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Plus, I wasn’t the best driver. I was fine being honest about that.
“It’s why most newbies hit the top part of the target and few rarely hit the bottom,” Jaxon added. “The pulling is an awkward feeling so your shoulders tend to want to counter and that’s how the bow angle gets off and you can’t tell.”
That made sense.
“Okay, fire when ready,” Cerdic said, chuckling when I barely let him finish. “Nicely done.”
I nodded, hitting the target but not the most center area. Still good for my first shot, even pretty close, but I was pretty sure I’d done better with a rifle my first time.
He had me shoot several more arrows and then I was able to get the middle easily.
“This is a compound bow,” he said as he took away the first bow and handed me one like I’d seen a lot in Dick’s Sporting Goods. The more complicated one. “It’s smaller and for humans and easier for newbies because it’s easier to draw. It’s mostly the size for you, plus the arrows go faster so it’s more fun. I like them because I can futz with the settings.”
The others seemed to be fans as well mostly because they could quick draw more for hunting and it was like getting more shots off became the new challenge. Fair enough.
I really liked the compound bow. It was easier to draw, but I didn’t notice that much. It felt more like I was holding my rifle with the sighting lined up and not feeling I was trying to manage something bulky.
“Ready?” Cerdic checked after I tried that several times.
“We doing a tree stand and shooting fish in a barrel?” I asked.
“Nope, we’re doing it legit, even if we have to keep chasing them,” he chuckled. “Others are around doing the same, so even if they head east, we have people there that will take one out and then the herd will turn back.”
Right, even vampires didn’t want to mess with huge antlers and risk getting hurt when not needed. Kristof said he was too old and the antler wouldn’t even be able to pierce his skin, but that was a bit too weird for my mind to wrap around.
To be fair, most of my life was like that.
We headed towards where the deer were, and like I had so many months ago with Jaxon, I found a good target and just took it down. I glanced over at him and smiled, thinking back to that day.
From the look in his eyes, so was he. He gave me a wink and then picked off a few on the other side of the herd who didn’t know what was going on yet.
It was a huge herd after all.
We got about six down with head shots before they ran off. It was just like Cerdic said, and not even a minute later, they were running in another direction past us.
Still, it gave me a nice chance to try and work with moving targets. I got one that time… And one by accident the next time. Honestly, I had missed my shot, but the herd was so big and all together so tight that I hit the head of one right next to it.
Yay?
“This is so not your vibe,” Cerdic chuckled when the herd turned another direction.
“It’s cool and I’m glad I tried it, but my first love is my sniper rifle,” I said, shrugging when they chuckled.
“The one I got you or just in general?” Darius hedged, trying to keep his voice neutral.
“I had several I’d picked up before along the way but nothing compared to the one you got me,” I answered honestly. “That is a beast with all the cool bells and whistles. New and only loved by me.” I glanced over and smiled at him. “You were so excited to give it to me when you clearly didn’t know anything about them. It was cute.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t, but it seemed the right one. It just felt right when I was looking. I’m glad I got that right at least.” He seemed sad like he regretted some of his other choices.
Well, so did I, so I wasn’t the one to help him or comfort him even when those choices hurt me.
We actually needed to take out the whole herd. I was shocked at that because I saw some young deer and we normally just thinned herds or groups. Apparently, there was another huge herd not far—and definitely not as far as should be between herds—that they were going to leave the young ones with. They said deer would help them out.
Oh, and we needed to thin their numbers back as well. The whole state had been taken over by deer almost. Not really, but… Yum.
“Can you teach me how to use your sniper rifle?” Darius asked when we were done and it was time to have the helpers collect the deer. He glanced away when I looked at him as if not wanting to see my reaction. “Sorry, that’s weird to ask, right? I just—you really like it, and I thought it would be cool to try it.”
He was so vulnerable with me that it made me think about when he spoke of his family after we first met. How lost he’d been and how I’d felt the same by not knowing anything about my family. Even if he’d scared me then, I’d wanted to be closer to him.
