Chapter 8

I was going through the positions for the third time when Troy walked into the large dojo. I stopped and gave him a nod. “Hope you don’t mind. I woke up and ran out of things to do in the room. You can only jog in one spot so long before you need a change of scenery. Thought about jogging the halls, but—” I shrugged. “Way too many. I was afraid I’d get lost.”

He grinned and touched the side of his head. “Found her in the practice room.”

I frowned and then realized he was talking to someone.

Pulling the piece out of his ear he shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “We’ve been looking for you for over half an hour now.”

“Oh.” I leaned on the bow and offered my best ‘I’m sorry’ look. “I didn’t know where anyone was to tell them.” I motioned around the room. “I found my way here and it was too hard to walk out and go look for people.”

Troy tucked his hands in his pockets. “That’s fine. We’ll get you a phone, so you can find someone.”

“Ah, thanks.” I shrugged. “Never really needed a phone before.”

Daxx came racing in the door. She stopped and shook her head. “Next time leave breadcrumbs.” She grinned. “We don’t do well when we misplace people.”

Arius and Paisley came in behind her. “Don’t remind me.” He said, then looked me up and down. “You look much better than the last time I saw you.”

I waved a hand down my body. “Little magic blood goes a long way.” I bounced up and down. “I feel like I could run a hundred miles today.”

“Please don’t.” Quinton said walking in.

“Yeah he’s old.” Rafael said with a grin coming in behind him.

“Are we skipping food and doing practice first?” Chase asked walking in with his arm around Alona.

She smiled at me. “I think she started without us.”

I smiled. “Just warming up.”

Crissy came in, dropped her bag on by the door and ran to the ropes.

Leone and Bethany came in from another door behind the room. “Doesn’t count if you start without me, Crissy.” He shook his head and went toward the ropes.

Victor walked in, looked up and shook his head as he came over. “Michael is getting Autumn a phone.”

“How’s his mood?” Daxx asked.

“Brooding.” Victor said quietly then inclined his head to me. “You look a great deal better then you did.”

I nodded. “I feel it too. I slept like a rock.”

“Rocks don’t actually sleep,” Crissy called down from the beam she was sitting on, “they have no identified consciousness.”

I opened my mouth, closed it and looked at Daxx, she gave a quick shake of her head.

Rafael motioned to the bow in my hand. “That your weapon of choice?”

I looked at it and shook my head. “No, I was just working on the positions to warm up.” I titled my chin toward Alona, “she reminded me yesterday how beneficial they can be to form.”

“Well I don’t know about that, but they put my mind in the right place when it’s needed.” Alona said.

“I can do that for you too, beloved,” Chase said winking at her.

She laughed. “I’m sure we aren’t thinking of the same place.” Smirking at his dramatic pout, she turned to me. “What weapon do you prefer?”

“I’m not big on weapons.” I held up the bow, “this is good for focusing and using as an extension.” I looked at the wall of weapons. “Sharp and pointy is not my style, I’m more comfortable with the dan bong, or a pair of them.”

“The what?” Paisley looked at the wall.

I nodded to Rafael and tossed him the bow. He caught it without pause. I walked over to the wall and stretched up to get two short batons, without handles, down from their pegs. I turned and held them up. “These. One is great for defensive fighting. Two is good for sparring.”

Daxx gave me a curious look. “How are two of those good for sparring?” She pointed to a few of the men. “The guys prefer swords or bows. Add a bow to their arm length and it’s like fighting an octopus.”

“Then they’re just being lazy by using a longer weapon, it just increases their reach instead of improving skills.”

Daxx smirked and looked at them.

A few looked offended.

I shrugged. “But what do I know, compared to men with years of experience?”

“Oh.” Rafael backed onto the mat. “It’s on now.”

I grinned. “If you insist.” I looked around. “Rules of sparring?”

Rafael shrugged, “I heal.”

“Ah,” I glanced to Troy. “I do not. So, I’ll ask that head shots be taken off the table.”

He shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“And do not stop or back off if you do hit me.” I rolled my shoulders, making sure the muscles were loose.

Rafael frowned, “I don’t want to…”

“If you do, then I’ve done something wrong.”

He glanced at Troy, who looked at me then inclined his head to his brother.

I stepped onto the mat and gave him a slight bow.

He bowed his head to me.

“Come at me, I’ll do defensive first.” I tossed the one baton to the side.

