Their Vengeance: Siren's Revenge Book Two

13. Lukas

Fyodor”s Rules #39 - Never limit yourself to a single weapon.

Something in the air changed now we had a plan. Or maybe it changed now Nikolai and Yana had finally slept together. Alexei, Pasha, and I had talked about it a few times and we weren”t entirely sure why he had been holding himself back from her. It could have been the blood thing, or maybe it had more to do with his upcoming wedding announcement. Nikolai wasn”t the monogamous type, so Pasha was sure that wasn”t it. Besides, Nikolai wouldn’t be relying on the angel for his blood needs anyway, and feeding and fucking went hand in hand with him. It made him feel better about taking something so intimate if he was giving something in return.

Things around the penthouse had both settled and were more tense than they had been previously. But it was a distinct tension—the buzz of excitement which came with having a plan. When we were actually doing something. After weeks of being on the back foot, it was a good feeling.

Alexei whistled as he went about his day. It had only been two weeks since the nightclub meeting and he had already knitted everyone new gloves. I wasn”t sure if it was the prospect of another bloodbath which had him excited, or finally having the chance to go after his family. It was something we had discussed in the past, but we had always decided it posed too much risk. He had never been happy when we reached that decision, but he’d always understood. As much as he liked violence and acted like he had a reckless disregard for his own life, he wasn”t suicidal. The chance to do something about all the rage, suffering, and years of degradation must have been an exquisite feeling.

Yana was in a better mood as well. Sitting around waiting and doing nothing grated on her the same way it did on me. She also still wasn”t allowed to leave the grounds of the hotel on her own, but she was no longer pushing at that boundary. She was going to the hotel gym every day accompanied by one of the security staff if I couldn”t take her down myself.

I kept expecting her to argue the part she was to play in all of this, but after a conversation with Alexei, she had calmed down. Helping him with the witches really was the best strategy. Alexei was going to need support, it was why we planned to hit them last. It would give the rest of us a chance to assist them, even if we weren’t there for the start of the fight.

Alexei used the time to delve back into his magical abilities. He didn”t like to use them, preferring his knives. Maybe it was his family’s treatment which had made him so reluctant to rely on his Scion abilities passed down from their house, but none of us ever pushed him. Though if he was going up against his sister and cousin, he would need them. He had some pact magic he had learned as an Autumn courtier, which would be useful. Warding magic mostly, and it would hopefully be enough to protect Yana and him from their curses and hexes.

After getting Nikolai”s agreement, I was taking Yana out of the hotel for the day. She had said she wanted to get some time on the firing range, and we didn”t have one in the hotel. Nikolai had been firmly against me taking her to a public range, so Pasha and I designed one inside a warehouse we owned. We had a little more fun with it since it was private, and I”d had my team come in and set it up. It would be good for them to use as well once we were done. More chances and places to train were never a bad thing.

The smile she gave me when I told her we were leaving made all the work to get the firing range ready more than worth it. She changed her outfit three times before we left, finally settling on a pair of high-waisted fitted trousers which made walking behind her difficult. Especially given I was supposed to be paying attention to any potential threats. Her shirt was tucked into them, and the suspenders she was wearing were made of leather. They had me wondering what she would look like with leather straps all over her body.

The shirt was unbuttoned low enough that I was sure if I stood right in front of her, I’d look down and see the lace of her bra. She looked like she had stepped out of some old pulp-action movie. Like she was about to hire a boat to take her down the river for some dangerous expedition or something.

We took the car to the warehouse, for as much as I wanted to get her on my bike, this was safer. After all the effort I had gone to, reminding Nikolai that she wasn”t a prisoner, I wouldn”t put her at risk for no reason. I wasn”t taking any chances. When all of this was over, I would take her for a ride tight behind me on my bike. Maybe we”d even go out of town for a night or two—an escape from everything.

It was wishful thinking, but I needed it every now and again.

Given how excited she’d been at the hotel, I was surprised she hadn’t skipped from the car when we pulled up. She was far too poised to do something so childish now. I pulled our cases from the back seat and let the dogs out of the car. I then instructed them to run the perimeter and make sure we were alone. Each of them went to Yana for a pat on the head before they ran off, and I couldn”t keep from shaking my head. She was spoiling them, but I couldn”t be mad at her or them.

