by A. P. Jensen
“Don’t think I forgot what we were talking about,” she breathed.
“I’ll make you forget.”
He speeded up his thrusts and her body locked down as pleasure ricocheted through her. He whispered wicked things in her ear that pushed her closer to the edge of ecstasy. She was dimly aware of the bathroom door closing as Maggie went to shower and the slow steps of G-Ma as she headed out of the hallway.
Raven’s hips surged off the wall as her climax hit. She let out a muffled scream and tossed her head back as she rode it out. Cain tucked his head down on her shoulder and her ass hit the wall in a rhythm no one could mistake, but she didn’t care anymore. Cain bit down on her shoulder as he climaxed and then staggered to the bed where they lay on their sides facing one another. Cain brushed kisses over her face and wrapped himself around her.
He said something in a low, rumbly voice, but she couldn’t hear since her ears were ringing. She patted his chest and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eight
Something pushed at Raven’s sleeping mind. Her hand reached for the gun on the nightstand before she opened her eyes. She squinted in the dim light of morning and pinpointed the presence that interrupted her sleep. The gun moved of its own accord to a dark corner of the room.
Not bad, Jackie said telepathically.
You better have a good excuse for being in here, she grouched.
I’m going to train you.
That made her lower the gun in surprise. She shifted against Cain and he tightened his hold on her. Train?
That’s why you came to us, right? You want to know about your power.
She nodded. I’ll be out in a minute.
Jackie walked through the wall and she carefully tried to extricate herself from Cain.
“The next time he comes in our bedroom, I’m going to shoot him,” Cain mumbled.
She froze and he opened one eye.
“What did he want?”
“He’s going to train me.”
Cain frowned. “How do you know? He was only here for a couple seconds.”
She shrugged. “I just know. Maybe it’s a sibling thing. I’m gonna get dressed.”
Five minutes later, she padded through the quiet house and walked outside. The blast of cold wasn’t welcome and it took her several minutes to accustom herself to the temperature. Luester stood by the SUVs with Batman who wasn’t bothered by the cold. Maybe he was some kind of freak snow cat.
“Fed Batman,” Luester said.
“Thanks,” she yawned.
“Jackie says you’re going to train?”
“Yup.”
“Let’s get started then.”
She managed to avoid his kick, but the punch caught her on the chin. She staggered back and shook her head like a dazed boxer in the fighting ring.
“Foul!” Ace hollered from the roof.
“You punched a girl?” Bam Bam shouted and came out of the forest to grab Raven’s face. “How many fingers am I holding up, baby?”
“We can’t take it easy on her just because she’s a girl,” Luester said and rolled his eyes. “The Battalion and Council won’t pull their punches and neither will the other Unmemorables that she has to prove herself to.”
Raven narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Now that I’m awake, let’s do this shit.”
“We heal incredibly fast,” Bam Bam said as he led her away from the cars and into the forest. “All Unmemorables can communicate telepathically with each other no matter the distance. We can scale buildings, run as fast as cheetahs and turn anything into a weapon. We have an ingrained fight instinct that gets sharper as we age. We have great vision, hearing and damn good looks. You ever watch kung fu movies?”
She was still trying to digest their abilities when he asked the last question. “Um, a little.”
“We can do that flying leap thing if we concentrate. It’s fucking wicked cool.”
They stopped in a small clearing. Sunlight filtered through the branches and she heard the trees rustle ever so slightly. She looked up and saw her brother and cousins leaping from tree to tree like squirrels. They looked down at her with excited eyes like the Lost Boys.
“Weapons?” Raven asked.
“None,” Luester said. “Just straight fighting so we can see how bad you are.”
How bad she was? “Fine.”
Bam Bam held his hand up. “The rules are, there are no rules. Dirty fighting requested. Let’s do it!”
