Riding on Whispers (the Wolfegang series Book 3) (10 page)

“You could have really hurt me,” I grunted, as I continued to block.

She kept coming at me. “I did hurt you, but an enemy is not going to stop because you are down, they will come on harder and stronger until there is no chance of you ever getting up again.”

“It’s my first day – give me a break.” Sweat was dripping down my forehead. What was I going to do when it hit my eyes?

“I
am
giving you a break. I am not going to be easy on you simply because you are human. You need to learn, and fast. You will do so if I have anything to say about it.” Her face contorted in annoyance. “I do not enjoy this time we have to spend together,” she said.

She faked a right punch, and then socked me straight under the jaw with her left. I crumpled to the floor, completely unconscious.

When I woke up, she was standing over me, fingers on my pulse. “Good, you are alive.” Celeste said nothing else as she stood up straight and held out a hand to help me up.

I pushed her hand away and stood, annoyed and angry. My jaw was throbbing.

“What the hell was that for?” I demanded. I tried to rub out the pain, but it only ached more.

Her face was impassive. “Survival. I am not sure you understand that the instinct to survive is not only triggered, but it can be a choice. You have to know and be ready for anything. This is the crash course, remember? If I am easy on you, you could get killed, or worse; you could get one of
us
killed.”

“I love your priorities,” I said, as I wiped the blood from my mouth.

“At least I am honest. Do you know how honest your Captain is?” Celeste cocked her head and smiled.

I knew Wolfe was holding something back, whether it was the shoddy details of his past, or whatever it was he knew about my brother. There was still something he was keeping from me, and Celeste had just confirmed it. “I don’t,” I replied. I knew where she stood far better than I did with Wolfe. “Are you trying to make me doubt his intentions?”

“Why would I do that?” She circled me and I dropped into a crouch, watching her more than listening to what she said. My ears focused on the sound of her movements. The soft scuffle her boots made when she shifted, and the small noise of the fabric her clothes gave when her body moved.

Celeste was way too fast for me, and I had to learn how to use whatever I had. I needed to find out exactly what I was capable of after the changes from my procedure, whether I liked it or not.

I didn’t turn as she moved. I could tell by the sound of her footsteps where she was. Her weight shifted from foot to foot and her clothing moved, brushing against her skin and clothes.

“You have your reasons,” I said, not losing my focus. “I don’t need you to like me, Celeste. I just need you to have a little faith. I don’t want to hurt you, or anyone on your ship, and I mean every word of that.”

“Trust is earned, little one.”

I smiled. We were on the same page for once.

Her feet moved a little faster and I felt the air shift as she moved forward. I spun and blocked her downward punch with my arms crossed in front of me. She used so much force I slid backwards with my feet still planted on the floor. Somehow, I held my ground. Her fist didn’t move any closer to my face, but I struggled to hold her off.

I gathered my strength and shoved her back, she stumbled. Then I ran forward with my own attack, a fake to the left, and then a right hook. She blocked it. I dropped to the floor and swung my foot around, sweeping her feet out from underneath her. She rolled and jumped back up. She attacked with speed and full force. I blocked every attack, waiting for my opening.

“You learn quickly,” she mused.

“It’s one of my only good qualities.” I smiled as she tried to drop kick me. I jumped back, barely missing the brutality of that strike.

She whipped her leg around and I somersaulted forward into her guard. I used my forward momentum, the force of inertia, and put all that force behind my upper cut. I got her right under the chin. It didn’t drop her like I thought it would. Celeste stepped back with a daze, and I spun, giving my roundhouse kick as much strength as I could, using gravity and momentum. She fell then, surprise coloring her face.

I’d never seen Celeste surprised before.

It was like my body knew exactly what it was doing. It did what I wanted it to, and it was able to follow my thoughts like it never had before.

I offered Celeste my hand.

She took it cautiously. I was surprised by how heavy she was. That explained the power behind each hit she delivered, and how strong she was. Her weight didn’t seem to match her slender form and dancer’s muscles.

“I told you,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “I’m here because I need you. I have no reason to stab you in the back.”

“I do not have as much to teach you as I thought,” she said.

I sighed, because she was wrong. “You do, actually. I can’t rely on fear, or anger. I need to be ready at any time.”

Celeste studied me for a second. “I am not going to be able to simply trust you, but I might learn.”

“I can live with that.” I smiled again.

Then she punched me in the face.

When I woke up again I was in the infirmary, and my face felt like it was on fire.

“Why am I here?” I asked. My throat was dry, and I was so thirsty.

“Here.” Ricky handed me a glass of water.

I sat up and took a sip. “Ouch,” I grumbled. I gingerly touched my nose. It was bandaged, and the skin around my nose felt bruised. I was sure it looked smashed.

“When you didn’t wake up in a reasonable amount of time Celeste brought you here. She broke your nose.”

I winced as I touched it. “I can tell.”

“She didn’t mean to hurt you so badly. She seemed very distressed.”

“She probably didn’t want her precious Captain to be put out.” I slumped back into the bed. I hurt everywhere, and had a migraine that pounded against my skull. I was ready for the day to be over. “How long was I out?”

Ricky crossed his arms. “A day and a half,” he said, his voice mildly disapproving.

