I inspected them, took a deep breath, and said, “Nope. Sorry, not a one.”
He smiled. “No worries. Crossbows and swords are passé for the human realm. But they are the most common weapon in many others, and in close quarters, nothing tops a knife. So we’ll teach you how to use them. But for now, I’d like an idea of your natural ability to handle a weapon. It’s a hand-eye coordination thing, nothing to worry about.”
His easy mannerisms did a lot to eliminate my nerves. So I accepted the gun with a bare minimum of gulping, even when he moved to stand behind me.
“This gun is designed to shoot paintballs, just in case you guys miss. But we have modified it to have a recoil in order to get students accustomed to the real thing. So you have to be aware, always, of how you hold it. I will give you more details in class, but for now, let me show you.”
He folded my fingers around the grip with one finger poised over the trigger. His scent swirled around me as his strong hands arranged my fingers, but it didn’t elicit anything other than a cursory response. So my hormones were selective?
I heard him inhale, and he leaned in before continuing. “Sight along the barrel. Line the target up between these two things here. Do you have it? Now fire.”
Was his voice a little hoarse? I followed instructions, shocked at how much the gun actually kicked.
Ryan cleared his throat and then took a step back from me. “Good,” he said. “Now put the gun along your thigh. Raise it, and fire.”
If the target hadn’t encompassed most of the wall, I wouldn’t have had a hope. He had me do it several times, jumping in twice to rearrange my fingers on the grip, and once to give me advice on my stance. Then he had me walk a few paces, stop, and fire. And then run and do the same thing again.
Although I focused really hard, I didn’t get any of the paint within the lines. I was aware of his keen gaze watching my every move. Keen, and flaring gold with his beast. Excitement? From watching me flounder my way through this? It was a little odd.
“You are thinking too hard,” he diagnosed. “But that gives me an idea of what to work on with you. Your coordination is decent. You just need to relax.”
Story of my life, I figured. But his easy-going nature took any potential sting out of his assessment. I gestured to the other weapons. “Are we trying those, too?”
“No, that’s fine,” he said quickly. “I’ve seen enough to assess the basics.”
“Which is that you aim like a girl.” The snide comment was my first clue that Aaron had been watching me while waiting to be assessed by Ryan. The beta’s eyes were gleaming as bright as the Sabre’s, and I didn’t think I imagined the hint of challenge in his voice.
Not directed to me. But to Ryan.
As if the Dire shifter was too far beneath him to even acknowledge, the Sabre didn’t look up from where he was setting the paintball gun back in place. “If you kept your opinions to yourself, Aaron, I suspect you wouldn’t have gotten the stuffing beaten out of you yesterday.” There was a snarl running through the words.
Aaron went rigid as a board. “You know about that?”
“We know everything,” Ryan said, smiling at me as he straightened and nodded to me. “I think Alex is waiting for you.”
I stalked right past Aaron without even looking at him. As I passed, I heard him growl.
What a right dodgy bastard.
Okay, was Matt rubbing off on me? Alex waited for me in the arena. Cody had taken Darius off to the floor section to run through his shifter paces, while Tyrez seemed to be doing the same with Talakai on the sand.
The Dire shifter lifted his head slightly as though scenting the air, and his brows lowered as he smiled at me. He was handsome, with his darker skin beneath deep red hair, and a rather startling set of vivid-blue eyes.
“Have you ever taken any kind of martial arts classes? Or boxing, or self-defense?” he asked.
“I have no idea,” I confessed.
His frown deepened, before his brows tweaked. “Oh. You’re the one with amnesia.”
My gut twisted. “That’s me.”
Alex’s eyes flashed sapphire. “I’m sorry,mi amiga.That must be rough.” His voice had deepened.
Was that Spanish? It sounded like it. “It’s a pain in the ass right now,” I confessed. “I have no idea what I know, and what I don’t.”
He smiled. “We will teach you. Sometimes it is easier to learn new, than to forget olderrores.” He started to circle, and I obliged him.
He was shorter than Matt and not as heavily muscled across the chest and shoulders. But he moved so gracefully. Like a cat.
