by Jamie Davis
Gemma nodded and turned to Clark. “Lead the way. The sooner we complete the testing, the sooner you can lend us a hand in helping Avery assume her role as the true Huntress.”
Naomi nodded and glanced at Clark. “Let’s do this.”
Clark gestured for them to follow him and started for the passage to the Hunter Chambers. Quinn wondered where they were going. She hoped it was the training maze she’d been through already. That would give her an advantage.
Instead of continuing down the long hall toward the underground chambers, he stopped at the large storeroom they’d converted into a training and sparring area. Quinn tried to hide her disappointment. This wasn’t going to give her any advantage.
“Let’s start with basic combat,” Clark said as he opened the door and switched on the light. “I assume Avery has had combat training?”
“She’s trained with the best weapons masters in the old country. She’s more than well-trained. There are those who’ve called her a master in her own right.” Gemma pointed to the practice weapons on the rack across the room. “Avery, select your weapon.”
Avery smiled and crossed to the rack, perusing the array of blunted weapons before choosing a wooden samurai sword similar to the one Quinn had seen her wield before. She ran through a few practice swings to test the weight and balance. Then she executed a complex series of acrobatic attack sequences. Each sent her spinning and twisting through the air as she made her way back across the practice mat toward the others. She finished on one knee with her blade extended in Quinn’s direction.
Quinn took a step backward before regaining her composure. She’d become distracted by the smoothness and ease with which Avery moved. She embodied beauty and strength at the same time, something Quinn had envied since the other had shown up in the bar the night before.
Stepping back beside Clark, she realized everyone’s eyes were on her. Did they want her to do that, too? Clark and Naomi knew she couldn’t begin to demonstrate the same level of mastery. She was good in a fight, but mostly she acted on instinct. Her early martial arts training at the city rec center, she’d used for simple self-defense on the street. It helped her with the training Clark had put her through, but it wasn’t anything like what Avery had displayed.
After an awkward pause, Quinn walked to the weapons rack and picked up the practice Bowie. She stepped back on the mat, moving to the center and waiting for Avery to join her.
Avery stepped forward and glanced at Quinn’s knife. “That’s your weapon of choice? This is going to be easier than I thought.”
“It suits me,” Quinn replied.
Avery snorted and assumed a guard stance.
Quinn glanced at her blade, realizing the knife’s disadvantage against the other girl’s sword. She usually trained to fight against unarmed supernatural creatures, only having to fend off fangs and claws. Assuming a stance similar to Avery’s, Quinn nodded and prepared to defend herself.
Gemma barked, “Begin.”
Avery darted forward to strike at Quinn, moving so fast her form blurred as Quinn tried to track and follow her. The only time Quinn had seen that kind of speed had been when watching Naomi move in combat. She’d always assumed her mother’s speed had to do with her vampire strength. Now she realized it came at least in part from her early Hunter training.
The practice katana slashed in at her and almost connected. Quinn barely managed to shift her Bowie around and parry the attack. She didn’t block the follow-up kick Avery launched.
It caught her in the shoulder. Quinn grunted as the spinning kick knocked her to the mat. She rolled to try to put some distance between herself and Avery.
Quinn came up on one knee, preparing to stand and stopped. Avery’s wooden blade rested against her throat.
“Yield.”
Quinn held her hands out at her side, letting her practice Bowie drop to the mat beside her. “I yield.”
Avery pulled the blade away and moved back to the center of the mat.
Quinn picked up her blade and stood, shaking her head. She hadn’t even had a chance to open her HUD and dial up stamina to boost her strength and speed. It had been over in a few seconds.
“Again,” Clark said. He glared at Quinn. “You can do better than that.”
Quinn nodded and walked back to the center of the mat. This time she opened her HUD and drew twenty-five percent off her stamina bar, adding to her strength and speed. She wished she knew how young hunter trainees learned how to do this naturally.
“Begin,” Gemma said.
This time Quinn was ready, and she met the incoming attack sequence without getting knocked down. She was unable to launch any attacks of her own, though. All her efforts focused on defense.
When Avery’s initial attack didn’t succeed in taking Quinn out, the other Huntress adjusted by using more complex attacks.
Clark had never moved like this in their training bouts, and Quinn struggled against combination attacks that had Avery backing her around the practice mat.
In desperation, Quinn launched a thrust at what she thought was an opening in Avery’s formidable defenses. The other girl twisted aside, so it met only air. She moved so fast, it caught Quinn completely by surprise.
Avery chopped down, catching Quinn’s forearm with the blunt edge of her blade.
Sharp pain stunned the muscles in Quinn’s wrist and hand. Once again, her blade dropped to the mat.
“Again,” Clark said, his dispassionate voice not matching the angry fire Quinn saw in his eyes.
Naomi’s face showed pity for her daughter. That angered Quinn even more than the look on Clark’s face.
Rubbing at her bruised forearm, Quinn tried to restore feeling to her tingling fingers. She bent down and retrieved her knife, returning to the center of the mat.
“Again,” Clark repeated.
She knew Clark was going to keep her at this until she found a way to beat the other girl. Quinn resigned herself to a long morning. Brushing away the dark hairs that had escaped her ponytail to dangle at the side of her face, Quinn assumed a ready stance once again, drawing even more power from her stamina bar.