He raised an eyebrow, then advanced on me. For a large man, he was very light on his feet.

He swung the bow, I ducked and came up and blocked his elbow using the baton, then twisted and he dropped the bow.

Daxx clapped. “Do more.” She shouted, jumping up and down like a cheerleader.

Rafael gave her a blank look and picked up the bow again.

He wasted no time turning and aiming for my feet.

I jumped as he swung and followed through with a side kick against the arm holding the bow, then ducked in to block his elbow and twist, making him drop the bow again.

With a grin he picked it up. “You could go easy on me; it would be less embarrassing.”

I laughed. “I’m moving in slow motion. Any slower and I’ll have time for tea between moves.”

He stood there, leaning on the bow. “No more slow motion then.”

I shrugged. “Okay.” Going over I picked up the other baton and smacked them together. “Now. Come at me like you would your brothers and stop treating me like a girl.”

“You got this, Raf.” Leone called down from the beam he sat on.

“I believe in you, Autumn.” Daxx said. “Kick his ass.”

Rafael widened his stance this time, his body language giving me plenty of warning that he was going to try harder this time. He held my look, instead of looking in the direction he was heading before stepping into his swing.

I used both batons to block and deflect, then spun and used a crescent kick to knock his arm away.

His recovery was fast, I ducked his next swing, then sweeping my leg out, I tried to break his balance. As he stumbled back, he used the bow to right himself. I was up and turned his own weapon into my leverage, grabbing it to land a double kick on his chest.

I landed on my knees and rolled to see him flat on the mat.

He dropped the bow. “I’m out.” He looked up at me. “You’re in ten places at once.”

Daxx clapped again, then looked around. “Who’s next.”

Victor came walking toward me carrying two batons like the ones I held.

I backed up a few feet and looked at him. I grinned. “I feel like you know how to use those.”

“I used to.” He said and smacked them together. “My mentor used to have me use them to practice speed and reflex.”

“How long ago was that?”

He smirked, “Best not ask questions you won’t like the answers to.”

I nodded my head slowly. “Warning received.” Putting the weapons together in my hands, I formally bowed to him.

He did a full bow back.

The next few minutes were invigorating. All that could be heard were the batons connecting in rapid succession. I had to push myself to keep up with his hits. He changed the direction and sweep often. I changed when I advanced on him. We didn’t stop until both of us were out of breath.

I bowed again. “That was great.”

He returned the bow. “It was a challenge. You were hard to keep up with.”

I smiled. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m starving after that workout.” Quinton said from where he sat on the mat.

Troy looked down at him. “Watching was hard work?”

Quinton nodded.

“I’m sorry.” I wiped the sweat off my brow. “Did I hog the mat?”

Arius shook his head. “No. We’ve been getting more than enough practice lately with chasing down Hubert’s army and their locations.”

“Have any to hit today?” The idea of getting back at the people that took me sounded like something I needed to do. I looked at the others, then back to Arius.

“We have a few places to check.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Need any help?” I wiped my brow again.

“Not until she’s had practice dodging real weapons.”

We turned to see Michael leaning against the wall by the door.

I looked back at Arius.

“He out-ranks me,” he offered with an apologetic look.

Looking down at the batons in my hands, I went over to put them back on the wall. When I turned Michael was walking toward me.

“We’re heading to the dining room.” Troy called out. “Michael, bring Autumn so she doesn’t get lost.”

Michael paused and turned around to watch everyone leaving. Looking back to me, he motioned to the door.

I put my hand over my stomach. “I’m so hungry. Woke up hungry. I slept like a rock…” I pointed to him, “don’t tell me rocks don’t sleep.”

He gave me an odd look. “Crissy?”

I nodded. “She says the strangest things, knows the strangest things.”

He opened the door for me. “She has visions, hundreds a day, so her focus is always scattered—or she’ll blurt something out without realizing it.”

I paused. “Visions? That actually explains a lot. She’d come to my self-defense training, but never participated. Just mumbled to herself.”

“She’s helped us on many fronts. With locations,” he motioned for me to turn, “if she hadn’t seen Paisley jump off that island inside her head, she may have drowned.”

“Don’t suppose she can see what my next opponent looks like? Big, small?”

Michael gave me a brief look. “No, she can’t summon what she wants to see.”

“Too bad.”

He reached into his pocket and held out a phone. “This is yours, so we don’t have a repeat of this morning.”

