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My best friend Kate used to give me cutouts from her teen magazines to stuff beneath my mattress. Men of all shapes and sizes, colors, and looks. We poured over them, curious to learn what made them all so dangerous. Surely, the smiling boy on the front of our glossy magazine cover was different. He was kind and sweet. Never raised his fist to a woman. Respectful.
Funny to think I’d found him just a few miles from Hanna, living in a giant stone mansion. Gabe was everything those men had seemed and more. I was so lucky to have him.
“How’s the training going?” Ashley leaned back to look up at the lights hanging above. “You’d better keep it up. You’re not going to beat me next month, you know.”
I clenched my jaw, too upset to spill the news.
“Lizzy’s grounded to the manor,” Raquel offered up for me. “Indefinitely.”
I glared at her, but she just shrugged.
“What? It’s true.”
“Seriously?” Ashley leaned forward to glare at me. “Without you, I have no competition out there. What did you do?”
Nothing, I wanted to shoot back. But that wasn’t quite true.
“I might have gotten a little out of control...” I murmured.
Raquel guffawed and leaned against the wall. “She let a feral knock Gabe out and stab her in the shoulder.”
A single eyebrow rose on Ashley’s face as she stared at me. I shrugged and crossed my arms, feeling like a little child. I didn’t need more lectures. Luke had fulfilled that quota for the day.
“Well, if it was me, I’d still find a way to train.” Ashley reached down with a wicked grin and shoved Raquel’s head under the water. “You can’t get soft out there. That’s what kills you.”
Raquel burst above the water, sputtering and cursing. Ashley laughed and slipped back into the pool. The two of them raced off to the other side to join Adam in another round of dunking. I watched them swim, their bodies strong in the water.
Ashley had a point. I couldn’t get soft. Not after all the progress I’d made. I was just starting to feel like a warrior. I didn’t want that to fade. Not when Gabe needed me to be his equal partner. I had to find a way.
I had to take this into my own hands.
Chapter Four
Luke led the Europeans that morning into the training facility with a strained expression on his face. They’d already been here for a week and hadn’t wasted time in implementing change. It certainly wasn’t sitting well with the local Nephilim.
At dinner, there was always grumblings about a revolt. The Europeans had shut down any trips out of the manor for fun and enacted double training sessions for all gate keepers. With all work and no play, it was safe to say that everyone was feeling tense at the moment.
I looked up from my training session with Gabe to watch them walk in. According to Luke, the olive-skinned woman was Silvia. Her blond friend went by Oscar and the darker man was Manuel. I’d only seen them in passing. As far as I was concerned, they weren’t worth my time. There were better things to concentrate on, like how to get my father to lift his punishment so I could help in the demon fighting efforts again.
Gabe snapped his fingers, drawing my attention to his chest. Sweat drenched his white cutoff t-shirt, making it cling to his perfectly shaped torso. I tried hard not to drool. In rebellion against his agreement with my father’s plan, I’d been giving him the cool treatment outside of training. That meant no jokes over dinner, no cuddling in front of the TV, and absolutely no make out sessions in his bedroom.
The punishment was nearly killing me. I longed to run my hands through his hair, feel his tight muscles under my hands, and the warmth of this chest. More than anything, I missed the deep throaty sound of his laughter. Still, my stubbornness persisted. He needed to know how serious I was about getting back out there.
“You have to concentrate, Lizzy,” he said with another snap. “You’re getting sloppy.”
“I’m trying.” The words came out whinier than I intended. “I mean, I will.”
Crouching low, I readied myself for the attack. The Europeans grew closer, but I ignored them. With a relaxing breath, I closed my eyes and shut the whole world out, focusing on my rage. It was right there, always in the back of my mind. It crept forward, like a prowling lion, muscles taut and ready.
On the back of my eyelids, I could see Granny, her long wispy gray hair and dark brown eyes. Her customary blue flannel shirt and faded jeans. The image of her was like a gun at the start of a race. My rage sprung forward, coursing through my veins and into my chest. The power it brought was intoxicating.
This was my moment.
Leaping from my position, I tackled Gabe and closed my hand around his wrist. He yanked it free, maneuvering away so that he could swing me past him and throw me off balance. I regained my footing and focused all my power into my legs. They were as strong as two wild mustangs. With another leap, I threw my shoulder into his stomach and brought him to the mat.
Victory.
“Was that better?” I rolled off him and crouched on the mat, smiling with pride. “I definitely concentrated.”
