Chapter 22

Two days later, when I walked into the practice room, everyone was standing there looking at me. I looked behind me, in case there was something I hadn’t noticed. I stopped and gave a little wave. “Hi?”

Rafael laughed and started walking toward me. “Ready for your test?”

I swallowed. “Test?” Everyone started to move around on the big mats, so they were spread out all over and not standing close together. Feeling like I should do something, I dropped my pack and bent down to adjust the strap that held my knife. It didn’t need adjusting, I just needed time to catch up. I stood up. “I’m not very good at tests.” I told him. “The teachers said I didn’t study, or focus.” I shrugged. “They were wrong, I remembered everything, but their questions were never simple, each one had multiple answers that were all correct.”

Quinton started laughing. “I want a brain like yours.”

I frowned. “No, you don’t.”

Daxx came over and took my hand. “He didn’t mean with all the visions, Crissy, just that brilliant part of it.”

“Oh.” I looked over and smiled at Quinton to let him know I was sorry. “What…” I looked around at everyone again. “What is the test on?” I bit my lip and hoped I knew the answers.

“We were having a discussion before you got here and someone…” she stopped and looked right at Victor, “who we’ll call grumpy bear, said you are not ready to show us the tunnels on the other side.”

I leaned closer to her and whispered, “he kind of sounds like a bear with all the growling he’s been doing.”

She laughed and I looked to see several of the men trying not to smile.

“So, you need to prove that your escape and evade skills are pure awesomeness now.” She pushed me so I was standing on the edge of the mat, the others spread out in front of me in a line. Taking my pack, she walked over and set it by the wall of weapons.

I adjusted my belt and little box to avoid looking at everyone. “I have been practicing, a lot.” I looked over at Victor and then waved my hand around, “while you’re out… rampaging at the world.” I glanced to Daxx, and shrugged having used her words.

His mouth quirked, but he didn’t smile. “I don’t think…”

Chase snorted, “That’s obvious.”

Victor gave him a hard stare and then sighed. “Fine.” He gave each brother a cold stare. “No one touches her.”

Rafael lifted his hands and then dropped them. “Defeats the purpose of a test if we all stand here and just stare at her.”

Victor growled, “I don’t…”

Moving quickly, I went over and rubbed my hands on his chest. Smiling at him. “Please go stand by the target board. I want to show you that I have been learning as much as I can.” I stretched up on my toes and kissed his mouth softly. “Please.”

His green eyes searched mine for a minute and then he nodded. “If it’s too much say so.”

“I will.” I nodded and watched him back up then turn and stand out of the way by the target. I held up my hand. “One second please.” I ran over to my bag to get something Leone had made for me. We had practiced with it for hours. He had one, and some day I wanted to be as good with it as he was. “I didn’t know there was a test,” I glanced back at them. “I wasn’t prepared.” I pulled it out and attached it to the back of my belt so it would be out of the way.

I looked to see Leone smirking when I walked back over. “Okay.” I gave Daxx a nervous look. “What are we doing?”

Daxx looked around at the way the guys were spread out. “If they catch you for longer than three seconds, you fail. We can’t chase you, but the area two feet all around us we can move in.” She glanced to Victor. “If you reach Victor, you win.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “Good motivation.” I looked down to figure out how much space that gave each of them. They had big bodies, long arms. This was going to be hard.

She laughed. “I thought so.” She backed up so she was one more body standing in my way to reaching him. “You got this.”

I looked at the other end of the large room where Victor stood, and he nodded his head as encouragement. “I got this.” I whispered. “Um, any means that I know to get there, right?”

Daxx smirked, “Absolutely. Whatever you can use out there to get back in one piece is allowed.”

I nodded and gave my arms a shake, to get ready. Quinton and Rafael were the first two, then Daxx. After that it got harder.

“Stop over-thinking and just do it.” Quinton told me as he widened his stance, his arms out ready to grab me.

I nodded and started running at him. Just as he would reach for me I stopped as fast as I could and covered my mouth, looking as scared as I could manage, which wasn’t hard, because I had spent my life looking afraid.

“Aw, hun, it’s….”

I ducked under his arm then rolled to get away further. I saw the grin on Rafael’s face as he’d watched how I’d gotten by his brother. Just when he thought to reach for me I stopped and put my hand to my head like I would if I were in pain.