Luester launched himself at her like a torpedo, a deadly whirling mass of limbs ready to tear her apart. She dodged to the side and Luester stopped the Taz-Mania trick and smiled at her. She knew he’d been dying to face off with her since the knife-throwing incident at the house. They circled each other while the guys catcalled from above. She watched Luester’s eyes for a warning on his next move, but in the next instant, she was flat on her back. Luester clucked his tongue and paraded while the guys blew raspberries.
Get up, Jackie said. If you can’t convince these guys, how are you going to get Pop to support you?
I don’t want his support...
She rolled to the side as Luester took a running jump and came down hard on his knee where her head had been a moment before. Her temper was so hot, the snow should have melted around her. Luester definitely wasn’t holding back because she was a girl and she didn’t want him to either. She never asked for handicaps before and there was no way she’d start now. Luester wanted a fight? He’d get one.
Instead of waiting for his next move, Raven attacked. She swung for his face and didn’t allow him the space to recover or think of another tactic to use against her. Her blows rained down on him. She’d been on the run from the Battalion for nearly a decade and always managed to escape. Something happened when she was confronted by danger. She didn’t freeze up like most people. Adrenaline pumped through her system and her instincts took over. She’d never been to a defense or martial arts class, but she’d come up against trained killers like Cain’s mother and won. The combination of dirty fighting and natural instinct saved her life more than once, and now, she let the reins go.
She blocked Luester’s fist with her forearm and pain bloomed, but she didn’t let that stop her from swinging her fist and catching him on the ear. He staggered and she went after him, punching him in the stomach and sweeping his feet out from under him. His eyes narrowed to tiny slits as he leapt up and rushed her. She wouldn’t win out against brute strength so she backed up against a tree, and when he punched, she let his fist sink into the bark instead of her face. While he howled and cradled his hand, she shrugged out of her jacket, which clung to her sweaty skin.
Luester knelt to sink his hand in the ice. She felt a sliver of sympathy a moment before he tossed a handful of snow in her face. She sputtered, backed up and received a jab in her side and a thump on the head that made her slump to her feet. She heard the guys yelling from above, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Luester yelled back, waving his hands as she got to her feet. She ran toward a tree and used it as a launching pad. If Bam Bam said they could do the leaping kung fu shit, this was her opportunity. Luester turned in time for her foot to make contact with his face as she sailed through the air. He spun like a top and fell like a ton of bricks in the snow.
Raven stood over him and waited. Sound returned slowly and the first thing she heard was enthusiastic clapping. She looked up and saw Cain’s sister, Maggie, walk into the clearing. The little girl looked down at the bloody Luester with great interest rather than horror. Raven stared at her. What eight-year-old wouldn’t freak out after watching a flat out brawl?
“That was awesome!” Maggie said, bouncing in her furry boots. “Can you teach me how to do that?”
Raven tried to control her harsh breathing. “I think your mom can teach you.”
“She doesn’t think I’m strong enough,” Maggie pouted.
“How’d you know we were out here?”
“I saw that guy punch you when you were by
the cars and I followed. My dad says women aren’t strong enough to win against a man.”
“Your dad’s a chauvinistic bastard,” Raven said and spat blood.
“That’s what my mom says,” Maggie said with an innocent smile.
The Unmemorables dropped to the ground and stared at Maggie.
“How does she remember us?” Happy asked.
“Our power doesn’t work on her,” Jackie said thoughtfully and gave Raven a level look. She’s spying for Rich.
Whatever she tells him, he’ll forget, right? Raven responded telepathically.
I don’t know.
She’s just a kid. Out loud she said, “Let’s get you back to the house so you can eat breakfast.”
She and Maggie turned away from Luester who still hadn’t moved. She could feel a knot forming on her head and bruises popping up on her body, but she felt damn good despite that. She’d thrown down some freaking Matrix moves. Luester wanted to test her and she knocked him unconscious. That would teach him to underestimate her. She faced off against the best in the Battalion and lived to tell about it. Luester and most men were chauvinists like Bernt. Stupid assholes.
