Wilde Omens

by S. E. Babin

  “Cobra,” Cass murmured, and stood up straighter when she noticed Sin’s gaze on her.

  Cobra, I thought. It could have been worse.

  “What’s the first reaction you should have when confronted with the possibility of a fight?” Sin looked around the room. “Parker?”

  “Know your surroundings.”

  Sin punched the air. Her ponytail swung wildly with the movement. “Yes! Study your surroundings as quickly and thoroughly as you can. Just because there’s an opponent standing directly in front of you doesn’t mean there isn’t someone else waiting in the shadows. And, what is the first and only rule of street fighting?”

  Someone piped up from the back. “There are no rules!”

  Sin grinned, exposing brilliant white teeth. “Exactly. This is not martial arts or MMA. This is a survival class. When you’re confronted with this possibility, you need to do anything you can to survive. Eye-gouging, the Glasgow Kiss, anything and everything is an option.” She paused for a moment to study us. “Including retreat.”

  I filed that one to the back of my mind because I was finding the prospect of street fighting anyone a little terrifying. I leaned over. “What is a Glasgow Kiss?”

  Cass snorted. “Head-butting. It’s effective and incapacitating.” She cracked her knuckles and stared at Sin intently.

  “Oookay,” I drawled.

  Sin called two people up for a quick demonstration. Cass leaned in and told me the names of the male and female, Archer and Jo. Why did everyone except me have a cool name?

  I watched as they circled around each other, both out of arm’s reach, but I could tell they were studying each other for weaknesses. I might not be a good fighter, but I was smart and could quickly learn from books or demonstrations. When you got down to it, lots of things could be broken down into a step by step process. Not that I would have time during a fight to calculate odds or distance, but it could help me during the learning process.

  Sin spoke as the two stepped forward. “Watch how they are each judging the other, looking for any weaknesses. Everyone has a tell.” Her gaze flicked back to the two and then back to us. “Except for us.”

  That was ominous. I blew out a breath.

  “We are soldiers. Highly trained, elite, and we do not have tells. Understand?”

  Why in the hell had my father brought me here? I was an administrative assistant, not a cage fighter.

  Archer and Jo weren’t hurting each other, but they still looked intense. Jo, sensing a weak spot, rushed into Archer’s personal space, grabbed him by the face, reared her head back, and—

  “Time!” screeched Sin.

  I jumped. Goodness. She was about to head-butt the crap out of him. Poor guy.

  Archer and Jo took a bow. The class clapped politely. Sin motioned them off the stage. “Penelope?” She gestured for me to come on stage.

  My heart leaped into my throat and I shook my head once slightly. Sin put one hand on her hip and grinned at me maliciously, a marked difference from the friendly air she had a moment ago. “Don’t be shy now. Come on up.”

  I wasn’t shy, I was terrified. My feet were cinder blocks, gluing me to the floor. Cass gave me a shove toward the stage. “Go!”

  One foot fell in front of the other and for the millionth time since I’d arrived here, I wished I’d never agreed to this. Not that Holmes would have cared, but it was my first day and I was already regretting everything. When I was on the stage, Sin pulled me closer.

  “I’m going to demonstrate grappling with Penelope here.”

  Grappling? I was good at grappling. Right now, I was grappling for my reality.

  She adjusted me to face her. I could feel the eyes of the entire class on us, and while it wasn’t unexpected, my skin still prickled with the unwanted attention.

  “When you’re in a situation with a foe you think you might lose against, if you can’t run, your best bet might be to grapple. Grappling is using your body’s leverage in order to control an opponent. In a grappling scenario, you would not strike or kick, you want to grab and take them down whether it’s directly to the ground or by throwing them.”

  Okay. This didn’t sound as bad as getting punched in the face. I stood there, not knowing what was about to happen. A millisecond later, I was flying through the air. I landed on my back, stunned and unable to breathe. Sin landed above me, tangled her legs with mine, and before I knew what happened, my arms were twisted behind my head in a position so tight, I knew I’d break them if I dared to move.

