Cade dragged himself out of bed, sleepy-eyed.
Deianira had not been going easy on him during their sessions. He didn’t mind though if it meant he got to spend more time with her. Sometimes, he felt like her intensity was meant to be a deterrent. To make him quit. That wasn’t going to happen.
“Where are you going?”
Lia was curled up on the sofa, squinting her eyes in the darkness.
“Training. Go back to sleep,” he whispered.
“Okay…but, Cade?”
“Mhm?”
“I’m happy for you.” She smiled softly. “The predicament isn’t great but I’m glad you’re here.”
He knew what and who she was referring to. Lia was perceptive.
“I’m glad you’re here too.”
At that, even in the dark, he saw her face dim slightly.
“Yeah…”
Lia had been quieter over the past week, but Cade put it up to the change in circumstances. She didn’t like change very much. He was sure that she would be back to normal in no time.
Waiting in the doorway of the training room, Cade couldn’t stop the smile that settled over his face as he watched Deianira repeatedly throw knives at a moving dummy. In rapid succession, she threw five knives, pinning it in the head, heart, neck, and both legs. She was incredible.
“You’ve just waited five minutes being a creep,” she called, stepping forward to remove the knives.
That only made Cade’s smile grow. Of course, she knew he was there.
“Just observing,” Cade quipped, walking into the room.
She finally turned to face him. “Well, that observation just earned you an extra thirty minutes of conditioning.”
Great. “Where do you want me, boss?” he asked, removing his shoes.
She cut him a dry look. “On the ‘X’. And don’t call me that.”
So it was going to be an icy day. Cade didn’t mind. After moving the dummy and replacing it with a wide plank of wood, Deianira strode up to him with two knives, one in each hand.
Holding up one, she said, “This is a Kunai thrower and this,” she held up the other, “is a twin peak. What’s the difference?”
Cade studied them before answering. “That one’s double-edged,” he said, pointing to the second.
She gave him a curt nod. “Good. We’ll start with the twin peaks. It won’t help with aim but it’ll give you a bigger window for errors, which I’m sure you’ll make, so you don’t have to worry about catching the handle.”
Ignoring her encouraging faith in him, Cade allowed her to adjust his stance before she placed the first blade into his right hand, moving to stand on his left.
“You’re going to set your aim before you pull back. Throw with your arm, not your wrist. Try not to flick your hand too much, it’ll send the knife spinning only to bounce off the board. Just pull back and follow through. Go.”
Nerves started to crawl up Cade’s spine. His faith in himself was wavering now.
“Breathe, Cade,” Deianira whispered on his left, standing closer. “Breathe and follow through.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest at the way his name rolled off her tongue. He brought the blade up in front of his face and set his aim. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his right arm back and sent the knife flying toward the board.
With a dull thud, it lodged itself into the plank. Cade didn’t even try to hide his smile as he turned to Deianira.
“What were you saying about making mistakes?”
She rolled her eyes but Cade noticed her stifled grin.
“Congrats. You threw a training knife into a piece of wood thirteen feet away.”
He rolled his head to the side. “Would it kill you to give me a ‘well done’?”
Sighing she said, “It was okay. Take this and go again.” She handed him the next blade. “Aim above the first one.”
Deianira
Deianira was impressed. Cade had missed a few times but he was picking it up fairly quickly. Deianira took particular notice of the fact that each time she would give him a pointer, he’d follow her advice perfectly. He listened to her.
As Queen, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to listen to her, but that was out of blind obedience. However, in every look that Cade gave her, she could see that he listened because he trusted her. Trusted her to guide him. In the training room, she didn’t have to be Queen.
It was becoming increasingly hard for Deianira to push Cade away, especially when he did everything right. Up until his brother’s arrival, she had an excuse to keep him at arm’s length. Now, keeping those walls up with every smile he gave her and each comment he made felt like swimming with a cement block attached to her ankle.
“That was good,” she told him quietly after his last throw.
His entire face beamed at her approval. Looking away to keep herself in check, she walked to the board to retrieve the blades.
