by Emery Hale
‘I told you to dodge.’ Quinn grabbed my hand and pulled me back to my feet.
To say that this was the first time Quinn had punched me would be a lie, she’d done it at least four times now because I’d forgotten the simple pattern. How was I ever gonna get this straight? It was nearly one o’clock and I’d made little to no progress, apart from learning you shouldn’t tuck your thumb in your palm when you punched, apparently that was common knowledge.
This morning I was gently woken by Jessica banging a pot and wooden spoon over my head, who then proceeded to drag me from bed (by the ankles) before throwing workout clothes my way. When I came down the stairs the curtains were still shut but all of the lights were on and the furniture dumped in the hallway. At first I thought it was a weird time to be decorating, but soon figured out what it was for. Lily told me that because I was here in secret we’d have to train in the living room. Jess came down the stairs soon after, but left, saying something about a dress fitting and James offered to take her as he had to get some work done at the office. I couldn’t understand Jess sometimes, the girl could barely walk and yet she was off to the theatre. The limp she sported was significant, maybe there was some physio on offer.
Not two seconds later Grace shot off like a bullet, claiming there was an emergency at work, but there was something off. Lily left about thirty minutes later saying she had a follow-up appointment at the hospital, so I was left learning hand to hand combat with Quinn. Although now that I thought about it, there was something off with her too – she came in all worried and frantic and said she’d speak about it with everyone later. What was she hiding?
‘Why don’t you sit down?’ Quinn offered, moving to take my arm, but I brushed her away. I had to get to grips with this if I was going on a mission next week. ‘Naomi, you don’t need to act all tough, it’s gonna take a while to learn everything. Come on, take a seat and we’ll go over some of the plans that James emailed me.’
Then, appearing like magic, a dark voice chuckled from the door. Kayson stood there in jeans and a t-shirt – the bruise on his face was fading, but he still wore that condescending smirk with pride.
‘You can’t be serious,’ he deadpanned.
‘Shut up, Kayson.’ Quinn said, her smile turning to a frown as she took my hand.
‘All I’m saying is the new first years are doing better than her.’ He raised his arms in surrender. ‘Just stating the facts.’
Was Kayson determined to bring me down? Ever since I sorta blackmailed him he’s been nothing but an ass.
‘I’m getting there,’ I said to him, crossing my arms defensively.
‘Naomi, it looks adorable but I don’t think you’re getting anywhere.’
Great, he’d stood and watched while I got my butt handed to me and I hadn’t even noticed. How the hell did anyone deal with this guy? Had no one smacked him around the mouth yet? Well, I think Jess did the other day.
Quinn rolled her eyes. ‘What do you want?’
‘I’m here to train Naomi.’
Piss off, nope not happening.
‘Lily’s not going to be long,’ Quinn said, looking as confused as I felt, ‘she’ll be back soon.’
‘She can’t train Naomi, not in her condition. Besides, I’ve trained a couple of Runners.’
‘Well, you’ve not trained a Carrier,’ Quinn snapped back.
Woah, she seemed to hate Kayson more than me – even with the other girls she’d never been this snappy. Wonder what happened between them.
‘No, that’s what you’re for,’ Kayson said, like he was speaking to a five-year-old. ‘I’ll deal with the self-defence and then you can do whatever it is you do.’
‘Did Jess agree to this?’ she asked.
He didn’t respond – was this a deal between him and Lily? Cause I had a feeling Jessica wouldn’t have agreed to this. As the silence drew on Quinn pulled a sour look, while I stood there like an idiot, unsure what to do. Did I want to be trained by him? If he’s trained others then maybe he had some merit.
‘Jess isn’t going to like this,’ Quinn said warningly.
‘Well Jess isn’t here,’ he mocked.
Then Kayson walked over, grabbed me by the hips and spun me around so my back was to his chest. That was a bit forward. He grabbed my arms roughly, moving them so my fists hovered in front of my lips.
