I was drowning.
Then Shadow Man appeared, and reaching out his hand he said, “Stay with me.”
My trembling fingers reached for him, his cold fingers interlocked around mine, and he smiled, and then he pulled me down deeper, and deeper.
I spiralled through the darkness, my blood colder than the lake, knowing I would never escape.
Chapter 49
Training
The night’s drizzle had given way to a bright and clear sky. The orange light of morning rose quietly over the mountain in the distance. It seeped through the floor-length windows, casting a soft glow over the gym when we began our first lesson. It was a large space, a boxing ring set up in the corner, a few boxing bags hung from the ceiling, weight machines of all varieties lined one wall and a large portion of the floor was covered in red, padded floor mats.
I’d started the morning off rather sluggishly. A hangover of reasonable proportions had me scoffing down a few Tylenol, toast and two coffees before I managed to drag my butt to the gym. I was weary but keen.
“Ready to get a whipping?” I said, smiling at Ethan playfully. I stood facing him, feet shoulder width apart, my left leg forward, bouncing on the balls of my feet. My hands up, gloved and ready to fight. Ethan sent me a half smile and in one smooth fluid movement, before I even realized what was happening, he was behind me with his arm wrapped firmly around my neck.
“You sure?” He chuckled into my ear. The warmth of his breath sent shivers down my neck.
“Come on,” I complained, “that’s cheating. No vampire speed, that was the deal.”
“That wasn’t vampire speed,” he scoffed, dropping his arm away and moving with vampire speed in front of me.
I was pretty sure it was. “It was hardly human speed. We’re much slower than that.”
He chuckled and stretched his shoulders back. “I have a feeling you’re about to show me.”
Prick. “Don’t forget I’m human, my body breaks,” I reminded him, suddenly wondering if sparring with a vampire was such a smart idea. One movement too fast or slightly too hard and my bones could snap like twigs.
“I think I can handle it.” He didn’t appear at all concerned. Though, it wasn’t his limbs that might break. “Come on then, little lady, show me what you’ve got!”
I threw a round house kick at his thigh. He blocked it with surprising ease with one hand. Then he grabbed my leg, twisted it over, and I lost my balance and hit the mat face down with a humiliating thump.
“That’s it? That’s all you got, Amy? You fight that poorly and you’re still stupid enough to step in front of a man three times your size. I don’t know how you’ve managed to make it to this age.”
My face bloomed. I gritted my teeth, using my hands I shoved off the floor and turned to face him.
“No, there’s more,” I said, jabbing a sharp punch towards his face. He caught my wrist, twisted it and yanked it up behind my back in a grasp bordering on painful.
“First mistake,” he said in gruff tones in my ear. “Is letting your enemy know what you’re thinking. You need to take them by surprise.”
I sucked in a ragged breath and nodded. He let go of my arm. The instant he did I swung my elbow into his belly, hard. And turned back with a satisfied smile.
“Very good,” he said, “except you shouldn’t have stopped there.” Before I could process his words, he wrapped his leg behind mine, gave my chest a push and I fell backwards onto my back with a thump. The air burst from my chest and I couldn’t draw air.
“Get up,” he commanded. When I hesitated, he lifted his tone and repeated, “Amy, I said get up.”
Apprehension crept through my stomach. I stood.
He threw a punch at my face before I could collect my senses, which, if I hadn’t done any training in the past, would have landed. But I blocked it with my left hand.
“Good,” he said, but the brief glimmer of satisfaction I had quickly dissipated. He threw another punch, so fast all I could make out was a white blur, and pulled it up an inch from my nose. “Never hesitate, block and strike, Amy,” he said to my widened eyes, staring at the barrel of his fist. “And when you strike go for my throat or nose or eyes, like this.” He grabbed my arm and pulled it to an elbow position on his throat like I had seen Karson do in the bar fight. “Don’t mess with the stomach, a hardened stomach can take a lot. The eyes, throat, and the nose can hardly take anything, got it?”
“Balls can’t take much either,” I said.Unless vampire balls are made of steel?
“I’m not training you to fight vampires. Right now, I’m training you to fight humans. And the way you fight, you’d be lucky to beat a kid in kindergarten.”
“Harsh.”
