Chapter Eight
He saw her out of the corner of his eye as she entered the gym. He stood for a moment, abandoning his stretching to watch her. She stood straight and tall, her head held high as her eyes scanned the gym for a sign of either him, Hunter or Relic.
She found him first.
Their eyes locked before Blake looked down then made her way to the sparring mats where he stood waiting. She dropped her bag on the ground outside the mat and began to stretch. Curtis continued his own stretching.
She was wearing a Nike sports singlet and black exercise leggings that fitted closely to her toned legs. Her hair was tied up in a high pony tail and swung down as she bent from the waist to touch her toes.
They stretched for ten minutes or so until Curtis stopped and went to the middle of the mat. Hunter and Relic appeared silently and stood on the sideline conversing in hushed tones. Blake went to her bag, took a swallow of water from her drink bottle and went to stand opposite Curtis.
He saw the glint in her eyes and the determined tilt to her chin. She was ready to fight him.
He was just as ready.
By some sort of silent mutual agreement, they shifted into fighting positions. One foot in front of the other slightly and apart, hands held up so the forearms could be used to block.
Curtis winked at the girl opposite. Her blue green eyes widened slightly then narrowed in concentration.
They circled warily until Curtis tired of it. Suddenly he moved in and aimed a roundhouse kick at her. It was blocked hurriedly by Blake. She blocked every kick and punch he aimed at her, surprising him with her strength and quickness.
To the people on the sidelines, this fight was one of the best they had seen. The two on the mats were fast and strong, quick and agile. There was no pausing for breath or water, they just kept going. And going. And going.
It was a blur of movement and the crowds were enraptured. The two were practically equal.
Blake leapt high in the air and went for an aerial kick that Curtis ducked from and evaded neatly. He tried to ground sweep her but she jumped and he missed. They went for hook and cross punches to no avail. Both were getting tired.
Sweat was giving them both a shiny sheen and Blake saw Curtis' expression change. He frowned, a look of determination crossed his handsome features and he went in for the kill. He sent her a series of punches that kept her busy in blocking them, threw in some kicks and finally, he leapt high in the air and curled his body into a ball, spinning in a somersault directly over her head.
He was fast, extremely fast even and Blake didn't have time to catch up with him. He grabbed her shoulders from behind and pulled her back. She landed on the ground with a thump and gasped, eyes wide.
Curtis' eyes were unreadable as he straddled her body with his legs, his hands supporting his body on either sides of her head.
Suddenly he brought one hand up and she held her breathe for a moment. He tapped her chest where her heart was lightly then leaned down to whisper in her ear.
"You're dead." He sat up, smiled slightly and went to his bag to get a drink.
Blake lay on the ground for a moment before getting up and going to her own bag. She was breathless though whether that was from exertion or having Curtis so close to her she was unsure. She picked up her bag and left.
She had lost. She was out.
Curtis Redfern had got what he'd wanted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Curtis was leaning into his bag when Hunter approached him. He turned his head slightly to grin at the red haired man before pulling his water bottle out.
"Brilliant fighting as usual, son," Hunter smiled faintly, pride echoing in his voice.
"Thanks pops, you know I try." Curtis took a swig from his drink bottle then grinned again. "Look's like little Blake Starling couldn't cut it. Quite a shame really. Naturally I'm devastated."
Hunter shook his head. "I wouldn't start crying into your pillow Curtis," he said.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Hunter explained patiently, "That Blake Starling kept you on your toes for a good 25 minutes and that's the best I've seen for a while. Relic and I didn't expect her to win of course, we just wanted to see if she was in your league so to speak."
"'So to speak'?" Curtis repeated with a scowl. "Cut the crap and spell it out for me because I don't think I read our little deal properly."
"She's in Curtis. You've just got yourself a new member of the Elite."
Curtis saw the hard glint in his father's eyes. He zipped his bag up and tossed it over his shoulder. With one hard glare at Hunter, he stalked out of the room and into his car.
She was in? She didn't deserve to be in. She hadn't beaten him. She didn't win. She didn't win the right to be in the Elite. Curtis slammed a hand on the steering wheel angrily.
Damnit, what the hell was happening? Some girl comes into his life, gorgeous and talented. His soulmate. She was all he'd ever hoped for. He was just bloody thankful she wasn't some kind of pansy Daybreaker. So what was wrong with the two of them?
Why were they such a disaster together? Curtis shook his head and turned a corner dangerously. Because she didn't want him. And of course, because he didn't 'understand' her. Like he'd ever been given a chance.
Blake had her way now but he was going to make sure that she worked and that she worked hard. He was the leader of the Elite and he wasn't going to settle for anything better than her all.
From the depths of his bag, his cellular phone rang. Curtis leaned over and dug around to find it while keeping his eyes on the road.
"Yeah?" he asked. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah Toby, she got in. No, she didn't beat me, let's not go overboard okay? No, she doesn't know yet. Yeah, I have to tell her. The Black Dahlia tonight? I don't know, I'll ask her. Ok then. Yeah, later." He hung up.
Great. The day just couldn't get worse. Now he had Toby Windlash calling him to interrogate him on the new recruit. Even worse, Curtis had to drag her out to the Black Dahlia to meet the rest of the gang. That meant spending part of the night with her. It meant having to look at her face, listen to her voice, watch her eyes.
It meant he was going to go crazy.