Page 78 of Mate Me

Reagan

Clap!

My butt smacked against the hard floor, the sound reverberating in the room. I thanked my genetics for giving me ample booty to cushion my fall for the hundredth time that morning.

In the week that had passed since Jana had attacked me, the quiet had been a combination of blissful and unnerving. The lingering question as to who she'd been working with remained unanswered, and that wasn’t comforting, but I was thankful for the peace.

Well. It was mostly peaceful.

Caius and I had decided it would be worthwhile to have training sessions for self-defense. My dad had trained me in basic hand-to-hand combat, but that was nothing compared to fighting a five thousand-year-old shadow god. Sessions with Caius were brutal, and I knew for a fact he was going easy on me.

The truth of the matter was that I’d never actually been very good at fighting. For all my effort, I was a novice at best. I had strength and speed as a shifter, but grace and follow-through were my shortcomings.

“Your footwork still needs improvement, but you have good balance,” Caius said, not for the first time.

“Wonderful,” I mumbled, wiping my forehead with the back of my wrist. “Next time I’m attacked, I’ll be sure to warn my opponent and tell them I’m skilled in the art of balance. Best watch out.”

Caius chuckled, unbuttoning his shirt, and using it to wipe the sweat from his chest. The glistening planes of his muscles made me look away. I may be doingstuffwith him, but I wasn’t going to be some fawning schoolgirl like the kind I’d seen in The Crossroads. There was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn’t me. That was more Clara’s style.

“You can’t land a punch while sparring with me. That’s not the same case when fighting someone else.”

I snorted. “If you say so.”

He cocked his head, throwing the shirt to the sidelines. “Would you rather I go easy on you?”

“Aren’t you already?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No.” I sighed while shaking my head. “That would be pointless. While this is demoralizing, the logical part of my brain reminds me fighting you isn’t the same as fighting literally anyone else. I might have some demonic moose come after me, but unless there are other gods around here, I don’t have to worry about going toe to toe with a real immortal, right?”

“Right.” He smiled. “Now get up.”

I planted my hands on either side of my hips and rocked back then forward, into a standing crouch. Bringing my hands up to protect my face, I quickly used the back of one to wipe the sweat as it dripped into my eyes. The saltiness stung, making them water more.

“I’m sweating so much it’s leaving salt on my skin,” I complained, blinking away the tears.

“You’d sweat in a real fight too.” That earned him a huff from me. I’m not sure I’d last this long in a fight, but it wasn’t worth saying so. “Now this time, focus on the steps we talked about. Duck, step in, grab me, flip. You have power in your hips and legs, more than your arms. Use it.”

I nodded once.

Caius moved almost too fast for me to keep up. When a right hook came sailing for me I dropped to one knee, but that’s as far as instinct got me. I was fast enough to avoid the hits, but not fast enough to capitalize on his misses.

Determined to get it right, my legs popped back up as my hand hooked his ankle. I straightened as fast as I could, releasing his ankle. Caius rolled deftly instead of landing sprawled on the ground as I had.

With the first maneuver complete, I dashed to the other side of the gym. My steps fell short when the ground was yanked out from under me. Instinctively, I wanted to catch myself on my hands, but I’d been working on softening my landing and spreading out the impact. Learning to fall correctly was our first lesson. Then we moved to more offensive things, or defensive, in my case. While Caius thought I’d stand a good shot against whoever else might attack me, there was the worry that I’d be outclassed so the priority was to get away.

Which suited me just fine. While Eres was all on board the kill-train, I’d rather maim and run than stick around and risk dying all because she wanted to be badass.

I belly flopped onto the floor, using my forearms for impact rather than my hands and elbows. Still, I miscalculated, and my head whipped back, then down, my forehead hitting the mat.

“Ow,” I groaned. Caius crawled up the back of my body, reminding me we were still in the scene, and I couldn’t let him get me in a headlock or it would be all over.

I twisted, bringing one knee up as I did. I planted my sneaker on his shoulder and pushed as hard as I could. While Caius didn’t move, my body slid upwards and out from under him.

This was the furthest I’d gotten all week, which meant I had no idea what he’d do next. I crab walked backwards, moving fast as I could. My back bumped into something hard.

Weapons wall.

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