Chapter 2 Scarlett
Scarlett
Azrael stopped in front of me, his cane leaning against the far wall. It wasn’t often his cane was out of his hands, but I had noticed that whenever it was just us, he suddenly needed two hands to handle me.
Was that trust?
The room we were in was large and empty. Stone walls, stone floors with a large rug covering most of it. One door, no windows.
I was barefoot, wearing a flowy white dress, and he was dressed in his black suit. No jacket or tie, just a vest over a shirt, his sleeves pushed up on his forearms. We had already spent the last thirty minutes stretching, warming our bodies up, now came whatever plans he had next.
“You are a natural when it comes to a few things, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need training,” he told me, his hands folded behind his back. “Your flexibility will get you far, but it won’t keep your body from being in real pain.”
That was okay, I was used to pain. I could still feel the clamps around my nipples, his cock pounding inside of me. I could still feel everywhere his hands left bruises while he fucked the energy right out of me last night. I felt it all.
Whatever he had to throw at me, I could take it.
“I’m putting a lifetime’s worth of training into four months,” he explained. “Everything I know will be placed into you. Every day you will train for as long as I want you to, and then you will eat, you will sleep, and you’ll wake up and do it all again.”
The excitement that was buzzing through me lessened at that. My brows furrowed.
“Don’t worry, little sinner, I will not go without simply because you’re too tired or sore to stay awake.”
I felt a smile touch my lips, his eyes instantly flicking down. I didn’t care if I was awake, asleep, or completely unconscious. I didn’t want to go a second without feeling him inside of me.
His jaw worked as his eyes flicked back to mine, hardening ever so slightly.
“The fighting style that will work best with you is called Wushu. It requires an immense amount of strength, flexibility, and grace. All things that you already possess. During the first three quarters of the day, we will focus on that and some strength training, but during the last quarter of your day, you will run the halls until you puke. Around that, you will be studying the books I give you, watching videos from the missions my family has gone on, picking them apart and writing down what you think they did wrong and how they could improve, and eventually, we will go over torture. Because it is inevitable, and something you will endure when you step foot in Absolution. You need to be prepared for it all.”
The threat of the challenge had me bouncing on the balls of my feet. I was ready. I could handle whatever he wanted to throw at me, I was sure. I would do anything to make him proud.
“Now, I understand that your burns are still healing, so we will be careful of some of the things you do so as not to cause any severe infection, but by no means will I go easy on you.” He lifted his chin.
“Today we will focus on things that will enhance what you already know. Kicking, flipping, using your flexibility to your advantage. Most of the people you will come across will use guns, fists, knives. They might be quick, but few are ever truly agile. It was one of the weaknesses I found in my own training, so I sought it out myself. It’s why I’m better. ”
I nodded, hanging onto every single word he said.
“Do you know how to flip?”
I shook my head. No.
He let his hands fall to his sides and took a step back. “It can be utilized in several different ways, but I will show you the most basic one first, the one you will use the most.”
He turned to the side and looked over, his eyes glowing. “Watch.”
So, I did. I studied the way he readied his body, using his legs to push himself up, using his body to fling himself around, bringing one foot down and following through with the other.
It was graceful and smooth, and I could see how it could be used in a fight. He could use that foot to kick a weapon out of a hand or kick someone in the face all while remaining fluid and moving.
“It’s much harder to hit a moving target than it is a still one,” he explained, pushing his hair back. “Especially when you’re fighting face to face against one or more opponents. We’ll discuss the difference between this and sneaking up behind them later.”
Sneaking. I was very good at sneaking, but I was better at patience. I could wait, for now, I really wanted to learn how he did that.
“Can you do a cartwheel?” he asked.
A cartwheel? “What is that?”
Rage flashed through his eyes, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me. A cartwheel must have been one of those things I should have known about but didn’t because of how I grew up. I was a quick learner though, it wouldn’t take me long to learn all about it, I was sure.
He walked up to me. “Turn to the side,” he instructed. “Hold your hands up in the air, fingers spread slightly.”
I did as he said and looked over, finding him doing the exact same thing.
“Now, use the motion of your body to flip yourself. Watch.”
He stuck his right foot out, leaned back, and pushed himself forward, falling onto his hands and flipping back onto his feet flawlessly.
It was mesmerizing watching him do anything like that. He was fluid in every step, like water over rocks. Everything he did was perfect.
I turned ahead of me and released a breath. It seemed easy enough.
“Tighten your core,” he told me. “Your abdomen.”
I tightened those muscles, feeling my body settle.
“Your body is a weapon,” he explained. “The best weapon you will ever have. More deadly than a bullet if trained correctly, and far quieter. If you can master your own body, you can master anything.”
Master my own body. Well, it was mine, wasn’t it? It shouldn’t have control over me; I should have complete control over it. Mine to wield and use as I pleased. I wouldn’t be trapped inside of it, screaming for an escape. I wouldn’t allow that.
I released a breath and focused on where I wanted to land. I held my right foot out and did exactly as he had done, a weightlessness filling my lungs as the entire world flipped around.
My landing wasn’t as smooth as his was. I stumbled a bit, causing me to frown. I turned to him and shook my head. “That wasn’t good.”
“You’ll get better,” he stated firmly. “Again.”