by Jen L. Grey
“Ladies.” Jenee barked out. “Join Sol and Deissy while Lexy and I have it out.”
The four girls that hovered around her appeared from the woods.
I hadn’t been this close to them yet.
The girl with dark olive skin and long, thick, chestnut hair headed over and stood in front of my friends. “Come on.”
Sol took a step back, not wanting to go with them. She glanced at me one last time.
Forcing myself, I nodded, needing her to go so neither one of them would be hurt.
They followed behind the girl, and the other three flanked them.
“See, they should be looking at me, not you.” Jenee’s face turned a light pink. “Now, let’s see how good you are.” She charged at me with the branch lifted above her head.
She was going for the kill shot right away. I didn’t have any training, so this was going to hurt. Not sure what else to do, I trusted my body and waited for impact.
As she lowered it, the wind charged around me. I ducked and spun out, barely missing the branch.
There was a loud thunk as the thick branch dug into the ground.
“What the hell?” Jenee’s eyes widened, but not with surprise. It was pure hate. “You got lucky.”
Hell, yeah I had, but I wasn’t going to admit that. Of course, there was a guard there grinning as he watched the whole thing. Asshole.
Her breathing increased to a pant as she lifted the branch over her head again. She ran straight at me. When she reached me, she swung the branch at an angle. As I tried spinning out again, it hit me right in the shoulder.
A dark laugh filled the air as I fell to the ground. I crumpled, landing on my left side as I cried out in pain.
“See, who’s the weak one now?” She lifted it again and hurled it at my injured side, and I rolled over on my right side in the nick of time.
“What the hell is going on?” Knox’s raspy voice echoed around me.
“This is none of your concern.” Jenee spun in his direction and bared her teeth at him.
“She only found out she was a half-breed when she was brought here, and you’re fighting her?” Knox chuckled and shook his head. “I knew you were pretty desperate, but I didn’t think you’d do something this low.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Jenee’s hands shook so hard the branch was jumping.
This was only going to make her hate me more.
“It means you know she doesn’t have a chance against you, but you don’t care. You’re taking the coward’s way out.” Knox shrugged and leaned back on his heels.
“What’s new though, man?” A guy with shaggy black hair stepped beside him and wrinkled his nose. “She never fights anyone she knows she might not win against.” The guy jerked his head to the side, causing his hair to move a little bit out of his eyes.
“Why are you getting involved?” I wanted to get this over with so she could feel invincible and move on.
A warning seemed to flash in Knox’s eyes. “I’m not. Just stating the obvious. Wait until everyone hears about it.”
“She’s never going to be trained.” Jenee shook her head. “No one here will train her, so this goes down now.”
“I’ll train her.” Knox said the words so simply. “Give me a month, and then you two can go at it without me interfering at all.”
I was already injured. I wished he’d let us get this out of the way. Hands touched both my arms as Sol and Deissy ran up beside me.
“Be easy with her.” Deissy put my right arm around her shoulder, and Sol gently tugged on my left arm.
“What do you get out of this?” Jenee glanced in my direction and spat on the ground right next to my feet.
“Someone that might be a challenge for you.” Knox shrugged. “Unless you’re scared.”
“You know I’m not.” Jenee huffed and glanced at me again. “Fine, you have one month. Have fun trying to figure out how to find time to train her.” She threw down the large branch and waved her four girls on. “Let’s go.”
Knox stayed right in place until the five of them were out of sight.
“Why did you do that?” I tried rolling my shoulder, but I cried out in pain instead.
“Because she was going to kill your ass.” Knox walked over and gently touched my arm. “Your arm is out of the socket.”
“We’re going to have to put it back in place.” Knox’s friend said as he headed over. “It’s going to hurt like a bitch.”
“Great.” I wished he would’ve kept that comment to himself.
“Grab her tight, and I can pop it back in place.” He motioned for Knox to go around me.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” What if he broke it instead of fixing it? Sol and Deissy moved away from me.
Traitors.
“Caleb’s dad was a healer, so he knows his shit.” Knox wrapped his arms around my body, holding me in place. “So don’t worry.”
“But…”
Hands trapped my upper arm and the top of my shoulder and jerked, making a loud popping sound.
“Oh God,” I screamed as I collapsed against Knox. As quickly as the pain came, it left. “Wait. That does feel better.”
“You’re welcome.” He winked at me and stepped away slowly.
A loud whistle pierced the air.
“We better get going.” Knox took my hand and tugged me to face him. “I’ll meet you in the morning. Eat fast so we can train before work.” He turned around and ran off with Caleb in the direction of the men’s cabins.
Great, not only is Jenee trying to kill me, I was training with Knox, who could want me dead as well. I could only wait and see what else tomorrow could bring.
Chapter Twelve
As Deissy and I hurried to the cafeteria for breakfast, a deep voice called out to me. “You’ve got five minutes. Then we need to meet out near the woods.”
“Five minutes.” I spun around to face him, and I came close to drooling. This morning, he seemed sexier than usual, and that was saying a lot. “Knox, I’m a growing girl.”
