Page 93 of Of Blood and Banes
With a shaky breath, I take another step into the circle I’ve mentally drawn around his vicinity, breaching the invisible border into the perimeter of where his shackles will allow him to reach.
His metal chains clink as he stalks forward, then stops two steps from me. “Throat, thighs, and head are the most critical spots if you can slice through them. But if you want a quick take down and don’t have a weapon—” I flinch when he lifts his hand to motion toward each spot on me, “—eyes, nose, or crotch. But you stay away from here while we’re practicing, got it? That’s rule one.” He motions down to his groin.
I look away quickly before my gaze lingers, trying not to laugh when I recall the one time I won in a sparring match against him. At least I had a good instinct on where to strike. “Got it.”
“Second rule…you’ll need to get closer if you want to learn anything useful.” He grabs my waist and sweeps me toward him, taking his hand off me once I’m toe-to-toe with him. A coy smirk stretches across his face. “Third, I get the drink before I train you in these sessions. Not after.”
I open my mouth to protest.
“Ah, ah, ah!” He wags a finger at me. “Don’t test my tolerance.”
I narrow my eyes and nod reluctantly, sweat dripping down my neck as he holds me hostage in his green eyes.
Thank Gods he breaks our eye contact, glancing down at my arms. “Let me see your stance.”
I raise my fists as I power my core, setting my right foot in front and readying myself to throw a punch. He circles around me, his chains rattling on the ground with each step in his wake.
He stops behind me, then taps my left elbow with two fingers. “Throw a punch with your arm farthest away from the poor bastard trying to fight you.”
My eyes flash, and I crinkle my nose at his mocking tone.
He whispers behind me, “Go. Show me.”
I throw a left hook.
He continues, his voice close to my neck, “Alternate jabs for a rapid succession.”
I punch again: left-right, left-right, left-right. I feel stupid for swinging at the air. Is this seriously going to be our training? I may start to reconsider having made such a deal with him.
He circles around to the front of me and raises his own fists. “Hit me.”
A ripple of intimidation flutters in the pits of my stomach. I throw a punch with my left fist, and he slaps it away with one hand. Within that same motion, he throws a fist with his opposite hand and stops half an inch from my chin before pushing his knuckles into my skin in slow motion.
He doesn’t bother to hide his boredom. “Keep your other hand in front of your face so you can block your opponent if you need to.”
I swipe his fist away from my chin, and he drops his hands to his sides.
Stepping to my left, he ghosts a touch near my waistline. “Stand to the side so they have less of you to try and hit.”
Obeying, I twist so I lead with the right side of my body.
He brushes a strand of hair out of my face, taking my breath with it, before he sinks his fingers into my hair and then yanks my head sideways to look at him. “Never let your guard down.”
I snatch his forearm right underneath the metal band on his wrist, anger boiling in my blood as I unsheathe the hidden dagger from my waistband and stab it toward his ribs. He spins out of the way, releasing my hair with a surprised chuckle, then blocks my advance with his shackle. My blade glides off the metal with a sharp scraping sound before he palms my hand hard enough to smack the weapon straight out of my grasp. The blade goes flying, clattering to the floor a few feet away from us.
When he flicks his green eyes up to me, he smirks. “That’s your biggest problem. You use your anger like an explosion in your fighting. When you do that, you’ll either get your ass kicked or get yourself killed. You’re far too easy to manipulate. Use that anger as fuel. You release a little at a time to sustain you.”
I take a few steps away from him to try and swipe my dagger off the floor, and as I stretch my hand out to grab it, he kicks it a few inches out of the way with his black boot. I glare up at him.
“Once you figure out how to fight hand-to-hand, we can graduate you to weapons,” he supplies.
I rise to my full height. “Are you just saying that to milk this whole getting a drink every night?”
He chuckles. “I guess you’ll never know, will you?”
“You forget who’s in control here?—”
“Oh, do I?”
