“Landon, please, just fight, damn it.”
I swallowed hard. “All right. Ready?”
She adjusted her stance—feet apart, left leg to the front, her torso turned to me, and fists raised, protecting her chest and chin. “Ready.”
I positioned myself, much like her, and said, “Go!”
As if practicing a dance, Tessa and I started moving, circling each other, watching our arms and feet, waiting for the other to give something away, to show the next move before it happened.
Three full circles later, Tessa showed me a devilish grin. “Why aren’t you attacking?”
“Why aren’t you attacking?”
“Are you afraid of hitting a girl?” she teased.
“If I can avoid it, I don’t hit anyone, but to answer your question, no. I’m not afraid of hitting girls.”
That smile widened. “Then you’re afraid of getting your ass kicked by a girl.”
Shit. She was like sin looking at me that way.
With a groan, I stepped forward and attacked.
She easily stepped aside, deflecting my punch and answering it with a roundhouse kick to my side. But before her leg could connect with my stomach, I threw my arm away from my body, blocking her movement. She straightened her arm, ready to connect with my jaw. I turned my body ninety degrees, avoiding the hit, but I felt the whoosh of her fist flying by my face.
Stunned, I stepped back, putting some distance between us. Damn, she was fast.
Not even a second later, she came at me.
She feigned a punch to my shoulder, which made me twist to dodge it, but she was ready for that. She landed a perfect roundhouse kick to my chest—knocking the air out of my lungs. I inhaled sharply, not wanting to give in so easily. Since she was close, I went for a hand strike to her neck, but she stepped back, turned around, and prepared for a back kick.
I stepped into her space and pressed both my hands on her lower back, pushing her hard. She stumbled and fell forward with a cry. Gracefully, she rolled before her knees could connect with the mat, and straightened, her hands on her hips. Her stormy blue eyes shot daggers at me.
“Hey, that’s not fair.”
“Oh, you think demons will play fair?” I asked, going back to my initial spot. She opened her mouth as if to argue with me, but then she snapped it shut. I gestured for her to follow my lead. “Demons don’t fight like in martial arts. It’s great you can and it gives you a great advantage over a normal person, but depending on the demon, it won’t save your life.”
“Like that demon the other night,” she muttered, probably remembering how she had landed a flawless side kick to the demon and it hadn’t helped.
“Exactly.”
“Then why are we training?”
“Because you’ll need to improve your stamina if you want to fight demons.”
She frowned. “As if one or two training sessions would make a huge difference.”
“It might.” I raised my fists. “Now, let’s do it again.”
Tessa didn’t waste time. She lunged at me with all she had.
And I had to admit. The girl could fight. She wasn’t just fast; her movements were also fluid and graceful, and she had a surprising strength for someone her size.
Amid the fight, she did another roundhouse kick. Trying to make her improvise, I caught her leg with my arms. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t stop. She grabbed my shoulders with her hands, hauled herself up on my torso, and landed a nasty knee strike on my stomach. Wheezing, I let her go.
She landed on the floor with a slight bend of her knees, then she raised her fists and shot me a come-hither look.
Oh, this girl.
Feeling a smile wanting to burst through, I went at her. Like a bull, I rushed at her and took her by the waist. She let out a surprised gasp, but she set her feet firmly on the ground, slowing me, and brought down both arms on my back. A groan ripped out of my throat as I let go of her and landed on my knees. She brought her leg back, ready to knee me in the chest or the face, so I pushed back to stand up. Her knee grazed my stomach, making me lose my balance, and I went down again, on my back this time.
A loud huff came out from my lips.
With a wild grin, Tessa straddled me, her legs tight on either side of mine, her hips right above mine, and her hands planted on my chest.
“So.” She leaned over me with a smug smile. Her ponytail was loose and strands of her hair curled around her shoulders and fell toward me. “Did I pass?”
Shit, this position. The woman above me.
Words fled and all I could do was stare at her beautiful face, while I felt the heat coming from her body, felt the pressure of her legs around mine.
The smile slid off her face, and her eyes widened. A second later, she was up and three feet away from me. “Hm, so, that was a good fight, right?”
She stared at her feet as I stood.
“Yes, you passed.” I pushed all other thoughts from my mind and took a deep breath, focusing on why I had insisted we trained together in the first place. “But remember, I’m human too. We’ll be dealing with faster, stronger creatures. You have to be alert at all times.”
She lifted her eyes to me, a hint of a smile on her lips. “So, that means I can go hunting with you?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. You have to pass one more test.”
Seven
TESSA
* * *
“You’re kidding me, right?”
Walking ahead of me, Landon let out what sounded like a chuckle. Had he seriously just chuckled at me?
“Just … don’t overthink it.”
Don’t overthink it? We were walking among rows of shelves filled with too many weapons. And it wasn’t only guns and rifles. The demon hunters had grenades, land mines, daggers, straight swords, curved swords, bo staffs, axes, spears, nunchucks, throwing stars, throwing knifes, and so many other weapons I had never seen before.
