Page 54 of Griffin Undone
“At least it’s not Alaska,” Arik countered.
“There’s the trainer we know and love,” I muttered under my breath. Avoiding the glare I was sure the comment would earn me, I glanced around. Every day was full of a sameness that had definitely given me cabin fever, but all of Arik’s talk about the dangers of the Anigma had kept me from even considering a step out the door. Now that I was here, though, with Arik guarding my back, I was curious.
And what I saw astounded me.
The door had opened into a concrete courtyard, the sides curved up in the shape of a bowl. Half of the bowl was missing, allowing me to look out into what might be a pasture, though I couldn’t be certain in the dark. No super night vision for me, apparently. The lair itself and the open concrete area were carved into a hillside, the gentle swell of which I could see on either side of the courtyard.
“Wow. How did you find this place? I’ve never heard of anything like this in the area.” And I’d lived in Nashville all my life.
“A friend found it for me. And if you’d heard of it, it wouldn’t be secure, would it?”
I grunted something indistinct, my mind back on his “friend” comment. Agirl“friend”?
Turning myself away from that thought, I eyed the darkness around us. “So, what are we doing?”
Arik headed for the dark beyond the courtyard. “Follow me.” He stepped out onto the grass, leading me around one side of the lair and up the hill. As we climbed, the grass gave way to brush, taller weeds, sticker bushes, then finally trees, first small, then older and thicker clumps. Typical Tennessee outdoors. I couldn’t see the top of the hill, but we hiked long enough for my breath to be heaving in and out, even with all the training I’d done. I was wishing desperately for a rest stop before we reached a small, mostly level clearing bathed in moonlight.
Of course Arik showed no sign of strain as he strode across the tufts of grass and underbrush. “Time for a bit more active target practice.”
I snorted. “You’ve seen my target practice, right?” I knew he had; he didn’t leave me alone when I was testing my power.
“I have. You need bigger targets than water bottles, and I’m not sacrificing another punching bag. I’m running out of replacement funds—not to mention the cleanup.”
A flush heated my frozen cheeks. My lack of control hadn’t gotten better. Not that I didn’t try. It didn’t help that the worry I’d be dumped out in the cold if I didn’t perform lurked constantly in the back of my mind.
Rather than answer, I glanced around the clearing. “What exactly am I targeting?”
Arik pointed at the ground. “You stay here. I’ll show you.” And with that non-answer, he strode toward the trees at the opposite end, disappearing into the shadows.
Why couldn’t I have been stuck with the talkative trainer, if there was one? But no, I got the guy who didn’t even bother with answers when I—
Without warning, a chunk of wood the size of a basketball sailed through the air straight at me.
“Shit!” I dodged the flying missile. “Arik?”
The white oval of Arik’s face appeared in the dark yards away. “What?”
I glanced at the wood, then back at him. “What the hell?”
Even at this distance, I caught his pointed look. “Target practice.” He disappeared again.
Oh shit. I tensed.
This time the missile was a stump. I tried to breathe, target, and push out a barrier, shield, some kind of energy to protect myself. Maybe all at the same time. As the projectile seemed to block out the night sky, power shot from my hands in a panic. I missed the stump—which barely missedme. I did manage to hit something, though—a tall cedar at Arik’s end of the clearing. The top half of the tree disappeared in a blaze of wood chips.
Oops.
Arik’s disembodied voice reached me. “Deflect, Kitty Kat. Not destroy.”
“No kidding.”Serves you right, asshole.
A flash of amber—Arik’s irises—shone in the dark, almost as if he’d read my mind. “Get it under control.”
Sometimes I really hated Trainer Arik.
Right. Okay. I tried to focus, I really did, but the more I missed, the more panicked I became. A few pieces landed a bit too close for comfort, so that I began to struggle not just with hitting them but also dodging, dividing my focus. The pieces I managed to hit, I didn’t deflect at all; I annihilated them. They shattered just like the trees surrounding Arik did, scattering shards of wood and tiny splinters all around me, over me. The occasional piece lodged in my skin, my clothes. Everywhere.
And then Arik heaved up a massive chunk of limestone and threw it.