  She held on to me like that for a few seconds, me still unable to breathe. I hated that I noticed she smelled good, especially since my lungs were on fire.

  Sin let go of me abruptly to a stunned room. She stood, wiped her hands on her yoga pants, and said, “That’s how you do it. Take them by surprise and end it.”

  I, however, was unable to enjoy her authoritative lesson because I was pretty sure I was dying. Gentle, calloused hands reached for me and helped me to a sitting position.

  “Breathe,” came Cass’ voice in my ear.

  “Can’t,” I croaked.

  “Good girl. You’re talking, you’re breathing. Although it might not feel like it right now.” Cass helped me to a standing position and glared at Sin. “Was that really necessary?”

  Sin shrugged. “It was a demo, nothing more.” She glanced at the clock and released us ten minutes early. Apparently, her show of who was boss tired her out.

  I bent over at the knees and took in a couple of deep breaths. I was going to feel that tomorrow. I stood up slowly and smiled at Cass. “Thanks.”

  She frowned. “This isn’t how we do things around here, Penelope.” If her stare could burn holes, Sin would be on fire right now. She sashayed away from us, her ponytail swinging. I hadn’t sensed any malice initially from her, but I guess she was good at hiding it. I’d have to be more careful around here. Several students milled around, giving us curious stares, but at one look from Cass, they dropped their eyes and let us be. Parker, however, walked over, a look of concern on his handsome face.

  “Dude. That was harsh.”

  I snorted. My arms were burning from where she wrenched them back and my breath still rattled in my chest. Parker watched Sin walk away from us. “I think your father should know about this.”

  I stared at Sin’s retreating figure and a thought occurred to me. I shook my head in denial. “No.”

  Parker’s mouth thinned. “That was an unnecessary show of force from an instructor. It was unprofessional and completely uncalled for.”

  “I don’t disagree.” I didn’t. I just thought someone like her would respect a show of force more than tattling. “I just need to get better.” Plus I had a suspicion her actions stemmed more from trying to show off than any true malice. I was an anomaly here and putting me in my place might earn her some credibility. Not with my father most likely, but with the other students. Whatever it was, it was uncalled for.

  Cass frowned. “Well, duh. You just got here, though. You’ve got months, probably years of training ahead of you.”

  “That’s true,” I said and grinned. I had an ace in the hole, something my mother forced me to keep under wraps my entire life. But I was here now and all of our secrets were unraveling. Here I was Sherlock Holmes’ daughter. I may have just gotten my ass kicked, but I knew it wouldn’t happen a second time. I paused and decided to just say it. “But I also have an IQ of 184.”

  I left both of them staring at me as I walked out of the room. I turned as I exited and waved at them to come after me. I heard their footsteps behind me.

  Parker, his voice hesitant, spoke first. “Are you shitting us?”

  I hadn’t wanted to out myself quite like that, but I also hadn’t wanted to get my ass kicked on the first day of class. I shook my head. “Tested once with a normal standardized IQ test, maxed it out, then I was subjected to a battery of other tests.” I kept walking.

  Cass whistled. “You’re smarter than Steven Hawk
ing.”

  I shrugged. “Listen, I was an admin assistant before I came here. I obviously wasn’t using it.” I thought back to that time in my life. I’d assumed the people who came to the house to test me were from the school, but now that I was older, I thought my mother must have hired someone else to come. Otherwise, I’d probably be in a laboratory somewhere. I’d bet someone a hundred bucks this was how my father had eventually found me. My mother had been particularly concerned about my grades in school and encouraged me to do well, but to make sure I held my intelligence close to my vest. I thought it was weird at the time, but now I understood. She had to stifle me to protect me.

  While I had gone to school on a scholarship and graduated Summa cum Laude, I’d never gone out of my way to enter competitions or try to get published in the academic papers because I’d hear my mother’s words in the back of my head. It’s dangerous to be as smart as you are, Penelope. Genius is a gift, but it is a curse too.