“Cain talks about you a lot,” Maggie said.
Raven missed a step. “He does?”
“We message each other every day. He’s a good brother.”
So he was talking to Maggie on the laptop all day. Why hadn’t he mentioned a little sister?
“He really loves you,” Maggie sighed dreamily and ignored the choking noise Raven made. “You’re going to live happily ever after.”
Raven gave Maggie a wary side-glance. This kid had Darth Vader for a grandpa and assassins for parents, yet she was talking about Disney shit. “We’ll see what happens.”
Maggie beamed at her. Raven, who didn’t have a maternal bone in her body, felt her heart melt. Maggie was a gorgeous girl, but it was the mischievous twinkle in her eye that made Raven want to sweep her up in her arms. She stopped and Maggie did too. There was no fear on her face even though she’d seen what Raven was capable of.
“Why did your Grandpa leave you here?” Raven asked.
“To find out what Cain’s up to,” Maggie said with a shrug.
“And what are you going to tell him?”
The smile didn’t leave Maggie’s face and Raven saw a trace of the same steel and cunning in her that she did in Cain. Maggie may be eight years old, but she was wise beyond her years.
“Cain told me what you are. I’ve known about the Unmemorables for a while, but I haven’t told Grandpa because he has high blood pressure.”
Raven couldn’t hold back a snort. They walked up to the house and Raven hesitated at the tree line. She turned to Maggie who talked about the trip to Utah and how she and Jane played chess during the car ride.
“Go in and eat breakfast. I have more training to do,” Raven said.
Maggie gave her a quick head to toe glance. “Yeah, you look beat up. Cain would freak. He doesn’t realize women get hurt sometimes.”
Before Raven could say anything, the little girl ran up the steps to the house singing Let It Go from Frozen. Raven stared after Maggie for several seconds and decided she liked Cain’s sister. She looked innocent, but Raven had a feeling Maggie was very aware of what was going on around her. The little girl didn’t let her grandpa or parents affect her. Huh.
Raven stepped to the side as Happy launched himself from a tree. He splayed facedown in the snow and Jackie leapt to the ground and clapped her on the back.
“Not bad, sis.”
“How’s Luester?”
“Out of commission, but he’ll be as good as new in the afternoon.” Jackie turned and led her back into the forest.
She didn’t speak as they wove their way through the pine trees. She shivered and crossed her arms across her chest.
“Your hand-to-hand combat is okay, but it took you too long to start kicking ass.”
“Next time I won’t hesitate,” she retorted and rubbed a hand over her bruised jaw. She didn’t want to admit that she’d grown used to their presence and felt safe with them around.
“The Unmemorables have a state of mind called Clarity. It means your mind is open and you’re aware of your surroundings even without sight. I’ve seen Pop use Clarity to train us and it’s a cool thing to witness.”
She had a flashback of what happened when she escaped from the warehouse after Angel kidnapped her. She took out most of his men with a knife even though they were trained soldiers. “I have an idea of what that’s like.”
Jackie shot her a doubtful look. “It takes years to reach true Clarity.”
“Or a life-or-death experience.”
Jackie shrugged and she ducked when Ace leapt out from behind a tree. She punched him in the side and dumped him on his ass before she continued. Jackie’s brows rose.
“You told me I took too long last time. I’m ready now,” she said.
They reached the clearing and she pulled her jacket back on. Luester was covered in a blanket on the sidelines and snoring loudly. Raven eyed her cousins and brother who weren’t jeering or laughing now. She saw Bam Bam’s hand move and jerked to the side as he threw a knife. She caught it by the hilt when it whistled by.
“Fuck, that’s hot,” Bam Bam whispered.
“You’re my cousin,” she reminded him as she examined the blade.
“It’s nothing fancy. We stole it from the old woman’s kitchen. We’ll return it later. You like knives?” Jackie asked.
She tossed the knife to test its weight. “Yeah.”
