She blinked. “Help me out?”
“We’re gonna help train the poor out of-shape-white girl.” Daryl smirked. “That way your dad will get off your back.”
Alison narrowed her eyes. “Just because I’m not some super-athlete doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself. I’m tougher than I look.” She lifted her chin and sniffed.
Daryl held up his hands. “Not saying you ain’t, but we was all tough, too, real tough, but then your dad brought us in off the street, and with the help of the staff sergeant, he made us tougher. You can always get stronger, and getting stronger is all about being prepared. It’s like the man said, ‘To not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.’”
Alison blinked. “My dad said that? It doesn’t sound like him.”
The bounty hunter laughed. “Nah. That sh…that stuff was from Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Our training’s directed by Staff Sergeant Chris Royce, retired United States Marine Corps, but he ain’t here today. He’s big into stuff like Sun Tzu and Marcus Aurelius and all sorts of other old generals and warriors.” He pounded his chest with a fist. “Strong heart, strong mind, strong body, you know what I’m saying? Physical training improves the others, and then at the end, you’re a warrior.”
The girl jerked her head from man to man, her eyes unfocused. The men didn’t quite know what to make of it. “I’ve got a strong heart, mind, and body already. I can take care of myself. I don’t need your help.”
Daryl shrugged. “Sure, sure, Alison. I bet you do a mean foot stomp. That’ll scare people off.”
Everyone laughed.
The girl smirked and lifted her hand. A purple flame winked into existence.
“Damn!” Manuel yelled. “She’s a witch. We're gonna have fucking magical back-up now. Hell to the yeah.”
Shortly smacked him on the back of the head. “Watch your mouth around Alison Brownstone, you fool.”
More murmurs broke out, the men all staring at Alison’s flame with interest.
Alison blinked and lowered her hand. “Um, I’m not technically a witch. I…” She waved a hand, and the flame disappeared. “Don’t worry. It’s complicated, but why aren’t you scared? It’s magic.”
Daryl and Shorty exchanged a look, but it was Shorty who spoke. “Brownstone Agency is all about the reputation, you know what I’m saying? If we get scared and run from magic, it makes Mr. Brownstone look bad, and even though we handle the lower-level bounties, you never know what might pop up. We ran into a witch in Vegas not all that long ago. She beat our…” He coughed. “She had some good magic and we had some trouble with it, but we didn’t run.”
The rest all nodded their agreement.
Alison tilted her head and looked at Shorty, though her eyes still didn’t seem to focus. Most of the men just thought it was some artifact of being magical.
Shorty slapped a hand on his chest. “Hey, in the end, we are the Brownstone Agency. So that means we stand there and flip off wizards even if they’re tossing lightning to kill us. We can’t be running away like little punks just because someone’s flashing magic. That’s the world we live in now.”
“Huh. Dad doesn’t talk much about his work with me. He thinks I’ll worry too much, but I like the concept. You guys are really brave.”
The men all puffed out their chests. Every man liked a pretty girl telling them they were brave.
Daryl motioned toward the street. “We’ll help you with a little run. It’s gonna hurt, but getting stronger always hurts in the beginning.”
Alison took a deep breath and nodded. “I can do this. I’ll show my dad that I’m not some spoiled princess.”
The bounty hunter jogged to the front, and the other men broke into two groups, one in front of Alison and the other behind her. She might not be a queen, but they were going to protect her like one.
Alison wasn’t sure how much time had passed, only that her legs felt like rubber, her lungs burned, and her stomach was in open revolt against her brain. She collapsed to her knees as the group arrived back at the Brownstone Building and started puking.
“Get her some Gatorade, yo,” Shorty shouted. “She looks dehydrated.”
Manuel jogged off to get the drink.
The girl clutched her stomach and moaned. “I feel like I’m dying.”
Daryl laughed. “At least you did better than Isaiah. Probably because you’re skin and bones rather than having the spare tire around the middle like him.”
“Hey!” Isaiah yelled from the back of the group. “I resemble that remark.”
Alison took several deep breaths and sat up, again taking in the soul energy of the men. Beautiful souls. Yes, anger and other dark emotions lingered, but it was like their souls had begun to mirror her dad’s. These were good men—hard men, but good men—being shaped into something even greater by James Brownstone.
The girl smiled, appreciating her soon-to-be adoptive father that much more.
Shay walked down the hallway toward the back of the Brownstone Building. James stood near a window, looking out with his arms crossed.
She moved closer to check outside. Alison was surrounded by James’ men, her face and body covered in sweat as she struggled to finish another sit-up.
“This is your idea of a fun summer?” Shay asked.
James dropped his arms and shrugged. “Just being aware of threats and having magic isn’t enough. She needs the fitness to win if someone does come after her.”
The tomb raider chuckled. “While this looks fun and all, I think I’d rather work out in my own warehouse.”
“Might do you some good to work in the heat.”
Shay eyed him. “First of all, I’ve hit plenty of hot places on jobs. Besides, it’s not even that hot yet.”
James smirked. “Is that a no to sweating?”
