Page 37 of Supernova

That didn’t stop him in training though. He hit me with pure strength but against all odds, I blocked his attacks and shot back with my own force, fuelled by the power Griffin had taught me to wield in our private lessons. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as afraid of Bret as I was for my next partner.

Her eyes sparkled with wild excitement when we finally parallelled each other in the line, causing me to swallow deeply. I didn’t understand what sort of sick joy she got out of this. Maybe she thought if she showed Griff how weak and useless I was, he’d lose interest and go back to her? That was my best guess. Well not today sister—fuck I was lame.

When the bell sounded my heart palpitated so loud that it overtook my senses. I closed my eyes for a split second, turning it all off: the fear, the worry, the care. I would fight. That’s all I could control right now.

By the time I opened my eyes, Sienna was lunging at me, which I fully expected and prepared for. I ducked and side stepped under her outstretched arms, causing her to stumble forward a few steps before she found her footing. That first move of hers was uncontrolled and erratic, which I used to my advantage.

When she turned, her feline features looked vicious and I could have sworn I saw a switch turn on as she snapped into predator mode. I couldn’t count on her making poor movements anymore, I’d have to use strategy.

She rushed towards me, fists ready to attack. I waited, holding my guard and when she approached, I lifted my knee with my hands blocking my face, getting her straight in the solar plexus. When she picked herself back up and tried again, I did the same thing; waited for her to approach and then this time hit her with a side kick, hard and fast.

This only angered her.

The next time I went in for a kick, she saw it coming, knocking my leg to the side causing me to spin too much. When my side was exposed to her, she jabbed right into my ribs. I grabbed them in pain, taking a second to breathe through it—a second that I didn’t have. She followed through with a roundhouse kick to my back. It was smooth and graceful and it fucking hurt. When I was bent over, she took her chance, swiping her leg under mine until I landed on the mat.

With no time to waste, I got up in a second, trying not to dwell on the pain or embarrassment.

As she came at me again, ready to throw a punch, I lowered my level, bending my knees and taking my head off the centre line before I threw a straight punch at her mid chest. Her body bent over from the force and this time she lowered to the ground. Big win for me. Honestly, even if I fell on my ass consistently for the next eight or so minutes, I’d be proud of that move.

She took her stance again and we circled each other a few times until I lifted my knee, making her predict I’d go in for the kick. Instead, I side hopped and came in with my elbow, slamming it hard into her. She exclaimed, not expecting another hit to get through her defences so quickly. But she recovered just as fast. Quicker than I would have anyway. I didn’t have time to think about what I’d do next.

When she came at me again, she level changed, trying to distract me. It succeeded at putting me on edge, disrupting my flow and thought process.

How long was ten minutes? It felt like it would never end.

She managed to get a few more brutal hits in and I tried not to show how much they hurt.

I used a feint, one that Griff had taught me. While she was throwing punch after punch at me, I looked low, ducking my head as if I was going to hit her with an uppercut. Instead, I rounded a high kick to her shoulder. She stumbled sideways. And I hit her with another kick to her side, knocking her off balance. She hit the floor again, laying on her back for a millisecond. But then she arched her arms back, swinging her legs up and using her strength and the momentum to kick herself back up to standing. Note to self: learn how to do that.

The fire in her gaze scared the shit out of me.

I had put some distance between us while she was down but she ran at me, clearing it in seconds. When she got closer, she somehow lifted her body off the ground and did a flying side kick. I saw it come to my face and I guess some sort of extra senses kicked in because I managed to lift my arm up to block the brunt of it, protecting my face. But the force still knocked me to the ground. When I was on my back she jumped on me, straddling me as she threw punches to my chest. I blocked them and after a few more hits to my arm, I was finally able to grab her hand mid throw, using all my strength to shove her backwards and off me. She tumbled sideways and I used the moment to get myself up, proud of the power I was able to produce.

Seriously, the bell can sound any minute now. Like literally, right now would be great.

It didn’t.

When she lifted herself back up, seeming a little flustered and fatigued, I used all my strength—seeing that purple energy flow—to hit her with three punches to her chest. The blows pushed her back more than she expected if the shock in her eyes told me anything.

The girl had fight, that was for sure. She recovered and came back at me with a combo of jabs and an uppercut. I kept my arms up in defence, blocking everything she threw at me like a solid wall.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It was music to my ears.

Sienna’s punches ceased and she stepped back. I let out a long exhale.

When I looked around to find my friends, Kit was jumping up and down on the spot clapping in the corner, Billie was on the other side giving me a thumbs up and a proud smile, Carter gave me a slow, dramatic clap and Griffin … when I met his silver eyes they shone with pride and his lip twitched up into a pleased smirk as he gave me a single nod.

Even Thea looked at me with what seemed like respect mixed with a hint of amusement, her mouth lifting at the corner imperceptibly in a similar fashion to Griffin’s. Gee, I wonder where he got it from.

The rest of training felt like the easiest thing in the world compared to what I had just achieved. But by the time I was finished and the adrenaline faded away, I was absolutely pooped.

I headed straight for the showers, needing warm water to soothe my aching muscles immediately.

When I finally pulled myself away from the calming stream and wrapped myself in a towel, I realised I had forgotten to bring clothes to change into. On my way out I noticed Griffin leaning just outside the bathroom doorway near the large window, his brow raised at the sight of me in just a towel. Out of habit, I pulled it tighter to my chest.

With his hands in his pocket, he looked down at me. “Well done, Supernova.”

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