I took it.

He held out an earpiece.

I put in in my pocket and looked at the phone. “I’ve never had a phone.” I pushed one of the buttons on the side and the screen lit up. “Never had anyone to call.”

He stopped and held out his hand. “This brand is relatively simple. Makes it easier for us to use it while we’re on the move.” He pushed the button, then tapped the screen. It opened with four symbols on the screen. “Messages, calling, camera and our group.” He held it out to me again. “Anything else is accessed by pushing the middle button and scrolling through the list that pops up.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I can leave it here when I go back.”

His blue eyes darkened slightly as he looked at me. “Keep it. It’s yours.”

“Are you sure? These can’t be cheap.” I kept it in my hand, afraid it might fall out of the pocket in the workout pants I was wearing.

“I’m quite sure. My family can afford it.”

We started walking again. “I guess so. You’ve had several hundred years to get good at managing money.”

Michael turned and looked at me, a look that seemed like doubt on his face. “The girls didn’t tell you?”

I blew out a breath. “I was really out of it during our bathroom chat. I’m still remembering things they said.”

“That’s understandable after your day and state of your health. In case they didn’t tell you, my family and I are the royal family here. Troy and Chase are both kings.”

“Wow. I thought my king was a pet name Daxx used to call her man.”

He shook his head. “Not a pet name.”

“You’re a prince?”

He gave me a brief look. “I am.”

I smiled. “I’ve never met a prince before, or kings and queens. That’s one for the memories. I got to fight with royalty.”

He motioned to a door. “We’re here.”

I touched his arm, so he’d stop, then dropped my hand away. “Thanks for the assist last night.” I motioned to my face. “I know you didn’t want to, but I appreciate it.” Stretching up, I kissed his cheek quickly then went into the dining room.

When I walked in Mitz was setting down a tray. I put my phone on the table carefully then hurried to help her.

Walking into the kitchen, I saw two more trays on the counter. “I’ll give you a hand.”

She turned and looked at me. “You look much better.”

I grinned. “I feel much better.” Picking up the dish, I turned and followed her out.

Setting it on the table, I went back and sat down at the end of the table. Mitz smiled at me and went back into the kitchen.

Daxx looked at Michael. “Did you catch Autumn in action?” She grinned. “A beautiful thing.”

Michael gave her brief look, then grabbed a bowl. “I did. Saw her knock Raf on his ass.”

Rafael waved his fork at him. “You try catching her long enough to stop her.”

Michael turned and looked at me. “Another time, perhaps.”

I cocked my head, then smiled. “Anytime you want.” I looked around to the others. “New sparring partners are great. The guys at the gym are so predictable now, it’s hard to stay fresh when you know what they’re going to do next.”

Mitz came in carrying a plate and cup. She walked down the table and set it in front of me. “Green tea and breakfast. All fresh, no oils.”

My mouth dropped open as I looked at the plate then to her. “It’s like you read my mind. Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure, love.” She nodded then turned and went back in the kitchen.

I looked back to the others.

“You don’t drink coffee in the morning?” Alona inquired.

I shook my head. “I never drink caffeine. I try only to put natural ingredients in. Too many oils and stimulants can weigh you down and burn you out fast.”

She toasted me with her cup. “Good for you. I, however, require the caffeine to motivate.”

I shrugged, “each to their own, right?” I took a sip of the tea. “How’s that girl, Rena?”

Alona sighed. “Trying to come to terms with it all.”

I set my cup down. “It’s hard. Seen it a lot in my neighborhood. I could go talk to her.” I shrugged, “I know this woman that makes rounds with women in that situation, or unexpected pregnancies at least. She helps them fall in love with their baby before it’s born.” I glanced around to a few of the women. “You know, so they don’t end up like me, with no home or family.”

“It’s that common over there?” Troy asked.

Daxx and Bethany both nodded.

I sat back. “There are a lot of children without homes.”

Michael waved his hand around. “How can there be children—young children just wandering around, no homes and no one notices?” He scowled.

“It’s not that no one notices, Michael,” Alona said quietly, “most are not in a position to do anything about it.”

I nodded. “She’s right. When you’re struggling to keep from starving or trying to keep a roof over your own kids, you have to look the other way and pretend it’s not happening.” I looked from his glare to Troy. “What about over here?”

Troy glanced to his twin for a moment. “I’ll admit not all areas of our realm are perfect, but we strive to help those that are lacking.”