Ignoring the smirk she sent in my direction at the dogs” behavior, I led the way into the warehouse, and opened the small door on the side rather than using the larger doors. “Let’s hit the range before we do the course. I want to see where your skill level is at.”

My words had her glaring at me, but I didn”t care. Guns weren”t something to play with, no matter how good a mood it put her in. I was sure she hadn”t exaggerated her skills, but I still needed to see for myself. I was sure Pasha would have made some jibe about me being a control freak, but with this stuff, I could admit I was.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she was following and saw Yana take a pair of leather gloves from her pocket before sliding them on. It shouldn”t have been sensual, but she made it sexier than watching someone undress. Maybe it was the way her fingers smoothed the leather against her skin. Or maybe I was as in love with everything she did as I’d always been. Either way, I needed to focus.

We had split the warehouse into two sections. The front part had the range. It wasn”t big, containing only two lanes, but we didn”t need anything more. Setting the cases down on the bench, I unlocked them and stepped back. I motioned for her to move forward. “You seem like the type to prefer a 9mm, but I don”t want to make too many judgments.”

The way she scoffed made me wonder, but she picked up the 9mm, so maybe her attitude had been because I dared make an assumption. I wasn”t surprised when she checked the slide and the magazine. Fyodor carried a gun even though it wasn”t his preferred weapon, and he wasn”t the type to let Yana go without training. We had done a little when we were teenagers. While he had always wanted her first weapons to be her mind and her voice, sometimes you just needed to put a bullet in someone.

“I have a couple of different holsters for you, but I figured a thigh holster would be the way to go, depending on what you planned to wear to the party. We can go over those back at the hotel.”

She disassembled the gun as I spoke, looking over each piece before she reassembled it. I struggled more with each second not to bend her over the desk right next to the case of guns. There was something about the confident way she handled the weapon that pushed buttons I hadn”t realized I had, but which shouldn”t really surprise me.

Once she had the piece reassembled, and the safety checked, I handed her a set of earplugs. When training, we often preferred to use over-ear protection, but it didn”t replicate a real life environment. This way, she could take the earplugs with her and keep them in her purse. It would take only a second for her to put them in. All the times we practiced with firearms when we were teens, she had always complained about the sound. The kiss I got on the cheek as she took them and tucked each little piece of foam into her ears was nice too.

The earplugs were designed so she could still hear me talking, but would lessen the louder sound of gunfire. Still, I put a hand on the small of her back as I guided her over to one of the two lanes. “No pressure, just take your time. I want to see where your skills are at. I know you”ve been with us for a while now, so it”s okay if they are a little rusty.”

She didn”t need to roll her eyes at me, but it didn”t stop her. I knew I was coddling her, but I didn”t want her to feel nervous or like she was being judged. While the basics of firearms never changed, marksmanship was a skill which needed constant practice, or all the little subconscious steps which were part of it faded away.

I was worrying about nothing, though. Her stance was steady as she palmed the pistol, raising it and, with a deep breath, emptied the magazine smoothly into the target at the other end of the lane. The shots were set in a tight group—not all in the center ring—but close enough I wasn”t worried about her on the course. Was a part of me a little disappointed I didn”t have an excuse to crowd behind her and correct her stance while pressing a soft kiss to her neck? Sure I was, but we were here to train. There would be time to fuck when we were done.

She emptied the clip, setting it down on the bench, and she picked up another. “Satisfied I know what I’m doing?” A sassy little tilt to her hips and eyebrow raise had me wanting to spank her. But it was another thing I banked for later. She was going to be in for it when we got home, and I was sure at least one of the others would be happy to help. For now, I just nodded.

“Glad to see you kept the exaggeration to a minimum. Reload and I will show you the course. Hitting a target in a lane is fine. Unfortunately, Sasha and Darya aren”t going to just stand still and wait for you to shoot them. I need to make sure you can hit a moving target.”

I heard the words she muttered to herself, but like every other bratty thing she had done today, I ignored it. Having work to focus on was helping me keep my cool. I grabbed my pair of Sig Sauers from the case and checked them over. After I locked the case, I led her to the other side of the warehouse. As we walked, I checked in with Ghost and Demon. I knew everything was quiet on the perimeter, as they would have told me if it wasn’t the case. But it didn”t stop me from wanting to check in. They now ran loops in opposite directions, and there wasn”t a trace of any scent other than ours.

