Steel

Chapter 5

My eyes followed the pack of female Angels, watching them shamelessly flirt with Barachiel and Grey. The one with dark brown hair like mine reached out and touched Grey's shoulder, a giggle escaping her lips. 

A low possessive growl rumbled in my chest before I could stop it. As if he'd heard me, Grey's cerulean eyes flicked to mine from across the field, eyebrow raising slightly. 

He wasn't mine. Why did I feel like I had some sort of claim over him? We were broken up and we were both terrified of the commitment that would entail our being together. So why was every cell in my body screaming 'mine' when I looked at him?

I looked away furiously, stabbing the blade of my sword into the grass at my feet. I could feel my power thrumming anxiously in my veins. Even though it was now anchored by being Pledged to Heaven, part of it was tethered to a man who looked like he wanted nothing more to do with me. 

I wanted him to come back to me. I wanted him to say that he knew it was scary, but that we'd figure out forever together, that there was never any question in his mind that I was the one for him. But knowing Grey- I doubted that would ever happen. He was as stubborn as they come, and I understood how afraid he was. He'd broken up with Siobhan because she'd wanted more. I'm sure he'd done the same to others. He was infamous for avoiding commitment. 

I couldn't help myself as I turned back to look at Grey and those girls. He smirked suavely at them all, his eyes lingering on the one with the dark hair that had touched him earlier. I could feel my pulse rising, the blood in my veins boiling. 

He had a type. 

She was pretty, with her braided dark locks stretching down to the small of her back. She had pale skin like me, and green eyes as well. However, she was a few inches shorter and I didn't see much muscle definition on her exposed arms. She couldn't pack a punch. I could take her. 

I cursed at myself for letting my mind go there. Here I was, sizing up the competition like fighting her would make Grey want me again. No- I'd done this to us. I had to deal with the consequences. If he wanted to fuck someone who looked exactly like me- then fine. 

Cheap wine will still get you drunk, you just won't enjoy it as much as the 300 dollar bottle. 

"You okay?" Michael voiced from beside me, and I turned to look at him. 

"I'm fine. Can we run a gauntlet?" I clenched my jaw tightly, my eyes still glued to the cheap bottle of wine flirting with my ex.

"You want to run a gauntlet?" Michael's brows scrunched together in concern and I nodded fervently. 

He let out a deep sigh then rolled his eyes. "Fine. You want me to recruit those girls for the lines?" 

"Not unless they volunteer. That'd be too easy," I chuckled venomously, yanking my sword out of the grass and swinging it in my hand. 

"How kind of you," Michael replied sarcastically, then took a few steps away from me. 

"Alright everyone, we're running a gauntlet. Whoever wants to fight the lines first, get in position. Jordan, you're up," Michael turned and winked to me as the Angels got into position. 

Several men and several women lined up into two parallel lines in front of me. The goal, essentially, is for me to make it to the end of the two lines, disarming or disabling each of my opponents. The benefit of the gauntlet is not only to mimic a battle in which I would fight opponent after opponent with little break in between, but also to train me to fight more than one opponent at once. Having trained all week against Barachiel and Michael, but only one at a time, I wasn't too sure how I'd fare at this. However, when I saw my doppelganger line up at the end, I knew I'd be just fine.