Page 13 of Supernova

“It’s Venus.” My reply was short and sharp.

He held the door open and waited for me to walk in, looking a tad surprised when I actually did, like he was expecting me to chicken out and run away. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. He looked me over again. “Cute.”

I was already sick of his bullshit.

???

The large and ominous door that possibly held the key to my future and the safety of Saint Claire, opened up into a massive warehouse. The space was huge with concrete walls and beams that led up to an impossibly high ceiling made from steel. The walls were the height of the whole building. As I scanned the area, an agility course of ropes and other odd contraptions caught my eye about half way up the walls and spanning the entire space above our heads. People were up there too, jumping and swinging from various hanging bits with vigour and skill like I’d never seen. All of them were dressed in shades of black or grey. Up above the course, the ceiling was broken up by many large skylights with beautiful black steel frames, revealing the clear blue sky outside. Mixed amongst these windows were large industrial style fans that whirred loudly, presumably to prevent this tin can from turning into a furnace in the warmer months.

Once I pulled my eyes from the captivating view above me, I took in the one directly before me. The ground level was made up of multiple training stations. In front of me, on the right half of the warehouse, was a large sparring mat that, to my surprise, was occupied by two tough looking females deep in combat. They swiped at each other, ducking and weaving so gracefully, like dancers adorned in black. I was fairly certain my mouth was hanging open.

Around the graceful fighters were onlookers, watching and cheering. I had no idea how my attention went straight up when I first walked in instead of to all of this.

Behind the sparring section was a large weight area. The whole back side was made up of mirrors, from the corner of the space all along the wall, spanning right up until the centre where another large steel sliding door existed, directly opposite from where I stood now. I immediately wanted to know where it led and what mysteries hid behind it.

In front of the mirrors were long rows of racks filled with dumbbells. Again, these were also black and looked expensive, like a very high class gym in a luxury apartment. Clearly there was a common colour scheme in this place. Placed in and around that area were other types of gym equipment; different machinery as well as rows of benches, treadmills, and weight racks.

If I turned my head to the left, there was another fight ring, this one resembling a boxing arena. On the wall along my right side hung multiple punching bags and a rack of gloves. And on this same wall, but further towards the far corner, were a few large paned windows positioned at various heights, each with a little stage or landing station connected by ladders—sort of like an interior fire escape. This would have been what my welcoming-party-of-one must have used to station himself on that fire escape where he scared the living hell out of me. I risked a quick glance to my right again where he stood, watching me with an intense gaze. I was nervous to be so close to him and intimidated by the way he was looking at me, but I was also so intrigued by this place that I peeled my eyes away from him and hungrily looked towards the last part I hadn’t taken in yet: the back left corner.

If my mouth wasn’t hanging open before, it definitely was now. Along the whole side and back were racks and shelves of weapons. Guns, archery equipment and arrows hanging off the walls, tubs of bullets along shelves, swords on the opposite wall as well as rows of daggers and knives. It was a whole arsenal. I don’t know why I was surprised, this was a supernatural hunting academy after all. But still.

“Like what you see, Starlight?” The husky voice beside me reminded me I wasn’t alone. In fact, there were people training everywhere. A few of them were so focused that they didn’t even notice us standing there, others curiously looked at us and some stared at me like I was truly a deer in headlights.

Oh, and it seemed like I had a new nickname. Guess it was an upgrade from ‘Princess’ though, so I’d take it.

I looked back at the guy beside me, amusement clear on his face. I opened my mouth to answer but I was interrupted by a very intimidating middle aged woman with platinum blonde—almost silver—hair who was walking directly towards me. Her mouth was a hard line and her grey eyes felt like they pierced into my soul. Her gaze then turned to him. “Who the hell is this?” she snapped, nodding in my direction.

He remained calm, his lips titled up in a small smirk like he found the situation funny rather than intimidating. “This little thing was wandering around outside. She was looking for you actually, Thea.”

