14
I smile at her, grateful that she is trying to cheer me up. “Well, if I had any idea of the perfect home, it would look a lot like this. It’s absolutely breathtaking.”
Alexa smiles wide at me and shakes her head, causing her auburn curls to flop around wildly. She mumbles something under her breath that sounds like “that’s amazing” but instead of elaborating, she grabs my hand and lifts me from the couch. She tows me through wide double doors.
“Where are we going?” I ask, wanting really badly to go back in and see the rest of the house.
“I’m taking you to Gav’s gym. It’s in the backyard.”
We exit onto a cobblestone pathway leading through a grassy lawn, to another building matching Gavin’s house. It has all of the same characteristics on the outside as the main house but is about half the size. Alexa has to stop and unlock the large door with her fingerprint on an electronic pad. My eyebrows raise at her, surprised at the level of security required for a gym.
As soon as we step through the door though, I understand why the security system is so important. An entire wall of the large room is lined with an assortment of weapons. There’s everything from nunchucks to throwing stars and long samurai swords, but shockingly no guns.
I turn to Alexa with weary eyes. “You didn’t bring me here to murder me, did you?” I ask, mostly kidding. Mostly.
She laughs hysterically at me and slaps her thigh. “Of course not, El! These are very necessary for the line of work we’re in. You know, we’re basically demon hunters, so swords tend to come in handy from time to time.”
I am taken aback by the truth of her words. I knew some of what they did, but seeing all of these weapons really puts it into perspective. I suddenly feel afraid of what I’m getting myself into by agreeing to this. “Right, I guess that makes sense. I just can’t see you guys as demon-killers.” Especially the sweet and adorable girl standing in front of me.
I look Alexa up and down. “Sorry, Lex, but you don’t really look the type.”
A devious grin spreads across her freckled face, and I instantly regret my words. She winks at me and then is gone. I try to follow her red hair blur to the weapons wall and in a second, I see a large, thin dagger fly by my face and imbed itself with a loud thunk into the wall behind me. I jump, and a small, frightened squeal escapes my lips.
I hear laughter coming from behind me, and Alexa is standing there bent over, cackling her head off. “I’m sorry, but that was so worth it! I mean, the look on your face was priceless.”
She barely spurts the words out, through her giggling fit.
15
One of my hands flies to my chest and I finally start breathing again. “Goodness gracious, Lex! You almost stopped my heart!” I shake my head at her hysterics. “Okay, you are still adorable, but I will definitely try to stay on your good side from now on.”
Her laughter slows, and she crosses the wood floor at a normal human pace this time, thank the heavens. “I’m sorry I scared you, but I think it’s necessary to show you what someone like us is capable of. You’ll be that fast, too, someday.”
I absolutely cannot see a future where I can run as fast as her. Alexa places her hand on an expensive-looking treadmill and calls me over. I obey and stretch my legs before climbing on.
She turns the machine up so that I am at a comfortable walking speed.
"So, if you're really serious about training and learning to protect yourself, you need to put in a lot of exercise. You should be running for at least an hour every day, constantly pushing yourself further and I will help you do weight training afterwards." She kicks my pace up until I am speed walking. "After weights each day, I will teach you how to use weapons. We’ll practice only one at a time until you are a pro at one, then move onto the next."
I nod my head at her, even though I'm seriously stressing out about how I'm going to fit this into my school schedule.
She continues, turning my speed up again so that I am jogging. "After you’re exhausted from training, we will go into Gavin’s library and I’ll teach you about our kind, so that you can learn a bit about Seers."
I mull over her training regimen in my mind. "All right, how long will this take every day? I have classes until after noon on weekdays, and I have Kassy, my best friend and roommate who doesn't know anything about any of this."
"If we want to do it right, probably three hours a day.” I nod. “Have you thought about maybe telling Kassy who you really are? She is your best friend, and she cares about you, right?"
I shrug, starting to sweat a little. "Is that allowed, though? Wouldn't I be breaking some Seer rule, or something?"
She waves her hand in the air, erasing my outspoken doubt. "Sure, we have guidelines, but they aren't set rules. The leaders say we shouldn't tell humans our secrets, but they also know that we aren't hermits, and we have relationships with the rest of society, so sometimes you just have to be honest in order to keep a loved one." She turns up my speed on the treadmill again so that I am running now. "Really, our only actual rule is
