Find Me If You Dare (Dreamcatcher Book 2) (26 page)

Trishna refused to let Seth or Ivan out of her sight, so Lian stayed behind to keep them company and ease them into the news about Tabbi. Samantha, not wanting to be around to witness Seth’s reaction, joined me after I checked in with Kayla to see where they were.

We trekked through the forest, silent and single-file. Samantha hadn’t even bothered to look at me after asking if she could come along, and when I’d tried to make conversation, she’d sped her pace. After rolling my eyes, I began to mentally map our surroundings in case there was ever a point we had to find our way back by foot—my reason for not just evaporating to Kayla and Nolan. The earth was damp, and the trees smelled like bark and mildew. Only shimmers of sunlight broke through the thick covering of branches. To my left came the sound of running water, maybe a river or a waterfall, and a few squirrels scurried away at our approach. I made a note to ask Lian about wild game in case we needed to worry about hunting.

Hadn’t done that in a long, long time.

When we broke free of the trees into the open field where our teammates practiced, my eyebrows rose. Kayla and Nolan battled each other ferociously, using their abilities to throw balls of fire, waves of water, pockets of air, and pieces of the earth between them. They moved fast, as did their attacks, and their foreheads gleamed with sweat. Both were desperate for victory.

“Holy shit,” Samantha said, stopping beside me.

“You can say that again.”

During a normal battle, two Magus wouldn’t be able to stay so focused on each other, given the attacks that would come at them from every direction. Imagining getting caught in the middle of something like
this
, something so dangerous, made my heart pump wildly.

Kayla’s eyes were locked on her brother’s. With each of Nolan’s attacks, she blocked him, throwing a shield up just in time. Whatever element he threw at her disintegrated upon impact, and then within seconds of blocking or dodging one of Nolan’s strikes, she tossed out her own. Seeing her so focused, so
incredible
… I wanted to grab her in my arms and kiss her and tell her how proud I was.

Their battle continued for a few more minutes until Kayla struck the finishing blow. With a loud grunt, she threw a ball of fire as hard as she could. It spun like God himself pitched the sun at Nolan’s chest. Wide-eyed, Nolan raised his hands, but not fast enough. The flames hit him square in the chest. He flew a few feet before landing on his back.

Samantha ran to him as he started to laugh, and my concern for him waned when Kayla put her hands on her hips. Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths, and a grin broke her face.

“You think I’d fight her without putting a charm on my shirt?” Nolan answered in response to whatever Samantha had said.

Kayla turned to me, beaming. “How’d I do?” As if she had to ask. By the snarky look on her face, she knew she’d bested Nolan.

I crossed the small distance between us and put a hand on each shoulder, staring her in the eyes. “That was remarkable.” I hadn’t seen her this happy since we’d stood on the rooftop in Paris and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle. She was so beautiful; my breath caught.

She grinned even larger. “It felt awesome.”

“Yeah, well,
I
must be an awesome teacher,” Nolan said, reaching us. Samantha trailed close behind. “Score one for me. What have
you
done lately, Danny Boy?”

Kayla covered her mouth, her eyes smiling brighter.

I played along. “Give me a few hours of combat training with her, and then let’s see how funny you are after she lays you out.”

“Dude, I have no need for combat training.” Nolan frowned.

I tipped my head and raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,
maybe
there’s an off-chance I might have to fight like some mediocre Protector,” he corrected. Samantha shoved him, and he laughed.

“I’m so not coming to your rescue when your powers don’t work again,” she said.

“What do you mean ‘again?’” Kayla asked.

Nolan glared at Samantha, who blushed, having let a secret slip.

He rolled his eyes. “I sort-of tried to take on a few of the shooters in Philadelphia and got my powers bound. Trishna had to unlock them when we landed in Caelum.”

“Yeah, and I took two bullets in the back for that one,” Samantha said.

I shook my head. He’s lucky they didn’t outright kill him. “All the more reason for Kayla
and you
to learn how to fight without magic. Though, I have to admit, it is nice to hear Sam had a damsel in distress to save.”

Kayla laughed, and Samantha grinned.

Nolan huffed. “Now, who’s the cheeky one?”

The corner of my mouth rose in a lopsided grin. “Take a swig of your water, and then we’ll get started, ladies.”

Nolan pointed a thumb at me. “Did he just call me a girl?”

For about an hour, we practiced, Samantha shouting pointers at Nolan while I taught Kayla what to do. Samantha and I pinned them against each other and watched them fight, pulling them aside from time to time, like coaches with boxers in a ring. When Nolan complained that we were being too harsh, I called a time-out.

“You’ve never really fought a Nightmare before, yeah?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “No.”

