Praetorian Rising, стр. 60
"No, stop it!" she shouted, shoving Theo away. She gulped down cold air, begging for relief from the onslaught of memories hammering at her skull.
"We can slow down, try this again," he said, hands raised in surrender.
"I don't want to!" She charged him, desperate for a distraction, aching to flush out the memories surging through her body with physical exertion. She raised her sword and squared off for an attack.
Theo responded, swiping his blade through the frosty air and barely missing Camille's neck. She staggered back, flinging a look of disbelief at her attacker.
"I don't believe you," he said with a winking smirk. "Besides, I always get what I want."
A slow and steady growl rumbled from the back of her throat as she regained her faculties, pulling her focus into order. She dipped away and went into a backflip, kicking Theo under the chin with one steel-toed boot. His neck snapped back violently, and he staggered a few yards back, while Camille landed gracefully on the balls of her feet.
She pursued him, jamming a knee into his chest to send him sprawling to the icy ground. Retrieving her dagger, she held it to Theo's throat, knee pegging him in place. "As do I."
Laughter bubbled from Theo's lips, and his eyes glittered with flecks of silver, azure, and cobalt as the swirl of black receded from his facial features. "That's my girl!"
Camille cracked a small smile, the blade's edge balanced against Theo's throat a moment longer than necessary. "Shut up," she retorted, retracting her sword, though not caring enough to correct his demands of ownership.
"And here I thought you'd be a little rusty!" Theo rolled into a sitting position and began wiping mud, leaves, and crusted snow from his backside. "Vee wasn't kidding when he said you've been training."
"You both look as though you've done that before," Charlie spoke up from the tree line. Camille had completely forgotten she was there.
"We used to, but it's been a while," Theo called. "Needed to see if she still had what it took."
"Looks like she's more than prepared to hand it to you," Charlie replied with evident appreciation.
Camille whipped around, starting with shock and surprise at the brunette's words. "Thanks, Charlie."
"Well, you bested him in under five minutes, Camille. I think that deserves some acknowledgment," Charlie said, making her way over to them with a flip of her hair and an upward turn of her chin.
Camille wasn't sure whether Charlie was impressed or just wanted to stick a thorn in Theo's side, pretending girl allegiance with Camille. Either way, it felt victorious.
"I look forward to reconvening," Theo hissed while Charlie remained a considerable distance back. He glanced at Camille from beneath his lashes close enough for her to feel a rush of heat spark from their proximity.
"Oh? To lose again?"
He snorted, a sharp grunting noise emerging from the depths of his throat. "Not likely. But if sparring with me lets loose memories in the process," he said with a casual shrug, "then I wouldn't say no to this outcome every time."
Ignoring him, Camille slid her blade back into her hip holster and made slow work of tucking away her dagger and righting her own clothing, slapping mud and crusted ice from her long white shirt sleeves. He took another step toward her, effectively turning his back on Charlie approaching them to keep their conversation private. "There's so much you don't know, so many things I want to tell you..." Theo trailed off, the words dying in his throat. The brilliance in his eyes flickered black as his head whipped toward the western tree line. Camille also tensed, a thick buzzing in the air like an electric current shooting through her bones.
"Shiat, this can't be possible. I was told we had more time," Theo bit out harshly in Charlie's direction as she approached them, the black spilling like a river of ink beneath the surface of his skin. "You fed us false information!"
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked, stopping suddenly in shocked bewilderment.
With his features flooding black and his sword in hand, Theo wasn't just a Praetorian, but a formidable warrior prepared for battle. "I'm talking about the horde of Chimera charging our direction! We're out here in the middle of nowhere. You said it'd be safe!"
The wind whipped with building force against Camille's face and she smelled the familiar stench of Chimera mixed with the sharp, brisk crackle of an oncoming downpour. Overhead the sky darkened with bloated purple clouds, threatening to dump its entire contents straight onto their heads.
"No, I didn't! I told you Lieutenant Acher gave me the approval!" Charlie shot back, her fists bunched at her sides in obvious annoyance of his accusation.
Theo whirled away from her with a menacing snarl and pulled Camille closer to his side.
"We shouldn't have come here," Camille said, voice shaking with apprehension.
"Stick by me, Cam, as close as you can. If you see the King Regent though, you run and find Vesyon, do you hear me?"
She began to shake her head in disagreement, but Theo gripped her upper arm and yanked her to his chest. Before she could process the warmth of his body enveloping her, he kissed her, his lips bruising hers with the fierce demand of his pressure. Pulling back to speak into her ear, Camille reeled, her body spinning. "Please, you must listen to me. I will not lose you again."
"No," Camille replied fervently. "We can outrun them."
She made to move back down the path they'd come, but Theo's hand snaked out, clamping Camille's wrist in a vice grip. "It's a little late for that, sweetheart," he said nudging his chin toward the trees just behind the rock Charlie had been perched on.
A line of Chimera edged toward them, their footsteps silenced by the snow-covered terrain. Energy raged through Camille's system, setting her