three with a three-compartment leather sheath. Dominic and Raven chose sets with straight blades and handles.
Raven attached a sheath to her belt and loaded two of the knives into it. She took the third one and held it for a moment, apparently assessing its weight. Then she twirled it in her fingers, tossed it in the air, caught it, and twirled some more. Abruptly, she turned on her heel, and facing the target from about twenty feet away, raised the knife and threw. It did a double spin in the air, and the point landed smack dab in the middle of the target.
“Wow,” Sasha whispered.
“Seriously?” I managed to say.
Dominic laughed. “Incredible.”
“Impressive,” Lailah said.
Raven looked at us, her expression uncharacteristically sheepish. “I used to twirl batons, and flags, and stuff. In the high school honor guard. In Denver. Before we moved here.”
I couldn’t imagine her in leotards and white go-go boots dancing around the football field twirling things. “Seriously?” I repeated.
“It was before I,” she gestured to her black ensemble, “crossed over to the dark side.”
“Excellent,” Lailah said. “You can help me train the humans. Sasha, you and I will work with our blades, and I’ll teach you what you need to know as an angel.”
I spent the next two hours embarrassing myself. Then, when my right arm ached to the point of utter misery, Lailah decided we had to learn how to throw a punch. Finally, after my knuckles were raw and bleeding from the punching bag, she decided we needed to spar. I almost wept. I prayed for boxing gloves, but none were forthcoming.
Dominic was Lailah’s first sparring partner. “I’m not going to pull my punches,” she said to him, “so don’t hold back. When we fight, we really fight. You’ll learn by doing.”
They circled each other with raised fists for a few dramatic moments until she threw the first punch. Dominic ducked, blocked her punch with his left arm, and returned an uppercut to Lailah’s jaw. She staggered backwards and almost fell.
Sasha gasped. “Uh, oh.”
Raven whistled. “That was all kinds of hot.”
I winked at Dominic. “Nice move, Nicky.”
“I didn’t expect that,” Lailah said, her eyes wide.
Dominic appeared as alarmed as any former angel would look after punching the first female angel. “When I was a guardian, my charge watched a lot of action movies. I watched them, too.”
She rubbed her jaw. “A boxer.” She glanced at Raven. “A knife-thrower.” She looked at me. “What can you do?”
I thought about the streetwise skills Jesse had taught me. “I’m a good kicker and, well, I can make a flashbang out of ingredients from around the house.”
She regarded me with a confused expression.
I threw my aching arms up in a dramatic explosive gesture. “A kind of grenade that doesn’t hurt anyone but makes a blinding light and deafening noise. It’s disorienting to anyone not expecting it.”
Lailah smiled. “Ah, that would definitely be useful.”
Relieved, I hoped it meant I wouldn’t have to box.
“Hit Glory anywhere but in the stomach,” Lailah said to Raven before she paired us up.
I sighed. Well, at least there was that.
Lailah squared off with both Dominic and Sasha at the same time. As much as I wanted to see how that went, it was more important to avoid Raven’s fists. Oddly, she seemed way more eager to punch me than I was to punch her. If I hadn’t been bobbing, weaving, and desperately trying to avoid her fists, I would have examined that fact more closely.
By the time we stumbled out of there, my eye was bruised, Dominic had a split lip, Raven limped, and Sasha’s body didn’t show damage, but she was unusually quiet. Even Hallie was all hang-doggy—she hadn’t been allowed to come to my rescue when Raven punched me.
“We’re all going to die,” Sasha muttered.
“Silver lining? It’ll be with a roar and not a whimper,” I said.
Dominic wiped the blood dripping down
Raven attached a sheath to her belt and loaded two of the knives into it. She took the third one and held it for a moment, apparently assessing its weight. Then she twirled it in her fingers, tossed it in the air, caught it, and twirled some more. Abruptly, she turned on her heel, and facing the target from about twenty feet away, raised the knife and threw. It did a double spin in the air, and the point landed smack dab in the middle of the target.
“Wow,” Sasha whispered.
“Seriously?” I managed to say.
Dominic laughed. “Incredible.”
“Impressive,” Lailah said.
Raven looked at us, her expression uncharacteristically sheepish. “I used to twirl batons, and flags, and stuff. In the high school honor guard. In Denver. Before we moved here.”
I couldn’t imagine her in leotards and white go-go boots dancing around the football field twirling things. “Seriously?” I repeated.
“It was before I,” she gestured to her black ensemble, “crossed over to the dark side.”
“Excellent,” Lailah said. “You can help me train the humans. Sasha, you and I will work with our blades, and I’ll teach you what you need to know as an angel.”
I spent the next two hours embarrassing myself. Then, when my right arm ached to the point of utter misery, Lailah decided we had to learn how to throw a punch. Finally, after my knuckles were raw and bleeding from the punching bag, she decided we needed to spar. I almost wept. I prayed for boxing gloves, but none were forthcoming.
Dominic was Lailah’s first sparring partner. “I’m not going to pull my punches,” she said to him, “so don’t hold back. When we fight, we really fight. You’ll learn by doing.”
They circled each other with raised fists for a few dramatic moments until she threw the first punch. Dominic ducked, blocked her punch with his left arm, and returned an uppercut to Lailah’s jaw. She staggered backwards and almost fell.
Sasha gasped. “Uh, oh.”
Raven whistled. “That was all kinds of hot.”
I winked at Dominic. “Nice move, Nicky.”
“I didn’t expect that,” Lailah said, her eyes wide.
Dominic appeared as alarmed as any former angel would look after punching the first female angel. “When I was a guardian, my charge watched a lot of action movies. I watched them, too.”
She rubbed her jaw. “A boxer.” She glanced at Raven. “A knife-thrower.” She looked at me. “What can you do?”
I thought about the streetwise skills Jesse had taught me. “I’m a good kicker and, well, I can make a flashbang out of ingredients from around the house.”
She regarded me with a confused expression.
I threw my aching arms up in a dramatic explosive gesture. “A kind of grenade that doesn’t hurt anyone but makes a blinding light and deafening noise. It’s disorienting to anyone not expecting it.”
Lailah smiled. “Ah, that would definitely be useful.”
Relieved, I hoped it meant I wouldn’t have to box.
“Hit Glory anywhere but in the stomach,” Lailah said to Raven before she paired us up.
I sighed. Well, at least there was that.
Lailah squared off with both Dominic and Sasha at the same time. As much as I wanted to see how that went, it was more important to avoid Raven’s fists. Oddly, she seemed way more eager to punch me than I was to punch her. If I hadn’t been bobbing, weaving, and desperately trying to avoid her fists, I would have examined that fact more closely.
By the time we stumbled out of there, my eye was bruised, Dominic had a split lip, Raven limped, and Sasha’s body didn’t show damage, but she was unusually quiet. Even Hallie was all hang-doggy—she hadn’t been allowed to come to my rescue when Raven punched me.
“We’re all going to die,” Sasha muttered.
“Silver lining? It’ll be with a roar and not a whimper,” I said.
Dominic wiped the blood dripping down
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