Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) (16 page)

Cala hung her head. “Don’t tell anyone.” And she rushed out of the room as if the place were on fire.

“I promise.” Ash said even though Cala didn’t hang around to listen. She wanted to hug the girl. There was no way she’d get her in trouble with her sister. From the look on the girls’ face, Rhian had probably played that prank on her, hence why she had the powder ready. The poor girl. It made Aisline’s blood boil at the thought of Rhian bullying her sister like that. She could handle it. Sure, she was annoyed, but that was different. Cala was quiet and couldn’t stand up to her sister. But, by doing this, she had made a little stand, whether she realised it or not.

After getting her belongings washed and dried and diving in the shower, she no longer smelled like a sewer. Ash could have kissed Cala, but there was no way she was going to approach her at the moment. She wouldn’t drop her in it with Rhian like that.

Walking back to her room, she couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Rhian, who looked shocked at the lack of stench. Ash felt like she had won this little battle and it felt good. Cala had done a good thing and this was a win that went to the pair of them. Hopefully, Rhian would think twice before doing something quite so childish next time.

Chapter Twelve

Jab Cross Jab Cross Front kick.

Change stance.

Jab Cross Jab Cross Front kick.

Change stance.

And so it continued until it felt like her limbs were going to fall off.

This was absolute murder on her body but Kelton was putting them through yet another punishing training routine. He’d given them all harsh speech at the beginning of the session about peak physical fitness and stamina, stating that there’d be no rest breaks out in the real world when they were going up against the enemy.

That was all well and good and it was clear that he had made a very valid point as it felt like her arms were going to drop off at any moment, but Aisline wouldn’t give up. She wanted to give it her all. She already knew that her muscles were going to be screaming out in agony in the morning, but in the end it was going to be worth it. All this torture would make her into the kind of warrior that she would be proud of.

Pausing briefly to roll her shoulders and shake out her limbs, Ash whispered to Jackson, “Where’s Trey?” She hadn’t seen him all morning and he hadn’t been at breakfast. It wasn’t like him to miss a training session. Even if he felt like the walking dead, Trey wasn’t the type of guy not to give it his all.

Jackson shrugged before bracing the pads for Ash to start her next round of continuous punches. He and Trey shared a room and his bed had been empty when Jackson had woken up. Master Warrior Dixon had already pulled him to one side to ask him if he knew where Trey was, but he didn’t have a clue. It was a bit of a worry as Trey was the kind of guy that stuck to the rules and didn’t rock the boat. It wasn’t like him to go AWOL like this.

Jab Cross Jab Cross Front kick.

Change stance.

Jab Cross Jab Cross Front kick.

Change stance.

Ash continued to batter the pads until Kelton finally called time and her arms dropped to her sides like dead weights. She rolled her eyes at Jackson, wondering how the hell he’d managed to even hold the pads up after his round of continuous punches. The end of the session was a welcome relief. She couldn’t wait to get back up to her room and grab a soothing shower. She’d been sweating buckets and couldn’t wait for the pounding water to relax her muscles.

“GTA marathon tonight, Jax?” Dylan called as he walked over to where they were standing near the water cooler.

“Sure. Why not?” Jackson grinned.

“You in, Ash?”

She shook her head. GTA wasn’t her kind of thing. If they were going to be playing some badass shoot-em-up game like COD, then she’d be there in a flash. “I’m going to phone Lana tonight and then crash.”

Dylan nodded in understanding. “That sure was a brutal work-out. Kelton’s really picking it up.”

“You know where we are if you change your mind.” Jackson said to Ash, who waved to Dylan as he backed out of the room.

Most of the boys in their training group could be found holed up in the gamer rooms most evenings, using computer games as a way of winding down after a hard days’ training. Not that she could blame them in the slightest. You did whatever you could to keep yourself sane in this place. Personally, she preferred to curl up with a good book and get lost in a fantasy world.

“Come on. I’ll walk you up to your room.” Jackson said as he grabbed both their sports bags, ever the gentleman. Ash had given up protesting that she could carry her own gear. It was just one of the many little things that he liked to do for her, small ways to show her that he cared.

