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“Yes, yes, I would really like that,” he whispered, staring off in the distance. “That day still haunts me and how…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Darius,” Kristof muttered. “It really wasn’t.”
“I know, but you know that clawing anguish and fear now that you’re not enough to protect her. I’ve felt that almost every day since I realized my feelings for her and it came true on my watch even if you saved her.”
Shit. I didn’t know he struggled so much with that. He didn’t tell me those kinds of things because I was always so underwater.
“Could we take the afternoon off?” I hedged. “Maybe do some bow hunting or—”
“Did someone spoil the surprise?” Jaxon growled.
“Huh?” I said, hearing Kristof echoing me.
Jaxon frowned but then studied me. “They were going to start the next round of hunting for Hanna’s load along with live animals for her coven. I found us bows and was going to ask you to hunt with me and Darius since you guys said you wanted to do that.”
The look he shot Darius was a bit guilty like he was stealing the thing Darius had promised to teach me… But enough time had passed where Darius really lost his chance by not doing it.
Kind of like the fishing Jaxon promised.
Jerk.
But there was also something there trying to give Darius a chance to get involved with me like maybe he’d help Jaxon later then too? I wasn’t sure—mostly because I never understood the minds of men—but I liked it better than all of us being our own island.
Progress was always nice?
6
“We already know your dominant eye is your left one,” Cerdic said as he handed me a few things. “That’s the safety gear you need for your forearm and left hand since that’s drawing and holding the arrow.”
I nodded as I put both on the way he showed me. I shot Jaxon a guilty look.
“It’s fine. He has way more experience than me it seems and has taught before. I’ve only just hunted with friends for sport, and I want you to learn the right way so you don’t get hurt.” He gave me a wink and I felt better.
It was sort of funny the way he’d stolen this from Darius and now Cerdic had stolen the show from him.
Oh boy.
It made me a little sassy. “Well, you’ll just have to find something else or I can go fishing with Darius and complete the circle.” I felt better when Kristof snorted. He found things for us to do and made a point of it even before we knew each other much at all. That museum in Alaska wasn’t the only one we’d been to.
And now we’d been to three different glass art galleries. Why the fuck was the last husband I accepted the one who put in the most effort?
Seriously? Idiots.
Cerdic moved on and explained to me how he measured the right bow for me and the parts that I needed to check. Next, he taught me how to stand and then hold the bow, loading it for me. There was already a target about twenty feet away stuck in a tree that we were going to start with.
“Just like with any other weapon you hold, you don’t want a death grip,” Cerdic told me as he moved to a better spot. “You want firm but loose and fluid.”
It sounded like an oxymoron, but I knew what he meant. “Got it.”
“Good, now pull it back so your hand touches your mouth, bring the arrow to your mouth basically so you can sight it up like your sniper rifle.”
I did what he said and was ready to go, thinking this was a bit like… Yeah, I knew how to use a sniper rifle, so this was no big.
“Okay, bring down the front of your bow a bit, you’re aiming up,” Cerdic instructed.
Or maybe not?
“Yeah, that’s good. The first times people pull back, they tend to move the other side of them as well. Like when you turn your head while driving and you turn the wheel sometimes too? It’s the same idea that you have to correct.”
