Page 62 of Anomalies

I pick up our pace, cutting down past the Banyan and hooking right towards the area of camp reserved solely for my coven.

After everything I’d read this afternoon on the Van Reenan powerline, I can confidently say that I’m about to wing this entire training session. I had no plan last night, and that seemed to help her, so I’m thinking that no plan is the plan.

“If I’d known we’d be running, I would have⁠—"

“Had less wine?” I finish for her, and she laughs, taking a double step to catch up to me.

“No,” Lucina rasps, “had more of it.” It’s not at all what I expected her to say, and I think she notices the confusion on my face because then she says, “We’d race trains growing up, and it was always more fun with a buzz.”

That explains the endurance…I guess… but how often was she racing these trains? “Sounds… riveting,” I reply, picking up the pace a little more as we near the path that will take us further south.

She matches me with ease, and I trail the flush that makes its way across her cheeks and down her chest⁠—

“Watch out!” she screams, and I nearly trip, stumbling out of the way of⁠—

Nothing. There’s literally nothing there.

“Watch out for what?!” I shout back, catching up to her in half a step.

“You wouldn’t know, would you?” she says breathlessly, a knowing tilt to her lips. “Too busy staring at my boobs.”

“That’s not what I was doing.” I pick up our pace out of spite, and Lucina’s breathing turns more ragged.

“Hope not, that would be hypocritical considering you gave Pax a black eye for far less⁠—”

“No more talking.”

I push us to a full sprint when I see the amber lights of the Yard shining just through the trees, and only then does she struggle to keep up. I take her to the training ring and wait for her to stop heaving.

She’s bent slightly at the waist, both hands on her hips, forcing air in as slowly as she’s able. “How’s the wine now?” I ask, and she scowls. “Right, well,” I gesture my arms wide, “Welcome to the Yard.”

She arches a dark brow, glancing skeptically across the space. “The Yard?”

“The Yard,” I confirm, then spin to give her a tour. “This is the training ring.” I sweep a hand across the fenced-in dirt pit we’re standing in, then make my way towards the back of the three-wall building, gesturing to the left-hand side. “Water cooler, bathroom—chairs that Pax never put away.” I move on, flicking my chin to the right. “Old worn-out gym equipment⁠—”

Lucina snorts.

“More. Fucking. Chairs.”

“Maybe you forgot to ask him,” she says boldly.

I ignore the comment, gesturing to the door along the back wall. “And over here is the weapons closet.” I press my palm into the center of it as we approach, the familiar twinge of warmth running across my palm as the lock clicks. The door slides away to reveal a room about the size of her cabin, filled with every kind of weapon you could dream of.

Lucina hesitates over the threshold, and the sharp inhale of her breath makes me smile.

Hundreds of knives hang to our right and along the back wall. On the left-hand side is a metal rack with Easton’s crossbow up top, a few silver longbows hanging beneath it, and at least a dozen quivers of silver-tipped arrows.

My gaze sweeps across the room, ultimately falling on Lucina, whose brows are raised in silent alarm.

“It’s this or flowers,” I tell her, moving to stand in front of the knives.

She takes a hesitant step towards the center of the space, her stare sweeping over all the gleaming metal. “I highly doubt those are my only options.”

I gather six throwing knives, and I swear she stops breathing. “They are.”

At first, she refuses, standing her ground just outside of the training ring while I flip the knives over in my hand. But once I reassure her that we can stop whenever she wants, she reluctantly joins me in the center.

“Control, timing, and focus,” I begin, and her eyes are big when they meet mine. “You need all three before we can move on to anything else.” I increase the distance between us, then hold out one of the small, iron-hilted daggers. “Take this from me using magic only.”