Chapter 2
“You know, you’re getting pretty good,” I said as Rowan threw one of the knives. It stuck into the tree right where the one before it was.
“And we’ve only been at this for what? Two months?” she asked, laughing as she went to pull the knife out of the tree.
“I think less than that,” I said. I looked over at Kade, and smiled. “How are you holding up?”
“I think I got the bleeding to stop,” he said, wiping off some of the blood that was dried to his forearm. “I think I’m good now.”
Rowan laughed. “Sorry about that again,” she said.
“It’s fine,” he said, smiling. “It’s not the first time.”
“Or the tenth,” I said, laughing.
“I actually think it’s the sixteenth,” Rowan said.
“At least I don’t have any scars from them,” Kade said, “or I would look like I went to war.”
“Haven’t we technically been at war for almost eight years?” Rowan asked.
“Yes, but you haven’t been in the center of it,” I said. “Now, I think we can stop now. No more blood should be shed today.”
“No more of my blood should be shed,” Kade corrected. “And I say again, you two probably have the same level of fighting skills now.”
“Thank you,” Rowan said, curtsying. She didn’t have on a dress. Far from it actually. She had on a similar outfit as I had on: black pants with huge pockets on the sides, a tank top with the leather Directrix jacket that we’d stolen when we’d gotten her out of the city four months earlier and the boots that we’d gotten there also. She’d thrown the jacket to the ground though when we started training. “I’ve learned from the best.”
“Rayney and I are pretty good fighters,” Kade said, standing up and brushing off the dirt on his pants.
“I actually meant Rayney,” Rowan said, smiling.
“Oh, really?” Kade said, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ve just been my practice partner,” she said. “It’s not like you’ve actually taught me something valuable.”
“Well, then,” Kade said, starting to walk back toward the house. “I guess I’ll leave you two since you obviously don’t need me.”
“Oh, stop. She’s just kidding,” I said, laughing. “Aren’t you, Rowan?”
“No…” A slow smile spread across her face. “Of course, I’m just kidding. Who else would let me beat up on them for no reason?”
“I know,” Kade said, laughing. “I’m beginning to regret my decision of letting you guys practice on me.”
“Rayney!” I heard Lyric yell. I turned and saw her and Lilah running toward us. They were running fast, not stopping until they were both right in front of me.
“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing,” Lilah said, smiling.
“Yeah, we just wanted to come see what you were doing,” Lyric said.
“You two knew what we were doing,” I said. “Now, why did you come?”
The two of them looked at each other. Even though they looked nothing alike, they acted like twins, always seeming to know what the other was thinking. They looked back at me a second later, blue and brown eyes shining with anticipation.
“We wanted to see if you’d teach us,” Lyric said.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Absolutely not.”
“Why?” they both whined.
“Because you’re too young,” I said.
“They’re about the same age as you were…” Kade started. I gave him a look. “Well, they’ve got to learn sometime.”
“I think so, too,” Rowan said.
“You guys are ganging up on me?” I asked. “I thought you two were on my side.”
“We are,” she said. “I just think…”
“That they should be playing around with weapons?” I asked. “They’re too young.”
“If you don’t want to teach them, me and Rowan can,” Kade said. “You can sit and watch.”
“I can’t do that,” I said to him. “They’re too…”
“Young,” he said, smiling. “We know. But they’re going to keep bothering you again and again until you start teaching them. It’ll be good for them.”
“I’m not teaching them…”
“Rayney…”
“But you can. I’m just going to sit and watch,” I said. “Just like you said.”
He smiled. “Okay, you do that,” he said.
“So we get to learn?” Lyric asked excitedly.
“I guess,” I sighed.
“Yay!” she and Lilah squealed.
“Come here, you two,” Kade said.
He walked toward where my knives were on the ground, one still in the tree trunk. He picked them up and wiped them on him pants. I walked over and sat down beside one of the trees, trying not to hyperventilate. Rowan sat beside me as Kade handed Lilah and Lyric both a knife.
“Just calm down,” she said, laughing. “They’re not going to hurt themselves.”
“I’m worried about others hurting them,” I said. “Like the Directrix.”
“Well, this will give them sort of an advantage, won’t it?” she asked.
“An advantage over people with guns and other weapons?” I asked. “No, it won’t.”
“You’ve got to lighten up,” she said, grabbing my hand.
“I know,” I said, sighing. “I just can’t help but see Lyric as a little girl still.”
Kade was showing them how to hold the knives and how to aim to get a perfect hit. He took the other and showed them how to throw it. When he did, it stuck into the tree with a thud.
“Now you two give it a try. Lilah, you go first,” he said, standing back behind them. “Try to hit the same tree as I did.”
“Okay,” she said.
She aimed with her eyes and held up the knife. She waited a few seconds and then threw the knife at the tree Kade had. And it hit it, only about two feet below Kade’s and right in the center.
“Good job!” Kade said, approvingly.
“That was amazing, Lilah!” Rowan said, standing up and walking toward her. “It took me a good week before I could even hit the tree in a good spot.”
“That was so cool!” Lilah said excitedly.
“It’s my turn now,” Lyric said.
