Lucy was feeling particularly pleased with herself after a sparring session with Lance. She now had a few choice kicks and punches under her belt to go along with her blocks.
“Hey Lucy! Lookin’ good, but I bet I can still beat ya!”
Anil Sloan, who had been watching the practice, jumped down from a pile of mats he had been sitting on. Lucy smiled. She had seen Anil in action before. He had been taking martial arts since he was old enough to walk and already had a brown belt in karate.
“Bring it on, Anil!” Lucy laughed. “But don’t bring it too hard. You know if you put me out of commission, there’s no guarantee that Evan will offer to let you take my place.”
Anil was good. His punches and kicks were perfect and Lucy had trouble landing a single hit on him. He won three rounds before Lucy called it quits with a groan. “You know what? I take it back, go tell Evan you’re ten times the fighter I am. I’m retiring.”
Anil laughed and helped Lucy off the ground. “Aw come on, I was going easy on you. I know you old folks can’t take much.”
“Oh I will so get you for that!” Lucy swatted him on the arm. “Don’t you have homework or something?”
Anil ran off, throwing some spin kicks and somersaults to show off as he went. Lucy shook her head and turned to gather her things.
“Getting your ass handed to you by a kid, Lucy?” Andre was leaning up against the pile of mats, his arms crossed casually. Lucy frowned.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, that ‘kid’ is a half a foot taller than me, a damned fine martial artist, and hell bent on getting Evan to break his age restriction for employment. I’d say I held my own just fine.”
“Fine, so you won’t be doing any competition expos. Why don’t we see how you’re doing with practical applications?” He tossed a red training weapon in her direction. Lucy snapped it out of the air with a wary look.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? I need to get some practice in, and obviously, so do you.”
“I’ve been at this for the last three hours and I have to work tonight, with you, by the way. Do you want to end up without a partner because I’ve passed out from exhaustion?”
“It’s early. You’ll have plenty of time for a hot bath, or a pedicure, or whatever it is you women do to relax,” Andre taunted with a smug look.
“Pedicure?” Lucy straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “Oh hell, just for that I’m not responsible for whatever bones I break.” Lucy assumed an attack position and lunged at Andre, who sidestepped expertly, causing Lucy to momentarily loose her balance. She tried to turn the mistake into a leg sweep, but Andre leapt out of the way, landing cat-like on the balls of his feet.
“That was just pathetic,” he jeered with a grin.
Lucy sprang to her feet and wiped the sweat from her eyes. “Were those fencing moves?”
Andre looked surprised. “You recognize them?”
“Uh huh,” Lucy nodded, springing forward, faking a kick, which Andre started to block. “I hate fencing. It was a PE requirement in high school.” She jabbed the CPA down on his exposed shoulder. “Pay attention, you’re dead.”
“So distraction is the name of the game?” Andre raised an eyebrow. He grabbed Lucy by the arms and pulled her forward until their upper bodies were touching in a disturbingly intimate way. “That still puts you too close to your opponents.”
Lucy tilted her head up to meet his eyes. “I’ll remind you where my right knee is currently positioned,” she growled and nudged her leg up slightly for emphasis. “Next time, I won’t warn you.”
Andre leaned forward suddenly, causing Lucy to arch backwards until she was so off balance that she would have fallen if it weren’t for his grasp on her arms. “Your neck is exposed again.” Andre’s voice was barely a whisper that Lucy felt more than heard against her ear. The hammering of her heart and sudden chill she felt had nothing to do with vampires. Pushing those unwelcome thoughts aside, Lucy bent her knees, drew her arms together in front of her, and pushed outward, breaking Andre’s hold and regaining her balance.
“I’m not that easy,” she growled, aiming a punch directly at Andre’s stomach. Her fist landed with more force than she should have exerted, but Andre had been asking for it. Realizing that payback would be in order, she rolled to her side, but Andre anticipated the move. Grabbing her ankle, he effortlessly flipped her onto her back and pinned her hands above her head.