  But now? Now it didn’t matter.

  “You have decent social skills for someone so intelligent.”

  I stopped, blinked, and looked at Cass. She was wearing a sheepish smile that made me laugh. “Thanks, I think,” I said. “Is there a place to eat around here? I need something to tide me over until lunch.”

  Cass pulled me toward the left and we walked for a bit until we came to a large cafeteria. “Manna from Heaven!” I exclaimed and pushed my way in.

  Parker chuckled behind us. “You have ten minutes. We have to get to our next class, Miss Brainiac.”

  I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “Nice to see the name calling has already started.” I pulled out a tray and slid it down the buffet line, straight to the pancakes. I piled them high and added some bacon. Once I covered them with syrup, I made my way to one of the many open tables, plopped down, and started shoveling food in my mouth. Parker looked at his watch in concern.

  “Chill,” Cass admonished him. “We’re with Holmes’ daughter.”

  I choked on my pancake. Is that why Cass sought me out? She wanted to rub shoulders with my dad? The hurt swirled around my heart and I had to blink a couple of times. Cass, immediately sensing what was going on, gasped. “I didn’t mean it like that. At all.” She placed her hand over her heart. “It was a joke, I swear.”

  She looked stricken. I shrugged. “No biggie,” I said in a light tone, although after Sin and this moment, I’d pay more attention. I smiled and focused on getting my pancakes down so we wouldn’t be late to our next class.

  As it turned out, we were late to our next class. Our instructor, a tall, muscled man named Seth, gave us a stern glare and kept talking as we slunk in and settled ourselves around the ring. There were six people inside of the ring, dressed to the nines and carrying either a walking stick or umbrella. It was a bizarre sight, so naturally I was intrigued. I stepped closer to listen to what Seth was saying.

  “Wearing an overcoat might seem like overkill, but it could save your life.” He gestured to a shorter man wearing a long, black trench coat. I noticed he was wearing it almost like yuppie guys wear their cardigans, except the coat wasn’t tied around his neck. It was just sitting lightly on his shoulders.

  Seth made a gesture and another man lunged forward at overcoat guy with a wicked looking knife. Coat guy whipped the coat off with his right hand and smacked knife dude in the face with it. As knife guy struggled to get the coat off his head, coat guy scrambled to the ground, grabbed knife guy’s ankle, and pushed him forward until he fell on his face.

  Murmurs rang out across the room and all I could think was, holy crap! Did anyone else think that was as cool as I did? Because that was seriously cool. I needed to learn how to do that. I applauded like a nerd in math class. A couple of other people followed my lead, but most of the others snickered at us.

  These guys were seriously jaded if they didn’t think that was cool. Or they’d been here forever. Like with all things, when you saw it all the time, it lost some of its luster.

  Coat guy stood up and winked at me, causing a deep flush from my toes all the way up to my hairline. Coat guy was handsome...and amused by me if the grin on his face was anything to go by. Knife guy stood up and pulled the coat from his head. He was smiling as well, but his looked more confused than anything.

  Seth led them off the ring and continued with his lesson. From what I gathered, Bartitsu was basically a mixture of martial arts, possibly the first type of MMA ever created. The premise was to gather anything within arm’s reach and use it as a weapon. The canes and umbrellas carried around were weapons, even if they looked innocent. Hats, coats, sconces, anything they could pick up was fair game. I’d have to get on YouTube when I got back to my room to see if there were more videos about it.

  For the next hour, I was enthralled with the history and demonstrations. Although I was coming in over halfway through the semester, or however they ran it here, there was still an opportunity to learn. Now that I didn’t have to hide my intellect or worry about being found out, the sky was the limit as far as I was concerned.

  “Enjoy the show?” A deep voice spoke next to me.