“So, where do you think Trey is?”

Jackson shook his head. “I’ve no idea. He was there when I went to sleep and he’d already gone when I woke up.”

“It’s totally out of character for him to do something like this. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

Jackson nodded. It was out of character for Trey to act like this. He’d been really quiet lately, secretive even. It was like he was keeping something to himself, when usually Trey would talk about anything.  He was usually so open. Jackson didn’t feel right questioning him over it. He knew that Trey would talk to him when and if he wanted to, so he was going to wait until he was ready.

Before training this morning, Master Warrior Dixon had called him into his office to ask him if he knew where Trey was. They’d noticed him missing during breakfast and presumed he was sick, but when Jackson said he wasn’t in their room, that’s when they all started to worry. Jackson didn’t want to mention to Ash that the warriors were all out looking for him because he didn’t want to worry her further. He didn’t think that there was anything wrong, but knew that he and Trey would be sitting down and having a good chat when he returned.

“Has he said anything to you? Is he worried about anything?” Ash asked, glancing up at him as they slowly walked up the grand staircase.

“What about?”

“I don’t know. Stuff. He seems a bit preoccupied lately. You share a room with him. I thought that he might have talked to you about something.”

“Usually he does talk to me, but he hasn’t really said much lately. It’s odd.” Jackson frowned.

Ash fell quiet for a moment and they walked in companionable silence. “Will you let me know when you find him? When he comes back? I’m worried about him. This isn’t like him.”

“I will.” Jackson promised. “Don’t forget to come down if you get bored.”

“I don’t think I’ll get that bored.” Ash laughed.

“Well, the offers there.” Jackson grinned and stepped forward.

Glancing to the side to make sure that they were alone in the hall, he raised his fingers to Aisline’s face, slowly tracing her cheek and along her jaw line. Even though they didn’t get much time alone with the rigorous training schedule and feeling tired as hell the rest of the time, when they had moments like this, they were precious. Ash closed her eyes as she felt his fingertips tracing her skin and smiled when she felt his lips on hers.

“Break it up, kids.”

A voice bellowed from behind them and they jumped apart. Master Warrior Verynai was standing behind them with a big shit eating grin on his face. It was pretty much common knowledge that Ash and Jackson had a thing going and everyone had accepted it. Verynai loved to tease them when they weren’t training and he caught them in some compromising situation, however innocent it looked. Right now, even though they were only kissing, both the teenagers blushed furiously.

“I’m only kidding.” Verynai held up his hands, laughing as he walked away. He didn’t object to them being in a relationship, as long as it didn’t impact on their training, it was all good.

Ash and Jackson looked at one another and burst out laughing. “I’ll catch you later.” Jackson gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, backing away quickly when they heard Master Warrior Verynai’s booming laughter from down the other end of the hall.

Closing her door behind her, Aisline shook her head and grinned. Even if they didn’t have much time to build a relationship, she was pleased that she had what she had with Jackson. It was nice to know that he was there for her at the end of the day.

After a ridiculously long and luxurious shower that went a long way to soothing her aching muscles, she had to get out when the water started to cool. Usually, her showers were short and sweet but she wanted to make the most of the steaming water. Aisline dressed in an old pair of yoga pants and a band tee, pulling her long rich hair that she’d dried as best she could into a ponytail, she pulled the door shut behind her and skipped down the stairs. Well, she walked carefully rather than skipped. The shower had gone a long way to refreshing her tired body, but her legs still felt that strange combination of jelly and stiff. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to training so hard, but relished in the thought that she’d kept up with the rest of them.

Passing by the numerous games rooms, she had to roll her eyes at the howls of laughter coming from the guys. She peeked in as she walked by and smiled when she saw Caleb and Rees playing video games with the rest of the boys in their class. Rees could always been found in the centre of the action. Even though he was younger than the rest of the guys, he fit in well with them and was always up for some fun. Caleb was a lot more reserved than his younger brother. He’d chilled out a lot in comparison to when he’d first come to the academy, but he still seemed reluctant to let loose and usually shied away from the others when they weren’t training. It was good to see him having some fun for a change.

