Lea said is true? That I was the reason why Mom died?”
“Let’s go, Alex. You’re right.” Caleb took a step back.
“She’s freaking crazy.”
Piperi sighed. “Always ears around these parts, but ears don’t always hear correctly.”
“Alex, let’s go.”
I blinked and—I’m not exaggerating—in the time it took me to open my eyes, Grandma Piperi stood in front of me.
The old lady moved that fast. Her clawed hand grabbed my shoulder hard enough to make me wince.
She stared up at me with eyes as sharp as blades, and when she spoke, her voice lost its raspy edge. And she didn’t sound al that crazy. Oh no, her words were clear and to the point.
“You wil kil the ones you love. It is in your blood, in your fate. So the gods have spoken it and so the gods have come to foresee it.”
CHAPTER 9
“ALEX! WATCH HIS HANDS. YOU’RE LETTING TOO
MANY blocks get through!”
I nodded at Aiden’s harsh words and squared off with Kain again. Aiden was right. Kain was tearing me apart. My movements were too slow, jerky and distracted—mainly due to staying up half the night, replaying the bizarro conversation with Grandma Piperi.
This was a real y bad time to be preoccupied. Today was the first practice that included Kain, and I was fighting like a baby. Kain wasn’t going easy on me either. Not that I would’ve wanted that, but I also didn’t want to look like a total turd in front of another Sentinel.
Another one of his brutal kicks got through my block and I dodged with only a split second to spare. Dodging was not the point of this exercise. If it were, I’d be excel ing at it.
Aiden stalked over to me then, repositioning my arms in a way that would’ve successful y knocked Kain’s leg down.
“Watch him. Even the slightest muscle tremor wil give away his attack. You have to pay attention, Alex.”
“I know.” I took a step back and ran my arm over my forehead. “I know. I can do this.”
Kain shook his head and walked off to grab his bottle of water while Aiden led me to the other side of the room, his hand wrapped around my upper arm. He bent so we were eye level. “What is your deal today? I know you can do better than this.”
I bent to pick up my water, but the bottle was empty.
Aiden handed me his. “I’m just… out of it today.” I took a drink and handed it back to him.
“I can tel .”
I bit my lip, flushing. I was better than this, and gods, I wanted to prove to Aiden I was. If I couldn’t get past this then I couldn’t move onto anything else—to al those damn cool things I wanted to learn.
“Alex, you’ve been distracted al day.” His eyes met mine and held them. “This better have nothing to do with the party Jackson held on the beach last night.”
Good grief, was there nothing this man didn’t know? I shook my head. “No.”
Aiden gave me a knowing look and took a drink from the bottle before he shoved it back into my hands. “Drink up.”
I sighed, turning away from him. “Let’s go again, okay?”
Aiden motioned Kain back and then clapped me on the shoulder. “You can do this, Alex.”
After col ecting myself and taking another gulp of water, I dropped the bottle on the floor. I went back to the center of the mats and nodded at Kain.
Kain watched me wearily. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” I clenched my teeth. Kain raised his eyebrows, like he doubted I was going to do anything different this time around.
“Al right.” He shook his head and we squared off again.
“Remember to anticipate my moves.”
I blocked his first kick, then his punch. We circled each other for a few rounds while I wondered what the hel Grandma Piperi meant by saying I would kil the ones I loved. That didn’t make any sense, because the one person I’d loved was already dead and I sure as hel hadn’t kil ed her. You can’t kil someone who’s already dead, and it wasn’t like I loved—
Kain’s boot slammed past my defenses and connected with my stomach. Pain exploded through me, so intense and overwhelming I dropped to my knees. The way I landed put a strain on my battered back. Wincing, I reached around and held my back with one hand and my stomach with another.
I was a total mess.
Kain dropped down in front of me. “Dammit, Alex! What were you doing? You should have never been that close to me!”
“Yeah,” I groaned. Breathe through it. Just breathe through it. Easier said than done, but I kept tel ing myself that. I expected Aiden to launch into a major tirade, but he didn’t say a word to me. Instead he walked up and jerked Kain up by the scruff of his neck, nearly holding him off the ground.
“Practice is over.”
Kain’s mouth dropped open and his normal y tanned skin paled. “But—”
“Apparently you don’t understand.” His voice sounded low and dangerous.
I stumbled to my feet. “Aiden, it’s my fault. I leaned in.” I didn’t have to elaborate; it was obvious what I’d done wrong.
Aiden looked over his shoulder at me. A few terse seconds later, he released Kain. “Go.”
Kain straightened his shirt while he backed up. When he turned to me, his sea-green eyes were wide. “Alex, I’m sorry.”
I waved one hand at him. “No biggie.”