Leone nodded. “We go in and set up sites, help them build—find work, even train them if needed.”

Rafael glanced up from his plate. “The witches from the temple make rounds and help those that need healing…”

“Witches? Like witches, witches?”

He grinned. “Yeah like witches, spells and magic.”

“That’s real?” I looked to Daxx then back to him.

“Yeah. Very real.” He took another bite.

Crissy knelt on her chair and held up a notebook. “I don’t know what this symbol means.” She waved it around. “Have any of you seen it?”

Daxx took the book and looked at it, shaking her head. “I’ve never seen it.”

She passed it across the table to Alona.

Alona looked at it. “There’s something vaguely familiar, but I can’t place it.” She handed it to Bethany.

“We need to find it.” Crissy said then shook her head. “It’s got bad all around it.”

“Another location, heart?” Victor asked her in a gentle tone.

“I don’t know.” She looked upset. “It’s all pieces, I can’t figure them out.”

He reached over and clasped her hand. “You’ll figure it out.”

Bethany shook her head and handed it to Paisley.

Paisley frowned, “I have seen it, but it could be anywhere.” She glanced at Arius, “I’ve done some gigs in some pretty strange places.” Turning she held the book down the table to me.

I stood up and reached and took it. Sitting down I looked at the symbol. It was sketched and not in color, but I knew what it was. I looked up at Crissy. “You’ll find it at abandoned warehouses, and other places. It’s the symbol the organizers use for the underground fights.” I shrugged. “I’ll be at one of them in two days.” I got up and went back and gave her the notebook.

She took and nodded her head quickly, then turned to Victor. “We have to be there.”

He frowned and glanced to Troy, then Michael. “For the fight or to go there now?”

I went and sat back down. “You can’t be there ahead of the fight. Joe won’t even know which location is being used until a few hours beforehand. They send it out at the last minute, so the cops—” I paused and looked at Michael, “don’t find out.”

“Send it out?” Leone asked.

Daxx nodded. “Probably have a list they text it to.”

“What did you see with this symbol, Crissy?” Michael turned to her.

Crissy sat back and looked around. “It was important, urgent,” she nodded, “there’s no blood. But we need to be there.”

Michael glanced to me then turned to Troy.

Troy looked down the table at me. “We had hoped to dissuade you from going to it…”

I leaned forward in my chair. “You can’t. I don’t show up and they’ll come after Joe. It’s already set up; they don’t like people backing out.”

Leone looked at Michael. “It’s possible Hubert is behind them.”

Michael tapped his hand on the table while looking at him. “In an attempt to raise money?”

Chase gave me a serious look, “How often are they held?”

I shrugged. “I only fight a few a month, but they have them all the time. I could do a few a week if I wanted.” I shook my head. “I can’t do that many. The last few months the opponents keep getting bigger and bigger. I don’t know where they’re getting them from, but it’s all I can do to walk after the matches.”

Michael gave Arius a hard look. “Sounds like she’s fighting some of ours.”

I snorted. “They’re not stacked like you guys are, but they’re still big.”

“It may be how they found her.” Arius mused glancing to Victor.

“Her name isn’t in any of the files.” Bethany told them. “I checked.”

Victor glanced to me briefly, a soft look on his face. “Her birth would have to be registered for them to trace her.”

I frowned, “wait, your saying they’re tracking down women like that?”

He nodded. “Yes. As far as we can tell they’ve found a way to track any that may be children from—” he looked at Paisley, “relationships with residents from our realm.”

“So, you guys really think I’m part,” I waved my hand around, “that one of my parents are from here?”

“Yes.” Victor gave Michael a quick glance. “The fact you fight as well as you do, would make you extra appealing.”

I snorted. “Well if they’re setting up fights to watch me, they’re not making any money on their guys,” I frowned, “unless they’re betting against their own fighters.” I nodded. “Let’s hope they’re looking for me at this next one. I have some serious business to settle with that redheaded…”

“You’re planning to fight still?” Michael scowled at me.

Nodding, I picked up my fork. “Oh yeah, and if I see that chick again, the fight will be off the platform.”

His jaw clenched shut, I could see the muscle pulsing in the side of it. He turned slowly to look at Troy.

“We’ll be there, Michael.”

Crissy sighed loudly. “Now if I could just figure out the plants in my head.”

“You’re still seeing herbs?” Rafael asked her.