Landon stopped in front of a shelf, picked up a hand gun and ammo, then walked a few more steps and took a sword. He turned into another aisle and grabbed a curved dagger.
“Come on,” he said, turning around.
I followed him as we exited the main weaponry of the manor—as far as I knew there was a hidden closet in almost all of the rooms, just in case—and we went back to the training room. Instead of standing on the mat, Landon pushed open tall sliding panels, revealing a shooting range.
He put some bullets in the gun and offered it to me.
I stared at the weapon in his hand but didn’t reach for it.
“What’s the problem?”
I gulped. “I don’t really like guns.”
Worry lines marred his smooth forehead. “You didn’t seem to have a problem with it the other night.”
A wave of rage and embarrassment rolled in my stomach. “I wasn’t thinking, okay? I was just … feeling, I guess.”
“That feeling is good, if you know how to use it.” Gently he took my hand in his, turned it palm up, and placed the gun in it. The metal was cold and heavy, and I wanted to throw it away. He curled my fingers around the handle. “Don’t let the rage and sorrow blind you. It isn’t simple and may require some training too, but you can use the rage and sorrow to make your mind clearer. It can be your guide. Just take a deep breath.” He inhaled deeply, and I did the same. “And let it all go.” Exhaling, I turned to the paper target at the other end of the room. “Aim and press the trigger. Watch out for kickback.”
I took another deep breath and aimed right at the silhouette’s forehead. I held my breath for three seconds, focusing, focusing, focusing. Then I exhaled and pulled the trigger.
The kickback was stronger than I anticipated, and I took a step back to keep from falling.
“Not bad,” Landon said, his tone amused.
There was a hole in the paper, but it was a few inches off the mark. “Not bad? It was terrible.”
“This was the first time you ever shot a gun, right?” I nodded. “
Then it’s not bad.” He gestured to the target. “Do it again.”
I sighed. I breathed in and out and shot. I was prepared for the kickback this time and was able to stand my ground, though my arms jerked with the force of the shot.
The new hole on the paper was right between the middle of the silhouette’s forehead and my previous hole, but still outside the mark.
“Better,” Landon said. “Again.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, chanting, “I can do it,” in my mind. Then I took in a long breath, held it, and let it out when I squeezed the trigger. My arms ached again from the kickback, but this time, I hit just shy of the silhouette’s outer line.
“Here.” Landon stepped behind me, his body looming over me. I held my breath as he reached around me and closed his hands on my wrists. His wide chest molded to my back and his voice was right in my ear when he said, “Don’t make your arms that hard and straight.” He shook my arms a little until the tension, or most of it, faded. “Keep your elbows bent, so you can absorb the kickback better.” He slid his hands up my arms and curled his fingers around my shoulders. “And relax. No one here is judging you.”
I whipped my head to him. Such a mistake. His face, his gorgeous face and plump lips, were two inches from mine. I swallowed hard and locked my gaze on his bright hazel eyes. “You are,” I muttered.
“Not really. I just want to see where you stand.” His gaze flicked to my mouth, then he held my stare. Unflinching. Where I stand? What did he mean by that? “Do it.” I stared at him. Do what? He jerked his chin to the range. “Shoot.”
“Right,” I muttered, facing the paper target once again.
Landon’s hands were back on my arms, cupping my elbows. “Remember to keep these bent.”
“Right,” I said again.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, focusing, focusing, focusing. On the target across the room, not on the man standing behind me, with his chest glued to my back, his mouth so close to my ear, his big hands on my arms, and his spice and woody scent making me dizzy.
I shook my head once. Focusing, focusing, focusing.
Exhaling, I opened my eyes and shot. The kickback was manageable and the shot … “Bull’s-eye!” I cried. The hole was right where I wanted—in the middle of the silhouette’s forehead.
“Great.” Landon patted my shoulder, then stepped back. “Now do it again, but aim for the heart.”
Feeling proud of myself, I did it. I aimed for the heart and missed it by a hair. It took me two more tries, but I finally hit home. Landon kept telling me where to shoot—wrist, shoulder, hip, knee, foot—testing my aim. I always hit the target.
“I think I’m getting good at this,” I said with a smile.
“We’ll see.” Landon glanced from me to the paper target. “Do it all over again.”
“What do you mean?”
“Start from the top. Aim for the head, then heart, then wrist, etc., but this time, I want to see you hit the spot on the first try.”
My shoulders sagged, and I glanced at him. “How long will I have to do this? I thought we had a demon to catch.”
He tsked. “There hasn’t been any activity from that demon since … that night.” He pressed his lips tight. I guess talking about my father’s death was still painful. “Until then, we’ll train. And then train some more.”
I gaped at him. “We’ve been at this for over two hours now. How about a break?”
He glanced to his phone. “It’s the middle of the morning. We’ll have a break at lunchtime.”
“I practice martial arts three times a week, one hour per class. That’s it. I’m not used to this intensity, you know?”
“Then you’ll have to get used to it.”
“I won’t train all day long.”
He crossed his arms. “If you want to go out there with me, hell yeah, you will.”
I dropped the gun on the low table to my right. “Then you’ll have to make me.”
