“So, are we going to work, or what?”
“How did you do that?” I followed her.
“I don’t know. I just—focused. It was easy for me.”
I wasn’t sure, but she sounded smug. Something else she had on me.
She pulled open the door, and I followed her in.
“What’s first?” My voice quivered, in spite of myself. I tried to look comfortable in my own skin. It was easier than it had been before I’d met Tyler, before Elliot had changed me. But I still felt awkward, standing there in front of her.
“We don’t need to work on your speed or strength. That’s natural now, thanks to Elliot.” It wasn’t exactly a compliment. “But we definitely need to work on technique. You hurt yourself pretty badly on Friday.” Her eyes traveled down my body. “And you’re still stiff. We heal quickly, so you must have been in a lot of pain.”
“A little.” In truth, I hadn’t been able to sleep for hours the first night because I couldn’t find a way to lie down without aching.
“So why don’t we work on some basics? Elliot went over tons of martial arts stuff. Karate, Taekwondo, Capoeira. Stuff to make you smoother, more precise.”
“But the creatures don’t—they don’t—” I couldn’t finish. I didn’t want to imagine the thin bodies and black eyes facing off in a gym somewhere, learning technique. When we’d talked about their training facility, and their preparations, I hadn’t really thought it through.
“Obviously they train.” She answered before I finished the thought. “Not the same way we do—and not the same disciplines. But for every combat style we have, for everything human beings have come up with, they have something better.”
Comforting. So comforting.
“That’s why we’d never go toe-to-toe with them,” she went on. “But Elliot always said that’s why we’d be effective. They don’t fight like we do. They’re more instinctual and they have more physical strength. Our bodies work differently, so they don’t anticipate the way we fight. We also have control.” She shrugged, adding almost as an afterthought, “And Elliot’s blood. There’s something about what he’s given us—we may not be as physically strong, but he always said that, when we’re ready, we could totally take those things.”
“Then make me ready.” I steadied myself. She felt my fear, but I didn’t want that to be the only thing she felt from me.
“The first thing you need to do,” she began, bringing her arms up toward her face and rounding her shoulders, “is get your guard up.”
“Boxing?” I almost laughed. I thought she said we’d never go toe-to-toe. And she had me boxing them?
“Boxing uses it. But so does most everything else. If you don’t have a guard, how are you supposed to protect yourself? You need to be set for any attack.” Her hands gripped into fists on each side of her face, her chin tucked down. “You also want to keep your chin down, to protect your throat, and your arms tucked in close. They go for vital organs.” If she didn’t feel my fear before, she definitely felt it then. Wordlessly, I mirrored her stance. “Don’t let them get in behind you, either. Always face your attacker.” Her fist shot out.
I dodged it instinctively. Anticipating my move, she swung her other one out toward me. I deflected that one with my arm, and followed with a blow to her chin. Pain shot up my arm and my thumb throbbed.
“Thumbs on the outside.” She ignored the sudden swelling below her bottom lip. She held up my injured hand, taking my fingers and closing them tight, tucking the thumb against the outside of them. “Always thumbs on the outside. I thought everyone knew that.”
I didn’t, but I would remember.
“And nice block. Now hit me again.”
I considered her, hesitating.
“Not in the face this time, please.” She turned her body slightly, offering me a shot at her left arm. “Hit me as hard as you can.”
I mimicked her stance, and held my fists the way she’d shown me. I jabbed, slowing at the last second. She’d braced herself and barely moved as I connected, but her right arm jerked with the impact. She winced and sucked in air quickly through her teeth.
After a moment, she snapped, “That wasn’t as hard as you could.”
She was in pain. I dropped my guard and leaned over to ask if she was okay.
Her right arm shot out and connected solidly with my face. She hadn’t pulled her punch, and I was flat on my back, staring up at the gray ceiling, my jaw throbbing.
