by Minton, Toby
"That's enough for now," Elias said. For her ear alone, he added, "You'll get him next time."
She was right; he was calling the fight. Her burning belly hated him for it. No, that wasn't fair. It hated her for failing so thoroughly. Coop had made her look more like an idiot than any goofy padded suit ever could. She caught Ace's eye as Elias turned toward Coop. She expected to see disappointment, but what she saw was worse. Ace nodded to her and smiled as if to say, "good try." The belly burn went into overdrive, and Nikki growled at herself.
I was wrong all these years, she thought to Michael. There is a hell. This is it, right here.
Don't be stupid, Nik, he thought back. You did your best, and you're making progress. That's all that matters.
She was going to be sick.
Don't beat yourself up, he went on, apparently feeling how little good his words were doing and deciding more might make a difference. She had to give it to him—he didn't give up. If only she could say the same about herself.
"Why not?" she responded aloud. "Everybody else can now."
Elias turned toward her with a questioning look. He'd been on his way off the mat with Coop, who was pulling his head guard off to reveal a told-you-so grin he directed at Ace.
"Where do you think you're going, Disney?" Nikki said. "I didn't hear a bell."
Her words had an effect. They made her feel like her old self, if only a little. They made Coop look at her like she was crazy, and Elias look at her like…she wasn't sure. He looked almost proud for a second, but he wiped it away quickly. Across the room, Sam gave her a small smile and looked away. Ace just laughed.
"Put that stupid helmet back on," she said, feeling better with a little bravado to compete with her shame. Not much better, but a little was better than nothing. "I'm about to teach you how to hit like a girl. You'll need all the protection you can get."
Coop smiled and slid his head guard back into place as Elias stepped out of the way, and Nikki prepared to go on the offensive. Michael prepared as well, sending a series of images through Nikki's mind, images of joint locks and throws she could use to counter Coop's reach and size.
Nikki smiled and winked at Coop as she assumed the guard position they'd taught her. "You're the one going down this time, Disney."
Coop brought his hands up as well and started toward her, but a low, rumbling laugh stopped them both.
"This how you've been wasting your time?" Cole said. He was leaning against the door jamb, his thick arms crossed, his massive frame filling the opening.
Nikki wasn't sure whether he was talking to her or to everyone. His stare was on her at first, but he shared it around to the others after a second. She didn't really care who he was talking to. It felt like a jab at her regardless.
"You teach fish how to fly too?" Cole asked, his hard green eyes shifting to Elias.
"Nikki learns too fast to waste anybody's time," Sam responded, drawing Cole's glare his way.
A staring contest between those two might have been comical due to their size difference, if they'd been anyone else. There was nothing comical about a wolf and bear staring each other down. Nikki was just glad she wasn't standing between them.
"She's a natural fighter," Sam said evenly.
"On that we agree, little man," Cole replied. “Why are you trying to change that?”
"We're helping her gain control," Elias said, his tone hard. There was no love lost between Elias and Cole. That much was obvious from the way they looked at each other. "Nikki needs these skills."
"The hell she does," Cole said, uncoiling from the door and stalking into the room, his stare shifting to Nikki. "I've seen your like before, little slip. Control is the last thing you need.”
“Yeah?” Nikki said. “And what is it I need, hillbilly?”
“To remember what you are." He stopped in front of her, towering over her. His voice was hard, but it was nothing compared to his eyes.
"That's enough," Elias said, moving closer to Nikki like he was about to step between her and Cole. "We have this under control, Cole. We don't need your help."
This time Cole's laugh was more of a growl. "If you say so, soldier boy, but you're a fool if you think this is what the slip needs. Know that."
"Opinion noted," Elias said, stepping up beside Nikki. He left it at that, but his posture said how little that opinion mattered.
They eyed each other in silence until Cole broke it with an ugly laugh. "How many?"
"Excuse me?"