“Shit. Crissy?”

With a smirk, I dropped and went between his legs and moved fast. Daxx was next and she knew my tricks and her look said she wouldn’t fall for them. When I had a few feet before I reached her, I glanced to my left, then paused and looked again.

“Oh, no.” I said.

“What?” She turned to look and I bolted by her. Troy was next and I had no special cheats I could use on him, other than his size. Climb them like a tree Daxx had told me many times and then I remembered the ball in my pocket. Pulling it out, I threw it at him. It hit him in the chest giving me enough time to slide by him close to the floor.

“Damn.” I heard him say.

Chase and Michael were next, standing closer together.

“Bring it, cutie,” Chase said with a grin.

I ran faster, needing more speed. I thought, like a tree. As he reached for me, he bent his knees, I used it to step on and launch myself up. Putting my hands on his shoulders, I flipped over him, then used the momentum of coming down to land both feet on Michael’s chest. He fell, I kept going.

“Yes!” I heard Daxx yell and felt pretty excited about it myself.

Arius was next and I’d practiced a lot with him, so he knew so many of my moves, I had to think fast. I glanced up remembering where the lowest beams were. As I got closer, I reached behind me and pulled the pulley off my belt. Grasping the handle on it I flung it up with the fast motion, just as Leone and I had practiced, and the weight flew up and spun around the beam and then started to retract, and I leapt over top of Arius as it did.

Jumping to the ground, I approached Leone and he looked entirely too happy. I didn’t know what to try next. He was the last one, but I kept running. “Touch me and I’ll bite you.” I called to him. He straightened, shock on his face, so I rolled by him and came up in a crouch just past him. Grabbing my knife, I flung it up toward the target and heard it thunk as it hit the middle.

Jumping up, I ran toward a wide-eyed Victor. I squealed and jumped up into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. Then I dropped my head to his shoulder and tried to remind my body how to breathe. I heard everyone clapping behind me and turned to look back at them.

“You so cheated.” Leone said walking over, but he was smiling.

“Daxx said whatever I could use.” I told him as I tried to catch my breath.

“I have no words.” Victor said sounding as breathless as I felt.

Leaning back, I looked at him. “I have worked very hard. I was tired of always being afraid.”

“So I see.” He kissed my mouth quickly. “I am amazed.” He glanced to the others and lowered me so I was standing in front of him.

Daxx did a fist pump and then grabbed me and hugged me. “That flip was so frickin’ good...”

Troy stood there, the small red ball between his thumb and finger. “I was taken out by a rubber ball.” He smirked at me and held it out to me. “My ego is crushed.”

“Yours? I don’t even know how she took the first three of us out.” Rafael said.

“With your minds.” I told him and nodded.

Quinton shook his head. “You have definitely mastered the art of distraction.”

I shrugged. “My mind has been distracted my entire life.”

“You will bite me?” Leone stood there with his hands on his hips. “What was that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, but neither did you, so it worked.”

Arius pointed to my pulley that now lay on the floor behind us. “When did you pick up that trick?”

I bit my lip and looked at Leone. “Leone and I decided up was my thing.” I nodded. “I still have to practice keeping the pulley with me after I come down though.”

Arius shook his head. “I’m glad you’re on our team.” He smiled.

I took a deep breath and looked around at them. “I may not be able to swing big scary weapons, but I would protect each of you as you would me. No matter what.” I threw the ball up and caught it and then again. Processing, processing.

“So, grumpy bear,” Daxx looked at Victor, “can we go for a hike in the tunnels and maybe catch a bad, bad mage?”

I nodded. “I want to go.” I looked at Victor as he thought it over.

“Do the transporters work in the tunnels? Sometimes, deep underground they don’t.” He glanced to Michael.

He frowned. “We didn’t think of testing them. We can transport.” He looked around as his siblings. “With all of us there, she’ll be safe, Victor.”

The nerve in Victor’s jaw twitched as he thought about it. “I want Romulus and the witches to make certain that the cell they say is Marcus proof, IS, without question.” He glanced to Daxx. “My transporter to the cells will be programmed to only transport there, leaving you all to do any and all of the other dispatching.”

Daxx nodded. “I can handle it. I’ll just have to fight less, pop more.”

