Page 191 of I Will Break You
I rush forward to intercept Camila and grab her around the arms. She drops low, sweeps her leg beneath mine, and sends me sprawling onto the cold cement.
As she straightens, Jynxson grabs her from behind in a chokehold. Camila twists low and positions her body behind his, sending them both tumbling to the floor.
Amethyst steps forward, her eyes bright with admiration. Rising off the floor, I suppress a surge of jealousy that she’s inspired by someone who isn’t me.
“Can I try?” she asks.
“Think you can handle me?” Jynxson struts toward her with a grin I want to smack off his face, but Camila gets to him first with an elbow in the ribs.
“Asshole,” my sister mutters.
Jynxson sweeps her into a hug and kisses her on the lips. I hold back my usual snarl, not wanting to let him rile me up with PDA. He already knows I’ll cut off his balls with a rusty knife if he breaks Camila’s heart.
“Run through the first move in slow motion for Amethyst to follow,” I say.
Jynxson makes a show of rubbing the spot where Camila’s elbow made contact. This is his attempt at flirting, considering I’ve seen him take a bullet without flinching.
My sister rolls her eyes at him and steps back. This time, they go through the motions once at an excruciating pace for Amethyst to observe and then a second time for us to follow along.
This is first-year academy material. At least for the likes of Camila, who spent the first thirteen years of her life living under the loving care of a mother, even if it was within a household of snakes. Jynxson and I learned these moves at the age of ten.
Amethyst rushes off, mirroring Camila’s attempt to escape. I catch up with her in a few steps, grabbing a handful of her hair. She turns back into me, her tiny fist flying toward my crotch, but I grab her wrist.
“Nice try, little ghost.”
“You’re supposed to let me punch you in the nuts,” she snaps.
“And you were supposed to take me by surprise.”
Her left arm swings up, aiming for my throat. I twist to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike to my windpipe.
“What was that?” I ask. “Muscle memory?”
“I learned that from Camila.” She spins out of my hold and jogs back to my sister.
Camila didn’t demonstrate any such move, but I’m not about to stall her progress by pointing out what might be a fluke. For the rest of the morning, we practice the routines over and over until I’m satisfied that Amethyst can execute them without fail.
Next, Jynxson and I attack my sister simultaneously. We run through three different scenarios with Camila before letting Amethyst take her turn.
Even though she’s nervous, Amethyst picks up the moves too quickly for a beginner. With each sequence, her strikes become more confident, and her timing more precise. More importantly, she always maintains a forty-five-degree angle to us, minimizing her blind spots and keeping us both in her line of sight.
“You’re a natural,” Camila says.
She’s wrong. No one learns this level of situational awareness without prior training.
I grab for Amethyst while Jynxson tries to snatch her from behind. She kicks my shin and swings her leg backward to attack Jynxson’s kneecap. While I’m bent over, she punches my temple and knocks me aside. In moments, she turns to face us, ready for our next attack.
“Good job,” I say.
Amethyst’s face is covered in a sheen of sweat, and her cheeksare flushed with exertion. My praise rolls off her back with no traces of triumph. Watching what happened to Lizzie Bath has sharpened her resolve better than any of my verbal warnings.
“What happens if they send more than two men?” she asks.
I cup her cheek. “Then you do your best to stay conscious and make sure the restraints aren’t too tight. You’ll have another chance to escape when they’re transporting you to the second location.”
“Okay,” she says, her lips tightening.
“Remember, this is just a precaution. I’m not going anywhere.”