He smiles and waves me off. “Nah. I’m used to Taylor hitting me. She goes hard.”
“Do it again. This time faster.”
Taylor watches as Mason and I return to our positions and immediately I swipe my leg around and drop us to the ground,repeating my shots to his groin and face, confidently rising to my feet. We practice through it a few more times and Taylor’s face relents a crooked smile.
“Very good. You improve exponentially when not freaking out.”
“Excuse me for panicking because someone was trying to prevent me from breathing,” I shoot back with a glare.
She places a gentle hand on my shoulder. “It is imperative you do not panic in the face of danger. Fear is the mind-killer.”
I’ve heard that before. Squinting at her, I ask, “You’ve readDune? When did you find the time to readDune? In between assassinations and breaking into my house?”
“It’s my favorite,” she says with surprising sheepishness. Her eyes blink up at me. “I never broke into your house.”
“Oh? You wereinvited? Well, there’s egg on my face.”
As usual, she is unperturbed by my sarcasm. “There was always a way to enter your mansion. Your window was unlocked almost constantly due to your flagrant disregard for local curfews.”
My eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. “On how many occasions were you in my room?”
“Lots of times,” she says, face neutral. My glare intensifies. “Not lots, I guess.” Precious little privacy existed at home; my room was one of the few places I could be alone. She backpedals. “Less than ten?”
“Wonderful, ‘less than ten.’ Great to know some half-cocked killer lurked in my bedroom ‘less than ten’ times. Was I ever there?”
She rubs the back of her neck and looks to Mason, who purposely feigns interest in the walls. “Once. You were asleep.”
“You watched me sleep?” My indignant voice bounces against the brick walls.
“I did not ‘watch you sleep,’ you narcissist,” she enunciates, rankled by my outburst. “I was testing the nighttime security. You were rarely home that late. I did not expect you.”
“Fantastic.” Papa should be glad he sleeps with a guard posted at his door, as she probably could’ve killed him then. I try not to think about how easily she could’ve killed me. “Did you steal what you needed?”
“I was not there to burglarize, Miss Piccolo. I am not a criminal.” I give her a droll look and she reluctantly relents. “In the traditional sense.”
“No, an agent of rebellion is certainly no criminal. Definitely not treason.”
“Whatever,” she replies, impatient. “Next is the chokehold.”
“Goody.”
After about an hour of the super fun chokehold exercise, Mason is called away. Once he’s out the door, Taylor takes out a gun from behind her. I freeze. “What is that?”
“A gun.”
“Okay, yes, but why are you pointing it at me?”
“Look, chances are if someone has a gun to your head, they are going to shoot you and you will die. However, on occasion, you may have enough time to avoid it.” I know my face must drain of color because Taylor is giving me that hard stare again. We square off for a few moments before my lip trembles, and she lowers the gun to the ground. “I am not going to shoot you, so please stop looking at me like that.”
“Not unless Lady Leather tells you to.” Once the quivering words leave my mouth they hang in the air, heavy and looming. “Besides, you’re breaking your precious gun safety rules. ‘Never put your finger on the trigger unless you plan to pull it.’ ‘Check every side of the object you intend to shoot.’ And what was that big one? ‘Don’t point your gun at something you don’t intend to kill.’”
“It is not loaded, see?” She opens the side of the gun and spins the empty revolver. “I will not put my finger near the trigger, but I am glad you are listening. Now then, if you try to reach for the gun, you will get shot.”
“I remember that from the first time you pointed a gun in my face.”
“First, get your head out of the line of the barrel. Duck down and put your hands up to grab my hands. Once you do that, kick me in the groin. The final step is to push the gun into my chest and try to pull it away from me.”
It takes me well over an hour, but eventually I get the steps down and disarm Taylor within seconds. She’s allowed this, of course, but I’ve still done it. Upon realizing the gun is in my hand, I drop it on the floor like it’s on fire.
