Erik steps in behind us, and Gael’s eyes go big. “Oh my God, is thathim?He’s enormous.”
Ant shushes him. “Yes, but shut up.”
“I’m not that tall,” grumbles the six-and-a-half-foot Norwegian, responding in Spanish.
We all freeze up. It’s easy to forget Erik has a decent-ish handle on the language.
“If you want to come up next week, I can fly down and grab you.”
Ant and I are both a little shocked by Erik’s offer.
“Grab us?” my sister asks.
“Yes. I have access to a plane and a private airfield not too far from you. That way you don’t have to worry about travel. Or documentation, for that matter.”
Ant’s eyes light up, the anger from this morning gone in a puff of smoke. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
Erik rolls his eyes and grips Ant’s shoulders, then jokingly pulls him into a half nelson. “Of course I would.”
Odd and DB are walking up, but they pause as Erik manhandles Ant. Yeah, they see it. We all see it.
Erik and Yaya talk it out for a few more minutes and decide that Tuesday is the best day to pick them up. After saying their goodbyes—with a fair amount of teasing between Ant and Gael—we return to the training.
Taking advantage of our guests, we let DB lead the weapons training. While the horses are all trained to be nonreactive to weapons fire, we take it out past the barn to some hay bales set up by the tree line.
I worry about Domino, but he’s standing there, stoically judging us. That’s good information.
Surprising nobody, Ant is an excellent shot. He has steady hands and controls the kickback on even the larger caliber guns. He does lose his balance with the shotgun, but Erik’s standing right behind him and catches him before he eats dirt.
When Erik leans down and whispers a correction in Ant’s ear, surrounding him to adjust his hold, Ant leans back into his arms for a second. Confusion crosses Erik’s face, but he tightens his hold. Javier bites his knuckle, then pulls me closer, surreptitiously palming my belly while nosing my ear.
The next time Ant pulls the trigger on the shotgun, he’s solid on his feet. Erik’s chest rises sharply and Javier clamps his hand over his mouth.
After a while, it starts to sprinkle, so we move back into the barn. Ant shows DB and Odd his knife-handling skills, and DB tilts his hand from side to side. “You’ve got great instincts but haven’t practiced your techniques enough. For the next few weeks, try this order: meditation, knife work, gun work. It’s a good progression for learning.”
“That makes sense. My hands are kinda numb from all the shooting.”
Nodding in agreement, Odd continues, “Depending on the scenario, you’re usually shooting first and then cleaning up the stragglers in hand-to-hand combat with a knife, so once you’re a bit more skilled, go in reverse order. That’ll help you to translate your skills to hands that aren’t as sharp.”
“Then meditate?” Ant verifies.
“Yes. Acclimate to recentering yourself after violence. One violent scenario may well lead to another, and your nervous system can better manage it if you’re properly centered. Even though you don’t have a typical trauma response to enacting violence on the deserving, you still want to ensure you’re not left in an unsettled state.”
“Huh,” Ant says, stroking his jaw. “This is why they call you the sane one.”
“True, but my brother isn’t insane. He just compartmentalizes pranks and murder better than most people.”
We all laugh and get back to the training. Ant picks up on everyone’s suggestions rather quickly, and it’s funny to watch Erik’s conflicted expression as Ant blows past milestone after milestone.
Javier sidles up next to me, hooking his thumb in my belt buckle while his large hand grips my hip. “Erik can’t tell if he’s proud or upset.”
I crack up, and he kisses my temple. Erik snarls at us, though I doubt he understands why we’re laughing.
By the end, we’re all sweaty and proud, though no one is prouder than Ant, who’s started calling this psycho school. I’d protest his characterization, but next week’s lessons will be with Anders. I’m not the only one who finds that a little terrifying.
Still, I’m encouraged by what Ant showed us today. I’ve secretly shared some of Erik’s sentiments, but Ant is proving equal to the task. Call me crazy, but I think working with this team is the thing he’s meant to do.
18