She stood over me, her expression satisfied. “If you’re not on your guard, you’re on the ground.” She was too pleased for someone who’d just got in a lucky sucker punch. “And you need to move your fists quicker. They can’t know what hit them.” She held out her hand.
I took it and let her help me up.
“Now, again.”
The time passed quicker than I expected. When I got to school just after the bell, I’d already begun to heal. I felt stiff, though, and by third period, I dreaded sitting through any more classes. Instead, I went to the cafeteria to wait for Tyler. I sat at an empty table along the farthest edge of the room. There were enough kids on spares for me to blend in. I was glad Lisa was in class. The last thing I needed was to have her prying.
“How was it?” His voice sounded beside my ear. He’d meant for me to jump when he’d crept up, but I’d felt him there before he spoke.
“Hey, Ty.” I didn’t turn around.
“Knew I was here, didn’t you?” He swung into the chair across the table from me.
“Yeah. Don’t you have class?”
“I told Miller I had to leave early for a dentist appointment.”
“You know we need a note for that?” I was sure that he knew it.
“He doesn’t care. He’s a few months from retiring. Aren’t you going to ask how I knew you were here?”
“Probably the same way I knew you were behind me.”
“It’s seriously getting stronger, right? I mean, I can tell when you’re close by. And I knew when you were getting hurt, too.” He lightly traced my chin with his fingertip.
I tried to breathe normally. His eyes, shaded by his dark lashes, were focused on my mouth. I leaned back quickly, breaking contact before he saw himself through my mind.
He shifted his gaze back to mine. “Was it helpful?”
“What?”
“Training. Was it helpful?”
“Oh. Yeah. It’s weird being suddenly good at something, you know? But then realizing there are also these huge holes.”
“Yeah. I guess it was a little easier for us. Elliot was around then. Training with him was amazing.”
“Sorry I got him killed.” It popped out before I had a chance to think. Instant regret swept in. I’d already come to the conclusion that his death was on me—even though I had no idea what he’d been doing there or why I’d been shot. Even though I didn’t control the lightning. He was there, in the rain, because of me. But I hadn’t meant for Tyler to see it that way.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He spoke softly. The lunch bell rang. He waited until it was quiet again and then added, “His mission was the cause, Rachel. For him, that meant protecting us no matter what.” The way he said my name was more soothing than the words themselves. The topic died quickly though, as a sea of people flooded the cafeteria in a ruckus.
Lisa would be among them somewhere. Were we still friends? Maybe I didn’t deserve to be friends with her. I mean, what kind of friend would keep the things I knew a secret? Tyler looked around us, too, at the groups of teens gathering at the tables. The hum blended together into a cacophony of voices, each one indistinguishable. I observed the crowd of students more carefully, focused on seeing their lights. They weren’t lit up like Tyler, across from me, but the colors and tones were beautiful just the same. And they had no idea. Not about the light within them, nor about the darkness trying to break through. They were wrapped up in life’s normalcy, in activities and routines. They had no idea that the creatures worked on a
way into our world.
“How long do you think we have?” I didn’t have to explain what I meant.
“No idea. I hope long enough.”
“Why do we keep it from everyone? Don’t they have a right to know?” I scowled.
His eyes swept slowly over the room, scanning their energies. “I don’t know. Would they believe us?” His eyes flickered back to my face and then down at his hands on the table. “I don’t know.”
“What if we’re too late?”
“We have to make sure we’re not.”
But how? I wanted to ask. His brow furrowed and his lips were drawn into a thin line. Frustration and concern emanated from him. He didn’t have the answers I was looking for. I reached across the table and laid my hands over his. His gaze flicked down at them and then back up at me.
“We have to make sure we’re not.” I repeated his phrase with a confidence we both knew I didn’t have.
He smiled wryly at me. His smile broadened as his gaze shifted, and he pushed an image at me. Lisa sat at a table a few feet behind mine, gawking at my hands on Tyler’s. I was almost used to seeing myself through his viewpoint. Lisa whispered to two girls she was with, and they turned and looked. I pulled my hand away from his and rolled my eyes.
