34. Ash
Chapter 34
Ash
A few mornings later before our training session, I awoke early to a knock on my door, and by the time I opened it, no one was there but Sam, who looked on in disinterest. I peered down at the ground and found a stack of books lying in the hallway with a piece of paper on top.
I crouched down and picked it up, unfolding the paper on top.
Saw you looking at these. I hope you like them. Happy Birthday.
My eyes instantly shot up to the end of the hallway.
“Gonna tell me who this was from, Sam?” I asked.
All I got in response was a shrug.
“Thought not,” I sighed, pulling the door closed. Slouching down in the chair, I read through the titles. Books on politics, a dictionary, and one that looked like some sort of love story. Was this from Gabe? He was the only one that knew my birthday was today. Even through everything, he remembered my birthday, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. Especially since I had sent a letter with him to send to a dead woman, just to see if he would tell me of her death or not, once he found out…or if he already knew.
“That all you got, Blondie?”
I punched the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling impossibly harder. Kane’s face could use a few fists. He stood next to me with his hand on his chin, assessing my every movement.
“You’re still overextending your elbows too much. Keep them slightly bent, and tighten your core when you throw. It will pack more power behind it.”
I heeded his advice and adjusted my throws. All while Jerek did an impossible number of pushups in the corner. Ryan’s friendship had been a blessed change to my utterly dreary life, now that Jerek seemed mad at me for stabbing him and I found myself missing our banter a bit. And Kane acted like even more of an asshole than usual. He pushed me to my limits day in and day out, making me hit the bag until my fists stung in pain. He taught me hand-to-hand combat and self-defense in a direct and angry manner. His words were always clipped and his tone harsh.
I had been extra careful to never let him touch me after my discovery in my room, shoving any thoughts to the very back of my mind whenever we tussled on the mat. It proved extremely difficult when I tried honing my ability at the same time without his knowledge. I pulled on it constantly while we fought, making myself quick enough to excel at fighting but slow enough that he wouldn’t suspect anything. I even let him land a punch every now and again, for good measure.
“Good. Mat,” he snapped, and I growled at his commands.
What I needed was to find the rebels—to find out Advisor Davis’s plans and find a way to take down the King. Instead, I was stuck inside, training every morning with Mr. Moody.
Kane stopped on the mat and turned to look at me. “Let’s see how much you’ve learned.” He raised his fists, and I followed suit. This was something we had done often, but today it seemed he had a new edge in his steel eyes. He was an excellent fighter, even Jerek couldn’t match him, and I was too worried about him seeing my ability to try too much.
“Stop stalling,” he snarled as I danced around him, avoiding the attack.
I lamely attacked, and he easily deflected my punches, swinging out and catching me in the side of the ribs. His throws didn’t have any real heat behind them. I knew he pulled them so he wouldn’t hurt me. Kane—scariest man I had ever met, yet he pulled his punches so he wouldn’t hurt me.
“Ash! You’re not even trying!” His jaw clenched.
I attacked again, a little harder this time, and dodged the hits thrown my way with ease. We moved away from each other, and his eyes glowed with anger.
“You’re still holding back.” He scowled. His words sounded threatening enough that I saw Jerek step up to the edge of the mat out of the corner of my eye .
This time, Kane attacked. I maneuvered around just enough of his punches to make him think that I was trying, but I caught half of a fist to the shoulder and realized he wasn’t pulling them anymore. We moved away from each other again, and I rubbed my shoulder where it hurt. He spotted the movement and his eyes darkened, but he continued. My temper began to flare. I wanted so badly to kick his ass, to see what I could really do.
He moved again in a flash and knocked me over, landing on top of me and pinning me to the ground. His hands wrapped around my wrists, pinning them above my head. I pushed all my thoughts away, including my ability, knowing he could see directly inside of my head. His chest heaved with labored breaths.
“Get up,” he demanded.
I struggled underneath him to no avail. His large, tattooed hands held mine firmly, and his weight was too much. Thoughts raced through my mind of men on top of me trying to harm me before…Luke…Rex… My mind clouded, the fear overtaking it again. Kane went completely still on top of me, and I squeezed my eyes shut to try to block out the memories.
