Breaking Through by D. Nichole King Page B

rest.
    “I’ll go easy on ya,” Kray murmurs as he and Nautia move to the center of the mat.
    I cross my arms and let my thoughts grow loud inside my head. Kray’s eyes snap to me, and I give a small nod to let him know he heard me correctly. Judging by his expression, he’s not happy about what I ordered. It’s go time.
    “Full out,” I say. “Let me see what you’ve got.” Then I stick my fingers in my mouth and give the starting whistle.
    Nautia holds her fists in front of her chest, her gaze drilling into Kray’s. In a tiny movement he shakes his head, and I’m willing to bet he’s in her mind. I don’t say anything, though, wanting to see how this plays out. How far he’ll go. If he’ll do what he said and go easy on her against the mental orders I gave him.
    Nautia crosses her left foot over her right, then repeats it, circling him. Her hard focus means her mind is reeling. She has the same concentration now as a couple of nights ago when she raised the twisters from the sea. Her awareness is on high alert, which, when fighting Kray, is the worst place for it to be. She should know this, except with Kray she feels safe, and that’s when people get hurt.
    Suddenly, she launches a fist at his face. The girl is strong and she holds nothing back, but since she thought first, acted second, Kray easily blocks her. With anyone else, he would have taken the offensive at that point, caught their wrist and twisted them down to the mat. With Nautia, he does no such thing. Instead, he opts to stay on the defensive and let her make another move. On the battlefield, they’d both be dead right now.
    She tries another punch, and again Kray blocks her. Immediately, she answers back with consecutive hits to his abdomen. She only gets a few shots in before he shoves her shoulders backwards. Nautia stumbles, then shoots him a set of icy daggers. She’s trying her damnedest, and he’s putting on a show for me, drawing this out because he doesn’t want to hurt her.
    Frustration lights her face, and I shoot a quick glance over her head. No storm clouds yet, and even if there were, I’m going to let the fight continue. This is a test for me as well as for Kray. How far will I let Nautia go?
    “Stop thinking!” Kray growls through gritted teeth.
    Her lips purse as she charges him. Kray grabs the back of her shirt when he steps aside, spinning her and causing her to trip and fall. She lands in a heap on the mat, but Kray doesn’t pursue her. I cross my arms, partially agitated by his insubordination to my direct command, and partially glad he’s not pounding her into the ground.
    In my mind, I shout my order again. The sneer on Kray’s face tells me he gets it loud and clear.
    Nautia picks herself up and faces him, her fists poised in front of her. Using physical powers is against the rules, and I’d love to ban Kray’s, except he can’t turn his off. She must learn to defend herself by herself.
    On the sidelines, no one is cheering. Every so often during these, one of them will shout out encouragements, but not today. Not with this matchup. And not with Nautia being less than one hundred percent. They’re all probably thinking I’m an asshole, but we have less than ten weeks before the official start of TM2, and I have to have them ready.
    Nautia springs forward, lowering her head to ram Kray in the gut. Not surprisingly, he’s ready. Again, she must have thought about it before she attacked.
    Kray’s eyes snap in my direction, and I catch a slight shake of his head like he’s pissed about his next move. I nod my go ahead while the telepath narrows his gaze at me. Kray bends low to the ground right before her head makes contact with his stomach. Her chest flies over him, but he catches her ankles, pulling her backwards and slamming her on the mat. He twists around just as she hikes a knee up to meet his groin. Nice move.
    Kray grabs himself and bends forward in pain. He didn’t see it coming, which means she