by Karen Lynch
As soon as I entered the creature’s body, it was like the last few weeks had never happened. No longer fighting my control, my power immediately went to work knitting together the severed tissue. The drakon shuddered beneath my hands as the healing fire closed up its wound and eased its pain. I closed my eyes as relief swept through me. I did it!
I ran my hand along the drakon’s belly where the cut had been. “I think you and I are both going to be okay,” I crooned softly as I pulled the power back into me. It didn’t come as easily as it should have, but I was too happy about my success to care. I finally had a feel for this new power and a better understanding of how to handle it. I remembered being six years old and having to learn how to use my strange new power. It was like that all over again, only this time I wasn’t doing it alone.
“Okay, buddy, you are as good as new.”
I stepped back and the drakon rolled until he was right side up. He stared at me for a few seconds, and then he leaned in and licked my face with a long forked tongue. Before I could react, he spun around with amazing speed and headed toward the center of the lake. He leapt into the air and dove into the water without making a splash.
I wiped my face with a wet sleeve. “Ugh, dragon spit.”
“You did it, Sister. You healed him.”
My face split in a wide smile as I trudged out of the lake. Aine rushed over to hug me despite my wet clothes, and we laughed together.
I pulled away. “I can’t believe it. After all the times I lost control of my power this week, I think I finally get it.”
She nodded happily. “I don’t know why I did not see this sooner. Healing is second nature for you because you have been doing it since you were a young child. Water magic is still quite new to you, which explains why you have been struggling with it. We should have started with what you knew best.”
“How can we do that? We don’t exactly have any injured animals around here.”
“No, but we can go find some that need your help.”
Go out and help sick creatures? “Can we go now?’
Aine laughed and shook her head. “I think you’ve done enough for today. Plus, you are starting your other training this afternoon.”
I grimaced at the reminder that I was resuming my Mohiri training today. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to work with Nikolas. Who was I kidding? He was going to push me until I collapsed or begged for mercy – maybe both. Jordan had trained with him yesterday, and she’d nodded off during dinner last night. That did not bode well for me.
“Tomorrow when I return, we will go find something you can heal,” Aine promised. Even though the estate was surrounded by faerie protections, Aine did not like to stay here long. After our training she always returned to Faerie until our next session. Eldeorin, on the other hand, loved the human world. Now that I no longer needed his constant presence, he liked to go off on his “pleasure excursions” as he put them. I didn’t ask and I hoped he never felt the need to share them with me.
“Okay,” I conceded. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She hugged me goodbye and did her disappearing thing. I’d asked her yesterday if I would ever be able to do that and she’d said only time would tell.
Nikolas was waiting for me when I walked out of the woods. “I told you that you could do it.”
“You were supposed to leave,” I accused mildly.
He smiled as he fell into step beside me. “I did leave. I know it worked because you have that look.”
“What look?”
“The one I like seeing on your face. You look happy.”
“I’ll be even happier if you tell me I don’t have to train this afternoon,” I suggested hopefully as we neared the house.
He chuckled and opened the door for me. “Nice try. Get cleaned up, and I’ll see you after lunch. Oh, and you might want to eat light.”
I groaned and tried to ignore the laughter that followed me as I climbed the stairs to my room. I should probably skip lunch altogether and take a nap instead. Something told me I was going to need it.
After a very light lunch, I joined Nikolas in the gym they had set up on the first floor of the huge house. When I walked in, I saw it was laid out like the training rooms at Westhorne. I bit back a groan when I saw the bag in the corner, and I think my muscles actually ached at the memory of the workouts Nikolas had put me through back then.
Nikolas was waiting for me, and he smiled as if he was remembering, too. He immediately got down to business and gave me some stretching exercises to do. Once I had warmed up, he waved me over to the center of the room.
“The first thing we’re going to do is see what you remember from our training.” He held up his hands. “Show me a straight punch.”
I positioned my body like he’d taught me and struck his palm with my right fist. Then I shifted slightly and did a strike with my left one.
“Palm heel strike,” he ordered and I executed it as I’d been taught. I was surprised at how easily it came back to me after all these weeks. The endless drills he’d put me through had worked.
“Good,” he said after I’d done a number of strikes. “Now go to the bag and show me the kicks I taught you.”
I demonstrated the front kick, back kick, and round kick several times. Then he began calling out strikes and kicks, forcing me to change positions quickly to perform each one. A fine sheen of sweat covered my body by the time we stopped twenty minutes later.
“Very good. You remembered everything.”
“I had a good teacher,” I said, absurdly happy that he was pleased.
His trainer expression slipped and a small smile appeared. “All right, I think you are ready to learn a new strike. This one is called an elbow strike.” He proceeded to demonstrate it for me then had me try it. We worked on it for ten minutes before he switched to a vertical front kick. Once I had that technique down, he made me alternate between the two. I was panting by the time he was satisfied I had them down.
Dread filled me when he said we were done with the bag, because I knew what came next. This was when he would work me with the weights and skipping rope until I could barely stand. He called it conditioning. I called it torture.