The tomb raider shook her head. “I sweat in public when I’m getting paid. Otherwise, no reason, and I like my privacy.” She nodded toward the window. “I’m still getting used to the idea of people knowing who I am.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed James. “Tell me how she does.”
Shay turned and walked down the hallway.
“Before or after her bitching?” James called after her.
She looked over her shoulder. “Young girls don’t bitch. They whine, complain, and try to get their way, but they don’t get the Bitch Skill until they’ve been in a relationship long enough.”
James stared as she walked away, trying to process what she’d just said.
Guess I’ll have to ask the guys at the watering hole what the fuck that’s supposed to mean.
The sweat dripping into Alison’s eyes stung. She tried to blink it away as she climbed up the net, her legs and arms aching.
Stupid obstacle course. I can’t believe he has me doing an obstacle course.
With a groan, the teen hit the top of the net and rolled onto her back on the raised wooden platform. She panted, trying to catch her breath and get her muscles working again. She still had several obstacles left.
From what her dad had told her, he’d gotten his hands on some lightly enchanted powder that he’d spread around the obstacle course, so at least it’d glow enough to her energy sight for her to have a chance of navigating it. She wasn’t sure if his men knew she was blind or about her energy sight, but no one had commented on it, so she assumed they didn’t.
Alison wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell them. It was hard. People always reacted differently, and she didn’t want them to pity her. She hated the exercise, but she liked that the men were being so nice and encouraging. She was so used to boys being afraid of the name Brownstone, but these men respected, rather than feared, her dad.
The guys had all zoomed through the obstacle course like it was nothing. Of course, they were trained bounty hunters and sighted.
“Come on, Alison,” Shorty yelled from the other end. “You got this. Just dig deep, and keep pushing. Everyone hurts on the
first try. Everyone wants to puke. You just got to tell the stomach to fu…uh, you got to tell it you’re in charge, you know what I’m saying?”
Every part of her ached at this point, but she at least took some small comfort in knowing she had nothing left in her stomach to puke out. She had literally nothing left to lose.
Max clapped. “Yeah, do it, girl. You’re still doing better than Isaiah did the first time.”
Isaiah frowned at him. “Why do you got to do me like that?”
Several other cheers erupted from the gathered bounty hunters.
Alison pushed herself up and stood, taking several slow, deep breaths before jumping and grabbing the rope and flying over the mud below. She released on the other end, pride at her success adding energy to her step.
She hit a series of tires that forced her to adopt a wide stance, but the obstacle at least gave her upper body a rest. The girl concentrated on putting one leg in each tire and getting to the end of the obstacle. Only two more to go, and once she got over the final wall, the torture would be over, and she could rest.
I can do this. I’ve gone through scarier and harder things at school. I’ll prove to Dad that I’m tougher than he thinks I am.
Alison gritted her teeth and dropped to her stomach, crawling under the barbed wire.
Seriously, Dad? Do you think the Drow are going to chase me under barbed wire?
She bit her lip as her face dragged along the sand. At least she hadn’t been forced to do this in mud like she’d heard some of the men discussing.
The grueling moments passed, and Alison hopped to her feet, her heart pounding, her muscles twitching, and sweat practically gluing her clothes to her. She jogged toward the wall and rope that separated her from some well-earned rest.
The gathered bounty hunters clapped and cheered even louder.
“Come on, Alison. We see you. You’ve got this.”
Almost there. So close. It’s just so high.
The teen picked up her pace.
I’m not a normal person. I’m half-Drow, and I have magic. If someone were coming after me, I wouldn’t not use my magic. That would be dumb.
Alison took several deep breaths and turned so the crowd couldn’t see her hands. She leapt toward the rope. A quick pulse of lavender erupted from her hands, and she shot up a few more feet.
She grabbed the rope, and with her aching and tired arms, crawled over the top and then slid down and released the rope. She sprawled on the ground on her back, her breathing hard.
James stood over her, his arms crossed, and shaking his head. “Now let’s see you do it without the magic.”
Alison groaned. “You saw that?”
He grunted. “I see everything.”
“But why can’t I use magic? It’s part of what I am.”
James shook his head. “It’s useful, but you never know what might happen. At least if you can climb a wall without using magic, then, among other things, it means people looking for magic won’t find you when you’re scaling that wall. He nodded toward the course. “You’re gonna do this again. We can talk about a magic-approved course once you’ve mastered this one.”
Alison sighed and headed toward the first obstacle, her cheeks burning.
6
The next day, Alison was missing the obstacle course as she trudged toward the firing station at the indoor gun range in the Brownstone Building. Her heavy bulletproof vest made her movements awkward. It was obviously sized for one of her dad’s grown bounty hunter men, so it was almost more a bulletproof dress than a bulletproof vest. It’d be funny in any other situation.
And he said this was one of the smaller ones.
She finished approaching the firing line and felt around until she found the pistol lying on the station. A target silhouette lay downrange. A light glow from sprinkled magic dust highlighted the target. This didn’t feel like a cheat to her. At least in a normal situation, the energy of a person would be obvious, and she’d know exactly where to shoot.
