“Well, to get better, of course. To practice. To be ready.”
“She looks pretty ready.”
“She does, yeah. But fighting isn’t just about the moves. It’s also about the thinking. Her reflexes are good, but inside she’s still mentally the same kid she was before.”
“Before what?”
I turned to face her straight on. “I thought you knew.”
Ana shrugged. “Not really. Not me, anyway. The others might. I heard about a battle. And something about going inside a catacomb and a gate to Hell that her blood closed. I’m not really sure how, but I guess maybe that’s the kind of thing we’re going to learn about here?”
“Absolutely that’s the kind of thing.”
“Yeah? Cool. That sounds pretty cool. Kind of like a video game.”
“Kind of,” I agreed. “Except really, really not.”
That earned me a small smile. “Anyway, that’s all I know.”
“Well, that’s about right. But the bigger truth is that before that day, she was just Allie. Or so we thought. There were all these gifts hidden inside her, and somehow when she went into those catacombs and used her blood to lock the gate, it made her better. Stronger and faster and all that good stuff. But to me she’s still just Allie.”
“So when did that happen?”
“Just a few months ago. Early summer.”
“Wow. She got really good fast.”
“She’d already been training. And the supernatural gifts helped, too.”
“Yeah, I guess that would.”
“Mindy’s good, too. Have you been watching her?” I indicated the way she was sparring with Jared. “I’ll tell you a secret. She kind of sucked when she started.”
“Yeah? She looks good now.”
“Yes, she does. And she’s only been doing this for a few months, too. Seriously, anyway.”
“Wow. That’s cool.”
“If she can do it, you can too,” I told her. “You fought a hellhound and got away. That’s major.”
“Yeah?”
“Trust me. I’ve had more than one hellhound kick my ass.”
She only shrugged, and I realized I’d lost her.Trust me, I’d said. But this girl wasn’t ready to trust yet.
“They didn’t believe you, did they?” I asked her.
“Who?”
“Whoever you told about the hellhound attack.”
She made a rough noise in her throat. “No. Nobody believed me. At least not until that guy found me in the church shelter. I guess he heard about some crazy kid telling stories about a maniac dog creature.”
“I’m glad he found you. And he did believe you. I believe you too. So does everyone here.”
She didn’t answer. But she didn’t look away. And I might have imagined it, but I thought she smiled.