“Breathe.” Kane’s breath tickled my ear, and his scruff grazed along my cheek. “What if it wasn’t me, Blondie? You need to control your mind.” His voice was strained—angry. His hands squeezed slightly harder, and I felt them on my skin, felt his body on mine. I felt all the right ways his body caressed my own. My mind blurred with lust instead of fear, and it snapped me back to reality. Irrational anger surged into my veins. I hated him. I wanted him off me—to stop touching me.
“Good, use that anger.” I hated that he could see the very raw parts of me that surged to the surface. His words were still too close to my ear. I struggled again, but my attempt to flee proved unsuccessful once more. The bastard wouldn’t let me up until I earned it. Be smarter than your opponent. Kane’s words echoed in my head. Anger and lust churned in my stomach, and I put my lips on his in a moment of pure hatred and desire.
It wasn’t a kiss. My lips were simply on his, but heat scorched my tender skin nonetheless. It stunned him long enough that his grip on my arms faltered. I pulled at my gift and used it to my advantage, bringing my knee up to his manhood and rolling away from him when he grunted in pain. I jumped to my feet and readied myself for another attack.
Kane stood, seemingly immune to the blow I had landed and, for the first time, he graced me with a real smile. I couldn’t look away—it was brilliant. He squared up to me once more with fists held in front of him.
“That’s more like it.” He chuckled…actually chuckled. What sort of sick sadist would smile and laugh at a blow to his man parts? It only made me angrier. Nobody had the right to look that stunning with a smile, especially him.
“This means I get to fight dirty now, too,” he said with the wicked smile still plastered on his face.
“Kane,” Jerek warned, still standing at the edge of the mat.
Kane’s smile dropped as he shot a glare at Jerek, telling him to stay out of whatever was happening here. We circled each other, his eyes daring me to make a move.
I struck first—enough with his games. I saw all his moves and used them to every bit of my advantage. He wanted a fight; I’d give him one. We clashed hand to hand—I moved fast enough he couldn’t land any hits, but didn’t let on exactly how much I knew about his movements. I purposefully landed blows that I knew he would block, but the smirk remained on his face. He was still playing with me. My temper skyrocketed. He threw a blow to my right, and I dodged out of the way, only to see him drop his other guard hand for an instant. I used my foresight and his accident to land a solid blow on his face. My knuckles screamed at the impact of the bones in his face, and I retreated once more.
Kane grabbed his chin, flexing his jaw like my punch didn’t even affect him. Then, I saw the trickle of blood that cascaded down his chin from the split lip I caused. The blood rushed down his face and he rubbed it off with his thumb, only to pull it in front of his eyes and inspect the crimson liquid. He stared at it in astonishment until his eyes turned to me once more, and another smile cascaded over his full lips.
“Is that how you did it, Blondie? Got three of my men killed?”
My nostrils flared at his observation.
“You enjoyed it, didn’t you? I can see it in your eyes. You’re loving every moment of watching my blood leak out.”
I was—I hated him and enjoyed feeling powerful enough to make him bleed, but I didn’t appreciate what he insinuated. I attacked him again with more fury. Even with my foresight helping, he was quick, and I could see the surprise in his features at my sudden improvement. He dropped his non-dominant hand again when he threw, leaving his face open for another blow. It was only for a fraction of a second and not something an opponent would notice unless they could see into the future. My fist landed solidly on his jaw in the same spot, and he moved away from me with shock in his eyes.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Mm,” I mused. “Looks like I’m kicking your ass, to me. What do you think, Jerek?”
“Answer that and you’re dead,” Kane snarled .
Jerek smothered his hand over his face to hide his smile.
Kane went on the offensive, moving forward with frightening speed; he had been holding back before. I needed to think of a way out, before this went too far and he found out the truth. An idea struck me—it was the perfect plan to kill two birds with one stone. I had been wanting to see Dr. Jones again, and they wouldn’t let me down to medical. This was the ideal solution to see him and get Kane off my back. When Kane threw the next punch, instead of moving out of the way, I moved into it. Shock and horror glinted in his eyes the second before his fist met my face. I felt strong. The blows men had landed to my face prior to this had been against my will. This one was my fault—my choice. I calculated it to have him hit my nose and lips just enough to make them bleed, but not enough to cause any real damage. What I hadn’t expected was the pain of my teeth and nose cracking below Kane’s tattooed fist.