  I startled and turned to the man standing beside me. It was coat guy. Seth must be extremely tall because coat guy was no slouch. I measured him at least five-foot-eleven. He was a couple of inches taller than me, and from my quick examination, possessed a body that appeared not to have an ounce of fat on it. None of these people had any fat on them. Not that I was obese or anything, but I did love my early morning pancakes. He was dressed in black slacks, an emerald green silk shirt, a black tie, wingtip shoes, and a fedora.

  I was having trouble forming a coherent sentence. Not only was he dressed to the nines, he was devilishly handsome to boot. Short, dark hair and chiseled features gave him a decidedly underwear model look, but this guy was deadly. I could tell it in the coiled way he held himself, even though he was smiling at me. “Yes,” I said when the pause went on too long. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  Surprise flashed over his face. “You’re new?”

  He must not have been in the auditorium the night of my introduction. I decided to hold onto this for a little while longer. I nodded. “It’s my first day.”

  He held out his hand. “Jax.”

  Of course his name was Jax. I was going to cry in relief if I ever met a Martin or Norman around here. I shook his hand, pleased to see it was warm and dry, if not rough with callouses. “Penelope.”

  His smile widened. “Really?”

  I laughed softly, careful not to interrupt Seth’s teaching. “I’ve already noticed the outrageous amount of cool names around here. Alas, I’m merely mortal.” I flinched as soon as I said it. I wasn’t mortal. Not anymore.

  “Penelope,” he repeated, rolling my name over his tongue like he was tasting it. Good gracious. I wondered how bad the fraternization problem was around here because so far, all of these men were deliciously jumpable.

  Seth released the class and my gaze wandered around the room, trying to find Cass and Parker. I’d left them to get closer to the stage when we first came in, but I saw them once some of the crowd cleared. Cass was grinning as she walked up to me.

  “Were you the geek clapping?”

  I blushed. “You people are jaded.”

  “I agree,” Jax said. “It’s been years since someone appreciated a good coat trick.”

  Parker sidled up beside Cass and acknowledged Jax. “I see you’ve met the buzz of the place.”

  Jax’s brow crinkled. “Penelope?”

  Parker’s eyes widened. “You mean you don’t know?”

  I was begging him with my eyes not to tell him who I was, to give me a couple more moments to just be myself instead of being the one everyone stared at. But dudes were normally obtuse, and as pretty as Parker was, he proved to be no different.

  “She’s Holmes’ daughter!”

  My face fell at Jax’s expression. Shock, confusion, and regret immediately flickered through h
is eyes. “Ah,” he said lightly. “I didn’t know.” His stance became a little more wary and he shifted away from me. It was a minute gesture, but one I noticed.

  My smile was tight. “Now you do.”

  Jax ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He was obviously uncomfortable. “It was nice to meet you,” he said, and started to walk backwards toward the door. “I have to get to my next class.”

  “Likewise,” I said. I watched him turn around and hustle out the door.

  “Idiot,” Cass muttered under her breath.

  “Who, Jax?” Parker asked. “I like that guy.”

  Cass shook her head in frustration. “No, dummy. You.”

  She linked her arm through mine and let Parker try to work through his error. “Come on, we have our theory class left before we break for lunch.”

  Chapter 15

  I had no idea if the classes I was going to were the right ones, but I still spent the day following Cass and Parker around. The theory class was mind-numbingly boring. I appreciated theories, their importance could not be overstated, especially in the scientific community, but the professor had a nasal drone and I nodded off more than once.

  When it was over, I slipped out the door, ready for a break from people and maybe a little down time. Instead, I found Watson waiting for me outside the door.

  “Miss Wilde,” he said, his tone cautious as he studied me.

  “You left me without breakfast this morning.”

  Watson’s brows flew together. “That’s your response?”

  “You didn’t ask me a question. But, yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking about all day.” I breezed past him, but slowed my pace and waited for him to catch up. Not that it would take him long with those lean legs.

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed he looked at me with a strange expression. I hid a smile.

  “Your father wants to see you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked.

  “Can he wait? I’ve been in classes all day. I’m not even sure I went to the right ones, but I’d like some downtime.”