“How old are you? Sixteen?” He strode up beside me and glanced at my face. “Either way, you aren’t growing anymore. If anyone should complain, it should be me. I’m twenty-five but still a growing boy.”
“No, I’m nineteen.” And I pointed at my stomach. “I’m hoping to eat so much that I’ll grow horizontally.”
Deissy snorted. “You’re a supernatural. That’s impossible.”
“But see, I’m dedicated to the cause. Besides, I won’t be able to attain it with only being allowed to eat for five minutes.” In reality, I was anxious to train with Knox. There was no telling what was going to happen. Even though I had a feeling it’d be painful and I’d be sore like my shoulder still was this morning.
“You keep running that mouth, and it’ll be four minutes.” There was some mirth in his eyes, but I could have been imagining things.
“Fine.” I increased my pace and almost ran to the food line.
When I left the building, Knox wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Woot. I must have gotten out here before him.
The door opened behind me, and he marched out. “Let’s get moving. We don’t have long.”
He was right the guards would soon be making sure we were all at our designated work areas.
I followed after him, and he once again went toward the tree line Jenee had used the day before. There was a guard sitting over it who I didn’t recognize.
“Hey, do you mind if we do something right here?” Knox appeared amicable.
“What’s in it for me?” The guard arched an eyebrow and glanced at me.
Oh my God. He must have thought we wanted a romp in the woods.
“I got a small bottle of wolfsbane.” Knox shrugged as if it was no big deal. “It might help your day go faster.”
He was offering to get the guard drunk while on the watch. I wasn’t quite sure that was a smart thing to do.
“You know what. I could use it tonight.
My mate’s family is coming over.” The guard sighed and leaned over, taking it from him. “But no funny business. Got it?”
“Nope. We’re going to be right here where you can see everything.” Knox chuckled and turned to me. “Alright, let’s go.”
I wasn’t quite sure what he wanted me to do. “Uh … okay.”
“That’s what I figured. You don’t have a clue.” He shook his head and raised both his hands. “You’re half-vamp and …” He sniffed the air around me. “Fae.”
“Yup.” I wasn’t quite sure I enjoyed being sniffed at, but my heart did a stupid flip when he got close.
“The first thing we need to work on is your defensive skills.” He lowered his head so that he was eye-level with me. “You have to determine where they’re going to strike. For instance, last night, you should've known she was going to do something different than her first strike. You had been able to dodge that one … somehow.”
“Yeah, I can’t explain that either.” For a second, it was like my body had taken over.
“So you must have followed your natural senses.” Knox huffed and grinned. “Thank God.”
“Hey.” That hadn’t been a compliment.
“Don’t wear your feelings on your sleeve.” Knox gently touched my left one that had been injured. “That’s another way you can get distracted or worse … killed.”
For him to be so indifferent and moody, he was being a bit dramatic this morning. “Fine, suck it up.” That’s pretty much what he meant.
“Alright, so when someone is targeting you, they’re eyes usually glance at where they’re planning to hit.” He took a few steps back and lifted his hands. “So if I’m about to attack you, my eyes are going to inadvertently glance where I’m going to strike right before I do it.”
“Your eyes are flickering everywhere.” His eyes wouldn’t stay in one place. “It’s going to be the last place I glance before looking you back in the eyes.”
“Okay.” I had to get this. For the first time, I looked directly into his eyes without trying to divert my attention elsewhere. His jade eyes could have easily undone me if I let them.
His eyes were everywhere on me, and my heart began to race. Having his undivided attention made me feel funny things that I shouldn't, especially when it came to him.
Finally, they landed on my left shoulder before flicking back up to my eyes. He hurried toward me, maintaining eye contact.
Right when he reached me, I bent down and turned on my left side so my right side was facing toward him protecting my injury.
“Good.” He stopped short of me and nodded. “You did everything right but failed to dodge me. You only protected your injured side, which then would cause your right side to be hurt as well. You need to get out of the way too so then I would have only caught air. That tires out your opponent.”
“But I thought you wanted me to fight.” Part of being in a fight is staying in the fight.
“Dodging someone is still being part of a fight. Taking every direct blow would be stupid and has severe consequences. With Jenee, she’s strong but tires out fast.” He smiled at me fully for the first time, and my breath got stuck in my chest.
I had to recover and fast. “So I should start out with dodging her blows?”
“Yeah, that’s what we need to focus on first.” He glanced at the sky and frowned. “One more thing, and then we have to go.”
He hadn’t been kidding when he said we didn’t have much time. It seemed impossible to get ready for the fight in only a month’s time. “I’m going to lose.”
“Nope, you’re not.” Knox took a few steps back. It was as if he realized how close we were. “We need to focus on dodging first because that’s going to be your best tactic with Jenee. After that, then we’ll work on some basic fight stances.”
“Okay, got it.” I didn’t have any other choice than to trust him. As of now, he wasn’t teaching me anything that was odd or out of hand.
He went back over near the guard and lifted his hands again. His eyes jumped around so much it was hard to keep track, but he glanced at my left foot before maintaining eye contact again.
