Chapter Thirty-Seven
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brIA WATCHED URZRA digging for worms as she sat on a folding chair with her e-reader on her lap.
The knight had brought a huge umbrella along.
It shaded her from the hot morning sun. They’d been staying at the isolated house for a few days and she’d taught him how to fish.
He hadn’t had much luck so far, but he was determined to keep trying.
“I think I have enough worms now,” Urzra said. He didn’t get sunburned as easily as she did and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Putting the wriggling worms into a container, he threaded one onto a fishing hook. He waded into the water in bare feet and cast the line.
Birds flew overhead, singing to each other. A gentle breeze lifted Bria’s hair from her brow. She sipped water from a bottle, then placed it back in the cooler. It was hard to believe they were living through an apocalypse when the scene was so idyllic.
No one had bothered them at their base so far. Neither of them had detected anyone in the nearby area at all. She had to admit, having a constant companion was far less annoying than she’d expected.
“A fish is biting,” Bria said when she saw the line dip slightly in the water.
Urzra yanked hard and the now wormless hook sailed over his shoulder. “Damn it!” he muttered. “Why can’t I catch these stupid things?”
The cambion snickered and he cast a mock glower at her over his shoulder. “You need to be patient,” she reminded him. “You can’t will fish onto the line. You have to tease them into taking a proper bite.”
He shook his head, muttered something beneath his breath, then threaded another worm onto the hook.
They’d grown closer after spending so much time together.
Urzra told her some of the things he could remember about his wars.
She told him stories about her life and what the planet was like before the Rapture.
Bria was finding it difficult to resist her growing attraction to the warrior.
Urzra was a gentle giant with her, but he was fiercely protective as well.
He had a good sense of humor and was patient whenever she was in a bad mood.
He didn’t try to push her around or tell her what to do. He respected her, which was rare.
She knew he wanted her, that was obvious from how often he got hard.
She knew he would jump at the chance to sleep with her.
It was tempting, but it would be dangerous.
What if she came to rely on him only for him to end up leaving her?
He would only be there for a few years before leaving when they won or lost their war.
It would be so much worse if she allowed herself to fall for him.
She wasn’t sure she could be intimate with the knight without falling in love with him at the same time.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Urzra yanked on the fishing line again. He let out a roar of triumph when a fish sailed high into the air. “I caught one!” he shouted.
Bria grinned as he reeled in the line so rapidly it almost began to smoke. “Good job,” she congratulated him. “Now you need to put it out of its misery so it doesn’t suffer.”
Nodding, he took a sharp knife out of the bucket he’d brought along. He beheaded the fish, then put it into a cooler half-full of ice and resumed fishing.
They spent a couple of hours at the lake and he managed to catch another fish. “That will be more than enough for my dinner,” Bria said. “Let’s go home so I can fillet these things.”
Urzra’s eyes blazed at her choice of words and she mentally winced. This wasn’t their home. It was just temporary accommodations. “You’re a good teacher, female,” the knight said as he packed up his gear. “But it’s my turn to teach you as soon as you’ve gutted the fish.”
Bria made a face at his insistence on teaching her how to use a gun. “Do I have to?” she whined as she got up and folded up the chair.
“Yes,” he said firmly, plucking the umbrella out of the ground and leaning it over his shoulder. “You need to learn how to use weapons in the event that you can’t use your talents against your foes.”
He’d given her this lecture before and she rolled her eyes. They walked through a meadow and neighboring property to reach their base. Bria put off her dreaded lesson by gutting, descaling and filleting the fish. Washing them, she put them in the fridge to cook later.
“Are you done?” Urzra asked, tapping his foot impatiently. The hulking warrior was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“Not yet,” she said to delay even further. “I still stink of fish guts.” She took her time to wash her hands, then couldn’t put it off any longer.
Urzra had the weapon and ammo ready when she met him at the back door. He grinned when he saw her unhappy scowl. “I’ll make a warrior out of you yet, female,” he declared.
“Yeah, that’s not very likely,” Bria denied sourly. “I suck at shooting.”
“You’ll improve with enough practice,” he said with more confidence in her than she had in herself.
They followed a path to a clearing in the trees where he’d set up some targets. They were pages he’d torn from an old magazine. Bria didn’t know any of the people she was shooting at. They’d been popular actors before she’d been born.
“Remember what I taught you,” Urzra said as he handed her the weapon. “Look down the sight, take a breath and gently pull the trigger.”
“I know,” the cambion said crankily. She lifted the weapon to her shoulder, peered down the sight and her finger tightened on the trigger. A small pop sounded and the pellet missed the page she was aiming at completely. “This stupid BB gun is broken!” she declared.
Urzra reached over her shoulder to take it from her. Aiming over her head, he fired off a few shots. The pellets hit the handsome face of one of the actors, forming a perfect circle on his forehead. “It seems fine to me,” he said, then handed it back to her.
She could sense he was trying to be encouraging rather than mocking, which was the only reason why she didn’t storm off in anger. “I can’t do it,” Bria said in defeat. “I’m not a fighter.”
Urzra turned her to face him and crouched a bit so they were at the same level.
““You’ve usually been able to rely on your power to save you in the past, but there will be times when you won’t be able to count on it,” he said solemnly.
“I believe in you, Bria Janke,” he told her.
“You’re far more capable than you realize. You just need to believe in yourself.”
His huge hands were on her slender shoulders and his dark blue eyes were filled with sincerity.
He was so handsome he took her breath away and his belief in her was absolute.
She took a deep breath, then nodded, finding some resolve despite her misgivings.
He let go of her and she turned to face the targets again.
This time, she aimed at a beautiful blonde woman. Aiming carefully, she held her breath and pulled the trigger. The pellet hit the actress in the chin and she stared in astonishment. “I hit it!” she said. “I actually hit the target!”
“I never doubted you for a second,” Urzra said with a huge grin.
Some of her fear of combat receded and she buckled down to try as hard as she could.
Being so small had always made her feel weak even though she was far stronger than average.
With the knight’s help, maybe she could finally overcome her self-doubt.
Maybe she would realize she wasn’t as helpless as she’d thought if she couldn’t use her skills to manipulate emotions.