I bit my lip and looked to the others, all busily thinking of other possible scenarios. I hadn’t told them why I was late. “I may know more.” I told them quietly. “I woke up to the flashes, so many today.”

“Are you alright?” Victor asked, his eyes quickly assessing me.

I nodded. “I needed some time to process and sort them through.”

“Any why didn’t you mention this instead of their test?” He asked looking unhappy.

I moved over close and rested my hand on his chest. “I can do more than one thing at a time.”

Rafael snorted, “or in your case, thirty, unlike the rest of us sloth-brained beings.”

Victor placed his hand over mine, against his heartbeat and looked at me in that loving way his eyes always held, only now I knew what it was. “What did you see?”

“A battle below…” I held up my hand when he started to speak. “That I was present for. A room with a spell…” I glanced to Daxx. “That the greasy mage will be needed to break.”

“Romulus.” She said looking unhappy with the idea.

I nodded. “A witch with a staff that glows light, comes from and the army in black…” I looked around at them, “that’s how I see all of you. Stopping them all.” I let out a shaky breath. “There was blood, but I am thinking there always is when all of you are in what I see.”

Michael smirked. “As long as it’s not ours, I’m good with that.”

“The witch, was she ours or his?” Troy asked.

“His.” I said quietly.

“So, we need to bring a witch and a mage with us.” Arius asked while looking very serious.

I nodded. “I believe that’s why it warned me of both being needed, so we don’t fail.”

Victor paced away and stopped looking at the wall. I could see everyone watching him with nervous expressions.

Daxx motioned with her head for me to go to him, so I did.

I touched my hand on his back when I reached him and he put his arm around me but didn’t turn back to the others.

“I do not like taking you into something so volatile, heart.” He reached and tipped my chin up, so I was looking in his eyes. “I do not know if any would be safe were something to happen to you.”

“I’ll be okay.” I told him and I knew it was true. “I’m not afraid now, I know more…” I bit my lip for a moment. “And I’ve seen things to tell me it’s true.”

His green eyes searched my face, with so much worry.

“I’ve seen fields of butterflies since I came here, such a peaceful thing to see.” I told him. “I saw you happy, inside my head, and I know I must be okay or you wouldn’t be.” I explained. “I’ve even seen a baby.”

His brows drew together and he looked at me carefully.

“I don’t know who’s it was, but those are all good signs.”

“A baby? Like one baby or two?” Chase asked.

I turned to see everyone look at Daxx.

She shook her head. “Hell no. Twins, in two hundred and forty-nice years. That’s it’s for me.”

Troy hugged her tightly and everyone grinned. I didn’t know what that meant, but I made a note in my head to ask later. Turning, I looked back up at the man holding me close. “I need to be there Victor, I don’t know why, but I do.”

“We have to trust what she saw, Victor, despite all of us wanting to keep her in a bubble.” Daxx said in a more serious tone.

I still didn’t know what this bubble was, but she said it like it was a place I wouldn’t enjoy.

Victor’s big chest rose as he breathed deeply. “Get Romulus and the strongest witch in the coven. We’ll pay a visit to Marcus once everyone is ready.” He grasped my chin in a gentle hold. “You will take no chances that are not necessary.” I nodded as best as I could and he kissed my mouth hard, before releasing me to walk over to the target and pull out my knife. “Rafael, find a larger blade that she is comfortable handling, to strap to her thigh. It has to be short enough to lay flat as she moves, I don’t want her hindered, but I want her to have a backup in case she needs it.” He came over and knelt before me and put my knife back in the case strapped to my leg and then looked up at me. “You’ll carry it for my peace of mind, and if any get too close to you, I’ll know you have something to protect yourself.”

I nodded and touched his hair with my hand, then hugged his head as he leaned into me.

“Come on, little sister, lets find you the right blade.” Rafael said as he walked by to the wall of weapons. “We’ll practice a bit so you know how to handle it and get it out fast.”

Taking a deep breath, I released Victor and followed him. I didn’t know if I could use it on another person, but to be honest, knowing I wasn’t completely defenseless did settle my nerves. The pieces in my head didn’t tell me if we’d be successful in the tunnels, or if we’d get Marcus into a cell. What I had seen gave me all we would need, so I had hope.