She nodded. “I don’t know if they’re herbs now, I’ve read all the books we could find and haven’t seen them.”

I swallowed what I’d been chewing. “Maybe it’s a foreign plant, like Chinese or other oriental origin.” I picked up my cup. “My mentor used to have some pretty strange looking plants.”

“Oh.” She looked at Victor then stood up on her chair. “I have to get to the library.” She leaned over and kissed him quickly, then grabbed a biscuit off her plate and hopped off the chair. “I need to get Bronx to carry the books.” She pulled out her phone and ran out the door.

Chase turned to look at Victor. “You’re going to have the whole library in your room soon.”

Victor gave him an unamused look. “We just went through all the books and took back those she’d committed to memory.”

I put my cup down. “She can do that?”

He nodded.

“She has these visions and a photographic memory,” I looked to Paisley, “that’s what it’s called right?” She nodded.

“Yes.” Victor said.

“Troy says inside her head is unlike anything he’s ever seen.” Daxx said as she reached for the pitcher to fill her glass.

I looked at Troy. “You see inside people’s heads?”

He nodded. “I can.”

“Wow, stay out of mine, can’t have you knowing all my moves.”

He smirked.

“Do you have an ability?” Bethany asked.

I gave her a wide-eyed look. “I can fight and talk at the same time, that’s about it.”

“You don’t need anything extra after what I saw earlier.” Daxx said with a smile.

“Thanks.” I looked at the others. “So, do you guys all have abilities?” I motioned to Arius and then Troy. “Or just these two and Crissy?”

“I don’t need one,” Chase said, “I have my charming ways.”

Alona laughed quietly. “I’m an empath—I’m basically an emotional sponge.”

My eyebrows went up. “I don’t envy that. It’s gotta suck with some of the people out there.”

“Oh, yes. It’s not always a fun time.” She said dryly.

I glanced to Bethany, she held up her hands and bright red colors and sparks moved between her hands. My mouth dropped open.

“It’s energy, I can hit things with it—” she lowered her hands and shrugged, “I haven’t figured out if I can use it other ways.” She smiled. “I’m a witch.”

“That is—so cool.” I nodded and looked at Leone.

He shook his head. “I’m just me. What you see is what you get.”

Bethany leaned against him. “I’m good with that.”

He smiled down at her then leaned closer and kissed her.

“I get the odd vision.” Rafael said, “nothing compared to Crissy, and mine don’t seem to lead anywhere important.”

“You saw Daxx before she was here.” Troy said. “That’s important.” He winked at Daxx.

I looked at Paisley.

She grinned. “I manipulate time.” She tossed her fork in the air and held her hand out. The fork stopped and stayed there.

“That’s—I don’t have a wow word to describe that.”

She grinned and closed her hand. Arius caught her fork before it hit the table.

Daxx looked down the table at me. “The rest of us are just plain normal people,” she glanced at them, “well mostly.”

I blew out a breath and sat back. “At some point all of this is going to sink in, and then I may run screaming down the hall.”

Everyone turned to look at Chase.

He scowled. “Hey. It was one time.”

Alona covered her mouth and laughed.

Michael pulled out his phone and frowned at it. He stood up. “I have to go.” He motioned to Leone with a jerk of his chin. “I’m going to need you.”

Leone leaned over and kissed Bethany and stood up.

Rafael pushed his chair back. “I’m headed to the temple, to see if Clairee’s coven picked up anything off those chains we took off Autumn.”

I gave him a startled look. “Like what?”

He shrugged. “Hoping for a direction to start with. See if we can figure out where they took you.”

I got up. “Can I do anything to help that?”

He shook his head. “Not unless you know locator spells.”

I huffed out a breath. “Not that I know of.”

“You can help us in the woman’s cave.” Daxx got up. “We’re going through the files again on the computers, see if we missed anything of use.”

I bit my lip. “I’m not good with computers. I can read, but it’s not my strength.”

Troy stood up. “Autumn can come with me to the guard’s training yard. I need to speak to Ira before I have a nap. She can see what it’s like with real weapons.” He turned and gave Michael a look.

Michael gave him a cold look then turned to look at me. “Just watching, don’t try to jump in against swords.”

I shrugged. “I know my limits.”

He gave an abrupt nod of his head and turned on his heel and walked out through the kitchen.

I picked up my plate. “Just let me take this out.” I hurried along the table out to the put the plate in the sink.