“You know they all think you’re totally corrupting me.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe they think you were already corrupted and just won’t admit it.” He was teasing, but he was right. It would give them a way to explain what happened with Jared. “We could sit with them if you want.”
Did I want that? Lisa had been my best friend. I shook my head. “Let’s not.”
“Okay. Hungry?” That was an easy one.
“Always.”
The subsequent training sessions were easier in some ways but more difficult in others. The techniques Sarah taught me helped focus my attacks, move more quickly, listen to the signals my own mind and body gave me. The more she worked with me, the faster I caught on. But it was harder to hold back when I was training with her. My strength developed swiftly. By our fifth session, my focus was on not hurting her. I expected her to be frustrated that I became so much stronger, but the opposite was true. The more I advanced, the more at ease she seemed, the more our energies connected.
Although Sarah and I trained alone, the whole group continued to meet. Because I’d improved so much, nobody worked with me. I was relegated to the sidelines. I didn’t mind. Usually, I spotted what they did wrong. What I wasn’t crazy about was Tyler sparing with Sarah, but it made sense. They were strongest, behind me, most evenly matched. Besides, I had no claim on Tyler.
“Again!” Sarah called out, and I swallowed my irritation for the third time in the last hour. Tyler didn’t say a word. He rolled over onto all fours from his back and pushed himself up to standing, turning to face Sarah. She’d used the same move, successfully, against him three times in a row. He should’ve been able to counter her. He didn’t glance up but wiped his moist palms on his sweats and crouched into readiness again. Dee and Jonathan stopped to watch the pair. In seconds, Tyler was down.
Sarah’s instant laugh echoed off the walls. I stepped quickly to him before he got to his feet. He blinked up at me but made no attempt to lift his head from the concrete floor. His expression was not merely frustration but utter hopelessness.
Sarah was better than he was. What was worse was he knew those things better than she did. What chance did he have? His sense of defeat radiated from the others, filling the room.
I offered him my hand, and he allowed me to pull him up. Rather than let go, I sent him the image in my mind, what he needed to do to beat her.
It took less than a second, and he had it. His energy shifted. He let go and nodded at me, flashing a quick grin. I kept my expression neutral. They didn’t need to know I’d helped.
“Let’s go!” Sarah called. She raked her fingers through her short hair as her posture shifted to attack.
At Tyler’s quick nod, she sprung forward, jabbing with her right, but this time, he slipped to her left and threw a solid left hook at her head. He moved to strike again. As she raised her arms to block, he swept her legs out from under her.
Even as she fell, he leapt onto her, pinning her arms against the concrete. She struggled for a moment, then sighed, relaxing under his hold. He got up, grinning.
He’d beaten her. Hope surged from Dee and Jonathan.
Sarah dusted herself off, and even she seemed relieved.
“On that note, let’s call it a night.” Nobody argued. They were exhausted.
“Want a ride?” Tyler asked as we headed toward the gate.
“Thanks, but I barely moved tonight. I’d like to run.”
He shrugged, then lowered his voice slightly. “I wouldn’t have figured out how to avoid Sarah’s attack if you hadn’t shown me.” He touched my arm and replayed a montage of his losses.
“You would have, eventually. But I couldn’t wait for you. We have a math test in the morning, so I need some sleep tonight.”
He groaned. “Math. I’m totally going to fail that one.”
“Yeah, me, too.” It wasn’t true. I wasn’t doing my homework, and I was less than mentally present when I made it to class, but my mind worked faster than ever. Whatever changes were happening, they weren’t just physical.
“Hey, can I catch a ride?” Sarah scaled the fence and landed lightly beside me.
“Sure.” He glanced quickly up at me.