I jerked upright. “Are you kidding me?” I yelled, wincing at the pain I caused by moving too quickly. “How is that even possible?”

He sighed. “I don’t know what happened, but perhaps you have limits. Learning to control yourself is causing strain, and your body is figuring out how to adjust. I don’t actually know. It’s only a speculation. I don’t have the equipment that I need to tell you exactly why.”

Rubbing my forehead to try and ease the ache, I asked, “What did you tell Wolfe?”

Ricky smirked. “That your body was still recovering from your ordeal, and you were probably overworked. You weren’t ready to take on a fight with his Amazon.”

I smiled. “I don’t think anyone would be ready for a fight with her, even fully healed.”

Ricky grinned back at me, his sharp teeth glinting in the light. “I know I wouldn’t, but thankfully, I am too quick for her to catch.”

Ricky going up against Celeste was a humorous idea; she was nearly a foot taller than him. I looked him up and down, remembering how strong he was. If what Ricky said was true about my limits, then I was going to have some trouble finding the sweet spot. Practicing enough to perfectly know what I could do, and learning how to gain some stamina would be a tricky process. “It’s going to be very inconvenient if I burn out quickly.” I chewed on my lip in thought. Coming up with an explanation every time would be a pain.

Ricky crossed over to his worktable and poured me some more water. “Well, if it ends up that way, you’ll just have to learn your limits. You’ll have to know exactly how much you can do, whether it’s speed or strength.”

I took the water from him gratefully and sipped it. “Great. Another thing I have to learn.” It was like I had to start over and learn everything from scratch. Everything I knew from living in the 21
st
Century, my skills and knowledge, were totally useless now. It was like being a child all over again.

He tapped something into his tablet before setting it down. “It could be worse. We haven’t even gotten to languages yet.”

I glared at him. That was something I was not ready to get into.

“Since you need time to recover, I’m giving you two days to yourself. I figured that was long enough for Wolfe not to get suspicious. I told him I would check you out before you started more training with Celeste.” A long finger rested against his chin while he contemplated. “Technically, you could still work with crystals, but I thought you might want the time off.” Ricky shrugged with a small smile, and started putting his medical supplies away.

“Oh, thank god,” I sighed in relief. “It’s more keeping up the act that I’m normal, than the work, that makes me tired,” I confessed, trying to keep my voice low. Someone could be listening.

“I know,” Ricky sympathized. His hand grazed mine.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to. My thoughts were loud and clear. “Can I sleep in my room?” I asked. Being out in the open wasn’t appealing. I wanted the time to think and wrap my head around everything that had happened since we left Speed.

He nodded. “Sure, I’ll walk you there. If there’s anything you need, just let me know.”

Ricky helped me up and out of the bed. The migraine made my head feel heavy, like it might burst if I moved too quickly. I closed my eyes so the light didn’t hurt as badly.

He brought my arm around his shoulder and took most of my weight. “I’ll bring medicine and tea to your room once I get you there,” he said. “The tea should help you sleep, and the medicine should take care of the migraine.”

I thanked him as we hobbled out of the infirmary and down the halls to my room. He entered in my code for me, and put me in bed. I didn’t dare open my eyes, trusting him to get me there. The shooting pain was already making me sick.

Ricky gently helped me into the bed and tucked the covers around me. I was happy to be in my own bed, with my own things.

He came back with the tablets of medicine and he watched as I took them and finished the tea. The combination of both made me feel woozy and light, but the migraine was receding. I started to slip into dreams almost the second my head touched the pillow. I dreamt that I was back at home.

I murmured softly, trying to tell my brother something I knew was important. “Hey Kris, don’t forget to wake me up in time to leave for the airport, Mom will be mad if we’re late,” I told him. Italy was where we were headed. Was it Italy, or a smoggy planet with a coliseum made of metal?

“Katerina, I will remember,” he answered, but his voice sounded different. It was okay though; I was reassured.

The dreams I had were like memories, but they didn’t quite seem real. I dreamt about Kevin and Kris. Things that had happened mixed with things that never did.

When I woke up, I was confused and disoriented. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. I checked my watch, but it was blurry. Blinking until I could see clearly, I peered at it again. It was almost midnight. I groaned. So much time was just slipping away.

“May I come in?” a disembodied voice asked from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, fine,” I grumbled. I didn’t like having to talk when I first woke up.

Wolfe walked in to my quarters and reality crashed back in. “Captain,” I struggled to get up as I spoke. “What brings you here?”

He gently helped me up. The captain watched my movements carefully as he sat down in the chair near my bed. “I wanted to check on you…and I wanted to apologize.”

I wasn’t upset at anyone but Celeste. She had a reason for punching me at that exact moment. I just wasn’t sure what it was yet. She didn’t seem like a person to do things without motive. I wanted to talk to her, not Wolfe.

“It’s not your fault, Captain,” I said to reassure him. “I was a little too slow, that’s all. I’ll be fine, just a flesh wound.” I waved off his concern with a smile.

“I hope you recover soon.” He shifted awkwardly. “I did bring you something I hope will make you feel better.” Wolfe pulled a single white rose from his jacket and held it out to me. “Here, I hope you like it.”

I took it, too surprised to say anything. What in the world made him do such a thing?