Broken Angel (Book 1 in the Chronicles of a Supernatural Huntsman series)

  As I suspected, weeks went by and Ryker never made another attempt to take me down or get me kicked out of training. No one punished him for what he did to my foot either. Since he claimed it was an accident, there was really nothing that could be done except a slap on the wrist for not following the rules of the gun range.

  Every day when forced to group up with him in class, he stared at me with a smug, satisfied look on his face that said he had won. I would stare back, eyes narrowed and lips curled up into a sinister grin. Little did he know, he hadn’t won a thing. I would never go away.

  We worked daily, three hours at a time, at the shooting range until David Yu was satisfied with our hit and miss ratios. Turned out, I was the best ranked with a thirty to one bullseye ratio. He said it was the best he had seen in all his years of instructing, and from someone who had never held a weapon before, no less.

  “Now that you’re all proficient enough at shooting, some more than others,” David Yu added that last bit as he looked directly into my eyes. “We will be moving on to swords.”

  Most of the initiates’ eyes lit up as they whispered excitedly to each other. Even Holly looked at me with wide eyes and a goofy grin. I didn’t understand what they were so happy about. It wasn’t like we were learning these skills for sport. We would use them to kill. It wasn’t something I could get excited over unless behind one of the closed doors David was holding Danny’s killer hostage for me to slaughter.

  I stared forward with intensity and awaited instructions. There was a lack of intimidation, like the first time I held a gun on the range. Now that I had accomplished something so easily, I was sure I could do it again with the sword. Maybe I would be a natural at it too. It sure would make things easier.

  “You’ll be using these swords here instead of the ones issued to you, so you don’t damage the ones you’ll be taking out on your hunts. Pick your partners, pick your swords, pick your armor, and we’ll get to it,” David said, holding his clipboard and checking something off.

  Holly bounced on the balls of her feet as she skipped to where the swords leaned against the wall with their points downward in wooden boxes. She pulled one out and held it firmly in both hands. I could tell it wasn’t her first time.

  “I love sword fighting!” she exclaimed as she did a few quick maneuvers. The sword sliced through the air like a knife cutting soft butter. “Partners?”

  “Like you have to ask.” I reached in and grabbed a handle without looking.

  The sword I grabbed was a dull silver without the ornate designs on the handle like Holly’s. It looked worn-in, used by many initiates before me. The weight was heavier than I expected. The tip dropped to the floor with a small clank. It would take getting used to.

  The room looked like a high school gymnasium with track lines painted on the rippled green floor. The ceiling had to be at least thirty feet high. Every movement we made echoed off the walls. We all gathered inside the track circle.

  “Now make sure you’re far enough away from everyone else. We wouldn’t want any accidents today,” David called out from the roll of mats he sat on. His hood was up and he had an earbud in one ear.

  “Uh, don’t we get some kind of special rubber tip so we don’t stab each other?” Atticus asked, his dark brow furrowed.

  “No, Mr. Magee, you do not.” David hopped off his perch and strutted over to the track line. His eyes rolled as a sigh escaped his lips. “The point of this training isn’t to only teach you technique. It’s to teach you how to handle the adrenaline rush you feel at having a dangerous weapon in your hands, and to know exactly what it takes to inflict the damage you want done on your opponent.” His face was stern, his dark eyes expressionless.

  “So, we’re supposed to stab each other?” Achilles looked at his brother and shrugged his shoulders with a smile. “Fine with me. I still owe you a good beating for breaking my Walk-Man when we were nine.”

  Most of the class snickered. Oddly enough, Ryker and I were the two who ignored the twins’ banter to focus.

  “The armor is to protect your heart. The helmet is to protect your head. I am certified to help you in any situation, keep you alive long enough to get you to the hospital ward. Once you’re there, you are fine,” he said in the same perfunctory tone a teacher would use to explain basic math.

  I turned to Holly and adjusted the lightweight breast plate I wore over my jacket. It seemed impossible that something so thin could shield me. The helmet was too big and kept slipping down over the tops of my eyes.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” David said as he turned to walk back to his stack of mats. “I’ve only had two initiates die during sword training in the last five years.”

  My eyes popped wide open. I lifted the face shield up on my helmet and looked at Holly.

  She raised her sword to point it at me. “If you stab me, I’ll kill you,” she said, her voice muffled.

  Immediately, my mind took me somewhere else. I wondered if Danny’s killer had said anything to him before he died. Did the demon threaten my son, say it would kill him? Or did Danny never even see it coming?

  “Oh my god, Kamlyn, I’m so sorry,” Holly said as she walked up and put her hand on my shoulder. “I wasn’t even thinking.”

  I shook my head, took a step back, and lowered my face shield so I would be hidden. It was hard to keep the tears in that time. One slid out from each of my eyes and streaked down my cheeks. They got lost somewhere in my uniform jacket.

  “It’s fine,” I said in as solid of a voice as I could manage. “Let’s just do this. I’ll try to be gentle.”