‘You’re not gonna stop any punches if your hands aren’t protecting your face first,’ he told me. ‘Now, your dominant hand can dictate your stance –’
‘That’s it, I’m calling Jessica!’ Quinn announced, marching through to the kitchen.
No Quinn, don’t leave! Oh poop.
Kayson was considerably taller than me so I felt his thighs press against mine while his hips controlled my movements. That was when he leaned down, resting his chin on my shoulder and whispered into my ear, ‘You’re tense, relax a little.’
I didn’t even realise I’d been holding my breath until I let out a small pant. Kayson’s biceps caressed my shoulders as he moved my body gently to the left, his touch warm but not clammy or sweaty. I could smell his cologne but it was different, like cool fresh water. The material of his shirt felt soft on my skin but his hands were dry and rough.
‘Now, your enemy is coming straight at you, what do you do?’
‘Run?’ I offered.
‘Yes, you can, but if you can’t, then what?’
Was I supposed to come up with a battle plan?
‘Well I have Quinn so she could direct me and tell me what to do.’
‘Never rely on the Tech so heavily,’ he told me. ‘You need to be independent, Quinn could be busy. What do you do next?’
‘Kayson, I don’t know,’ I said, exasperated.
He sighed, pulling away, the warmth disappearing but I wanted it back, there was something about his hold. It wasn’t just the heat, it was the security and safety of it, of him. Like Kayson’s body was impermeable to bullets or pain.
He strolled to the other side of the room, rolling up his cotton sleeves and curling his hands into fists. His muscles seemed to grow in size as the shirt tugged just that little bit tighter.
‘OK, maybe you need a visual. I’m going to try and take you down, you have to try and stop me.’
Not sure if I want to in all honesty – Naomi get it together! Stop it!
‘Uh, OK,’ I said, unsure. Was I supposed to rugby-tackle him?
‘Raise your hands like you were a couple of seconds ago,’ he told me and I nodded, lifting them to my lips. ‘Not so close – if I manage to tackle you, you’ll end up hitting yourself in the face.’
Oh right, right, OK then. I inched my hands away from my face until Kayson nodded, then he readied himself to run.
‘You ready?’ he asked.
‘No.’
Then he bolted towards me. My first instinct was to run out the door but it was like my feet were stuck to the floor with superglue. I could tell why Kayson was a Runner, he was fast as hell. Definitely faster than me. Within a blink of an eye he had reached me, so the only thing left to do was turn away. His arms wrapped around my chest and I felt his soft shirt slide across my skin and his strong grip clench my hands.
‘Now, that was a bit pathetic.’
‘Hey!’ I exclaimed. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘You’re right, sorry – utterly pathetic,’ he corrected himself. ‘Now, I have my arms around your body, what do you do?’
Well, from all the talk with Katie the next move was usually a lot of kissing and then sex, but that was never happening!
‘Uh . . . ’
‘Think, what could hurt me in this position?’ he asked.
What do I have? Christ what were the different parts of the human body? My mind had drawn a complete blank. I knew I wasn’t as knowledgeable as Grace, but even so. What had this guy done to me? It was like the doorstep all over again.
‘Naomi, you’d be more than dead at this point. Come on, think.’
El
bows!
As the thought came to my head I pushed my right hand against his and then with force drove my elbow into his side, before thrusting my hips back, pushing him further. Kayson actually let go of me as he stumbled back winded. Had I hurt him? Had I actually – no way!
‘Well, glad to see you have more common sense than I anticipated, but you need to be quicker.’
Not even a well done?
Suddenly he grabbed my wrists from behind and out of instinct I thrust my hips back trying to twist out, but he kept a firm grip.
‘Naomi –’ Kayson started, but then I stepped on the toe of his shoe and twisted again. I didn’t get too far with that idea because I’d forgotten we were holding hands, so when I turned I sent us both tumbling to the ground.
We landed with a thump, my head hitting the carpet, but I took it as my opportunity to escape. I wiggled and shimmied, but before I knew it I’d been flipped over, arms pinned above my head. Oh yup, this was – well, this was happening.
