“I am trying.” My lips curled into a snarl as I glanced back up at him. I had to swipe my hand across my forehead to keep the sweat out of my eyes. “But none of you are helping. At all.”
Gallix and Ronan chuckled to each other as Ronan patted Gallix on the back. They switched places dutifully while Apex looked on, expressionless. None of them looked the least bit fatigued, which only made me feel worse.
“Go again,” Apex ordered me. “This time, like you mean it.”
I let out a huff of air, then filled my lungs with another breath as I picked up the dagger and got into position again. Left foot forward. Weight on my right. Dagger in hand, positioned low and concealed behind the billowing black fabric of my pants. I looked to Apex, and he gave me a slight nod. Begin.
I launched myself forward, building up momentum in a single step. Just before my foot hit the ground again, I raised the dagger high, aiming for Ronan’s collarbone, and—
“Sorry,” Ronan said as he snatched my wrist from the air. He twisted, and in an instant, I was thrown to the ground.
Again.
“I don’t think this is working.” I picked myself up off the grass and assessed the bruise I knew must have been blooming on my hip. Every time I touched it, it hurt a little more. Great. “I’m not strong enough, or fast enough, and—”
“Enough.” Apex held up a hand, then strode forward. “Complaining will get you nowhere. You will go again, until you are able to hit your mark.”
“If I hit my mark, I’m going to kill one of your buddies,” I pointed out.
“Well, now you know how much Apex likes us.” Gallix winked as he traded places with Ronan again. “Or how little faith he has in you. Still puzzling that one out.”
I stared up at Gallix and felt completely defeated before I even began. Just like Ronan and Apex, he was practically twice my size. And just like the others, he could move so fast it made me feel like he was either going in fast forward, or I was in slow motion somehow. There was no beating that. I was just going to get thrown to the ground again. I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually wishing that all Apex had wanted me to do here in the gardens was dance—audience or no.
Dancing was child’s play compared to this.
Still, I got myself into position again and prepared myself for yet another defeat. Only this time, when I looked to Apex for his signal, he shook his head and moved behind me instead.
“You are at a disadvantage in this. On that count, you are more than correct,” he said, his voice low as his lips hovered near my ear. “We are faster than you. Taller. Stronger. Better trained.”
“Not reassuring, Apex,” I said through my teeth.
“So, think. You cannot make yourself faster, or taller, or stronger. Not right now, at least. You will never match all the years we have trained. But still—if Gallix wanted to kill you just now, you would have to do everything in your power to stop him, or face death at his hand. What do you have?”
“A knife.” I shrugged. “Fat load of good it’s doing me right now.”
“Think harder.”
I sighed. “I’m small, which means that maybe I’m…more difficult to hit?”
“Good. More.”
“And even if he’s faster, he’d have to bend down to grab me, I guess.”
“True. But you are still thinking defensively.” Apex clucked his tongue at me in disappointment. “Any move he makes at you sets the tone for the rest of the fight. You must place yourself on the offensive before he can do that. Strike first, and at least you are able to choose the dance.” He chuckled, obviously pleased with himself. “So to speak.”
“Very clever.” I mulled the question over in my head, but it felt like I was getting nowhere. “I could run.”
“A tactic that has served you so well in the past.”
“Shut up.”
“Then stop dodging the problem. There is no running from this. You must take your disadvantages and turn them on their head.”
“Well…” It felt like I was running in circles now. “Okay. I’m small.”
“Yes.”
“So…I could go for his ankles, I guess. If he bends over too quick, maybe he’ll fall over trying to catch me.”
“Interesting. Go on.”
“And I’m…well, I look like this.” I gestured at my face, and Gallix put his hand to his forehead, pretending to swoon. “I doubt he’d be expecting me to attack him. Being small, and all dainty-looking and everything…if I were his size, I’d expect me to run. Or at least, to hesitate.”
“Very good.” Apex took the dagger from me and turned it in my hand, so it was pointing up instead of down. “There. When you are facing an opponent larger than yourself, it is better to stab up rather than bring the dagger down from overhead.”
“Okay.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “You could have told me that from the start.”
“And rob you of the chance to figure it out for yourself? I would never.” Apex shifted his legs behind mine, so that I was practically standing on the tips of his toes. Being close to him like this, after last night—after everything—was kind of weird. Kind of hot. If he would have been hard (which, unfortunately, he wasn’t) I would have been able to feel his cock pressing against my ass, positioned like this. “Follow my steps now. Let me guide you. When we move, watch how he moves. Anticipate. And when he responds—”
Pressed along by Apex’s legs and body, I was suddenly able to move at the same speed as Gallix. Apex shot me forward quickly and guided my hand. From my new striking position, underhanded, Gallix couldn’t grab my wrist when I raised the dagger to him. Instead, he had to