So this was Thea? Her reputation preceded her; she was terrifying. Her silver hair was tied in a sleek, no-nonsense bun and her cold eyes had a ferocity in them that warned you not to mess with her. She was quite the opposite to mum and I struggled to picture them fighting side by side. Although, I guess I could see how they might have been yin and yang. She looked like she was powerful, robust and tough. She was quite tall for a female, towering over me, but not quite the height of my new male friend. Her shoulders were broad and her body was athletic with defined muscles. Mum was like me, small in height and petite looking, but she was toned and lithe. She would have been like those graceful fighters on that mat—that were now staring at me with daggers in their eyes—agile and quick.

I realised that once again I was silent for way too long, giving them all the opportunity to size me up and make their judgements. I needed them to see I was worthy. Worthy and not afraid. Although the second thing was definitely not true.

“I’m Venus,” I offered, trying my hardest to sound confident. “I think you might know my mum, Maya Stone.” She just stared at me, so I added, “and my aunt, Xari”. The guy next to me was definitely intrigued now. The corners of his mouth tilted further up in curious surprise. Thea continued to stare, hands crossed and eyes hard; assessing.

“Maya sent you?” she replied, after what felt like way too many silent seconds.

“Yes. Well, kind of,” I staggered. “She told me everything, but I wanted to come. I needed to.” The last few words almost sounded like I was begging and I was not happy about the way it made me look.

“We don’t just take in anyone at the Gray Knights. Even if you are a legacy. You’ll need to show your worth.” I was about to reply, telling her I’d do anything when she motioned for one of the pretty yet dangerous looking fighters from the sparring ring to come over. She jumped off the slightly raised platform. Her golden blonde hair was pulled into a tight pony, the under half a dark brown with the same lowlights scattered throughout. It swung as she strode towards us, proud and fierce. She had brown eyes and looked at me with a predatory stare that told me she’d eat me alive if she could. She flipped her ponytail back and then rested her hands on her hips, waiting. I didn’t miss the look of desire she gave to the guy who still stood beside me, unusually close. He was angled towards me now and his stance was almost a little protective as these two females glared at me. She did not look too happy about it and I could already tell there was something there. I didn’t necessarily think he was her boyfriend, otherwise the interaction might have gone differently. But whatever was going on between them, I could tell she was going to project any jealousy onto me in any way that she could, just for the fact that he was paying attention to me. She just seemed like that type and the look she gave me practically confirmed it. I swallowed down my fear.

“You’ll spar against Sienna.” Words I was hoping I wouldn’t have to hear.

CHAPTER 10

Before I knew it, I was led onto the sparring mat. Sienna, I presumed, looked more than a little excited to take me on and there was something a little feral in that look she gave me. I made a mental note that if I got in, I better stay clear of the male that she clearly had dibs on, no matter how ridiculously attractive he was. Trouble always followed guys like him, and Sienna definitely seemed like trouble. Not that I was even thinking of guys after everything with River. But a girl could look.

I cleared my mind and took a deep breath. It had been a long time since I had trained with Xari but I was going to need everything I’d been taught to keep up with this girl.

We took our places. I stood across from her, on the edge of the mat. Thea stood to my left, arms crossed; I was guessing that was her signature stance. I didn’t know why my brain took note of all these useless pieces of information right before I was about to battle a girl who clearly wouldn’t go easy on me in front of a small mob of strangers. But here I was. I also noticed Mr Tall, Dark & Dangerous was sticking around for the show, standing slightly further back behind the mass of watchers. He sat on the edge of one of those large gym foam blocks, arms resting on his knees and his chin in his hands. He looked bored, although that clearly wasn’t going to stop him from watching.He gave me a small wink, which did nothing to help my nerves.

Okay, get your shit together, Vee. Time to focus.

I took my stance, matching hers; legs spread apart, my right foot before my left. With hands out and fists ready, I channelled the inner bad bitch Stone woman that I had to have somewhere in my DNA. Even if it was deep, deep down.

The whistle blew.

She lunged at me. I ducked right. I shot back up. Right punch. Right punch again. Duck left.

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