Kayson was straddling me, his jeans rubbing against my bare legs, oh Jess why didn’t you give me leggings instead of shorts? As he gripped my wrists a little tighter his muscles bulged and to be honest, if he was trying to conceal anything it wouldn’t be worth it, he may as well just throw away the shirt. Oh no! No, seriously Kayson, don’t do that.
I hadn’t realised how close we were until I caught his eyes and lips inches from mine.
‘Figure your way out.’
Seriously, I really didn’t want to.
This time his voice was soft, not a hint of ego or malice. From here he could actually pass for a genuine guy, but I knew better. Kayson was just pretending with me – it was what he did for a living – but still, there was that sliver of doubt that lingered.
He was that close I felt his warm breath on my face and was trapped in his gaze for what felt like the first time. He wasn’t staring at my lips or chest, just me.
Now that we were close I saw all the little things I hadn’t before, like the details of the small thin scars near his hairline, there were three of them. Now I knew they’d be from Academy punishments, no doubt someone had carved those into him. He had even more faint bruising on his neck and some that went below the neckline of his shirt. Kayson must have contoured his jaw and cheekbones because those edges were sharp enough to cut paper.
His grip loosened around my wrists like he was making things easier but I stayed completely still, mesmerised by his gentleness.
Then I found my eyes slowly trailing to his lips, oh this was bad.
I quickly threw them back up to his, but of course being so close he’d seen, so in return Kayson laughed, a mischievous grin on his face.
If he wasn’t a complete asshole I would have kissed him. Maybe.
‘Perfect way to win a girl over, pin her to floor,’ a new voice said, and my eyes widened.
I threw my head back to see a random man standing there! Kayson let go of my wrists and I quickly pushed myself up, pulling my knees to my chest. I couldn’t believe I’d thought about kissing him.
Kayson pulled away, but held the man’s gaze firmly.
‘I was teaching her some hand to hand combat.’
The man’s eyebrows raised as he looked between us both.
‘Training? That was – well, I see you’ve made great progress.’
He was older, and by the way Kayson looked at him, had way more experience – maybe even superiority. He wore a brown leather jacket, blue shirt, black jeans and loose combat boots along with a thin silver chain that dangled down his . . . exposed chest. Wow OK, did men have a thing about shirts here or was there something in the water?
‘What do you want, Barnes?’ Kayson asked crossing his arms over his chest.
Oh my god, Kayson was intimidated – actually physically intimidated. The man was a little taller than Kayson, a little broader in size and had fuller jet-black hair, but I doubted that had anything to do with it. I felt like I was in the middle of a turf war.
‘Nothing to do with you,’ the man replied. ‘Didn’t think you lived here, unless you’ve joined the girls’ team.’
‘Get out.’
‘Oh, still touchy after I handed you your ass?’ the man asked, his American accent a littler thicker. ‘It’s alright, you’re still in training. Plenty of time to build up the courage, again.’
What was I witnessing right now? This guy couldn’t have been at the Academy – was he an actual agent or did he work for Harkness? Whoever he was, I prayed he didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to be here.
Just then Quinn appeared at the door, phone in hand. She turned to the man, surprised, then her attention snapped to Kayson, then me. She slammed the phone into the man’s chest before pointing a menacing finger at Kayson.
‘What did you do to her?’ she asked.
Quinn seemed to have found that fire from earlier because it looked like she was going to kick Kayson in the no touch zone.
‘I didn’t do anything!’ he exclaimed.
‘He was straddling her,’ the man added. I screwed my eyes shut and buried my head in my knees. ‘She didn’t seem to mind, though.’
Oh God! This wasn’t happening. Make it stop! This could not get any worse.
‘Who was straddling who?’ I heard Jessica ask, a laugh in her voice as she limped through the door.
WORLD IMPLODE WORLD IMPLODE
She stopped short seeing the scene in the living room, her brother James lingering behind, and Jessica seemed the most horrified of all as she walked in a little further. She locked eyes with Kayson and they had a nonverbal conversation, but neither budged.
