Chapter 49 – Be Ready For the Next Hit

I had too much pride to call Gwion back. "Argh!" I growled in frustration. I was thankful to at least know Myrnin wasn't dead, but still furious that I was sitting here, worried sick about his safety.

Thirty minutes of pacing later and I decided to go to his room, to see if he had returned. He answered the door. If I still had a beating heart, it would have stopped at the sight of him. His eyes were black and guarded. He was blocking me. My chest constricted. I guess it was only fair –I was blocking him too.

The air around us felt electrified with tension. I could almost touch it. The slightest pin prick and it was going to explode. I needed to tell him what didn't happen the night before with Gwion but I was still too angry. How dare he make me worry about his safety? When he was contentedly sitting in his room! I hissed furiously, "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

"I was busy. Look, this isn't a good time," he replied tightly.

Not a good time?!My eyes widened in surprise. "I'm sorry. Now that we are no longer together, was I supposed to call ahead and make an appointment? I would have…but you didn't take my call!" I reminded him sarcastically.

He didn't respond and something about his expression wasn't right. Anxiety began to build like a tight knot in my belly. He hadn't moved from the door. And when I heard a woman's voice call out his name, from behind him, I knew with shocking clarity why – Raven!

Agony descended on me, threatening to drown me. I wanted to die. In that one moment, I would have gladly chosen death over this unimaginable pain. His eyes registered my expression and his pain mirrored mine.

And then something inside of me snapped. It wasn't Amelie's powers roaring to life. It was different. Some sort of personal defense mechanism. It suffocated all of my pain, leaving me nothing left but white hot anger. My eyes blazed crimson as I spat, "Are you fucking kidding me?! At least my actions were involuntary, but this…this…you chose to hurt me! So, all of that bullshit about not blaming me was what?"

The guilt in his expression told me everything I needed to know. Raven suddenly showed up at his side. She looked at me curiously and said, "Oh, hello pet."

Myrnin ignored her and ground out the words, "We will discuss it later…"

"No…We won't," my tone was deadly low as I replied to him. I turned to Raven and threatened, "And if you ever call me 'pet' again, I will rip your tongue from your mouth."

"What did you say?!" she hissed as she took a step forward through the door. Myrnin's arm shot out to block her.

A voice from behind us interrupted with a loud cough, "Uh hum…Claire, Gwion sent me to collect you."

I spun around in shock to find Dargan! So, Gwion had called in reinforcements. I suspected that meant Liam was also here. He continued, "We are going to a local gym to train. He thought you might need a physical outlet and mentioned something about 'no more of that bullshit sacrificial lamb behavior'. I'm not really sure what he meant, but it's not my place to ask questions." The gleeful smirk on his face revealed just how much he was enjoying Myrnin's response to his words.

I turned back to Myrnin. This time Raven was holding him back, while he vibrated with fury at seeing Dargan. I looked back at Dargan and purred, "Perfect. I was done here anyway." I walked away without another glance. Dargan followed me to my room. I noticed for the first time, that he was carrying a small clothing bag. "What is that?"

"You're outfit for today, courtesy of Gwion. He wasn't sure if you had work-out clothes." He set it on the bed and stepped back to wait for me to change.

I walked over to him and looked at him carefully. He returned my gaze with a clear question in his eyes. I remembered how he had leered at me when we first arrived to Gwion's estate in Conwy. And I didn't trust him. I was surprised that Gwion trusted him with me. For now, I would go along with it, but to be clear, I spoke lethally, "Don't fuck with me. You will regret it."

An easy grin spread over his features. He assured me, "I wouldn't dream of it."

I nodded, collected the bag and went to the bathroom to change. Truthfully, I was excited about learning to fight. And thankfully, whatever defense mechanism, had snapped into place, was still there. I knew if it wasn't, I would be a hot mess right now, crying on the floor in the fetal position.

It was nighttime as we drove to a local boxing gym. Abby sat in the back with me, while Trystan drove and Dargan sat in the passenger seat. It felt strange not to have Myrnin with us. I tried not to think about it.

Instead I looked at Dargan's profile in the moonlight. He had confirmed that Liam was also staying at the hotel, but I hadn't seen him yet. Gwion had mentioned a mole, so it wasn't surprising that he had brought in his personal security team of Dargan, Raven and Liam as reinforcements.

My phone vibrated. I looked down. Gwion. For a minute, I considered not answering it. I was still irritated with him from before. But I guess he didn't want to be the one to tell me about Raven. I snatched it up and answered, "What?"

"Hmmm… I had hoped your rest would put you in a better mood. I can see that is not the case," he replied, his tone clearly fishing for more information.

"I believe we established a clear boundary earlier. No more conversations about Myrnin," I snarled.

He chuckled, "Indeed…Damn, you're worked up today."

"You have no idea," I huffed impatiently.

When I offered no more information, he continued, "All right, it sounds like my idea for you to train was right on target. Hopefully, it will help you alleviate your frustrations."

I interrupted him, "Why is Dargan training me and not you?" I knew the question came across a bit petulantly, but I wasn't fond of Dargan and frankly, didn't care if he knew it. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dargan smile. I guess he didn't care if I liked him or not.

Gwion laughed and explained quite graphically, "Because the minute you are driven to an extreme and I have your body pinned under mine, I won't be able to stop myself from taking you right then and there."

