Well, fuck-- what the hell did I interrupt?
Callie stops laughing, and her brows pucker as she looks where Felix was.
“You okay?” I ask, uneasiness building between my shoulder blades.
She looks up at me, squinting against the sunlight that’s turning her grey eyes the pale color of a frozen lake, and answers, “Yeah, I’m fine… or as fine as I can be at the moment.”
I shift so I’m blocking the sun, and shove my hands back into my pockets. Being this close to her, I can see the tear tracks down her cheeks. My chest feels tight remembering last night. Her catatonic in Connor’s lap, then her small and afraid as she told us the abridged version of what the bastard did to her, and I feel like I have to do something. Help her somehow. I know she’s some all-powerful spirit witch, or what-the-fuck-ever, but until her magic is actually free, she’s helpless with a growing list of people who want to hurt her.And just because she can heal, and her magic likes to blow shit up when she’s scared, doesn’t really change anything. Hell, her wonky ass magic makes it worse. She’s as likely to blow something up that will hurt her--or us-- rather than help her.
Late last night, I had an idea that would help protect her-- and maybe, help her feel safe, but I worry how she’ll take it. “About that… look you can tell me it’s none of my business and to fuck off.”
Her face blanches, but I keep going before shedoestell me to fuck off. “I was wondering… if you were interested, I could teach you some self-defense. With your magic bound, it might be good for you to know other ways to defend yourself.”
I run my hand through my hair and look just past her head, wanting to get everything out. “Witches rely too much on their magic anyway. There’s something to be said for being able to throw a good punch, and…” I release a harsh breath, then start fucking rambling, “And I’ve heard that learning self-defense helps some people feel more in control after they’ve been attacked. I know it isn’t the same thing you went through, but if it could help…”
“I’d like that,” she blurts, interrupting me.
Thank fucking God.
“Yeah?” I ask, looking back at her face.
“Yeah,” she confirms, smiling up at me.
There’s a softness and warmth to her gaze that has my chest feeling tight for a completely different reason.Oh, fuck no. She and I would be a goddamn disaster.
She motions for us to start walking and dumps what’s left of her coffee out onto the grass.
“We can start today, if you want. I do most of my training on the weekends,” I tell her as we walk side by side, ignoring whatever the shit this new feeling is.
“Today’s fine,” she replies, looking out toward the forest that surrounds the property. “What kind of training do you do?”
“Pretty much you name it, and I probably do some form of it,” I answer with a shrug. “Weapons training. Hand to hand in a shit ton of different styles, both offensive and defensive. I do all of my endurance and strength training during the week since I can do that on my own.”
I have no idea why I’m telling her all this other bullshit. What does it matter that I do my combat training on the weekends and endurance training during the week?
“On your own? Who do you do all the other stuff with?” she asks.
Who does she think?I glance down at her confused. “All of the guys. Well, except for Felix because ghost.” Then I remember the last time I tried to spar with Nolan, and he gave up before I could throw a punch. “Nolan helps sometimes, but he’s pretty useless. He can fight and his quick reflexes can be a challenge, but he doesn’t take it seriously. Figures his charm abilities will get him out of most things. Dumbass.”
“Even Kaleb?” she gasps, her brows reaching toward her hairline. “He seems so anti violence that I’m surprised he’d want to learn.”
I can’t help it, I double over laughing, bracing my hands on my knees. Dude looks like depictions of the Archangel Michael when he’s handling a longsword-- might as well have been born with one in his hand. And I have years of cuts and bruises to prove it.
Callie looks ready to bash me over the head with the coffee mug in her hand for laughing, so I do my best to rein it in, if only to explain.
“I’m sorry, it’s just…” I snort, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Kaleb is against violence with humans and generally with other supes, but we’re training to fight and kill demons. He’s nephilim first. Yeah, his purpose is helping souls, but demons don’t give a shit.” I shake my head, and some of my hair falls into my eyes.I really need to get it cut.“Just wait, you’ll see. Man is a fucking beast with a longsword.”
“Swords?” she chirps, her normally husky voice thin.
Shit. Are swords too close to knives?
Glancing down at her, she looks more shocked than scared, but just in case, I ask, “You okay with that?”
“Yeah, swords are fine,” she assures, but she still looks a little out of it for a moment. Then she does this odd whole body shake, like she got a chill, and comes back more normal. “I mean, I’ve never dealt with swords in the past, so I’m good on that front. It’s more surprising, like I’ve somehow wandered into the middle ages.”
I grin, imagining what she’ll think when she sees us in action.
“Bullets don’t kill demons,” I explain. “It hurts and can slow them down, but what’s always guaranteed is decapitation and…” I stutter to a stop, when I realize what I was about to say.
