Page 55 of Visions & Shadows

Brenna moves so fast, and for a moment, she’s a blur. She grabs hold of my arm and twists it behind my back, making pain explode in my shoulder and forcing me to let go of the knife.

When she moves away from me, I have to clench my jaw, so I don’t show any of the pain on my face.

“Again,” she spits the word at me.

My shoulder hurts something fierce as I pick up the knife, but before I can even attack, she darts forward, and with a high kick to my already aching shoulder, she sends my ass sprawling over the grass.

The bitch.

The pain engulfing my shoulder and arm is so intense I have to bite on my bottom lip to keep a cry from escaping.

Determined not to give her any satisfaction, I pick up the blade againand throw it at her face out of pure frustration.

Brenna twists her body, easily evading the knife, but there’s a look of surprise on her face.

I lunge at her, not wanting to lose my element of surprise, but before I can grab hold of her, she backhands me across the cheek and sends me straight to the ground.

Shit.

Tasting blood, I spit it out before lifting my head and glaring at Brenna.

My heart is pounding loudly in my ears from all the adrenaline pulsing through my body, and my breaths are rushing fast, making my lungs burn.

Sitting back on my haunches, I lift a hand to my face, and touching my mouth, my fingers come away with blood on the tips.

Just as I begin to climb to my feet, Brenna darts toward me, and a kick to my ribs has me gagging as I fall back to the grass.

Oh God. That hurts like a motherfucker.

My eyes water from the pain, and I struggle to suck in a wheezing breath, but somehow, I manage to struggle to my feet before staggering a few steps away from her.

Brenna looks at me with a smirk plastered on her face, and it makes me wish I could punch her lights out.

Annoyed with her teaching methods, I spit more blood from my mouth before muttering, “Shouldn’t you be showing me how to fight rather than kicking the crap out of me?”

She begins circling and advancing on me at the same time. “This is the way I teach. Hopefully, you won’t be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.”

She lunges at me, and the next thing I know, she twists my left arm painfully behind my back. Then she presses the blade to my throat.

“Now that I have you where I want you, let me make myself clear,” she snarls in my ear. “I don’t want to train you. I think of you and your training as a waste of time. You’re a weakling who will only stand in the way of saving the human race. I should’ve received your destiny.”

Her words tear at my heart because I know she might be right.

Tightening her grip, Brenna presses the blade harder to my throat, andit cuts into my flesh. Panic flares hot through my body.

She wouldn’t really kill me, would she?

Suddenly, the knife is ripped away from my throat, and at the same time, I fly forward and out of Brenna’s hold.

When I plow into the grass, I can’t stop a painful gasp from exploding over my lips.

Holy shit. What just happened?

“What’s the meaning of this?” Raighne’s voice thunders over the field.

Brenna lets out a chuckle. “Just teaching mylittle sisterhow to fight.”

“The fuck you are,” I mutter as I push myself up off the grass.

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