Heat shimmered along my flesh. I couldn't stop my sarcastic and albeit, sexually charged, reply, "So, you're telling me that you don't want me half naked and writhing beneath you?" I smirked when I heard his breath catch. Two could play that game.

"There are many things I want with you, little minx," he growled low. "For now, just focus on learning to fight. I don't want to repeat of that bullshit sacri – "

I cut him off, "Bullshit sacrificial lamb behavior. Yeah, Dargan mentioned something about that. I got it. I think I might just enjoy trying to kick Dargan's ass." Dargan glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his expression expectant. Apparently, he was going to enjoy it as well.

I hung up with Gwion. Abby reached over and tentatively touched my arm. She murmured, "Are you okay?" She was perceptive. She could tell there was a difference in my demeanor. I would explain it to her later when we returned to the hotel. For now, I just smiled and nodded my head. Her eyes told me she didn't fully believe me, but she let it go.

When the fluorescent lights clicked on at the gym, it was pretty much what I had expected. The color scheme was red and black. It had a large MMA sign on one wall, open floor space and a large ring for sparring. I unzipped my sweatshirt and slid off my sweatpants. Underneath I wore the tiny pink athletic shorts and sports bra, which Gwion had provided. Dargan didn't try to hide his appreciation as he nodded toward me.

For the next five grueling hours, Dargan tried to kill me. He almost succeeded – many times. He certainly wasn't holding back because I was a girl. He began with the basics, taking my hand and forming it into a fist. "All right, Princess, thumb out. Keep your wrist aligned with your hand, muscles tight." He tapped my wrist for emphasis. Both of his large hands grasped my hips. He instructed, "Power comes from your hips. Use that power when you strike. Your low center of gravity makes it harder to knock you over, but only when you're facing me. Let your instincts guide you. Don't think too much."

He stepped back. "Hit me," he ordered.

I pulled both arms into my body, with my hands ready, near my face, for protection. I had seen Shane spar enough to already be familiar with the proper stance. Dargan raised an eyebrow, acknowledging my defensive shift. I didn't hesitate. I lunged forward to impact with his chest. Before I could make contact, he feigned back out of reach. A quick swipe of his palm to the side of my wrist deflected the hit, spinning me. The movement left my side vulnerable. I didn't see the kick against my ribs, only felt it as my body flew back. I landed with a thud, cursing in pain. I felt my broken ribs heal and then rose back to my feet. I thought randomly, why would Shane purposefully do this? More than that, he enjoyed it. What the hell was wrong with that boy?

I turned and found Dargan with a very satisfied smirk on his face. "Again," he ordered. I stalked back into position. I attacked from the left this time and once again found myself on my ass, after he deflected and landed a kick to my chest. Pain radiated down my entire body.

We repeated the process using various strike methods – again and again. Sometimes I would make contact, but more often than not, I received blow after painful blow. As I vibrated with anger, it took everything in me not to compel him. But I knew that wasn't the point to this little exercise. I needed to learn how to fight and a part of me was glad Dargan wasn't holding back – albeit, a very tiny part, but it was there.

I think even he was getting tired of kicking my ass because he snapped harshly, "Watch my body…Track my movements…Anticipate…Be ready for the next hit. But more than that – be ready to attack as soon as you defend the next hit!"

Suddenly, he struck without warning, without waiting for me to position myself defensively. He spun, his leg swiped both of mine, bringing me to the floor. I leaped back to my feet and hissed, "What was that?!"

"That was me fucking with you…Now, make me regret it," his eyes glittered deviously, reminding me of my earlier threat. A crimson haze invaded my vision, heightening my senses. I stopped thinking and let instinct propel me forward. I channeled my inner Shane, remembering the strikes he had used. I faked to the right to pull Dargan into motion, and spun with lightning speed, landing a roundhouse kick to his jaw.

His body flew back, but he quickly leaped to his feet. I anticipated anger from him. I was wrong. Instead, he rubbed his jaw, his eyes sparking with anticipation as he returned to me. "Fuck yeah, now we're talking."

The second half of our training went better. I continued to fight on instinct, targeting his weaknesses, frequently making contact. I learned from every mistake and compensated my movement, to adjust for his strengths.

Finally, Trystan called out, "Time to go."

Every muscle in my body ached, but I had a strange sort of endorphin satisfaction. Maybe Shane wasn't so crazy after all.

As we climbed into the vehicle, Trystan commented to Dargan, "It's a damn good thing Myrnin wasn't here to watch that. He would have killed you."

"Aw, she can take it, can't you Princess?" Dargan lips turned up into a crooked grin.

"Getting my ass handed to me? Yeah, I love that – every day of the week," I responded drily.

He laughed, "Great, because we have the gym booked all week."

I moaned. I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel and indulge myself in a hot bubble bath. My body was soaked with sweat. I hadn't bothered to put the sweatshirt or sweatpants back on. I knew I wouldn't be cold and couldn't wait to strip down.

We reached the hotel quickly. When the elevator doors finally opened to our floor, we stepped out.

I stopped in my tracks. Every fiber in my body responded as I came face-to-face with Myrnin!

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Hello again! I had a bit of inspiration, so have posted a little more frequently. We'll see if I can keep up this pace. :) As always...would love to hear from you and would be ever so grateful if you plucked the Fav/Follow buttons on your way out.

Smooches