Ryan’s first words shattered the possibility of isolating myself for the actual instruction.
“We will be keeping you in your teams,” he said. “And will demo these weapons here for you before taking you outside to practice.”
I gritted my teeth. It made sense—two instructors meant six groups each. But so much for my avoidance strategy.
“Every realm is different in terms of the weapons commonly used,” Ryan continued. “In order to blend in, you will need to be familiar and adept with a wide array of them. As so many rely on low-tech means, we have separated off knife and sword work to its own session. This lesson will cover everything else.”
He paused before continuing. “For those of you wishing to practice in your free time, you can sign the weapons out. The targets will be set up permanently in the back field. We will verse you in safety protocols once we are out there. Some of these have significant range, and you must have a spotter with you to help ensure you don’t nail anyone”—his gaze drifted over me—“inadvertently.”
I kept my face stoic with difficulty. It had been a tell, even if the Sabre hadn’t intended it. I was, indeed, in trouble.
My wing bones ached to erupt, but I took a deep breath and focused. Spooking your prey into making a mistake was the oldest strategy in the book. One which I had employed myself on more than one occasion.
I did my best to wipe a certain blonde from my mind as Ryan took us through his extensive inventory with cool, calculated precision. I was aware of the tension within our team—and all of it circulated around Anna. Matt kept himself between her, and the alpha and Aaron, but their energy indicated that all the Dires spent most of their time sniffing after her.
Maybe I wasn’t the only one bewitched by her. Although the glances Darius and his beta sent her way were filled with an angry kind of lust that set my teeth on edge.
I focused on Ryan. The man knew his weapons. And to give him credit, what lay on that table were the latest, as well as the best and most lethal. Nothing outdated about them, or about his knowledge.
When we rose to head to the back field, I, once again, put as much distance between myself and my teammates as possible, using those few moments to lock myself down. By the time we reassembled, the Dragon I’d been was once again in control.
Of course, now I needed to give him three thumbs and no fingers to get through this last hour.
Anna kept glancing my way, and I did my best to keep the alpha and his idiot beta between us. It didn’t help much because they were standing downwind of her, and I kept getting whiffs of her enticing citrus scent.
Enticing?
Shards, I was in over my head here.
Ryan handed out crossbows. Two types, one a tiny, wrist-mounted automatic model—my personal favorite—and a larger one designed to be held in a sling along your body beneath a long coat when not in use.
With the larger model, I could nail a six-inch lizard with a bolt from three hundred feet. Crossbows were one of my specialties. Most times, my targets were much closer, and much larger, than that. Beyond that range, the accuracy and power dropped dramatically. And the wrist-mounted ones were only suitable for short distances.
As a weapons dealer, I would be expected to have a certain proficiency, but not assassin level. So when my turn came to shoot, I took a deep breath.
Unfortunately, Fate tweaked the breeze, and what I inhaled was a lungful of Anna, and my heart slammed up against my rib cage. I gritted my teeth and aimed just a bit wide of the bullseye.
At the last moment, my hand moved, and instead of being in the second ring out, I narrowly missed the round black circle. The magazine clicked as it dropped the bolts into place. One, two, three nearly perfect shots within seconds before I stopped myself.Shards.Aware of Ryan’s eyes on me, I said, “This model has more kick than its predecessor. Not a beginner’s weapon.”
The Sabre’s eyebrows tweaked upward. “No, you are correct. The older model is smoother to shoot. You know your crossbows.”
I nodded, keeping my face stoic. “It was my job.”
I handed the weapon to Darius and stood back to let my teammates have a try. As we took turns, the two big Sabres stalked between the teams. I was hyperaware of their presence each time they worked with Team Phoenix. But it was Cody silently pacing past while Ryan explained the workings of the larger crossbow that had my instincts screaming.
He had a small pack slung over one shoulder, and he didn’t even look at us as he went by, aiming for the next team over. But something about the way he slowed down...
I watched him surreptitiously as he worked with his team. After setting a Dire up with a crossbow, the Sabre drew something out of the pack. A device. He pushed a few buttons, frowned down at it, and then put it away again.
No big deal. Except I was pretty damned sure the device was a scanner. And he’d just walked right by me.
My heart accelerated.He’d scanned me.Looking for the tracker that my masters planted in all their bonded operatives.
Only the scar remained from Kala’s efforts, hidden beneath my scales.
But that they would be checking at all, indicated that my time here might have come to an end.
35