“Then you have no idea what you’d be up against. If we’re in Richard’s lair, and he has thousands of Nightmares at his disposal, what do you think he’s going to send after us: men who think before they strike, or rabid creatures with animalistic instincts?”

“If it were me, I’d send the Nightmares,” Samantha said.

I pointed to her. “Exactly. Not only are they more vicious, but he has more of them at his disposal and wouldn’t risk losing his coven. Kayla, let me step in a sec.”

She nodded, obviously exhausted, and I shook out my hands. “Now, pay attention. I’m going to come at you like I’ve seen Nightmares do thousands of times.”

“And that’s not an exaggeration,” Samantha added.

Nolan sighed and raised his fists, his arms floppy like he thought this drill was stupid. Without giving him warning, I lunged at him and clocked him in the jaw.

“Shit!” he said. “What the hell? I wasn’t ready.”

“So?” Again, I swung at his face. He blocked it this time, but then I jabbed him in the stomach. He grunted, and I backhanded him across the face.

He jumped back, raising his hands. “All right! All right, I get it.”

“No, I don’t think you do.” I kicked him in the chest. He fell to the ground.

“Daniel, stop,” Kayla said from behind me.

Samantha held up a hand to her, and I dropped to a knee next to Nolan, pressing one fist to his throat and the other to his stomach.

“Their claws are at least six inches long. Right now, you’d be dead. Get up.”

I stood and held out a hand. With a groan, he took it, and I pulled him to his feet. For a few seconds, I waited. When he appeared ready, I went at him full-speed. Open-handed—I didn’t really want to break any of his bones—I moved like a Nightmare would. My hits found his jaw, his chest, his arms, and a couple times I swiped past his throat, shouting, “You’d be dead.”

Once he caught on to what I was doing and successfully blocked my passes, I changed it up and hit him in the gut instead. I used his gasp to my advantage and again punched him like I was jabbing claws into his chest.

Finally, a spark of anger filled his eyes, like I wanted. He swung with fury at my face. I got my arm up just in time and, with the other fist, jabbed his shoulder. But before I could pull my limb back, his fist struck the inside of my elbow, hard. My arm flung to the side, and Nolan’s other fist hit me square in the chest.

I grunted, faltering backward, and smiled. “About time.”

The glower in Nolan’s eyes faded as I dropped my arms, having made my point. “Move fast, and fight on instinct. That’s how you’ll survive. And if you have Catcher blades in your hands, a stab like that to a Nightmare’s chest is a kill shot. Nice job.”

“Hey, I was just testing you,” Nolan joked, wiping sweat from his forehead. But his slouched body language told me he was exhausted and embarrassed. In my experience, though, the best way to learn how to fight was to get your ass kicked. My mentor had done the same thing to me, and after a few times of being humiliated, I learned how to protect myself—and how to fight back and win.

“Yeah, all right, mate,” I said. A lopsided grin split his face, and I turned to Kayla. She shot me an annoyed stare, but when I held out a hand to her, she took it.

“What do you say we pick this up tomorrow? You both look tired,” I said.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Nolan replied, rubbing his jaw as he headed in the direction of the barn.

Samantha looked after him, the lines in her face deepening. Given our conversation before coming out here, I could guess what she was thinking about.

Talk to him
, I sent her.
We’ll keep our distance.

She shot me a glare, annoyed that I’d read her again, and stalked after Nolan.

ayla tugged on my hand before I could take a step. “Wait, I’m not ready to be done, yet.”

I narrowed my gaze. “You aren’t tired?”

She shook her head. “You just gave me a twenty-minute break while you beat up my brother.” Her eyes sparkled at her choice of words to describe Nolan.

Forcing Nolan to fess up: best decision I’d ever made.

“All right. I could show you a few defensive moves.”

She shook her head. “No, I want you to fight me, like you did Nolan.”

I ran a hand down my face. “You know I can’t.”

“Why? You fight Sam all the time. Don’t tell me you’re too ‘gentleman-like’ to hit a girl ‘cause it’s not true.”

Ouch. “You’re not Sam. You’re the girl I love, and I don’t want to hurt you. Not even a little.”

Her nostrils flared. “If I was your understudy, what would you do then?”

“But you’re not.” I touched her cheek. “Please don’t be angry with me. I will do everything I can to train you. I will show you defensive moves, attacks… But I will not be the one to fight you. I love you too much to ever lay a hand on you.”

She sighed, leaning into my touch. A bit of the fear I saw in her when the Nightmares attacked popped into her expression, and her eyes glistened. I dropped my hand from her cheek and stepped back. Her worry squeezed my heart. There was a way to practice without her getting hurt.