while trying to hold in a laugh. I’ll deal with him later.

“You know something, I’m going to ignore that because you’ve been like this since the beginning of time,” Lee snorts.

“Stop talking like you know me, Lee. It’s getting annoying.”

“Fine, let’s not talk. I’ll show you I know you,” she says as twin swords appear across her shoulders.

I hold my hands out on instinct and the same axe and shield from the first time I needed to protect myself appear. Lee looks me over and smirks. I glare back at her.

I don’t know Lee well. We have only ever spoken online and a few times since she arrived. I’ve been cautious of her since she revealed she knew about our past lives.

I don’t understand why she didn’t find us sooner. If I had knowledge of my sisters all this time, I would have found them as soon as possible. So yeah, I’m giving her ass side-eye and a ton of attitude.

“I see you’re still using those antiquated things. It’s the twenty-first century, you might want to use something else for your go-to,” she taunts.

“Thanks for the advice, but I think I can handle you with what I’ve got.”

She shrugs and pulls her blades from their sheaths. They sing as she frees them then take a fight stance. I have to admit, this does feel really familiar. I don’t have time to think much about it as she launches in for an attack.

“Tighten up, Billy. Don’t underestimate her,” Ardan coaches.

I duck out of Lee’s reach and turn to bump her in the back with the shield. Not hard enough to hurt her, but a warning. She recovers quickly and comes at me swifter and with more accuracy as if she was just playing with me at first.

I adjust and treat the shield and axe as I would my fists in the boxing ring. Using my magic, I make it so the shield is transparent on my end. It helps, but Lee is skilled just as she said.

“You both need to use your battlefield more wisely. Take advantage of your surroundings,” Reilly says from the sidelines.

“And your speed,” Ardan adds.

Lee and I both adjust. As she boxes me in with her speed, I begin to move more quickly and keep out of the corner she’s forcing me into. I hate to admit she’s right.

This axe and shield aren’t the best weapons. They are only affective in close range combat. Lee’s swords allow her to keep a greater distance.

“What are you doing, Billy?” Ardan growls when I drop my guard and arms midattack.

“She will be fine. She’s trusting her instincts,” Lee says for me.

I hiss at her as I call two new weapons. Ninja stars appear in each hand. They are glowing blue and are cold to the touch as if made of ice. I begin to use the room as I run and circle Lee, throwing up a barrier to keep my attacks from harming anyone outside my opponent.

“I can feel your animosity toward me. It’s fueling a part of you. You want someone to blame, but it’s not that simple,” Lee calls after me.

“I thought we said no talking,” I say and toss one of the stars at her.

She blocks it with one of her blades and does the flash thing I’ve seen Ardan and the others do. I wonder if I can move that fast. As I have the thought, Lee pokes me in the butt with one of her blades as she appears behind me.

“Got ya,” she snickers.

I form another star to replace the one I threw and turn to toss the two I’m holding. Lee is fast, she disappears before either can nick her.

“She’s playing with you and getting under your skin. Don’t allow your emotions to give her the win. Make her earn your defeat. Use her overconfidence,” Ardan says in my head.

“How is she doing that thing? How is she moving so fast?”

“You can do it as well. See yourself forward then leap. She is right, you need to trust your instincts as you already have with your magic.”

I come out of my head and focus on using all I have learned. Lee does seem overconfident because she has knowledge I don’t have. She is also using my emotions to keep me from thinking and besting her.

I shove all my feelings down and go at her with skill and technique. Feeling like I need to find another advantage, I try to flash like she did. My heart pumps with excitement as I go from one side of the room to the next in the blink of an eye.

“That’s it, baby girl,” Ardan croons with pride.

I throw two more stars but they turn to water and drop to the floor in puddles just before slicing her skin. I stop and look at her in confusion. I had aimed to nick her arms.

“He will never allow you to hurt his mate,” Ardan says in my thoughts.

I huff and place my hands on my hips. Lee saunters over to me and tugs me into a hug, holding me so tight I can’t breathe. After the initial shock wears off, I return the hug.

“I couldn’t come for any of you until now, but make no mistake, I’ve wanted to since I was old enough to understand how to travel. I am not your enemy. I have always loved you even though you don’t remember me, I know you and I love you.

“I always have and always will and I’m willing to wait for you to learn to love me and let me in again. You are not alone, and no one will ever hurt you now that I’m here,” she whispers into my ear.

I tear up and grasp her tighter. Her hug squeezes out all my warring thoughts and the mistrust I’ve been harboring toward her. Somehow, I find the same enthusiasm I had when I found out I had three sisters.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I love you.”

The words are stuck in my throat. They are so hard for me to tell anyone. She gives me a squeeze as if to say she understands. I squeeze her back and give her a nod instead.

Ardan

“Next,” I grumble as I sit back in my desk chair and slouch in my seat.

My thoughts go back to training earlier. I’m proud of Billy. She did well. Lee is amazing too. I sense that Taylor and Ray will catch up soon.

As I told my brothers we should—the night Knox disappeared—I’ve been watching my mate and my brothers’ to see if anything else is changing about them. It’s been two days, and I can’t say anything has occurred to be alarmed about.

Although, I don’t know my brothers’ mates well enough to notice much, but I sense their increase in power. Billy, on the other hand, I know and there has been some subtle things that stood out while she was training.

I wish I were back in the training room instead of dealing with this. The craziness around here is only getting worse. I’m more frustrated than anything.

Some of this stuff shouldn’t be brought to me. At this point, I’m mediating nonsense. However, I don’t want this to fall on Kendrick so I need to weed out the foolishness that I can squash. I tune back in to the complaints as something catches my attention.

“Can you repeat that?” I speak up and sit up.

“There have been back-to-back typhoons over my nieces home. I would like to build a new sea complex for her family to come live here in New York,” the sea fairy repeats.

I knit my brows. This is not the season for high typhoon activity. The water trolls who cause them are on vacation during this time.

“Your niece … she lives in Japan, I’m assuming?”

“Yes, born and raised. She has lost everything in this last storm. She has been staying with friends who were in safe zones.”

“If I grant you this request to build this complex, you do know you can’t start relocating sea folk from all over the world. It will throw off the balance.”

“I am aware. Although respectfully, something is already throwing off the balance, My King. Those of us in the water can feel it.”

The room begins to shake as my annoyance raises. It’s not that I can’t feel the problem. I am doing my best to create place holders until the real solutions present themselves which will take time that’s outside of my hands.

The vision of the twins comes to mind, and I bare my teeth and growl. I have to ensure both boys remain water titans. They will restore the balance.

I reel it in and focus on the task at hand. There is nothing I can do about the unbalance at the moment. That is a task I must put more thought into.

“I will grant your request. Have financials and designs for the complex to me by the end of the month and I will approve a community loan and repayment schedule,” I say to the poor innocent fairy now shaking in front of me.

“Thank you and I apologize, My King. I spoke out of turn.”

“You did not. There are things you are not aware of that are lending cause to the effects you see. I am dealing with it all.”

“Heavy is the crown. I thank you for holding the weight of our burdens.”

“I thank you for giving me your trust.”

“Thank the gods for our queen. I know she will help you right all.”

I smile. Billy has already done so much to bring joy to my life and grant me peace to think clearly. Our banter is just one of the things I wake to look forward to.