He looked like he wanted to point out the fact I could probably use a refresher, but he relented. After I was done, he took the shake and walked it back over to where several punching bags were propped against the wal .
I stood and stretched. “So, what am I learning today? I think we should start with anything that doesn’t involve you kicking my ass.”
His lips twitched as if he was fighting a grin. “The basics.”
“The basics.” I pouted. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I know the basics.”
“You know enough to not get yourself kil ed right away.”
He frowned as I jumped from side to side. “What are you doing?”
I stopped, shrugging. “I’m bored.”
Aiden rol ed his eyes. “Then let’s get started. You won’t be bored for very long.”
“Yes, master.”
He scowled. “Don’t cal me that. I’m not your master. Only the gods can be cal ed our masters.”
“Yes… ” I paused as his eyes glinted and his jaw tightened, “sir.”
Aiden stared at me a moment, and then nodded. “Okay. I want to see how you take a fal .”
“I almost got one good hit on you in the factory.” I felt the need to point that out.
Turning to me, he motioned toward one of the mats.
“Almost doesn’t count, Alex. It never counts.”
I dragged myself over and stopped in front of him as he circled me. “Daimons not only use their strength when they attack, but also elemental magic.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
Daimons could be ridiculously strong depending on how many pures or halfs they’ve drained. Being hit by one of them using the air element was tantamount to getting hit by a freight train. The only time daimons weren’t dangerous was when they were draining aether.
“The key is to never let them get you on the ground, but it wil happen, even to the best of us. When it does happen, you need to be able to get back up.” His gray eyes focused on me.
This was boring. “Aiden, I do remember my training. I know how to take a fal .”
“Do you?”
“Taking a fal is the easiest—”
My back slammed into the mat. Pain shot through me. I lay there stunned.
Aiden loomed over me. “That was just a love tap, and you didn’t land correctly at al .”
“Ow.” I wasn’t sure I could move.
“You should’ve landed on your upper back. It’s less painful and easier to maneuver out of.” He offered his hand.
“I thought you knew how to take a fal ?”
“Gods,” I snapped. “You couldn’t have told me first?” I ignored his hand and found I could move. I stood, glaring at him.
A lopsided smile formed on his lips. “Even without a warning, you have a second before you fal . You have more than enough time to position your body correctly.”
“Rol the hips and keep your chin down.” I scowled, rubbing my back. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Then show me.” He stopped, eyeing me like I was some kind of weird specimen. “Put your arms up—here. Like this.” He positioned my arms so they blocked my chest.
“Keep them strong. No spaghetti arms.”
“Okay.”
He grimaced at my spindly arms. “Wel , keep them as strong as you can.”
“Hardy har har.”
He grinned again. “Al right.”
Then he hit my arms with the broad side of his. In truth, he didn’t hit me hard, but I stil fel . And it was the wrong way. I rol ed over, wincing.
“Alex, you know what to do.”
I rol ed over and groaned. “Wel … apparently it’s something I’ve forgotten.”
“Get up.” He offered his hand, but I stil didn’t take it. I stood. “Put your arms up.”
I did and braced myself for the inevitable smack. Down I went, over and over again. I spent the next couple of hours on my back, and not in the good way. It got to the point Aiden went through the mechanics of landing as if I were ten.
But final y, out of the useless crap floating around my brain, I pul ed out the technique I’d been taught ages ago and I nailed it.
“About time,” Aiden muttered.
We broke for lunch, which consisted of me eating alone while Aiden went off to do whatever. About fifteen minutes in, a pure-blood in a white lab coat appeared in front of me.
I swal owed the mouthful of food. “Hi?”
“Please fol ow me,” she said.
I glanced down at my half-eaten sub and sighed. I dumped my plate and fol owed the pure to the med building behind the training facilities. “Am I getting a physical or something?”
She didn’t answer.
Any attempt of conversation was ignored and I gave up by the time I hopped up on the table. I watched her go to the cabinet and root around for a few seconds. She turned around, flicking the end of the syringe.
My eyes widened. “Uh … what is that?”
“Please lift up the sleeve of your shirt.”
Wary, I did as instructed. “But what are you giving me
— dammit!” My skin burned from where she’d jabbed me in the upper arm. “That hurt like hel .”
Her lips curved in a faint smile, but her words dripped disgust. “You wil be reminded in six months to receive another dose. For the next forty-eight hours, please try to refrain from unprotected sexual activities.”
Try to refrain? As if I had uncontrol able animalistic urges and jumped every half in sight? “I’m not a sex-crazed skank, lady.”
The pure turned her back, clearly dismissing me. I jumped off the table, tugging my sleeve down. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about the Covenant’s mandatory birth control for female half-bloods. After al , the offspring of two halfs were like mortals and useless to the pures. That had never real y bothered me since I doubted I’d ever develop a parental urge. But the pure could have at least given me heads up before she’d stuck me.
When I returned to the training room, Aiden eyed me rubbing my arm, but I didn’t explain. From there, he moved on to another favorite of mine: getting knocked down and jumping to my feet.
I sucked at that, too.
By the end of practice, every muscle in my back ached and my thighs felt like someone had sucker-punched them.
I was a little slow in rol ing the mats. So much so that Aiden eventual y took over.
“It’l get easier.” He looked up as I limped over to where he was piling the mats. “Your body wil get used to it again.”
“I hope so.”
“You should hold off on the gym for a few days.”
I could’ve hugged him.
“But you should definitely do the warm-up stretches at night. It wil help loosen up your muscles. You won’t be so sore then.”
I fol owed him to the door. It sounded like good advice.
Outside the training room, I waited while Aiden shut the double doors.
“Tomorrow we’l work on the jump some more. Then we’l move on to blocking techniques.”
I started to point out I’d learned several blocking techniques, but I remembered how quickly the daimon had tagged me in Georgia. My hand went to my shoulder and over the slightly irregular scar.
“You okay?”
Dropping my hand, I nodded. “Yeah.”
As if he could somehow read minds, he stepped forward and brushed my thick ponytail back over my shoulder. The slight touch elicited a shiver. “It’s not bad. It’l be gone soon enough.”
“It’s going to scar—it has already scarred.”
“Some would say such scars are badges of honor.”
“Real y?”
Aiden shook his head. “Yes. It shows how strong and how brave you were. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Sure.” I forced a quick, bright smile.
I could tel by the look on his face he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t push it. I limped off, heading back to my room.