“I’d say differently.” Andre’s whisper was smooth and taunting. “Here you are, just begging for it.” In a move that shocked him nearly as much as Lucy, Andre trailed his lips down the side of her neck, until he found the strong, yet slightly erratic pulse of her jugular, and dragged his teeth over the sensitive skin before whispering, “You’re dead.”
For a fraction of a second, Lucy forgot where she was and who was causing the very pleasurable stirrings in regions that she had nearly forgotten existed. She took a deep breath to regain her focus and allowed herself the luxury of a smug smile before lifting her legs that Andre had neglected to notice were not pinned down. Drawing them up and around Andre’s waist, Lucy landed a solid kick to his chest. Andre lost his grip on her and fell backwards onto the floor. Lucy lunged to her feet, straddled his chest, and brought her weapon down with a solid thunk over Andre’s heart.
“Pro tip, Andre, a woman’s strength is in her lower body. Failing to make sure your opponent is fully incapacitated before declaring victory can be deadly.”
She had a point and he would have realized his mistake if he hadn’t been just as distracted as he intended to make her. Lucy holstered the weapon and tried to get up, but Andre grabbed her wrist, throwing her off balance.
“Hey!” Lucy yanked her arm free, rolled off of Andre and onto her back, more exhausted than she wanted to admit. Andre sat up and watched her.
“Break’s over. Time for round two.”
Lucy’s eyes snapped open and she sat up. “Are you nuts or just plain masochistic? Because I don’t know how much longer I can keep pulling my punches. Evan won’t be too thrilled with me if I accidentally kill you.”
Andre stood up and held out a hand, which Lucy pointedly refused. “Getting angry will get you killed. Emotions, remember? You’re acting on them right now.”
“And you’re not?” Lucy threw up her arms. “I wouldn’t exactly call any of this constructive criticism, Andre. If you're trying to shake me up, you’re going about it the wrong way. Do you treat all new recruits like this or am I special?”
“The only other recruit since I started had the common sense to protect his vital organs in an attack. It isn't personal, you’re starting with nothing and I happen to think you’re going about it from the wrong angle.”
“Nothing personal,” Lucy mocked. “You’ve been a dick since the moment we met! You don’t like me, and quite frankly, the feeling’s mutual. At least I’m not lying to myself.”
“I’m not lying to myself either.”
Lucy threw down her water bottle and rounded on him. “Bull. Freakin’. Shit. You know, we’re more alike than either of us wants to admit, you can’t deny it any more than I can.”
Andre’s interest piqued. “What exactly does that mean?”
Lucy sighed. “When you look at me you see a hard headed bitch with something to prove. Now I don’t know about you, but that’s the last person I’d want watching my back in a fight. You know why that bothers you so much? Because it’s like holding up a mirror, isn’t it?”
“I don’t have anything to prove, Lucy. I just want to stay alive.”
“Right,” Lucy said sarcastically. “Because you don’t have the enormity of knowing you’ll probably run this operation someday weighing on you constantly. Because you aren’t bothered by the fact that you don’t have the same training that the other hunters had. Look, don’t think I don’t get these things, I understand more than you think I do. So I don’t have a black belt, I compensate in the only way I can, so do you.”<
br />
“Interesting,” Andre said thoughtfully. “How am I compensating?”
“Technology. Don’t think I don’t notice how often you’re consulting the GPS or some other application. I can’t fault you for that, so why do you fault me for trying to use what I know best, even if what I know is a few parlor tricks and the fact that I’m blessed with some unnatural abilities? If you don’t trust me, then you don’t trust yourself. Likewise, I don’t trust you, and I sure don’t trust myself, but I’m working on that part. Because you’re absolutely right, it’s a flaw that could prove deadly.”
Andre stood silent, slightly awed. Lucy had raised some interesting points. Points that he wasn’t sure he was ready to contemplate. “You seem to have given this a lot of thought.”