Gemma sounded almost amused as she said, “Begin.”
Two hours later, Quinn stared at the mat from her hands and knees. Her stamina bar flashed red. She gasped to catch her breath and fight through the exhaustion.
Tilting her head, Quinn looked at Avery. She had rolled to her side and started to rise after Quinn’s surprise snap forward kick had launched her across the mat. It was only the third time she’d taken down the other girl all morning.
Quinn stood, stretching her aching and bruised body as she did.
“Enough,” Naomi said. “I think Gemma has made her point.”
“So, you concede that Avery is the true Huntress of prophecy?” Gemma asked.
“No,” Naomi said. “But you have demonstrated Avery has certain martial skills Quinn needs to improve upon.”
“Oh, come now, my dear. How can you deny the obvious? Avery is more a Huntress than your girl will ever be. Admit it.”
Clark stepped in and placed a hand on Naomi’s shoulder. “I think all Quinn has proven is that she doesn’t stay down long when she falls.”
Gemma started to counter him, and Clark held up a hand to forestall her. “Let’s let the ladies clean up and get something to drink up in Quinn’s apartment while we go order us all lunch. They can join us after they’ve changed.”
Quinn caught Clark’s glance in her direction. She nodded a thank you. His facial expression showed his disappointment and little else. She walked over to the weapons rack to return the wooden Bowie to it.
Avery came up and replaced her sword in its position with the other practice weapons. She rubbed at her wrist and forearm. “A little heavier than my sword, but that’s a good thing in a practice weapon, don’t you think?”
Quinn couldn’t understand how Avery could still be as fresh as she was. Even plastered with sweat from their sparring, sh
e looked like she could keep going for another two hours.
“How do you do it?” Quinn asked.
“Do what?”
“Why are you not completely wiped out by what we just did? I know you won most of the bouts, but I got some good attacks in, and you don’t seem to be nearly as exhausted as I am.”
“I wondered about that, too,” Avery said. “Why didn’t you refresh yourself?”
“We didn’t get a break until now.”
“It’s a way to tap into your core powers and rejuvenate your body during a conflict. You never learned to do that? It’s one of the first things they teach a young initiate.”
Quinn shook her head. “Clark must’ve forgotten that lesson, among other things.”
Avery looked over her shoulder to be sure they were alone. The others had left. “I can try to show you later if you want.”
Quinn’s gut reaction was to snap a sharp no, but she surprised herself. “That would be nice if you think you can?”
Avery smiled. “It can’t hurt to try. We can do it tonight after dinner.”
Quinn nodded and returned the other girl’s smile. The biggest pain about all this was that Avery wasn’t a horrible person. Under other circumstances, she and Quinn might have become friends, or maybe even more, instead of being rivals.
“Come on,” Quinn said. “Let’s go up to the apartment and shower and change. Then we can go eat. I could use some food to recharge.”
Avery nodded and followed her out of the sparring room.
Chapter Nine
By the end of the second day of training, Quinn was sure Clark was without a doubt the worst instructor in the world, followed closely by every other sensei she’d had growing up. Avery continued to beat back everything Quinn managed to throw at her while breaking through each of Quinn’s carefully crafted defensive sequences.
The worst part wasn’t that Quinn was losing. She’d lost before, and her competitive nature told her she’d find a way through it. There was no quit in her.
No, the worst of it was how likable Avery was, at least when she wasn’t lording her “true Huntress” status over Quinn. Even then, it wasn’t gloating. She acted like she was just stating a fact.
Avery’s striking beauty and self-confidence attracted Quinn to her so much that, despite the beatings she took, she still wanted to be around the other Huntress. She wanted to keep trying to show they were at least equals in many ways.
There was also a naiveté in Avery that puzzled Quinn. Despite being raised in Europe and having all that excellent training and skill under her belt, Avery hadn’t lived much.
Quinn’s time in the foster care system and on the streets had forced her to grow up fast. She had learned many skills early on, including the ability to read people and judge their intentions toward her, based on body language alone. Avery, on the other hand, seemed sheltered. Sure, she could kill a marauding werewolf without missing a beat, but she misread basic cues from Quinn about wanting her out of the apartment or when it was time to stop talking and go to bed.
After dinner on that second day, once they got upstairs, Quinn finally pressed the point. They entered the apartment after not saying a word to each other all through dinner and on the walk up from the bar afterward.
Despite Quinn’s ignoring her for the last hour and a half, Avery acted like nothing was wrong. She put her gear down on the small table in the kitchenette and said, “Hey, do you want to shower first, or can I claim the honor since I won all the bouts today?”
“We should fight for it? Is that what you’re saying?” Quinn snapped back.
Avery’s jaw dropped, and she gaped at Quinn. “Are you angry with me?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, cut the act. You can’t be that stupid. You know so much about everything else in the world.”
“Stupid about what?” Avery asked.
Judging from her confused expression, Quinn’s estimate of Avery’s ability to read social cues was right on target.