This warehouse wasn”t one we used as storage, it was mostly utilized as a meeting place. Somewhere without cameras or prying eyes for meetings that required discretion or involved a lot of cleanup. I didn”t think it would be somewhere mercenaries would attack, but I wasn”t taking any chances with Yana”s safety.

Stepping through the door in the dividing wall, I guided her to the holding area. Fake walls were everywhere and formed a maze ahead. “Now, I know you are likely to be outside when you and Alexei take on his family, but it”s hard to simulate that indoors. Besides, if you can clear a building, you can do anything. It will be dark since we planned the attacks to happen at night. And not everything which pops out at you is an enemy, but you should be able to tell the difference easily enough. This course isn”t designed to trick you. It”s to make you think and help you practice, okay?”

She had a determined expression on her face as she checked her pistol one more time, and I was glad she was taking this seriously. Sure, it was fun to be out of the house, but the situation she and Alexei were walking into was incredibly dangerous. With abilities like hers, I was sure it was hard not to feel cocky walking into most scenarios, but the Grandmother”s Children were terrifying. I didn”t want her underestimating them.

“You go first, and I will be right behind you. So try not to turn around and shoot me in the face, yeah? This is live ammo, and Pasha couldn”t come out with us. I don”t want to die today.” We could have used paintballs, and if she hadn”t done so well on the lane, we probably would have. But there was nothing which taught you what to expect during a live fire situation better than firing real bullets. I was sure I would be safe, but I delivered the warning, regardless.

She still had her serious expression on as she nodded and stepped up to the arch leading into the course. I hit the switches on the controls and placed a hand in between her shoulder blades. It was time to go.

Yana didn”t hesitate as the lights went out. It wasn”t pitch black, there was still some ambient lighting, with bulbs set up high or strips of light down low. It simulated the light I expected to be outside in a park. I didn”t want her to walk into doorways or anything and there were very few times she would actually have to fight blind. Of course, if a witch successfully got a hex off, that might become a reality, but I would not let myself get bogged down in all the what ifs. We couldn”t prepare for absolutely everything. The best we could do was make sure her training was solid and her reaction times were as fast as possible, trusting it would prepare her for whatever was to come.

She took quick, confident steps down the corridors. She wasn”t rushing, but she moved decisively. Her gun was braced in both hands as she swept high and low, and my pride rose as I watched her. She might not have been as skilled as one of my men, but I had faith she could handle whatever the witches threw her way.

Maybe after this, I could have her train Pasha. He was skilled enough, but he lacked her confidence and comfort with a weapon. Those were things that couldn”t be taught, they had to come from within.

She took out the first two targets that popped up, quickly moving past them. I monitored for things popping up behind us. I might have helped design the course, but I”d left the targets and their positioning to Pasha, so it would be a surprise to me, too. After this run through, I would know where they were, but it wouldn”t be hard to have him change them in the future.

As the outline of a jogger popped up, I was glad to see Yana hesitate, and then lower her gun slightly as she kept moving. Having someone who fired at every target was as dangerous as someone who didn”t know what they were doing. We kept moving round corners, taking out targets, and striding forward smoothly. She even did a magazine change on the fly—which was sexy as fuck to watch—her gloved hand slamming the new magazine in without her missing a step.

Once we stepped through the end of the course, I turned the lights back on. Pasha had set the targets up, so at the end a digital readout of the result was given. It was useful for training purposes.

“Not bad, brat.” She just raised an eyebrow as she flicked the safety on her pistol and set it down on the bench, finally looking over the results.

“Could probably be faster. And I need to work on my aim with the moving targets. But we don”t have long to get it much better than this.” She was right. We only had a week before the party. It wasn”t a lot of time to do much training, but I was comfortable enough with her skills.

I pressed a quick kiss to her lips, smirking at the hunger which flashed in her eyes. “I will try to get you out here again before the party. We could bring Pasha out here, but I don”t want you two distracting each other.”

I laughed as she stamped her foot, then I stepped out of her reach and grinned at the look on her face. “Let”s get ready to run it again. We have a bit of time before we have to get back.”

She still took a swing at me, but the punch bounced off my arm as I slung it around her waist, guiding her back to the start.

We had work to do.