Page 36 of Rejected Darkness

"I fucking win," I snarl over him before kicking him in the side for good measure. This time instead of giving him my back, I continue to keep him in my sights as I grab my previously forgotten water bottle off the ground and walk to the water cooler to refill it. Before the bottle is even full I pull it away to chug half of it. The cold water is refreshing and already my body is begging for more. Ignoring the want, I finish filling the bottle and move back to the main mat in the center of the room where Rhys is standing waiting for me.

"Feel better?" he jokingly questions when I come to a stop in front of him.

"Nah, not really. You didn't even put up a fight," I shrug, settling in front of him to wait for my next instructions.

"You'll never know," he chuckles. "Now, as I'm sure you've started to notice Fallen use their wings to their advantage and we prefer to fight up close and personal. For our first lesson today we are going to focus on using your wings as an extension of your body."

"I already know how to do that. It's taught while we are in primary school," I groan not understanding one bit what he is trying to get at. We know our wings are an extension of us. They can help us put more power behind our strikes, but they also can get in the way of fighting if we aren't careful.

"Your last move is some proof of that," he agrees quickly. "But it isn't enough. Did you notice I knocked you off your feet a couple of times with my wings alone? I bet not. Not only do our wings provide us with power, but they also provide us flexibility. For the next thirty minutes, I only want you to use your wings to fight me off. I'll go easy on you while you adjust to what I'm asking. No arms, no legs, just using wings."

"Fine," I huff. I've never done what he has asked me to do. Heck, I've never heard of it being done. If it wasn't for the fact that I know he believes every word he is saying, I would certainly call him psycho and walk away but it's clear I need him, or well I need the knowledge he has to improve my fighting.

Divine, why would you do this to me?

Four hours of my morning was spent on the combat field with Rhys. He knocked my ass to Hell and back but I actually learned a few things from him that make me feel just a little more confident in my fighting. I'm going to need to practice, like a lot but Councilwoman Talia was right. The fighting style the Fallen have is a lot stronger than the one the Archangels taught us. If anyone ever asks I'll never admit it but the Fallen could probably kick the Angel's asses in a one-on-one fight.

"You did good this morning," Rhys states as he hands me a sandwich. "Here, you need the protein."

Councilwoman Talia had food delivered to the arena for lunch for us. It wasn't anything fancy but it was at least a good amount of food. She must have known that we were going to be burning a ton of calories if the amount of food delivered was anything to go by. I had already inhaled one of the fruit cups before Rhys handed me a sandwich. I'm not sure if it waspure chance or what but the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that were delivered had strawberry jelly on them which is my favorite. I could eat three and be happy, but I'm not going to do that with Rhys here. I don't need him making some smart-ass comment about my appetite and making me feel bad about myself.

Guys never realize how the things they say can affect a female. I watched so many people in my high school practically starve themselves just so they could stay as skinny as others. It's something that I never understood, but then again I never really had any issues dealing with my weight. I was pretty skinny as it was thanks to the abuse I took every day. My body was busy burning calories to heal my wounds, it didn't have time to hold on to calories and allow me to gain a large amount of weight. I got lucky I guess in some ways. It also helped that I had very few friends so I wasn't worried about fitting in with other students in my class, especially the popular kids.

"When you're done eating, we are going to practice some of your psychic magic," Rhys states breaking my train of thought and pulling me back to the present.

"Can we skip that?" The last thing I want to do is magic with him. I remember our first class together and the shit he gave me. I'd rather not have a repeat of that. Like ever again if possible. Especially after the last class when he cornered me accusing me of using a power I don't have.

"Nope, we need to do this," he pops the last piece of watermelon in his mouth before rising to his feet. "Done yet?"

Well, I guess getting to relax isn't going to happen. Maybe if I can get this over with faster, it means I can get away from him sooner. I doubt he will let that happen but right now I'll take anything I can get. So, fine if he wants to practice psychic magic then that is what we will do.

"What do you want to start with?" I ask knowing I'm about to regret this decision.