"How many, soldier boy?" Cole growled at Elias. "How many have you fought? Real fights, not hiding behind the ass end of a gun."
The look in his eyes almost made Nikki take a step back. "How many men have you broken with your bare hands?"
Elias didn't waver like Nikki wanted to. "It doesn't matter."
The only thing more unsettling than Cole's stare was his growling laugh. "I don't know that number."
"Any is too many," Elias said evenly. "Once she has control—"
"Waste of time, like I said," Cole rumbled over him. "That's why you can't teach her, soldier boy. You don't understand her. You don't know her kind."
"And you do?" Elias asked like he didn't think so for a second.
"Better than you ever will," Cole replied in a low voice. He stepped closer and looked down at Elias over Nikki's head. "You can't teach her to fight with her head. Not her style."
"Hey," Nikki snapped.
Cole looked down at her and smiled, or at least bared his teeth. "You want to see what she can do? I'll show you," he said to Elias.
"Not going to happen, Cole." Elias said flatly.
Looking up at Elias, watching him look up at Cole as he tried to protect her, even when she didn't need it, Nikki felt something stir. Whether it came from her or Michael, she couldn't tell, but either way, the feeling was as hard to ignore as it was easy to identify.
Stop it, Nikki thought.
Stop what? Michael said, even though the ruse was pointless. She didn't feel any confusion or doubt from him. He knew exactly what she meant.
Nikki rolled her eyes.
How do you know that's not your feeling? he asked.
Because, she replied.
He waited.
I don't feel that way about anybody, she said at last. Not anymore.
The standoff between Elias and Cole looked to be at an impasse—or a prelude to a beatdown, more like—until another party stepped in.
"He will help," Gideon's even voice said from the doorway. He walked into the room, the hood up on his old overcoat, his alien eye glowing faintly from the shadow. "She needs him to help. Let Magnus try, Elias. Please."
Nikki was no expert on chain of command and orders, but that didn't sound like any kind of order she'd ever heard. Something was going on there.
Elias watched Gideon for a second before he nodded. "Your show, Cole," he said, fixing Cole with a stare that was more than a match for the bigger man's worst. "For now."
Elias stepped back. Nikki didn't know when Sam had moved in so close, but there he was, right beside her. He gave her a smile and punched her lightly on the arm pad. Then he too moved away, leaving her alone with the bear.
"Lose the pads," Cole said.
That was easier said than done. Nikki fumbled with the straps for a second before Sam and Ace stepped up to give her a hand. From the other side of the mat, Coop didn't seem to need any help. He had half the straps on one arm open already.
"Not you, pretty boy," Cole said with a glance at Coop. "You'll need those."
Sam and Ace made quick work of stripping the pads, but when they got down to the vest covering Nikki's chest and stomach, Gideon stopped them.
"Leave that one," he said. He had slowly circled the mat and positioned himself beside Elias. They shared a glance that could have held whole conversations before Elias nodded to Sam, who tightened the straps on the back and patted Nikki on the shoulder once he was done.
"In that case, little man," Cole said with
a harsh smile, "you're in too." He motioned Sam onto the mat.
"Wait, you want me to fight both of them?" Nikki asked, suppressing a sudden urge to laugh. She was afraid it might come out more hysterical than her pride could handle.
"No," Cole grated. "All three of us."
Nikki did laugh then. "Right. And what's that going to prove? I can't even beat one of these guys."
"Why is that, slip?" Cole stalked toward her, his eyes like chips of green glass. "Who says you can't?"
"I do, hillbilly," she snapped, taking a couple of steps back.
"That's your problem," Cole growled. His hand shot out too fast for her to avoid. He grabbed the front of her padded vest and yanked Nikki off her feet. Then he tossed her aside.
Nikki remembered to tuck her shoulder at the last second. She hit the mat awkwardly but rolled the way they'd showed her. It worked as advertised. She got back to her feet with only a slight stumble.