“Let’s do some target practice.”
When they produced a variety of blades, she shook her head. “Does G-Ma have any knives left?”
Ace shrugged. “One.”
“Let’s see,” Jackie said and offered her five butter knives.
Raven gathered the blades and stared at an imaginary target on a tree for a long minute. The men didn’t talk. She kept her eyes trained on one spot and let the knives fly. The knives quivered as they sank into the wood and clustered in a circle as large as a half dollar.
Bam Bam licked his bottom lip. “Really fucking sexy.”
“Maybe you need to marry an assassin,” Raven said.
“I’ll keep an eye out for one.”
“You this good with guns too?” Happy asked.
“Didn’t you see her shoot that silver star out of Pris’s hand last night?” Harvard asked.
They all examined her and she tilted her chin up. What were they waiting for?
You think she has Clarity?
“I can hear you,” she said and tapped her boot in the snow.
“Shit. She’s already tuned into our frequency. That was fast.”
“Let’s try it,” Jackie said and pulled a bandana from his pocket.
When he walked toward her, she held up a finger. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to blindfold you.”
“Why?”
“So we can see if you have Clarity.”
“Which means?”
“If you have total awareness, you don’t need eyesight.”
She stood stiff and nervous as Jackie blindfolded her. Her hearing sharpened and she stood in place as Jackie took five steps to the left and stopped. There was a long silence and she knew they were using hand motions to communicate. Sneaky bastards.
“Now what?” she asked. “It’s five against one?”
“Pretty much.”
She wriggled her fingers and bent her knees in preparation. “Now what?”
“Survive.”
She heard an indrawn breath and dropped like a stone. Someone flew over her head and cursed. She got to her feet and raised her forearm to block a hit. She could hear someone on the sidelines, hopping on their feet, pumping himself up. Bam Bam. Someone stood off to the right, watching the scene play out and waiting for their turn. Jackie. Happy, Ace and Harvard came at her all at once. She let her senses fan out. She crouched
, kicked, punched and ran around the clearing to get out of the clusterfuck. She had to incapacitate them so they couldn’t gang up on her. She used her ever-reliable uppercut on Happy and heard him collapse in the snow. Ace nearly broke her knee and the pain made her crumple. She heard the whoosh of air and narrowly missed the kick he reserved for her face. She and Ace went at each other for a few minutes before she got the opening she was looking for. The sound of a bone snapping echoed around them and Ace let out a shrill scream as she busted his knee. She turned to Harvard and heard the ping of metal as he tugged one of the knives out of the tree.
“Cheater,” she said.
She heard his feet shift in the snow and sensed his arm rise. She jerked to the side and heard the knife sink into the tree behind her. She smiled and heard crackling bark as Harvard scaled the tree. She grabbed the knife he’d thrown, cocked her ear to pinpoint his location and let the knife fly. Harvard shrieked and crashed to the snow.
“You got me in the ass!” Harvard shouted.
“Better than your balls,” she said.
Harvard shut up and she turned to Bam Bam and Jackie, still blindfolded.
“Ready?” she taunted.
“Holy fucking shit,” Bam Bam said. “I’m convinced.”
She raised the bandana as Jackie clapped.
“That was incredible!” Jackie said.
“A little help here,” Harvard croaked and clutched his ass.
Bam Bam went over and packed a mountain of snow on Harvard’s butt, all the while staring at Raven as if she were his favorite rock star.
“You’re, like, so cool,” Bam Bam said.
Jackie reset Ace’s knee in a merciless move that made Raven wince. The veins stood out on Ace’s neck and he slumped to the ground, shaking.
“Where’d you learn to do that?” Bam Bam asked.
“See without really seeing? I used to get jumped a lot. I’m always on guard.”
“Damn. Can you teach me?”
“Yeah,” she said and winced. Nothing was broken, but the hits she took were making themselves known. Bruised ribs, nearly sprained knee and the other injuries from Luester. Shit.