I resisted the urge to touch Sarah’s shoulder as she passed and see what she was thinking. Instead, I shifted my gaze to the road as she climbed on the back of the bike. I should have taken the ride. I pushed the thought away, hoping they didn’t detect my jealousy. Sarah and Tyler made sense, of course. But I hated how seeing her arms wrapped around his waist made me feel.
“See you tomorrow,” I called as I jogged away, leaving the low rumble of the motorcycle behind me. I sped the pace into a run.
Chapter Eleven
When I got home, the house was dark. I turned the doorknob carefully so even the click of the latch was quiet. I eased the door mostly open, stopping short of where it creaked, and edged in. I froze on the threshold.
Illuminated by the nightlight, Mikey stood at the kitchen counter with a glass of water and an empty plate beside him. His jaw dropped as he registered my unexpected presence in the doorway, sneaking back in after one in the morning.
I was so caught.
He recovered quickly. “Where have you been?” His voice was cold. He slammed the glass on the counter. For a man who wasn’t my father, he willingly played the role when it suited him.
“Sorry.” I avoided his eyes. “Lisa had a crisis. She needed me to come over.”
He shook his head before I’d finished. “No excuse for leaving without asking. Get upstairs. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“Mikey—”
“Now.” He cut me off.
“Listen, I—”
“That’s enough!” he shouted.
I winced. No way Mom slept through that. She was probably listening and waiting for me to diffuse the situation.
I wasn’t in the mood to diffuse anything. I stepped toward him. If he really wanted to play Dad, I’d let him help me with my long-overdue training. I hadn’t tried to pull thoughts from any ordinaries before. It was as good a time as any to practice with a person I wasn’t connected to. I rested my hand on his arm.
“Sorry I let you down.” I tried to make my voice sound sincere. I searched as quickly as possible inside his mind for a menial piece of information. Definitely did not want anything too personal. I considered the empty plate. His food would be especially difficult because it wasn’t on his mind at all. Perfect.
I read his anger loud and clear. He didn’t buy my apology.
But there—just below his current ire was his memory from earlier this evening. He’d reached in the fridge and pulled out a box. Pizza. He’d plopped two hefty slices on a plate, then
watched it circle around and around in the microwave.
He glared at my hand, then jerked his arm away from my touch.
“Was it the last slice of pizza?” I wanted to know if I was right.
“Who cares if it was the last one?” he exploded, flinging the plate against the wall beside me. It shattered, throwing shards of glass over the carpet and my hair. I ducked. “I said, get upstairs!”
I whirled without a word and took the stairs two at a time. I’d rarely seen his temper, but I knew it existed. Usually, I just stayed out of his way, which suited us both fine. He never revealed it to my mom—guess he had better sense than to do that.
I slammed my door and lay down on my bed. My heart pounded, but it wasn’t fear. It was elation. Adrenaline. I did it. I found a random thought in someone—when he wasn’t even thinking it. And, if I could read someone like that, maybe I’d find the information we needed from the creatures. Maybe we could actually win this thing. We’d find their bridge. We’d destroy it. We’d destroy them.
I studied the ceiling, but my hands clenched into fists. I was amped up from pondering the creatures, from the team sparing in the warehouse, from the confrontation with Mikey. I pictured his face, contorted in anger. He actually thought he had power over me. But he didn’t. Not anymore. He had no idea what I was capable of doing.
There was no way I could sleep yet. I wondered if Tyler actually would have figured out how to beat Sarah on his own. We were improving every day, but we weren’t making enough progress. How much time do we have until we’re too late? We’re so busy preparing we aren’t going anywhere.
The idea came to me unexpectedly. Why couldn’t I keep training, on my own? I could cross over anytime, explore by myself. In and out were easy by that time. I wouldn’t have to stay long. Just look around, find some information, take a few of them out. Training.
I stood and gazed at the wall in front of me. I knew Tyler wouldn’t like it. Sarah would be mad, but I was pretty sure she would have gone on her own already if she knew how to open a portal.
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