“Yeah, well, you might want to do the same,” Lucy said and leveled him with a serious look. “Let’s make an effort not to piss each other off for a while. Evan’s considering who to partner me with and in case you haven’t noticed, the field’s been narrowed down to you and two others. Don’t think I haven’t heard about his unique matchmaking policy.”
“And what has the rumor mill been saying about me?”
Lucy and Andre both stiffened before turning in unison towards the door, where Evan, Miles and Hugh were standing.
“Evan.” Lucy plastered a fake smile on her face. “Please tell me you just walked in the door.”
Evan didn’t answer, but Miles winked. “Excellent point about a woman’s lower body strength, Luce.”
Lucy sighed. “I’m going to shower now, and perhaps drown myself.”
“Evan’s really going to stick me with that ass isn’t he?”
Lucy sat down across from Hugh at one of the corner tables in the cafeteria. The sandwich and salad were restaurant quality, like everything Ida whipped up. Lucy couldn’t figure out why the woman didn’t have a chain of five-star restaurants with her name plastered on them.
“Miles wasn’t making an off-handed remark. We were there for the whole enchilada, Lucy. Evan likes his little games, but there’s a method to his madness.”
Lucy’s falafel sandwich turned to concrete in her mouth. “Any way I can get out of it?”
“Sure, clash worse with someone else, but that ain’t likely to happen, you met most the crew and got along with everyone just fine.”
“How about you? I don’t like the way you run me ragged and tell me I need to lose weight. We’ve fought pretty heavily on that point.”
Hugh snorted behind his roast beef sandwich. “True ‘nuff, you got a hard head, but Andre’s head is harder than mine. When I push you through the paces, I’m doing my job, which is training you to survive. And look at you now. We can’t hardly drag you out of the gym. Andre, I’m sure, thinks he was doing the same thing, but that boy is different. Friendly enough, but just enough, you know what I mean? And he’s got a big brain. Half the weapons we use today were his invention, not Evan’s, you know that?”
“No, actually, I didn’t.” Lucy had to admit she was impressed.
“Nah, you and I could come to fisticuffs right here in the cafeteria, but Evan’s got us pegged. And if I’ve had to deal with my partner for the last four years, you sure ain’t getting out of this one.”
Lucy snorted. “I love Lance! I’ll take him off your hands, you can have Andre.”
“Uh-uh, what are you two going to do, decorate the vampire’s homes for them? Show them how to dress pretty?”
Lucy’s face fell. “Is that all it is between you two? You don’t like gay people?”
“Gays and people who disparage the service of our military forces. Lance happens to be both.”
“Why?”
“It’s unnatural. Against God.”
“What, being against the military?” Lucy smirked.
“That’s a different argument.”
“So it’s just that being gay is a sin?”
“Well, it is.” Hugh shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich.
Lucy was far from atheist and slightly more of a believer than an agnostic. She preferred to accept the basic rules of living life to help others and doing no harm that all religions are founded on, without accepting all the rules of one particular faith. Not that she was without flaws of her own, but religion, in her mind, was no excuse for intolerance.
“Hugh,” Lucy chose her words carefully, “you kill vampires. Isn’t that a sin?”
Hugh’s eyes narrowed. “It might be, or it might be that I’m killing them before they have a chance to kill others. I just chose which sin is worse. “
“Does that make it better? Or was it okay to kill them because they are vampires? God said, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ didn’t he? Not, thou shalt only kill bad guys. You kill vampires, Lance kills vampires, and I kill vampires. I believe God also said, ‘Let he who is free from sin cast the first stone.’ Sounds to me like you, me, and Lance have bigger sins to atone for than choosing who to love.” Lucy chewed her sandwich with some smug satisfaction until she noticed that Hugh was regarding her with amusement. “Love,” she added, “by the way, is something that I’m pretty sure God condones.”
“Point taken. No one is free from sin. I understand full well that one day God will pass judgment on me for my life of bloodshed. But sin is sin, Lucy. Lance has as much to atone for in his lifestyle choice as his occupational choice. I believe what I believe, and I’m afraid you aren’t going to change my mind on that point.”