Alison blew out a breath. Summer vacation had turned into boot camp.
Can’t believe he’s having me learn to shoot. I think I’d rather rely on my magic than guns, but it’s not like he’s going to let me skip shooting.
“Can you hear me?” James’ voice came through a receiver in the bulky black electronic ear muffs protecting her hearing.
“Yes,” Alison replied. She glanced at the bounty hunter, taking comfort in his beautiful soul. No matter how annoyed she might get with her dad, she knew that everything he was doing was only because he cared about her.
“The electronic ear muffs have active noise-canceling,” James explained. “So you can take as many shots as you need without hurting your hearing. You’ll still have the flash and recoil, but you’re just training to shoot, not be a Marine, so I’m not all that worried about you running around hearing the shots go off or whatever. I’ve got something else planned to get you used to running and shooting, anyway.”
The girl lifted up the gun, biting her lip. “I don’t know about this, Dad.”
James shook his head. “It’s an equalizer.”
“Huh? Is that what this type of gun is called?”
He chuckled. “No, it’s a Glock, but my point is that in general, men are bigger than women. More upper-body strength too, which means if you get into a fistfight or something like that, you’re gonna lose. And you’re small, compared to most women. You need to work smarter, faster, and harder.” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Unlike a lot of people, you’ve seen the evil of our world. You know that it’s not always some weird monster from Oriceran doing the worst stuff. So you understand that you need to be prepared.”
Alison set the gun back down. “Not saying you’re wrong, but what’s that have to do with a gun being an equalizer?
“Don’t you get it? Back in the day, even if a woman even had a knife or a sword, she was still at a disadvantage, because the men coming at her were bigger and stronger. A gun, especially a modern gun, doesn’t care if you’re bigger or stronger. That gun barely weighs anything, and it can take down a grown man with a single shot. They gave peasants guns, and they started killing knights. A leveler. An equalizer. A gun is a power you control through mental training as much as practice.”
James whipped out his .45 and put three rounds downrange. Alison’s electronic earmuffs killed almost all the sound. Though she could feel some of the vibration, her dad hadn’t placed any magical powder on his target so she couldn’t follow the attack, and she only knew he’d fired by following the glow of his energy in his arm. His weapon hadn’t been coated with any magical powder either.
Wonder if he forgot? He’s really getting into all this training stuff.
He grunted. “If you trained for years like Shay, then you could go one-on-one in hand-to-hand with a larger man, but you don’t have to train for years with a gun for it to work.”
Alison sighed. “I don’t know if I could shoot someone, though.”
“That’s fine. It shouldn’t be easy to kill someone, but at least you should practice. The more you practice, the less you have to think when the time comes.”
The teen nodded and picked up the gun, holding it in her hand for a moment to get a good sense for the heft and texture of the weapon. Could she kill someone? She’d said she couldn’t, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny the rage she’d felt when her mother was killed or when she’d thought her new dad might meet the same fate.
I should worry less about protecting myself and more about getting stronger so I can protect him. He didn’t have to get involved. He could have let Walt drag me off to the Harriken. Then I’d be dead just like Mom. Or he could have turned me over to the Drow.
Alison took a shuddering breath.
He didn’t have to take me in, and he doesn’t have to adopt me. He’s choosing to because he loves me.
She lifted the weapon and gripped it with both hands, staring downrange at the magical glow of the target.
Smarter, faster, harder. Her dad was right. She needed to improve every part of herself, from her body to her magic. It was the only way she’d never again lose someone she loved.
Alison pulled the trigger. The gun jerked in her hand, and she yelped.
James chuckled. “It’s okay.”
“Did…I hit?”
The bounty hunter pressed a button near Alison’s station. The target buzzed as it moved toward her on an overhead track.
James inspected it for a few seconds. “Clipped him in the shoulder. Not bad for a blind girl.”
Alison shrugged and set the gun down. “It’d be easier with an actual person. The soul would be brighter.”
“Even if they were evil?”
The girl nodded. “It’s the colors that are different, not the brightness. So, yeah, an evil guy would still be easy to spot.”
She frowned. She’d run into more darkness than her dad needed to know.
“Good,” James rumbled. “Go ahead and take off your ear protection. This was just about getting you used to handling the weapon.”
Alison removed the ear muffs and hung them on a hook she’d felt earlier. James did the same.
The door to the range opened and Trey stepped into the room, a small bulletproof vest and tactical harness in hand. Alison only knew because they glowed under her energy sight.
“Enchanted armor?” she asked.
James shook his head. “Regular old vest and harness, but they are actually sized for you.” He nodded to Trey. “Help her get them on.”
Alison pulled off the heavy vest she had on and tossed it to the ground. She couldn’t help but smile once the new vest and harness were on. Now that she didn’t feel like a little girl wearing her daddy’s clothing, she could appreciate what the armor and harness represented.
This training is tough, but he’s helping me learn to take care of myself. I keep believing Dad thinks I’m just a little girl who always needs to be protected, but he wants me to be independent. He wants me to be strong.
Alison Brownstone: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone Book 9) Page 5