He surprised me by heading for the door instead of the weights.
“We’re done?”
“No, we’re going to add something new to your training.” He opened the door and waved me through it.
I couldn’t imagine what it could be, but if it got me out of weight training, I was all for it.
We went outdoors and around the side of the house where three wooden targets had been set up. On the grass near them was an assortment of knives, crossbows, and swords. I chewed my lip nervously at the sight of the swords, hoping he wasn’t going to ask me to use one. The deadliest weapon I’d held was a knife, and I didn’t think I was ready for anything bigger than that.
“What would you like to start with?” Nikolas asked, surprising me again.
I didn’t need to think about it; I immediately went for one of the crossbows. It was a lot bigger and heavier than the one I’d used in Los Angeles, and it felt awkward in my hands. “How do you use this thing?”
Nikolas took it and explained all the parts to me. “This is a recurve bow,” he said as he put it to the ground and cocked it. “It’s a little harder to load, but it has more power than a compound bow. It’s a great weapon once you get a feel for it.”
“I’ve never seen you use a bow,” I said as he brought the bow up and faced the first target.
“I prefer a sword.” He released the bolt and it whistled through the air to sink into the center of the target. “But I’m proficient with most weapons.”
“Of course you are,” I said dryly, earning a smile from him.
“Want to give it a go?”
“Sure, as soon as I grow enough muscles to cock it.”
He chuckled and showed me how to put my foot in the stirrup and where to place my hands on the string. I pulled the string ba
ck and settled it in the locking mechanism.
“Okay, what now?”
“Now, you aim.” Stepping behind me, he turned me to face the target. Then he showed me how to position the bow and aim. His warm breath on the back of my neck was more than a little distracting, and I had trouble paying attention to his instructions. That was probably why my bolt missed the target by a good three feet.
He picked up another bolt and handed it to me. “It’ll take a while to get used to.”
“They make it look so easy in the movies.” I grunted as I cocked the bow again. Then I lifted it and aimed at the target. It was a lot easier to concentrate without Nikolas standing so close, and I let out a slow breath as I peered through the scope and lined up the target. I knew my aim was good as soon as the bolt left the bow, and I whooped when it embedded itself in the target next to Nikolas’s.
Someone whistled, and I looked around as Chris approached us. He went to the target and examined the two bolts in the center. “Very nice, Sara. Now let’s see you do that again.”
I loaded another bolt and took aim. Chris put a good distance between himself and the target, but it wasn’t necessary. My bolt hit so close to the center that it left a long gouge in the one Nikolas had put there. I shot two more and they lined up beside the others.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Chris exclaimed when Nikolas and I walked over to examine the target. The three of us stared at the five bolts embedded in the center. They were so close it was difficult to pull them out.
“I told you she was a natural.” Jordan jogged over to join us. “Freaky, isn’t it? It must be some faerie thing.”
I frowned. “Hey, maybe I’m just good at something.”
Chris let out a laugh. “Sara, I’m not that good, and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
“Right.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I saw you practicing at Westhorne, and no one is as good as you with a bow.”
Nikolas studied the target. “There is another way to test your aim. Let’s try you on the knives.”
“Knives?” That didn’t sound as safe as the crossbow.
“Throwing knives.” He went to the pile of weapons and picked up a leather harness containing six silver knives like the ones I’d seen him use before. “These are different from the dagger I gave you. They are a little smaller and heavier, and balanced in the center.” He laid one of the knives across his forefinger to show me. Then his hand blurred as he grasped the knife and sent it flying into the center of the second target.
Chris took one of the knives and copied Nikolas, nailing the third target. I hadn’t even seen him aim. Not to be outdone, Jordan held out her hand and Nikolas laid a knife in it. Her knife hit just inside the center ring of the second target.
“Show-offs.” I felt inadequate next to the three of them. Sure I was a good shot with the bow, but knives were a whole different matter.
Nikolas handed me a knife and I took it reluctantly. I must have made a face because he smiled. “It’s actually fun when you get the hang of it.”
I hefted the knife, trying to get a feel for it. Unlike my dagger, this knife was entirely silver to make it difficult for a vampire to pull it out. I couldn’t help but remember the first time I’d seen knives like this. Nikolas had thrown them at Eli to stop him from taking me from the alley in Portland.
Chris came to stand beside me. “Here, watch me.” He took a knife and slowly demonstrated how to position my body and where to hold the knife. He drew his arm back then swung it forward, more slowly this time, sending the knife into the target with a soft thunk. “Now you give it a go.”
I mimicked his movements, but the knife felt awkward in my hand, and I was sure I was going to slice my fingers off. Chris repositioned my hand on the knife, then stepped back and told me to throw. I did and the knife spun through the air and hit the ground a good five feet from the target.
“Not bad for your first throw,” Chris said as he went to collect my knife and those in the targets.
I snorted a laugh. “Not bad? I totally sucked.”