  “Okay, I know in a real battle there’s no countdown or anything, but let’s go on three,” Holly said, her voice silky and gentle. “One…two…three!”

  Before I had time to think what my first move would be, Holly charged me. She let out a wild cry from beneath her helmet and ran with her sword over her head. I raised my arms just in time for her to slam into me. Her sword hit mine. The loud clanking of metal echoed throughout the expansive room as everyone started their duals.

  Holly was relentless in her attacks. She was the offense and I played the perpetual role of defending myself against her. She grunted and growled with every strike she threw my way.

  My arms already hurt from the force of her blows and from holding up the heavy sword. I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to hold her off. David had been right about one thing. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins at top speed, but it wasn’t enough for me to deliver any kind of strike to Holly. I needed to catch my breath.

  One after another, she came for me. If I hadn’t seen her put her helmet on right before we started, I would never have guessed it was my roommate and friend under there. She was like a wild animal trying to tear me apart.

  Did Danny feel any surge of fear before he died? Did he feel pain, or was it quick?

  Suddenly, I lost my footing as she backed me into a corner and I fell. My sword skid across the floor and out of my reach. Holly pulled her sword back, ready to thrust it into my body at full force. I tried to stand up, but she had me pinned. I closed my eyes.

  Instead of a stabbing pain, I felt a soft hand reach for mine. Holly pulled me up to my feet and brushed off my shoulders.

  She laughed as she gave me a good slap on the back. “I think we found the thing you suck at.”

  I pulled my helmet off and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Luckily, it had mixed with my tears so no one could tell the difference. When I stopped to look around the room, I found everyone’s eyes on me while David stomped his way over.

  “What the hell was that?” he yelled from across the room.

  I planted my feet and prepared for the verbal beat down he was about to give me. Surely, cowering in the corner while your opponent is in perfect slaughtering position is not an admirable way to go out. I should have torn off my armor and offered her my bare chest so she could cut my heart out.

  “Everest!” he shouted to my surpr
ise. “Why the hell did you stop? Why’d you help her up? Tell me, what were you thinking?”

  Holly stood with her mouth agape. “I—I was just—”

  “Just what?” he cut her off.

  She jumped at the booming echo of his voice. Her face turned beat red as she fumbled with her sword. “I wasn’t going to hurt her. She’s my friend.”

  “No, she’s not your friend. She’s the enemy. She’s evil. She is going to kill your family and everyone you love if you let her live. Do you understand me?”

  I pursed my lips and bit down on them. He was obviously trying to make a point about how it was out in the real world, but he had gone too far. Holly’s hands shook. Her eyes clouded with tears.

  “You need to take her down and show no mercy!” David screamed and turned so he could make sure everyone heard him.

  “I think she gets it,” I said in a low, but steady voice.

  He slowly turned to face me and then closed the gap between us. His combat boots squeaked on the rubber flooring. With dark, unflinching eyes and full lips that clenched tightly together, he gave me a glare that sent a shiver down my spine. I straightened my back and tightened my grip on my sword. His face was inches from mine. His warm breath beat against my forehead. Tension thickened in the small space between us. Neither he nor I wanted to back down. Time seemed to slow as we stared into each other’s angered eyes.

  Without a word he turned and walked back to where he had been sitting. He picked up his clipboard and scribbled furiously on it. “Everyone start running and don’t stop until I tell you!” he called out. “And if you so much as think about taking your armor off I will send you to the hospital ward myself!”

  I didn’t hesitate in throwing down my sword and taking off around the track. Running had always cleared my head, made me feel far away from whatever was bothering me. It helped me to see things clearly when everything around me was a blur. My legs moved swiftly and carried me along with little effort. Everyone else joined in, but I paid no attention to them. Running was a solitary act, and I wanted to be alone.

  The helmet bounced off the top of my head and clanked loudly in my ears with each step. The breastplate made my chest feel heavy. I couldn’t take in a full breath. But none of that mattered. All I wanted to do was keep running until the anger inside me fizzled out like a flame. I passed each person once and kept going. Ryker tried to keep pace with me, but fell quickly behind as I strode forward and onward, not giving him a second thought.

  I couldn’t say how long we were in that gymnasium, running laps. There were no clocks and once I hit my runner’s high, it all felt the same. My mind turned off and was in a peaceful state of nothingness that let me forget about everything. Sweat poured down my face and soaked my clothes by the time David yelled out for us to stop.

  “We’re done for the day. Put everything away and get out,” he growled.

  Everyone left without saying a word.

  Once we were all in the hall and the door closed behind us, the group erupted into a roar of gossip about the strange lesson. David Yu had always been a tough instructor, but he had never behaved like that before. I couldn’t help wondering if something else was weighing in on his mind.

  “I don’t get it. How can he get mad at us for not doing what he expects when he doesn’t give us any instructions?” I said frustrated as we left.

  “That’s just how training works. They like to give you the tools and see what you can do with them before they show you the correct way. I guess you’d call it a baseline. That’s the way it’s always been done,” Holly responded through panting breaths.