"Whatever power you want to show me," his eyes sparkle with mischief. Yeah, I highly doubt that's what he wants to see at all. "I wouldn't mind if you showed me that little power you got from Lucifer though."

Yup, there it is. I knew he was going to bring that up. "I have no idea what you're talking about," I snarl. I have an idea of the power, but I have no idea how to use it. I thought it was something else completely. Now, knowing I got that power from Lucifer, and that Rhys is interested in it. I think I'll try to avoid using it as best as possible for now. The less power he has over me the better.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about but if it makes you feel better we can skip it for now." He holds his palms up facing me acting like he is innocent and surrendering on the subject. I don't believe him for one second. "I'm kidding. I really do want to help you. You have the power of prophecy right? I have some ideas that could work."

I look at him skeptically seeing if this is just another of his jokes or not. This time he does look serious which gives me pause. I would like to have more control over my power but at the cost of listening to him? I'm not sure if it's enough.

"Promise," he swears crossing his heart with a finger. "No more bringing up anything about Lucifer for today. Let's just get this done."

"Fine," I groan, rising to stand across from him. "Tell me what to do." I don't want anyone to think I don't care about my education or about learning my powers. I want to have complete control, I just would rather not have to rely on a Fallen, especially one who hates me to help me accomplish anything. Councilwoman Talia is trusting him to teach me and I have a feeling that if I were to go to her and say that he didn't, hewould be in trouble. So I guess today it's his neck on the line. I could stoop to his level but that's not me. I don't look out for just myself, no I look out for everyone. So, I supposed practicing psychic magic wouldn't be the death of me.

Or so I hope.

Chapter 20

Arabella

Despite the fact, I was stuck with Rhys all damn day thanks to Councilwoman Talia. It wasn't as terrible a day as I had expected. He ran me ragged, especially during combat training. I can't even count on my fingers and toes how many times I wished death upon him, but I also understand why he was chosen to teach me. In the first combat class I had with him he kicked my ass with moves I had never seen. During this one-on-one session, he was able to teach me a few of those moves. Of course, he had to take the time to show off and kick my ass before he would teach me anything. I'm pretty sure he just wanted to be an ass about the whole ordeal, and since we had no one watching us he could. I half expected him to just blow off the orders we were given and leave me to figure it out on my own but he didn't. He's still an asshole don't get me wrong, but at least he's an asshole who still did what was expected.

When we moved on to psychic magic in the afternoon, I just about walked away. He just enforced even further how much of an asshole he is when he brought up having Lucifer's power. I read the journal, I know exactly what power he is talking about and I hate the fact that he knows. It shouldn't surprise me that he does, but I don't like it. When I'm around him like that I feelexposed and vulnerable. Out of everyone I know, he is the last person I would trust with a secret like that. A secret that could very well get me killed. Even Warrick doesn't know about it yet, though I have a feeling he may have suspicions considering he did train me for a majority of my life. There's no way he wouldn't have seen the power at least once.

We spent three hours working on my power of prophecy after I tried to leave our session. Three hours of mental torture. However, Rhys did keep his word. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was starting to gain some control over my prophecy powers. They were still easier to come by while sleeping but when awake I could call upon small prophecies. That was something I had never been able to do. They were always random. I knew I never wanted to be as powerful as some of the seers within our race but just knowing I could call upon small ones was a fact that was good enough for me.

The whole day has now left me confused. I was convinced that Rhys hated me, that he wanted to get rid of me and force me to leave. Never once had he done or said something nice to me. I was already feeling confused when he didn't immediately kick me out last night when Phoenix brought me here and told him I was staying. He didn't try to fight it as much as expected. This morning he cooked me breakfast and I'm still trying to convince myself he only did it because he needed to eat as well, though I noticed he had barely touched the food while he told me what to do. Then combat he kicked my ass but taught me new moves to make me a better fighter, then helped me gain control over my power of prophecy, yeah it doesn't make sense. This is the fallen angel who embodies every sense of the title. So why did it seem like he was being nice by the end of the day and actually slightly enjoying his time with me?

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