“Hold on and let me get Lilah’s knife out of the tree,” Kade said, walking toward it. “Then you can give it a try.”
“Lyric, please be careful,” I said.
“Rayney, it’s not like she’s fighting Guards,” Kade laughed. “She’s throwing a knife at a tree. Hardly dangerous.”
“Still, please be careful. Both of you,” I said, looking between Lyric and Lilah. “The last thing we need is for one of you to get hurt and I get blamed for it.”
They both rolled their eyes.
“Rayney, I’m not a baby,” Lyric said.
“Well, you’re my baby sister, so I’ve got to worry about you,” I said, standing up and walking to stand behind where Rowan was. “Go on and see what you can do.”
The knife looked huge in her tiny hand. But she held it exactly the way Kade told her to, the way our dad taught me to. She took a second to aim – I could tell she was trying to aim for Kade’s knife, which still stuck into the tree – and then threw it with all of her strength. It whistled through the air…and then knocked Kade’s knife off the tree, sticking where his had.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, staring in amazement at the knife in the tree. Even I couldn’t believe that Lyric had done that on her first throw ever.
“Wow, Lyric,” Kade said, laughing. “I guess you’ve got it in you, too, don’t you?”
“Was that good?” Lyric asked, turning toward me.
“Was that good?” I asked, smiling. I picked her up and kissed her cheek. “That was absolutely amazing!”
“Really?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes, really,” I said.
“Can I try again?” she asked.
“Now that I’m going to have to say no to,” I said, setting her back down. “We need to get back inside.”
“Aw!” she and Lilah whined.
“Do we not want to have any dinner?” I asked, laughing.
“But you probably won’t even let us do this again,” Lyric said as I took her hand and walked back toward the house.
“Yes, I will,” I said. “And I’ll teach you some things, too.”
“Come here,” Kade whispered in my ear, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.
“What?” I whispered back. Everyone was just finishing cleaning up after dinner. Lyric and Lilah were in the bedroom off the kitchen, Ryder was sitting at the table playing with one of the trackers and everyone else was laughing at whatever Xander had just said.
“Let’s go up to the platform,” he whispered.
“You go,” I said. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay,” he said, laughing.
He let go of me and made his way up the stairs. I walked over to Grandma and gave her a hug.
“I’m going to go upstairs,” I said.
“Are you exhausted from teaching Lyric and Lilah how to use those knives of yours?” she asked, smiling. Lyric and Lilah both had their turn to tell everyone what they’d done earlier, and to their enjoyment, everyone looked pretty impressed when they said that they’d both hit the tree the first time.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, laughing. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
I walked up the stair, hearing the others start conversation again, and made my way across the bridge and toward the ladder that led up to the platform. After I climbed to the top and stood up, I saw Kade was already lying on the blankets that we had up there. He had his eyes closed, but I knew he knew I was up here since a slow smile spread across his face.
I walked over toward him and lay down beside him. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. I leaned up and buried my face in his neck.
“So,” he said.
“So what?” I asked.
He took a second to say something. “Xander and I are leaving tomorrow night,” he said.
I sat up, looking down at him. “What are you talking about?” I asked.
“We’re going on a raid,” he said, still lying down. “Don’t worry though. We’ll only be gone for a day or two.”
“I’m going with you,” I said. “I’m not staying behind and waiting to see if you’ll come back or not.”
He laughed and tugged me back down so that I was beside him again. “We’re not going anywhere dangerous like the city again. We’re just going on a normal raid that we always used to go one. Trust me, it’s nothing.”
“If it’s nothing then why won’t you let me go?” I asked.
“Because we’re not going to be gone that long,” he said.
“Well, then the next time you go on a raid, I’m going with you,” I said.
“Okay, then. It’s a deal,” he said.
“Are you sure it’s just going to be a normal raid?” I asked. “Because what you’ve told me about all of your other raids you’ve gone on before, they didn’t sound very safe.”
“And we’ve gotten out of all of them alive, haven’t we?” he asked, laughing. “Trust me, everything will be absolutely fine.”
“You’d better be safe,” I said. “I don’t want anything happening to you.”
He leaned up, making me lie on the floor of the platform. He propped up on one arm, looking down at me, and traced my scar with his fingertip.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” he said. “I promise. I will never leave you.”
“But what if something does happen, which something always does?” I asked.
“If something really does happen to me, whether it’s when we leave on that raid the day after tomorrow or sometime after, I will never really be leaving you. I’ll always be watching you, making sure you’re okay,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t be okay if you weren’t there with me,” I said, looking up into his eyes.
“I wouldn’t be okay if you weren’t with me either,” he said. “But if something did happen to you and you weren’t with me anymore, I would know that you were okay, wherever you were. And just knowing that would make me feel better.”
“I don’t think I could deal with that like you would be able to,” I said.
“Well, at least we don’t have to think about that,” he said, smiling as he leaned down to kiss me.
But he was wrong. I thought about what it would be like if he wasn’t there every single day. I had been ever since Kendric Slayter told me that I had to kill him myself or everyone else was going to get hurt.
I tried to do what Kade said and not think about it now, but it was always there, somewhere in the back of my mind.