Ash walked quickly out of range of them before any of them spotted her and tried to get her involved in their game. Smiling as a couple of trainees from the year above her as she walked down the corridor, Ash was pleased to see that there wasn’t anyone else standing at the bay of telephones. Even though they weren’t strictly allowed them, many of the trainees had snuck in their own phones.

She didn’t see the point in having one herself. At the moment, the only people she wanted to speak to were right there at the academy with her, and Lana. Once a week or once a fortnight, depending on his schedule, she spoke to her father. It was a way to simply keep the connection open with at least one member of her family. But, honestly, it was her weekly calls to Lana that were the most fun and kept her going.

Dialling the number, she didn’t have to wait long for her friend to answer. Lana picked up on the second ring, obviously expecting her call.

“Aisline?”

She laughed. “Yeah, it’s me. How’d you guess?” Ash grinned the moment she heard her friend’s voice. She was pleased and relieved that their friendship hadn’t collapsed under the weight of her warrior-ship. It was easy to lose contact with those in the real world, friends that they’d grown up with that didn’t understand how difficult this new life was. Admittedly, they hadn’t seen each other in a really long time, not since Aisline had received the mark of the warrior and had been hauled off to the academy, but they were still as close as ever. You didn’t have to see a person every day, or even talk every day, to be close. The pair of them talked at least once a week, and more if any gossip came to their attention.

“So, how are things going over there in the land of the hunky warriors?”

Ash laughed. Lana was seriously jealous that she was surrounded by muscular, sexy, sweating men all day, every day. Not that she would have loved the training so much, but being surrounded by hunky men? Lana would have probably given it a go. “You know. Same old, same old. Train until we drop and all that stuff.”

“It can’t be too much of a hardship. If it was me in your position, I’d lose more water in drool that I would in sweat!” Lana giggled.

“That’s disgusting!”

“But, so true and you know it.”

Shaking her head, Ash laughed at her. Lana would never change and she wouldn’t want her to. She was sweet, bubbly and ever the eternal optimist. She always looked on the bright side of life and always helped Ash to put her troubles into perspective. It was the highlight of her week to talk to Lana. She made her laugh and lightened the stress load on her shoulders.

“And how is that big piece of man-candy?”

“Jackson?”

“Who else?”

Rolling her eyes, she replied, “Busy with training. We all are.”

“Surely you’ve got time for a bit of fun?”

“Have you listened to anything I’ve ever told you? We don’t have any time for anything but training.”

“Well, that sounds boring.”

“Believe me, it’s not. I can’t believe how much I enjoy it all.”

“You’ve always been like that, though.” Lana wasn’t at all athletically inclined.

“It’s the mark. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.” And she didn’t. Ash loved this life and knew that it was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

“Just make sure you have time for some fun, too. Remember, I know what you’re like. You take everything too seriously and work too hard. You’ve got to make time to play, and Jackson is the perfect playmate in my opinion.”

“I just want to get it right, you know?” Lana was the one person she could talk to, apart from Kayleigh, and not fear that she would think badly of her. She could say anything, whether it was her fears over the training or her relationship with Jackson and Lana wouldn’t say a bad word, only giving her encouragement.

Ash was scared that she’d never be good enough. That she didn’t have it in her to be a warrior. The guys wouldn’t understand where she was coming from, seeing only the battling side of her. The boys only saw what she let them see, working her fingers to the bone, slogging her guts out and keeping up with the rest of them. They didn’t know how much she worried that she’d fail. Even Jackson didn’t know. Lana did.

“You’re getting it right and you know it, Ash. Look. You just need to lighten up on yourself and remember to enjoy everything you’re going through. This was just the thing you needed in your life. If that warrior mark hadn’t come along and changed your life, you’d still be stuck here, fighting with your mother over ball-gowns and fighting off slime balls who want to marry into your family’s money.” Lana didn’t get serious often, but this was one of those times, knowing that Aisline needed a firm talking to. “Enjoy it. The mark chose you for a good reason. You can do this. You know you can. You can do this with your eyes shut.”