* * *
LANDON
* * *
Stubborn like her father.
I had rarely argued with Isaac, but the few times we had was because he had been so stubborn. Even when he knew he was wrong, he wouldn’t let go and admit it.
And his daughter was exactly the same.
Tessa darted out of the training room, and shocked by her boldness, it took me a few precious seconds to go after her. By the time I made it to her bedroom, she had the door locked.
I banged on the thin wood. “You’re acting like a child!”
“I don’t care,” she said in a singsong voice. “I’m gonna take a shower, put on some nice clothes, and I’m going downtown.”
That only made me madder. “The hell you are!”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Yes, I can,” I snarled.
She didn’t answer me.
Holy shit, this woman.
I groaned, pulled out my master key—almost all hunters had a key enchanted by a witch—and used it to unlock the door. I wouldn’t let her play like that, damn it. We would return to the training room even if I had to carry her over my shoulder, or pull her by her hair, cave man style.
I pushed the bedroom’s door open and didn’t see her. What was she up to now? She was hiding from me?
But, as I stepped into the room, I realized she wasn’t kidding. The bathroom door was ajar, and through the large mirror over the sink, I saw her back—her naked back—as she leaned into the shower and turned it on.
As if sensing my gaze, she glanced over her shoulder to the mirror. “Landon!”
Heat spread through my chest and low in my stomach, and I stared at the floor. “Sorry!”
She appeared at the door, a towel wrapped around her, and a big, furious frown. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean … I thought you were kidding about taking a shower.”
“I told you I wasn’t,” she hissed.
“I didn’t see anything. I mean, I saw just your back, not even …” I gestured to her waist and hips. Red, from rage and embarrassment, flooded her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“Get out!” She pointed to the door. I turned and marched to the door. “I am going into town, and if you want to come with me, I suggest you take a shower and change too.”
I didn’t say anything as I left the room and closed the door. I leaned against the wall outside and let out a long breath. Shit. She already hated me before. She probably hated me even more now.
I shouldn’t care about that. It was better if she hated me. I would let her help avenge her father, and then she would go back to college and her life and forget all about hunters, as it should be.
In a few minutes, she would stroll through Willow Harbor. She could do that by herself too. I could stay and research the demon some more. We still didn’t know what kind of demon this one was. I hated that.
I imagined Tessa walking around Willow Harbor alone. There were witches and vampires and shifters all over town. She would probably bump into a few, maybe even talk to them, and she would have no clue.
I growled and pushed away from the wall.
It seemed I was going for a walk around downtown too.
Eight
LANDON
* * *
I wish I could experience seeing Willow Harbor for the first time again.
When Isaac brought me here, I was ten years old. Back then, I didn’t care about the town. I didn’t understand what it all meant, what being a hunter meant, why so many supernatural beings came here. I hadn’t understood why this town was so important and had to be protected.
Now, as I parked my car in front of the town’s main square, which was actually a long rectangle, I wished I could see Willow Harbor through Tessa’s eyes.
First, I drove down Ocean Drive, the last road before the beach. I started close to the abandoned amusement park and went as far as the road took us, just away enough that we could see the lighthouse and the pier in the distance.
I kept stealing glances at her while she gawked at it all. I guess it was a beautiful view with the long, wide sidewalk, the small stores on one side, the white sand and the ocean on the other. There wasn’t one single cloud in the radiating blue sky, and the sun was high and warm, casting a bright shine that reflected over the water, making it look clearer, bluer.
Then I took Central Avenue and drove us downtown. I parked the car right at the central square near Main Street.
She hopped out of the car and looked around, a small smile on her lips. “It looks so cute. So friendly.”
I walked around the car and approached her. “For the most part, it is.”
“The cute or the friendly part?”
“Both.”
She stared at me, her nose scrunched, as if she thought I was crazy.
We hadn’t mentioned the incident in her bedroom again. She didn’t call me on it or accused me of being a perv. I swear I wasn’t. I thought she was being stubborn, being a pain in the ass. I had no idea I would find her naked, getting ready to shower. And, as much as I tried, I couldn’t get that image, that perfect image, from my mind. I had barely seen anything. I had only seen her back, her smooth, fair back. I hadn’t even seen her ass—the height of the mirror made sure of that, and still, I couldn’t remember a time when I had seen a hotter, more sensual image.
We walked the perimeter of the square, and I pointed out the many shops and businesses around and the supernaturals who worked or lived nearby.
“There’s the library.” I pointed to a building resembling an old Greek temple. I wondered what she thought of the sand-colored stones and tall pillars and heavy ceiling. “Mattie works there. She’s a human, but her boyfriend is Pierce, a true shapeshifter.” She raised her eyebrows at me, and I quickly explained to her a true shapeshifter could shift into any form. “There’s the bookstore.” I gestured to another building, a more contemporary one with golden double doors and lots of glass windows and a few red brick and green paint details. “Claire, a panther shifter, is the owner. She’s currently going out with Mason, a vampire who works as a graphic designer.”
Hunter’s Revenge: Willow Harbor - book 3 Page 5