Page 8 of Ramiel

“That sucked,” Grace muttered as the pain in her face vanished.

“I’m so sorry, kiddo,” Vic said, feeling distraught.

Cam appeared along with the other males as they sensed their mates’ distress.“What happened?”he asked.

“Vic punched me in the face and almost knocked me out,” Grace said as Qiana helped her to her feet.“It wasn’t your fault,” she said when her trainer gave her a stricken look.“I got cocky and walked right into it.”

Cam climbed into the ring and pulled his mate to her feet.He could feel Vic’s guilt.“Our little sister is fine now,” he said in an effort to cheer her up.

“I could have killed her,” Vic said in a haunted tone.“I could have snapped Grace’s neck.”

“I might be small, but I’m tougher than I look,” Grace said, putting her hands on her slim hips.

“I’m in awe,” Bria said, putting her arm around Urzra’s waist.Their height difference of fourteen inches made her seem even smaller than she really was.“I don’t think I could have taken a punch to the face like that and remained conscious,” the emotion manipulator said.The door she’d created in her head kept everyone’s feelings out now, except for her knight’s.She rarely cracked the door open to spy on her friends’ emotions.

Vic took a deep breath, then patted Camriel’s muscular arm and crossed to the teen.“You get a free shot, shorty,” she said.

“What?”Cam had time to ask in alarm, then he shared his mate’s pain when Grace’s tiny fist shot out and broke his female’s nose.

“Damn it!”Vic exclaimed with a wince.“That hurt!”

“I only did that because I know you’d wallow in guilt if I refused,” the kid said.

Zoe nodded in agreement.“You know she would have, Cam,” she said to the sulking blond warrior.His nose was unblemished, but he shared his mate’s pain.

Qi healed their trainer’s gushing nose and the blood flow stopped.

“Nice jab,” Vic said in approval, feeling a bit better now that they were even.“I thought the cartilage was going to spear right into my brain and kill me for a second there.”

Grace snickered, then the rest of the females burst into laughter, baffling their mates once more.

“Keep it down in there!”Wynter shouted.“I can’t hear my TV show!”

“She’s got the hots for the human hunters on that show,” Tori whispered.

Tolas grinned rather than taking offense.“My female used to be obsessed with them,” he agreed.“But now her heart belongs to me.”

“Aww,” Grace said, putting her fists beneath her chin.“As if any of you girls could possibly be attracted to anyone other than your knights now.”

“It’s true,” Wynter said, pausing the show to defend her male from the great room.“I still think the brothers are cute, but I don’t lust after them now.”

Angel sauntered into the training room, drawn by her natural curiosity.Spying her favorite human, she crossed to Sinai and prepared to climb her leg.Dressed in shorts, Sin bent down and scooped her up before the feline could try to scale her bare skin.“You’ve got to stop clawing us to pieces,” she said in exasperation.Angel yowled in her ear in response.“Don’t lie to me.I know Grace just fed you,” the duplicator scolded her.

Zoe checked her watch when her stomach rumbled.It was an hour early, but she decided to halt training for the day.“Let’s break early,” she said.Seeing Grace being wounded and in agony had shaken them all.

“Yes!”Semi crowed, then raced Jac to the great room.They halted when they remembered Wynter was watching her show.

Heaving a sigh, Wyn switched the DVD off.Tol sauntered into the room to help her to her feet.“I need to pee,” she said in a belligerent tone.Her mate teleported them to their bedroom so she could use their ensuite.

Grace sensed the Mad Prophet approaching the back door and went to greet him.He was the only human in the area and he visited them for dinner a few times a week.“Hey, Queeg,” she said after opening the door.

“How are you, kiddo?”Queegly asked as he stepped inside.

“Did you get a vision of Vic almost knocking me out?”she asked at the concern in his tone.

“Yep,” he confirmed, pausing to give her a hug.“I just thought I’d check up on you,” he said.

“I’m fine,” she replied, returning his hug.The Texan always wore his cowboy hat, but took it off when he visited them.He hung it on a hook Cam had installed on the wall near the back door.