But Lucy was just getting her stride. “Exactly, but doesn’t God also teach tolerance for sinners? Wouldn’t God rather you redeem a portion of your own soul by showing kindness and love for all of his flawed creatures, not just those who subscribe to the same beliefs as you?”
Hugh smirked. “Lucy you really would have been a great politician. By the way, that’s almost word for word what Evan said the day he paired us.”
“Evan’s a smart man,” Lucy said with a hint of humor.
“He is indeed,” Hugh smiled. “Lance has been my partner for four years, Lucy. Don’t think that doesn’t have anything to do with Evan’s sermon. I’ll never embrace homosexuality as natural, but I’ll never do anything to endanger my partner, and I’ll certainly never not do anything to keep my partner out of danger. Look, Lance just knows how to push my buttons and happens to take some twisted pleasure out of doing just that. We’re never going to see eye to eye, and we’ll both be singing praise to the angels when Evan finally finds a reason to split us up. But as strange as it sounds, I trust that little fairy and he trusts me. So until that day, we do our job, we stay alive, and we take down as many bloodsuckers as we can in the process. Now, you need to turn those pretty words back on yourself and find your inner peace with the partner you’re about to be assigned, lest Evan be forced to quote scripture to you.”
“Did I miss Sunday school?” Miles slid into an empty chair and grinned at them both.
“Yep, and the fact that I’m really a cross dressing man who worships the devil and beats up homeless veterans. So you should tell Evan that Hugh and I absolutely cannot get partnered up,” Lucy said somberly, though the corners of her mouth twitched. Hugh just shook his head.
“I don’t think you have much to worry about, Lucy,” Miles said with a wink.
Hugh’s eyes narrowed at Miles. “You know something.”
“I might,” Miles said with a wag of his eyebrows. “But I think I’m going to like watching you sweat.” He looked back and forth between them. “Both of you.”
Chapter 16
Halloween night was utter chaos and the evening meeting hadn’t even begun. All hunters were present and half the team was done up in silly, yet completely functional costumes. Lucy wore a pair of sparkly red devil horns and a red spandex top, paired with satiny shorts and her favorite knee high boots. She felt ridiculous, but realized she would blend in just fine with the women who would be out celebrating. If anything, her costume would be considered modest. Hugh, her partner for the evening, got off easy with a t-shirt
that simply said, “This is my costume.”
The room quieted down as Evan stood to make himself seen. “I want to make a quick administrative announcement before we begin.” Lucy held her breath. This was the moment she had been anticipating and dreading. “As you know, tonight is the last official night of Lucy’s training. Starting tomorrow night, she’ll be permanently paired with Andre.”
Lucy’s stomach sank as she let out her breath. She scanned the room and saw that Andre was looking for her too. They locked eyes briefly. His expression was unreadable. He nodded briefly and turned his attention back to Evan.
“This leaves Miles without a partner, so Miles will now be paired with Hugh.”
“I’m gonna miss you, sugar!” Lance called out, causing a brief ripple of laughter.
Hugh must have been pleased with the news because he turned to Lance, blew a kiss and replied, “I’ll never forget you, sweet cheeks!” At this, the room roared and Evan cleared his throat.
“Yes, well. Sweet cheeks, excuse me, Lance will now be my permanent partner. This lineup remains until we get some new recruits. Now, on to less pleasant business.” Evan switched on the monitor behind him. “We’re going to have some redundancy in the Quarter and cemeteries tonight, but we’re going to need it. Watchers have been out since six and we’re already receiving calls, so I’ll make this brief. Keep your eyes open. The ES is out there. We’ve all seen what they are capable of, but don’t discount any surprises they may have up their sleeves as well. I want regular check-ins and communication lines clear. You all know how to use your distress signals. Don’t play a hero if you don’t have to.”
The Eyes of the Sun: The Complete Trilogy Page 16
