Another Day I've Conquered

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ginger

 

                Marc set the gun on the table in front of me, placing an empty magazine beside it, before a pile of bullets clattered on the table.

                “Load it.” He sat on the opposite end of me, his blank brown gaze taking in my shocked reaction.

                “What?” I had already been in the lecture with Trace, but I hadn’t been expecting extra lessons. Saxon had told me no. Even thinking about it brought an irritated rush of blood to my cheeks but the alpha didn’t seem to notice.

                “Now.” He leaned back into the chair, crossing his arms in a guarded stance. Frowning, I gingerly picked up one of the bullets, trying to load it into the magazine. Or was it a clip? What was the difference between the two again? I fumbled briefly with the bullet and it fell onto the table, striking the surface so loud I winced. Marc didn’t move, his face showing no irritation.

                “It was backwards. Try to press down on the back of the bullet as you put it in. The fuller the magazine, the more difficult it will be.” I tried again. With some effort, I managed to get all the bullets in.  “Alright, now slide it in. Tap your palm against the bottom, to make sure it’s secure. You’ll know if it’s a clip, because it will make a clicking noise.” It slid smoothly into the handle, making no noise. “Pull the slide back.”

                “The slide?”

                “The top piece. It loads the gun. But be careful how you hold it. I don’t want it going off and I don’t want to explain to Saxon why you have a chunk missing from your finger.” I pulled the slide back with minor difficulty, not expecting the amount of force it took to load the gun. Being careful, I kept my finger away from the trigger, resting it on the side of the gun, just below the slide, like Trace had previously demonstrated.

                “Good. You now have a loaded gun. No unload it and make sure to get the bullet out of the chamber. I looked for the button on the side, flicking it to release the magazine. Frowning down at the gun, I held it uneasily in my fingers. How did you get the bullet out of the chamber? I glanced up at Marc briefly, biting my lip, but he didn’t offer any help. To my chagrin I stared at the handgun for at least five minutes, racking my brain in an attempt to recollect how Trace had done the same only an hour earlier.

                “How’s it going?” Saxon entered the room, his shoulders tense, and I nearly dropped the gun in shock. He watched me with dark eyes but didn’t seem terribly angry.

                “She can’t get the bullet out of the chamber.” Marc reported with a disinterested shrug. Saxon strode over to where I was sitting, pulled the slide back again, and the bullet popped out of the chamber near the top.

                “Thanks.” I mumbled, ashamed I couldn’t have figured that out by myself. Saxon didn’t seem to hear me, his head jerking towards the door. Marc had already done the same, an irate furrowing of his brow marring his features.

                “You want to or should I?” Saxon blinked slowly, his eyes burning slightly in the dim light of the kitchen. Marc didn’t say anything, one moment he was sitting, and the next his fists were clenched as he stormed from the room. Saxon growled lowly in his throat, muttering something under his breath for a moment, before he turned to me.

                “Everything ok?” I wondered. Saxon shook his head, the gray crescents under his eyes prominent against his flesh.