Chapter 32 #2
“You’re trying too hard and using way too much effort. Learn to calm down and focus.”
I blow out my breath. Annoying as she is, she’s right, and her frustrating advice is distracting my mind.
“Your senses are heightened, yet you rarely use them when fighting. Everything matters. The sound the wind makes when a fist curves through it can tell you the direction it is coming from. Spotting a single drop of sweat can reveal a person’s state.
We all have tells, so start finding them because I’m not going to hold back. ”
Her leg swings around, knocking me off my feet and sending me crashing back-first onto the ground. Fuck, that hurt. She lifts her foot over me, ready to slam it into my stomach, but I roll to the side, quickly jumping to my feet.
“Good, but you’re still overthinking. You let me get that kick in.”
“You have been alive for centuries; it’d be kind of weird if you didn’t.”
“Time means nothing in war; knowing your enemy does.”
Her words carry a weight that I know only comes from a place of pain. It’s the first drop of emotion I’ve picked up from her. This is the first time she has mentioned the war.
“What was it like? Fighting in the war?” I dare to ask.
“We’re not here to talk about me.” She jabs a fist toward my face, but I step out of the way, twisting my body to the left and swinging out my own. She dodges with ease, of course. “Nice.”
I stretch my neck from side to side, warming the muscles.
“Humor me.”
“There’s nothing humorous about war.”
She sweeps her foot again, but this time I jump.
“Good,” she says, and I can’t hide the small drop of pride I feel at her words.
I can feel the weight of Ivana, Ajax, and Piper’s eyes on us.
The room is so silent that I don’t even need to focus much to hear at all.
I hear the steady rhythm of Kaia’s heart.
Too steady. She’s perfected the art of staying calm even in situations like these.
She moves like a feline, quick and deadly, never allowing her opponent to focus on her for too long.
Sweat licks the back of my neck, but I keep my eyes on Kaia.
I inhale deeply, trying to clear my mind, like she told me to.
I push away the raging thoughts of Karius and who he might be with right now and instead focus on this room.
As the noise in my mind shifts, my focus locks entirely on the room.
I hear the tiny flicker of wind that sweeps through the small gap of a window.
I can hear Piper sucking in a breath as she watches us intently.
I can smell the sweat that clings to the floor of the training room.
I can feel it all. My body pulses with the power of my senses, and I pull at it more, sucking in the intense strength of it, but I don’t let it overwhelm me. I am in control.
Kaia eyes me like a predator, a true warrior, and it’s intoxicating to watch. My ear flickers at the tiny shift in the air, and my body flips back without me even telling it to. It moves with an ease that I have never had, and I hear Athriel’s hum of pleasure.
Ajax claps from where he stands at the side.
“Yes, Red! You’ve got this.”
I try to hide the smile that fills my face, but the moment feels so good.
Kaia sucks in a breath, and the sound of her foot shifting against the stone floor flows like waves to my ear, and I curl my body easily, missing the kick that she throws in my direction.
Her eyes narrow in focus, but so do mine.
We move back and forth in a beautiful dance, until I forget where I am and who I’m fighting.
This is no longer Kaia but a real enemy.
It’s Amabel. It’s Julian. It’s the impures who have Willow.
My eyes close, and I feel the air around me like a second skin, sensing the moment it shifts and ducking before Kaia can land the punch she just threw in my direction.
I smile, spinning until I am behind her, but she is fast. She turns, lifting an arm to block my assault, but for the first time, I can tell that I was close to hitting her.
We move back and forth, throwing kicks and punches through the air, but neither of us lands a winning blow.
My body moves like water, and it feels right.
I sweep across the floor, meeting her blow for blow until I turn at the last minute when she expects me to duck.
I send my foot slamming into her side and hear the collective gasp as it hits its mark.
Kaia flies across the room, landing on her back with a thud.
I prepare for a counter, for her anger as she lifts her head up slowly from where she lies.
To my utter surprise, her face curves into a smile.
“That is how you fight in a war,” she says, her breath coming in sharp. She jumps to her feet, and I’m not entirely sure if I’m imagining the pride on her face. “Let's go again.”
And we do. For the next hour, we engage in a back-and-forth sparring match that has my adrenaline pumping. I only manage to hit her one more time, but it’s an improvement, and if this war is real, if it really happens, then this is exactly where all my attention should be. Not on Karius.