Cole rounded on her, his eyes flashing, but his words were for Sam and Coop. "Flank her."
They looked at Elias. Mouth set in a firm line, he nodded his assent.
Nikki mentally peed on those fuzzy feelings Michael had tried to push through about Elias. The traitor.
Nikki backed up slowly as Coop and Sam circled in opposite directions.
"You're outnumbered, slip," Cole rumbled. "What are you waiting for?"
Nikki knew how Sam fought—she'd worked with him too many times over the past week not to. He masked his attacks with feints and sudden direction changes and relied on speed and subtlety to get the job done. Coop, on the other hand, liked to charge in and go for broke with his attacks. His were easier to spot, if not stop. He favored power over finesse. Nikki sidestepped away from Sam toward Coop, counting on the fact that she'd see the taller man's attacks coming in time.
Nikki, don't—
Cole lunged low toward her.
She tried to hop back, but he was too fast. He caught her foot in one hand and slung her across the mat again. This time she landed hard and tumbled before she could push back to her feet.
Don't what? she thought to Michael.
Don't forget about Cole, Michael said, but not in the I-told-you-so way she deserved. Like Nikki, he wasn't happy about this situation. Their shared anger was compounding as it flowed back and forth between them in a swelling wave.
"Great advice," she said to Michael out loud. "Thanks."
"I don't tell you how to fight, slip. Nobody does," Cole rumbled, apparently thinking her words were for him. "That's your job. Do it.
"Flank her," he snapped at Sam and Coop again.
They complied without looking to Elias this time, but Sam didn't look happy about it.
"What are you waiting for, slip?" Cole barked as Nikki raised her guard and stepped back to keep all three of them in view. Cole was hanging back again, watching to see how she handled the other two, or maybe waiting for a chance to surprise her again. Either way, Nikki wasn't going to make the mistake of taking her eyes off him.
Sam struck first, moving in fast from the right.
Nikki saw the movement from the corner of her eye and reacted. This time she and Michael were in sync. He flashed up an image of a low, sweeping block, and she executed instantly, turning Sam's kick aside. She was proud of herself, right up until Coop's arm wrapped around her neck.
He forced her to her knees in a hold she couldn't budge. Her vision started going black as she struggled to break the hold. Then, suddenly, she was free. Yanked free, that is, and lifted up in the air by the front of her vest. Her vision cleared with a cold, tingly rush, and she looked down into Cole's disapproving eyes.
"You're dead, girl," he said, holding her over his head in one hand with no sign of strain or effort. "Again." He tossed her aside.
She hit the mat flat on her back this time, knocking the wind out of her. From where she lay, she could see Elias start toward her, but Gideon pulled him back, speaking in a low voice she couldn't make out.
"Get up," Cole barked.
Nikki didn't need the order. She was already climbing to her feet with gritted teeth. Getting tossed around was starting to get old.
"Stop fighting like they do," Cole's hard voice didn't do her mounting anger any favors either. "Get out of your head, girl."
She would have loved to take that advice. Her head was pretty crowded at the moment—not to mention confused—with the training she was struggling to remember and Michael's good-intentioned image assault.
Cole stalked toward her. "You fight with this." His finger jabbed her in the padded stomach. "Not this." He jabbed her in the forehead, pushing her back half a step. "What's your gut saying, girl?"
To punch you in the face, she thought.
No, Michael responded right away, his voice louder than usual. Her sense of him was getting stronger by the second. It was so strong now she was having trouble telling where she stopped and he started. That's what he wants, Nik. He's trying to rattle you.
Cole stepped closer and leaned down, putting his blazing eyes a breath away from hers. "What's holding you back, slip?" His stare bored into her. "What's making you so weak?"
She heard a growl, but it was a higher pitch than Cole's. It took her a second to realize it was coming from her.
Don't, Nikki, Michael thought. Hold your ground. Keep your head and look for his weakness.