This time, he rushed me a little faster. I tried not to overthink and let my natural senses kick in. Right when he reached me, I jumped high and over his body.
A loud whack sounded from where he hit the ground. I turned around and saw him rubbing his head.
“Are you okay?” I kind of felt bad now.
“No.” He chuckled and stood as he rubbed his head.
“What the hell is going on here?” The sound of Aaron’s voice made me wonder where he came from.
Crap, of course he’d show up now. “Nothing.”
“It sure doesn’t look like nothing.” Aaron frowned and glanced at the guard on duty. “You’re allowing this?”
The guard shrugged. “Why do I care if one of them gets hurt? They aren’t worth anything anyway.”
Even though I knew he spoke the truth, it still kind of stung. At least with humans, the teachers attempted to pretend that they care. “It wasn’t anything anyway.”
Aaron’s black uniform clung to him more so today than before. His muscles were more defined, but there were bags under his eyes. “You charged her.”
“We were messing around.” I had to diffuse this situation and fast. “I need to go get working anyway.” That was not a lie at all.
“Wait.” He grabbed my arm as I passed him. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“She doesn’t have time.” Knox’s voice had an edge to it. “She’ll be punished if she’s late.”
“He’s right.” Something strange was going on. The guys kept glaring at each other, which was weird. I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of them began peeing on my leg. In all actuality, I should have been more concerned about Knox marking me since he was half-wolf. “Okay, this isn’t awkward at all.”
Not wanting to be stopped again, I sprinted a few feet away from Aaron.
“Hey,” he hollered at me.
If I stopped, it would lead to more … strangeness. I’d already had enough excitement going on in my life. I didn’t slow as I basically ran to the fields. Yes, I may be a coward, but at this moment, I was okay with that.
“Hey, where are you rushing to?” Deissy snorted when I reached the field.
“I’m not rushing here but rather away from back there.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my frantic heart.
“What happened back there?” The grin fell from her face. “Did Knox try something?”
“No, not at all.” I glanced behind me, making sure no one followed me. The last thing I needed was Aaron traipsing over here again. “Just a guard and Knox got into it.”
“About what?” Her forehead wrinkled, and she took a step closer to me.
“He thought Knox was trying to hurt me.” I realized how weird it sounded after I spoke those words out loud.
“Was it that fine-ass one that intervened with you and Jenee?” She tilted her head and laughed. “He’s got the hots for you.”
“No, he doesn’t.” There was no way that could be it. “He probably feels guilty for bringing me in.”
“That’s kind of his job. You know that, right?” She patted my shoulder like I was a kid. “You weren’t the first that he brought in. The rumor is that his fae powers make it easy for him to find half-breeds.”
“Really?” Okay, I wasn’t surprised, but why have a change of heart now. It didn’t make any sense.
“Yeah, so it has to be something about you and not his conscience.” Deissy tilted her head toward the carrots. “We better get moving. We have another section that we need to plant before the day is up.”
Of course we did. “Alright, let’s get this done.” At least here, I didn’t have to worry about guy drama.
“Hey.” Aaron’s voice was a whisper.
I startled and damn near fell on my knees. “What are you doing here?”
He closed the distance between
us. “I wanted to talk to you for a second.”
“Well, we have now, so you should be good.” I had to finish my work. Thankfully it was only a couple of hours into the day, so everyone was busy working their own sections.
“It’ll be quick.” He leaned over and took some of the seeds. He held one up to his eyes and stared at it.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” I reached over and took them back.
“What are they?” He leaned over me and watched what I did.
“They’re called carrots.” Even though we were supernaturals, vegetables were still good for us, unfortunately.
“Why were you fighting with that punk this morning?” He went straight to the point.
“He’s training me.” I hated to say that to him, but hell, he wasn’t going to leave until he had the answers.
“For what?” His body stiffened.
He wasn’t going to let this go. “For my fight.”
“You have a fight? When and with who?” He reached over and touched my arm.
For the first time, it was soft and not trying to prevent me from leaving. It was nice and distracting. “Uh … Jenee.”
“That girl from yesterday?” His hand stiffened, but he began running his thumb along my wrist.
What was wrong with me? He was the one who had kidnapped me. I had to be experiencing Stockholm Syndrome or something. “Yeah, she and I kinda fought last night, and Knox, the guy from earlier, stepped in.”
“Did you get hurt?” He scanned me all over.
“Yeah, but I’m fine.” Seeing him acting so concerned threw me off guard. “Knox and his friend fixed my dislocated shoulder.”
“So I take it you're fighting her again?” His blue eyes filled with concern.
“Yeah, Knox talked her into letting me train since I’ve grown up as a human all my life.” I forced myself to let go of his hand and start working. I couldn’t risk getting behind and missing out on dinner.”
“Where were the guards when all this went down?” He scanned around us as if he was looking for something.
“Do you think that they care?” I turned my head toward him and arched an eyebrow. “I mean, I don’t know what you’re doing right now, but you shouldn’t care either. This,” I said as I pointed at me and then him, “is only going to cause more problems for all of us.”
