Chapter 20 #2
“I am Leila,” she tells me.
“Nice to meet you, Leila,” I tell her, pulling the last knife out, but it is wedged into the wood behind the target, making it hard to pull out.
Maverick comes over and yanks it out for me when he sees me struggling. Suddenly, an ax hits the target next to his head, making me jump before a growl erupts from behind us, making me turn to see a shirtless Eli step into the arena. The kids are staring at him nervously and moving away from him.
“I told you to stay away from her,” Eli growls, and I step forward, blocking his path as he stalks toward his father.
“No, I came in to watch the kids. He didn’t,” I tell Eli, who grabs my arm.
“I told you to stay away from him, Addie,” he growls, and I see Cyrus rush over to us.
“She has every right to learn how to defend herself, Eli. No harm training with the kids,” Maverick says, and I can see a few of the parents come in and remove their children.
I smile at them apologetically and am surprised when they nod at me.
“With fucking knives? Are you nuts? She will hurt herself,” Eli snaps at him.
I shake my head when he pulls me away. “Stop, I wasn’t doing anything wrong, Eli,” I tell him, ripping my arm from his grip, and I nearly stumble backward.
Maverick grabs my elbow to steady me. Eli’s eyes snap to his hand. Yet his father isn’t challenging him; he is merely stopping me from falling. Cyrus grabs Eli, shoving him back before he could attack his father.
“She is human. What part of that don’t you fucking understand?” Eli growls at his father.
“She may be human, but she is not weak. Her being human, doesn’t that give you more reason to let her train so she can defend herself?” Maverick says.
“She doesn’t need to train when she has us,” Eli tells him.
Maverick sighs before pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a breath. “Fine, Eli, have it your way.”
“Addie, now!” Eli growls, and I place the knife in my hand down on the stump table when Leila, who in my eyes is one brave little girl, approaches him before tugging his arm.
“If she can hit the target three times, can she train with us?” she asks him.
Eli laughs at her, shaking his head. “She is human, Leila.”
“Doesn’t mean she can’t hit the target,” Leila says, placing her hands on her hips.
I hear Maverick snort behind me.
“She won’t be able to hit the target. She will only hurt herself,” Eli tells her.
Gosh, I hope our child is as sassy as her. She clearly has no issues challenging authority.
“Then nothing to worry about. Emery said girls could do anything, but she’s human. You are probably right,” she says, smiling.
Eli tries to walk off, tugging me with him.
“So, that means you have no problem with her trying to hit it because she won’t, right? So, what’s the harm in her trying? If she sticks three knives in the target, she can train with us. If she can’t, ban her from the arena,” Leila says, and I chuckle at her.
Eli sighs before accepting her bet.
“Fine. If she can hit the target, I will let her train with you,” Eli tells her, folding his arms across his chest and looking down at her.
She smiles, flashing her canines at him before skipping over to me and grabbing my hand. Maverick gives her a nod. A few parents laugh, coming over to lean on the arena fence.
Eli places five knives on the stump next to me. “Gotta get three out of five, so don’t miss,” he says when Maverick laughs.
“I am glad you find humiliating Addie funny, father,” Eli says.
“We aren’t laughing at Addie, Eli. We are laughing that you have just been shown up by a ten-year-old. Addie won’t miss the target. She has been out here for over an hour, hasn’t missed yet,” Maverick retorts.
Eli turns to face me. “Prove it then,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me, clearly thinking I am incapable of doing anything.
Leila comes over to me.
“No helping her, Leila,” Eli tells her, and she pouts.
I pick up the knife, now feeling under pressure.
It is different when I am doing it for fun; now, though, my hands are beginning to sweat.
I pick up the knife and adjust my feet. Leila clears her throat, making me look at her, her eyes on my hand, telling me to move it down further.
I readjust my grip before taking a deep breath.
Once I am sure I have my spot, I throw the knife as hard as I can at the target.
The knife hits the center and goes into the wood behind the target.
“Beginners’ luck,” Eli chuckles.
I smirks before picking up the next one, the knife sliding in next to the other. Leila hands me the next one, and I smile at her before throwing it. It hits just outside the bullseye but still hits the target.
“Again,” Eli says, walking over to the target and pulling the knives from it. He walks back to me, turning my hips slightly. “Hit the outer ring. Let’s see how good your aim is then.”
I take the knives; one hits the second ring, but the next hits the outer ring, like he wanted. He grunts in approval and nods, wanting me to throw the next one. I see Cyrus sit on one of the pews, watching, a silly grin on his face.
The kids come back in and start training as Eli pulls the knives from the target for me. He walks back over to me.
“You could have said you’d done it before,” he says, standing next to me.
“You didn’t let me.”
“So, can she train with us?” Leila asks, and I look at Eli over my shoulder.
“Yes, I said she could if she hit the target,” Eli says before kissing my shoulder. He hands me the small ax.
“I can’t throw this,” I tell him.
“No point learning only how to throw knives when you can do it already. I will show you how,” he says, adjusting my hand and stance.
We spend a few hours training with the kids, and Eli starts to relax. I can tell he sees how unreasonable he was being. Maverick even comes over to help me with the ax, and Eli lets him, surprisingly, instead going over and sitting with Cyrus, who is watching.
I help the kids and parents pack it up when we are done, Eli following me around, but he doesn’t stop me or get up anyone when they come close to me, though they all make sure not to touch me.
“I want to go for a run,” Eli says, coming up to me and wrapping his arms around my waist and rubbing my belly, which is growing more and more each day.
“I will go with Cyrus,” I tell him, and he nods.
“Go change out of the dressing gown. We leave in five minutes.”