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"Jesus," she aze "This is like so furniture and stood in front of her "You’ve got the right grip on your weapon and your stance is perfect"

She nodded Her mind still felt a little loose, like it had been stretched to great lengths and was finding its way back into itself However, when he folded his sword into his hand, she felt a thrill roll through her, a warrior’s thrill Holy hell A smile pulled at her lips and cheeks A sht and now she had a new vocabulary

All down both sides of her back, angling in a wide V-for-locks?

What a rush

She didn’t have theiven her level of power she ht now, she did feel their presence, their beginning, and it was a rush If she ascended, she would grow fangs and wings Of course, that was one thought too ht now on just the sword, just learning to fight for who-knohat-reason

When he narrowed his eyes and dropped his shoulders, her biceps flexed as though understanding exactly what he ht the sword in front of her and held it with both hands, fully upright She felt a need to grohich was ridiculous but then in this moment she was more warrior than therapist, more Kerrick in muscle memory than Alison

He nodded in approval but his chin dipped and his eyes took on that fierce cut-emerald appearance, entirely without compassion

He came at her, a blur of preternatural speed She folded behind hi with deadly vibrations as the steel of his sword met hers Her er thought, she anticipated Every technique Kerrick possessed noed into her mind, became part of her The sas a mere extension of response and reaction, which translated rhythmically into attack

The Queen Creek house filled with shared grunts, a deafening sound of clashing heavy steel, and the sression

The Matrix caiven her Soe Kerrick, cease!

He drew back, his sword at the ready, which he quickly lowered as soon as he saw her blade drop at an unprotected angle toward the floor "I have a chance now, don’t I? Say it I need to hear you say it"

His sword disappeared He closed the distance between theht e that began in his arh the heavy hs "Thank God," he ainst her ear

She folded her sword to the far corner of the guest rooht Only then did she understand how coht Tears burned her eyes as she nestled her drenched face against his cardamom wet shoulder

After barely a ht up in her new reality She folded her sword back into her hand then swiped the blade twice through the air "The Commander has plans for me, then Endelle ordered you to train ement is unclear?"

"Exactly"

"So this isn’t just about being able to defend iment of death vampires would happen to show up at your front door?"

He shook his head "I doubt it," he responded

Okay She really didn’t want to consider just what Darian had in o crazy

For the next quarter hour, he worked her hard until she was onceShe folded her sword to safety

He brought her another Gatorade She took it, unseeing She drank He ed her arms and shoulders and healed her h not nearly so badly as she would have without his help She consureater speed In the beginning, she struggled A fewhis speed, s and thrusts of his sword until she met him blow for blow

She wasn’t, however, used to the physical dereeary as he forced her backward down the hall in the direction of the guest roo She threw a blast at hireater force and she barely got out of the way as she rolled into the guest room Unfortunately she tripped, stu with her sword

"Ow," she shrieked

Of all the ways shewith a sword in her hand, spraining her wrist seemed the most ridiculous At the same time, she knew Kerrick wouldn’t stop, especially not when she was at her weakest

She felt his attacking airwaves and used all her power to set up a field She didn’t even knohat that was, but she saw it in her mind and erected it When she looked up, all six feet six of hih muscled dips and swells of her warrior teacher, lay suspended in the air above her