“We’ll try the Kunai tomorrow. Go get ready for breakfast.”
Cade frowned. “What about the conditioning?”
“Forget about it,” she said over her shoulder. “You did well today.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He almost sounded disappointed. After placing the box of knives back on its shelf, Deianira went to let her hair down when a blinding bolt of pain shot through her temple.
Blood. “Ahh!” Deianira fell to her knees gripping the sides of her head. So much blood.
“Deianira!” a voice called, but it sounded so far away.
“What have you d…you will kill them.”
Deianira cried out, tugging at her scalp.
“What’s wrong?!”
“Start with your father…”
“Deianira, look at me!”
“Deianira, look at me! Then your mother…”
“Hey, talk to me! What’s wrong?!”
“…then Calliope.”
Deianira vaguely felt herself being lifted. So much blood.
“Help! She needs help!”
“What have you done?”
“I’m sorry…”
“I don’t know, just do something!”
“It’s not your fa…this is all your fault.”
A blood-curdling scream tore out of Deianira’s throat as her mind tried to cave in on itself.
“Why are you just standing there?! HELP HER!”
“We never had this conversation. This is all your fault. You lost control and you did this.”
Deianira gasped and choked, jerkily sitting up.
Mikhael, whom she had almost just headbutted, jumped back. To his left, she saw Cade staring at her helplessly before he rushed past Mikhael.
“Deianira…” he breathed, eyes wide.
Why is he looking at me like that?
“What?” she asked, suddenly uncomfortable.
Mikhael glared at Cade and pushed past him to stand in front of Deianira.
“Your Majesty, are you okay?”
“She’s obviously not fucking okay.” Cade glared right back at him.
Feeling something warm on her lips, she touched the skin below her nose and when she drew her hand back, blood coated her fingers. Her heart sped up as her eyes darted around the room trying to understand what was happening.
“Wait…what, why am I…”
She felt fingers wrap around her other hand.
“Hey, hey, it’s all right. Breathe…” Cade was at her side again and instantaneously, she was able to breathe easier as their eyes met. “That’s good. Just breathe.”
In, out. She’d never felt so calm.
Mikhael, obviously tired of Cade’s presence, moved back into his spot.
“Do you remember what happened, Your Majesty?”
Deianira refreshed her memory of what happened in the last ten minutes. As it all came back to her, her heart began thumping again. That night. The blood. Wait…someone else was there. They told her to…no. No. Deianira had hoped she was wrong as the facts started to align earlier but this had just proved her right. She needed to find Salem. Now. As she hopped up off the bed, Cade blocked her.
“Woah, where do you think you’re going?”
“I need to go.” She tried to move around him.
“No, you need to get checked out.” He stepped into her path again.
“I’m fine,” she hissed, growing annoyed with his stubbornness. “It was a little headache, now get out of my way.”
“A little headache?” His eyes narrowed at her.
“Yes,” she gritted out. “It happens all the time.”
“You black out for three hours all the time?! Gods, Deianira, you had a seizure, your nose is bleedi…”
What? “Three hours?” she asked in a terrified whisper.
His eyes softened at her change in tone. “You don’t remember?”
“Of course, I remember but it’s been like ten minutes.”
“No, it hasn’t.” He shook his head “You went down in the gym and you wouldn’t stop screaming, so I brought you here. You’ve been out ever since.”
Heart pounding, Deianira glanced at her bracelet. 09:37. How? With newfound determination, she looked up at Cade.
Her voice was ice cold when she said, “I do not care if I’ve been here three minutes, three hours, or three days. I need to speak with Salem, right now. Move or I will move you.”
Mikhael looked between the two of them from the corner of the room.
“I really wouldn’t recomme…”
The glare she cut him silenced him. Turning back to Cade, she raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to refuse her again.
“Fine. But I’m taking you to her.” His face was just as determined.
Deianira wanted to argue but she just didn’t have the energy, so she conceded.
“Let’s go.”