“You still have all your fingers and none of us are bleeding, so I’d call it a good start.” He walked back to me and held out one of the knives. “Want to go again?”
“If I say no, will you let me stop?”
He flashed his dimples. “We could always try the swords.”
“No thanks.” I took the knife and got into position again.
“Here, like this.” Jordan moved to stand beside me. Chris handed her a knife and she showed me how to hold it, explaining how it should feel in my grip. Then she slowly drew her arm back and swung it forward without releasing the knife so I could see the angle of her arm and the point at which she would release the weapon. She did that several times until I thought I understood the basic principles of knife throwing. Then she released the knife and it hit a few inches from the center.
“Do you need me to show you again?”
“No, I think I got it.” I lined up the target and threw my knife. It nicked the bottom of the target before it stuck into the ground.
“Much better.” Chris passed me another knife. This one actually stuck into the bottom of the target. So did the next four.
“How many do I have to throw?” I asked when Jordan went to collect the knives.
“We’ll stop when you can hit the second ring from the center,” Nikolas said.
Chris laughed. “We might be here a while.”
I punched Chris’s arm. “You’re family. Aren’t you supposed to be encouraging me or something?”
He snickered and jumped back out of my reach.
He was right, it did take a while. I threw dozens of times, and my arm was aching and my fingers hurt by the time I finally landed a knife in the elusive second ring. It wasn’t by chance either. It might have taken me a while to get a feel for the knives, but once I did, my aim improved. My next three knives hit the same ring. The fourth one nailed the center one. After that, every knife I threw hit home.
“Damn, you are lethal with those things,” Jordan exclaimed. “If you weren’t my BFF, I’d be totally jealous right now.” She cocked her head to one side and studied my target. “Who am I kidding? I am so jealous.”
Chris smiled broadly. “Cousin, if you are half as good with a sword, you are going to make one hell of a warrior.”
I flushed from their praise. “Let’s not get carried away.”
Nikolas hadn’t said anything, and I was nervous to look at him and see his expression. It surprised me how much I suddenly wanted his approval.
“Great work, Sara.”
The sincerity in his voice sent warmth through me. I turned to face him and the admiration in his eyes made my stomach do a little flip. If someone had told me a month ago that I’d react this way to a man’s approval, I would have laughed at them. But Nikolas wasn’t just any man. He was a fierce warrior and a strict trainer, and he did not throw his praise around lightly.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll add weapons to your daily training routine.”
I dared to hope. “Does that mean I don’t have to use the skipping rope anymore?”
“Nice try. We’ll start working out after this.”
The three of them laughed. I thought Jordan, at least, should’ve had compassion for me after her workout with Nikolas yesterday.
I barely made it through dinner that night without falling out of my chair. Nikolas had made up for the lost weeks and had put me through a grueling workout. I was pretty sure Chris had been right and a little payback was involved. After dinner, Jordan wanted to watch a movie, but I declined and dragged my aching body to bed. What I wouldn’t have given for thirty minutes in one of the healing baths they had at Westhorne. I was out as soon as my head touched the pillow.
Chapter 12
Over the next two weeks, my life became an endless cycle of training and more training. In the mornings, I worked with Aine, who made good on her promise to find some sick or i
njured creatures that needed my help. I healed a lame mustang in Wyoming, a blind terrier in Florida, and a sickly werecougar cub in Oregon. It amazed me how we could pop away from the estate and arrive in some place a thousand miles away. I loved being able to heal things again, especially since it no longer drained my power.
As well as the healings went, I still could not control my power when I used it for anything else. I could feel it pushing against my walls like flood water against a dam, and the pressure inside me built a little more every time I failed to release it. Aine was a patient teacher, working endlessly with me, but my frustration grew with each day that passed.
I trained with Nikolas in the afternoons, and I was pretty sure he was trying to keep me so exhausted I wouldn’t think about running away again. Each day he taught me a new move and made me work on it until he was satisfied it was perfect. Then we’d spend an hour on weapons training. Jordan suggested I try a sword, but after ten minutes with one, Nikolas declared I was not ready for that weapon. He focused on teaching me how to fight with a dagger instead.
After weapons came the dreaded conditioning. I thought it would get easier as the days passed, but as soon as I got used to something, Nikolas increased the intensity of the exercise or added a new one. In trainer mode, he was absolutely relentless. Every time I lagged, he pushed me to work harder, always reminding me that my enemies would not give me a break. Some days I wasn’t sure if he was trying to make me into a warrior or trying to show me that I wasn’t cut out to be one.
When he wasn’t training me or Jordan, Nikolas spent most of his time at the new command center they’d set up next door, which I hadn’t seen yet. Chris was gone so much he started sleeping over there. Left to our own devices, Jordan and I soon discovered living on an estate wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. There were only so many movies you could watch, and even books lost their appeal after a while. Jordan amused herself with video games and online shopping, but those held no interest for me. I talked to Roland and Greg every other day and caught up with David, who had been worried when I stayed out of touch for so long. Madeline had completely disappeared from sight, but David and Kelvan were still looking for her.