Quinn spread her arms and indicated the apartment as she turned in place. “About all this, about me, about what you’re trying to do here. It’s like you don’t see what Gemma instigated by bringing you here.”
“I don’t understand. We came here to enlist your help in our mission to restore the clans through the prophecy of the Huntress. She told you that when we first arrived. I was there, remember?”
“That’s what she told us, but you see, we already had our own clan here in Baltimore. We didn’t need anyone coming in to try to show us what we were doing wrong.”
“But— “
Quinn cut Avery off. “Never mind. You’re not going to figure it out anytime soon. This is my apartment, so I’m taking the first shower. You can wait until I’m finished.”
Avery didn’t answer as Quinn went into her room, slamming the door. As it shut, she smiled, taking satisfaction with how clueless the European Huntress seemed about her outburst.
Good, Quinn thought. Avery could ponder it while she cleaned up and see how she liked feeling on the outside for a change.
Quinn went into her bedroom and stripped down, then headed into the bathroom to soak under the hot spray of the showerhead while she soothed her bruises from the last two days of defeats.
Twenty minutes later, Quinn returned to her room and changed into a pair of sweatpants from her high school lacrosse team. She also pulled on a black t-shirt with a stylized Maryland flag in the shape of a crab on it.
As she sat on her bed and brushed out her long dark hair, Quinn listened to the shower running. Her thoughts drifted to Avery, who was probably trying to relax her own tired muscles. Quinn had landed more than a few blows today, although not as many as Avery had. Did the other girl have bruises on that pale, freckled skin?
Thinking of Avery in the shower distracted Quinn so much she didn’t see the dragon egg. It was perched on her pillow, where it had been all day while she was away. It rocked back and forth a few times until it rolled free of the pillow and across the blanket to nudge Quinn’s hip. She glanced down and snorted a laugh.
“What? Do you think I’m being too hard on her?”
The egg quivered once and rocked back and forth before settling back into stillness.
“That’s easy for you to say. It’s not like you have some already-hatched super-hot, dragon girl around telling how you’re not measuring up.”
A long vibration against her hip gave Quinn the impression the thing was chuckling at her.
“Okay, you can stop right there. I get it. She’s attractive. Hell, she’s hot, even. That doesn’t mean I want anything to happen between us. It’s not like we have anything in common at all.”
The egg didn’t move this time.
“Oh, no comment?” She shook her head. “What good is it to have a secret romance to share with someone if you’re not going to respond when I drop a real question on you?”
“Who are you talking to?” Avery, wrapped in a towel, asked from the open door.
Quinn’s head jerked around, and she felt the heat rising to her face. How much had she heard?
“Um, I didn’t hear you come out of the shower.”
“Gemma says I’m naturally stealthy. I sneak up on people by accident all the time.” Avery walked over and peeked around Quinn to the nightstand. “Your phone isn’t on. Were you talking to yourself?”
“No, I’m not weird or anything.” Quinn glanced down at the egg and back up at Avery.
Avery’s gaze followed Quinn’s eyes. “Is that what I think it is?”
“That depends. What do you think it is?” Quinn asked.
“It looks like a dragon egg,” Avery replied. “A variety of chromatic green from the look of it.”
“How do you know all this stuff, but you can’t pick up on all the clues I’ve been dropping about you being here?”
Avery shrugged. “I had to study a lot about supernatural creatures growing up. It was required reading, and Gemma would test me on it all the time. As to
the other, I guess I’m not that good at reading people. I’ve never hung around other girls my own age before.”
“Well, obviously,” Quinn said, rolling her eyes. She realized her tone was harsh and regretted it. “Look, I’m sorry. I’m sore and tired.”
Avery smiled and sat down with the dragon egg between them. Quinn’s floral shampoo smelled nice in the other girl’s hair.
“It’s okay if you were talking to the egg. I have an old steel helmet in my room at the castle. It’s been sitting in the windowsill since I was little, maybe for hundreds of years. I drew eyes on it once with charcoal from the fireplace, so it didn’t feel so weird when I talked to it. Sometimes I feel like it’s my only friend in the world.”
Quinn smiled, trying to picture Avery chatting with a rusty old helmet.
Avery returned the smile and said, “Great, now you think I’m the crazy one.”
“No, I was just thinking about how much you and I are suddenly alike when I didn’t think there was any way we could be.”
“At least you’re talking to something that could be alive, potentially. Mine is somebody’s medieval trash left behind in the room I call home.”
“You said you lived in a castle?” Quinn asked. “That must be pretty cool.”
“If by cool you mean damp and chilly, then yes, it’s cool. Gemma found a warded fortress in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. She took me there to be safe during the purges. I never knew my parents. I was too young.”
Quinn shrugged. “Me either, at least not until recently. I never knew my dad. They put me up for adoption when I was a baby.”
“But isn’t Naomi your mother? Having a vampire for a mother must be—”
“Fun?” Quinn replied. “Not really. We’ve only just reconnected. I’m still trying to figure out what we are to each other. Mostly she just finds ways to make my life miserable, usually with new training challenges.”
“You mean like Gemma does?”
Their eyes met, and they burst out laughing.
After a minute, Quinn wiped her eyes. “I guess mothers come in all types and sizes.”