‘Ashford, go find Lily in the medical wing, she has the plans for next week,’ Jessica said, her voice void of any emotion.
Kayson hesitated. ‘Jess I’m fine here, Lily asked me to train Naomi.’
‘You’re the second Runner who is now on my team, this so-called training wasn’t authorised, so get out,’ she ordered.
I wanted to shrink back like a fly on the wall, anything would be better than this. I thought they would be all for it, considering they were more than happy that Jess got a hoo-ha every now and again. Not that it was ever going to happen between me and Kayson, but still.
What I would give to blend in right now, chameleons were lucky.
‘Jess,’ Kayson started, but she held up a hand, shaking her head.
‘Go,’ she said, motioning out the door, this time her voice cold and harsh.
Kayson hesitated but quickly gave in to the order and left the room, barging through the mystery man as he left. The guy laughed in pity, but Jess threw her head round giving him a look and he held a hand up in apology, falling quiet.
Then he spoke to me.
‘You must be Naomi,’ he said, with a charming smile. ‘Word of advice, stay away from Ashford. He’s not good for anyone, not even himself.’
‘Chris,’ James stepped forward, ‘Let’s leave the kids alone, we have things to discuss.’ He nodded to the kitchen and the pair left.
That was Chris? Him? Well, I got what Jess saw in him.
‘I thought he’d be taller,’ I said, but Jess only glared.
‘You, go upstairs.’
I laughed. ‘Jess you’re not my mother.’
‘If you’re wondering why I’m treating you like a child, it’s because you’re acting like one.’
‘We were training, he fell on top of me.’
Jessica shook her head – why the hell was she so uptight about this? She was the one fucking Chris, she couldn’t talk. I thought Grace was meant to be the party pooper.
‘You’re here to train, not stare into a man’s eyes all day. You’re here for a job. Start acting like it,’ she snapped.
Oh, screw you! I stood up and shoved past her as I ran out of the room and up the stairs. I didn’t care if I knocked her off her feet, she deserved it. We both fell, it’s not like anything was going to happen! It was an accident, for crying out loud.
Quinn being
protective was one thing, but Jessica treating me like a child was another – how could she speak to me like that? I don’t work for her! I thought we were equals, but apparently not.
I threw open the door to Quinn’s room, slammed it shut behind me and went to the window. Through the sheer curtains I saw Kayson’s back at the other side of the complex. He was just standing there, but he must have felt someone watching him because he turned and then saw me. He nodded, giving a mock salute, before he headed down the small path out of sight.
Nothing would have happened – it couldn’t have, right?
CHAPTER 22
Apocalyptic
Imminent disaster.
JESSICA-GRACE WINTERS
Of all the things I wanted to do with my morning, a dress fitting was not one of them – apparently the designer had lost my measurements. Now, I have no hate because stuff like this happens all the time, but did it have to happen today? I wanted to have a long lie for once in my life, pretend that mum was downstairs cooking breakfast and dad was coming home from the nightshift. Yeah, like that would ever happen.
‘Stop it,’ I heard my brother groan.
I shifted in bed, my eyebrows furrowing. ‘What?’
‘You’re doing your thing,’ he said groggily.
‘What thing?’
‘Your audible brooding. Stop it.’
With a huff I threw off the covers and pushed the hair out of my face, it always got frizzy during the night.
‘Don’t,’ James warned.
Oh, what now? I rolled my eyes and stood up, but then a sharp pain cut through my knee and just like that, I was on the floor.
‘Told you so.’
Fuck, I’d forgotten about my stupid knee.
‘Yeah, yeah whatever,’ I muttered.
Apart from my knee occasionally giving out I was able to get dressed without too much bother – James, however, was a different story. He went on one of his ramblings about how the world sucks, and even though I was inclined to agree with him, my phone pinged and after reading the text, the world seemed a little brighter.