Page 29 of Interion

“By the gods, you’re terrible,” Breno exclaimed, watching me in disbelief as he raised his hand toward me. I closed my eyes and took another painful flick to the forehead.

He’d finished his ten hits ages ago, but I’d promised that if he stayed to help me, I’d let him flick my forehead every time I missed the inner ring of the target. Forty minutes later, my forehead was already red.

“No, Kay! Damn it, not like that. You have to hold the knife firmly, but your wrist needs to be relaxed, and you need to control your breathing. Watch my demonstration.” Breno took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, he threw the knife. It hit the inner circle of the target.

We were on a large lawn behind the gymnasium. There were individual target practice bays, each separated by a force field. In each bay was a table with twenty knives per student, and when they ran out, we’d go to the target to collect them. I took another flick and blinked in disbelief.

“I’m doing what you said!” I threw another knife. It hit the target handle-first and fell onto the grass.

Since I’d started, I’d only landed four throws. Only Hiro, Adele, Aish, and I remained; the rest had already finished and left to change.

“If you were doing it right, you’d be done by now. You’ve thrown about a hundred times. Even by sheer luck, you should’ve stuck ten by now.”

“There must be something wrong with my knives.” I examined the cold blade in my hands.

“There’s nothing wrong with them,” Breno said, taking the knife from me and throwing it. He hit the center of the target and gave me another flick. “See! It’s not your knives—you’re just terrible. For the love of the gods!”

“Aren’t friends supposed to motivate us?” I grumbled, stepping back and rubbing my forehead.

“Stop being soft and try again.” The boy laughed, gesturing toward the target.

I took a deep breath and threw the knife the way he’d shown me. This time, I stuck it in the outer circle of the target. Five hits total.

“Now only five more to go,” he said with a grin, holding out another blade to me.

I was about to take it when something rustled in the empty space behind Breno, and our eyes went wide as we realized someone was there.

“Lutiève?” Zion materialized from my shadow like a ghost, making us both jump. “The orders were to land ten hits and leave. What are you still doing here?”

My friend started to open his mouth to say something that would probably infuriate the general. But before he could, I elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.

“Breno was already leaving. It’s my fault for asking him to stay.”

I apologized to Zion and pushed my friend toward the locker room. He waved, squinting at me, and left without a word. The dirty look he shot me said it all.

“Why didn’t you ask me for help?” the trainer asked, studying me.

I thought about giving a half-answer, but I held back and reconsidered. In all our conversations, I’d been evasive, hiding most of what I actually thought. I’d figured it would be easier to get along that way. That’s how we’d ended up with zero progress. I decided, right then, to try being more honest.

“Because I’d end the day with you yelling at me about how terrible I am.”

Zion kept staring at me, the kind of look that made me break out in a cold sweat.

“What kind of trainer would I be if I did that?”

“Your kind of trainer?” I shot back, arching an eyebrow.

He snorted and shook his head.

“I’m not going to fight with you if you’re making an effort to learn. Just tell me what the difficulty is.”

Across the range, Adele finished hitting her targets and left. Before going, though, she shot me a hard look. I couldn't help but notice her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes. It was no secret she was into heavy drugs, and this was clearly the aftermath of another all-nighter. I turned back to Zion, ignoring the recruit's disgusted stare.

“I can't get the blade to stick in the target. Any suggestions, general?”

“I asked you not to call me that.” He crossed his arms over his chest. The movement made his pecs stand out under the black t-shirt, and for a split second, all I could think about was whether they'd feel as firm as they looked. I shook my head, pushing away the stupid thought as my cheeks burned.

“You're a general,” I teased, trying to sound serious.