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6
Evelyn
“Where’s Luci?”
“No idea.” Seven shrugs, his grin faltering slightly as he steps into the room, closing the door behind him while never taking his eyes from me. “Why?”
“Dante said you’d be training me together. I-I don’t think he’d be happy to find you here alone with me.”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Seven snorts, a blade suddenly appearing in his hand. He takes another step toward me and I mirror his movements by taking a step back.
I’m supposed to be testing my theory, not slinking away in fear. Remember?
Realizing this, I force myself to remain where I am as he moves closer yet again. Seven cocks his head to the side, his brow furrowing when I don’t shrink away from him this time.
“What are you supposed to train me in today?” I ask, my tongue so dry the words almost don’t make it out of my mouth.
“Fighting,” Seven answers, his eyes narrowing as if he’s trying to make sense of my change in demeanor, “but I think we should up the ante a bit, don’t you? I doubt much of what we’ve been doing with Dante and Luci watching will be very useful to you against a man like Valentine.”
“So?”
“So … I’m going to teach you how to, hopefully, survive more plausible advances from him instead. Valentine isn’t quite as skilled with knives as I am, but that certainly won’t stop him from trying to use them on you.”
A shiver runs down my spine as my eyes momentarily drop to the blade in his hand.
Keep it together, Evelyn. Remember, they need you. This is all just part of your training. He’s not actually going to hurt you.
Once I’m done gaslighting myself, I take a deep breath and straighten my posture.
“Fine, so teach me.”
Before I have time to react, Seven closes the remaining distance between us, one hand cupping my chin to lift my face toward his, the other gently pressing the edge of his blade to my neck at an angle. I swallow as I stare up at Seven through my lashes, forcing myself to remain calm.
“Show me how you’d try to get away.”
“Why? I’d already be dead by now if Valentine actually meant to kill me.”
“True, but he won’t kill you right away … as long as you play along. He likes to toy with his prey first. Now, pretend I’m Valentine, and show me what you’d do.”
Without thinking, I try to take a step back. Seven’s hold on my face only tightens as though he expected this, and he easily moves with me, the blade never leaving my neck.
My mind swims as I try to figure out what I’m supposed to do to escape … if I’m meant to escape at all.
“Am I supposed to be trying to get away or keep Valentine interested in me?”
Seven slowly grins, as if I’ve finally asked the right question.
“Both,” he answers. “As I said, Valentine likesprey. He likes a challenge; and the harder the challenge, the more likely you are to stay alive.”
I blush at this, my eyes dropping from Seven’s as I suddenly realizing that what I did to Dante last night was exactly the opposite of how my training was probablymeantto go. I blink in shock as I consider this revelation.
My theory may be far more accurate than I even dared to hope it was.
I slowly raise my eyes to meet Seven’s gaze again, this time allowing a grin of my own to spread across my face. His own falters, his brow knitting together ever so slightly.
I pretend to take another step back, and Seven moves to follow just as I’d hoped. However, instead of actually taking the step, I simply lean back, counting on Seven’s hand for balance, while simultaneously balling my left hand into a fist and punching out at his body.
The hit lands, though a bit lower than I’d intended, and Seven releases his hold on me as he doubles over. With his hand gone, I lose my balance and tumble backward onto the floor, barely missing the edge of his blade as it leaves my skin.