Nikki didn't attack, even though she was literally shaking to. Michael's voice—so loud it made her feel like the passenger in her head—held her back.
No, it wasn't just his voice.
For a second she forgot all about Cole and the many things she wanted smash into him. In a cold flash of clarity, she realized she had zero restraint at that moment. Every quivering muscle in her body wanted to bring the fury. She wasn't the one holding herself back. Michael was.
Her shock rebounded as Michael shared her realization.
How are you doing that?
I'm not, he answered quickly. Too quickly.
Tell me another one.
Not on purpose, Nikki, he sent back. I feel—stronger.
Cole was watching her, waiting for an answer, looking for one in her eyes, and not patiently. Whatever he saw set him off.
"Not with this," his finger jab to the forehead sent her back several steps. "With this!" His punch to the gut knocked the wind out of her, even through the padded vest. She dropped to her hands and knees, gasping.
She heard several raised voices, but none of them overpowered Michael's.
Nikki, I can help, if you'll let me, he said, voice calm despite its excessive volume.
She sucked in a ragged breath and lifted her head to give Cole the death eye. Yeah. Bang-up job so far. No offense, but I'd like to survive this.
I don’t mean like this, Nik, Michael said. I mean— He stopped himself. The feelings coming through from him were strong enough that she could pick out frustration as the foremost of the pack. He wanted to say something, but he wouldn’t let himself do it.
You trust me, right?
That was a dumb question, one she didn’t bother to answer. Even if he wasn’t feeling everything she felt, he had to know he was the only person in the world she really trusted. He’d never asked her that before, not even before his worst plans, the ones he’d known she was going to hate. Why now?
Nikki, he said, his voice sounding somehow both resolved and nervous. Forgive me for this.
She didn’t get a chance to ask what this was. She pushed off the mat and stood up. Then she readied herself to fight, but not of her own will. Her body was moving, but Nikki was no longer in control—Michael was.
Mind Games
Chapter 22
Michael
It started the way it always did—with Nikki’s pain.
When Nikki’s power kicked in and the energy her pain generated started to flow, it woke Michael from the darkness. That’s all he knew to call it—the still place he now called home. His sense of Nikki, and through her of the world aroun
d her, grew steadily stronger with every blow she suffered, with every tumble she took. Nikki’s pain gave Michael strength, almost like nothing had changed.
But it had. Physical pain wasn’t the only thing that drew Michael out of the darkness. Her emotional pain fed him now as well, and as the fight with Coop wore on, Michael was hard pressed to tell which type of pain was working harder to bring him back.
Nikki didn’t realize how her power had changed. In fact, she didn’t even realize her power still existed. At the moment she was living in a haze of ignorance, unable or unwilling to make the connection between her pain and Michael’s presence. She believed her power had died with Michael, a misconception he was happy to foster.
He knew Nikki’s loneliness. He felt her sense of abandonment each time he woke. He also knew her courage. He was afraid of what she would do when she discovered what was bringing him back from the darkness, if only for a short time. She wasn’t above hurting herself, or worse, not where Michael was concerned.
That’s why, be it fair or not, he kept Nikki in the dark. He felt guilty for doing so, but not much. Nothing was stopping her from putting two and two together. Even she could do that math.
Nikki, however, had a habit of ignoring the obvious, a habit she clung to as the fight with Coop wore on. He was going easy on her, telegraphing his attacks, but she ignored the signs. She was too preoccupied trying to sort through the counters she’d been learning. She was doing something she never did during a fight. She was thinking too much.
Before long Michael’s presence, his connection to the world, grew so strong he began to fear he would push his sister right out of her own body. And as always when he reached that point, he pulled himself back.
Michael didn’t know how he restrained himself. He didn’t even know if doing so was necessary. He just knew that the stronger he grew, the more crowded Nikki’s body seemed to become, and the more firmly his fears took hold. Each time he reached what his admittedly paranoid mind told him was the point of no return, the wall went up.
