Learning to Trust (A Leo Valdez Love Story)

Chapter 40

KYRA

    Kyra stepped back quickly as Leo lunged at her, her body tense. She knew that she wasn't in any real danger; they were sparring and Leo told her multiple times that he wouldn't hurt her. Annabeth even had to tell him and Jason to stop going easy on her if they were going to spar with her.  

    Jason still hadn't stopped pulling his punches, but Leo had after apologizing to her for treating her differently. It was nice, he didn't treat her like she was broken as so many people did lately.

    Speaking of, Audrey was having a hard time letting Kyra out of her sight after the incident with Luka, which was understandable. Kyra had allowed Audrey to tell Will what had happened and agreed to tell Leo as well so more people would be aware of the situation. 

    Kyra was sparring with her knives and Leo had two hammers to counter her strikes with. Leo was still stronger than her, but she was quick. Annabeth had been working with her nonstop in preparation for their quest. She had a lifetime of experiences to catch up on and strength building was pretty high on the list at the moment. 

    She didn't want to hurt Leo but felt better knowing she could always heal him if she needed to. Annabeth said she shouldn't waste her time healing minor injuries in case anything severe happens on their quest but Kyra still always healed anyone she sparred with when they finished, not wanting to leave anyone in pain. 

    Leo smiled at her, the two demigods breathing heavily as they danced around each other, neither one wanting to injure the other. She sent him a small smile back as she ran towards him, watching his warm brown eyes widen as she got closer. She aimed her knife toward his bicep, a place she knew wouldn't bleed or hurt too badly. 

    She had sparred with him frequently enough to anticipate his next move. She was smart, even though she'd always been told the opposite, she knew this. She'd picked up on the patterns of his fighting style and the movements he made before attacking or moving to a defensive position.     

    So when Leo made the move to intercept her attack, she pivoted, quickly changing her course. Leo became slightly off balance as he hadn't anticipated her sudden movement. She turned quickly, wrapping her leg around Leo's and taking advantage of his instability. She caught his upper body before he fell to the ground, bringing her knife to rest gently against his carotid.

    His eyes were wider than before and Kyra was sure hers were as well. They looked at each other, neither one moving until a voice broke through whatever was keeping Kyra from moving.

    "Kyra!" Annabeth shouted.

    "That was amazing!" she finished, running over to the two. Kyra quickly lowered her knife and stepped back from Leo, not realizing how close she had been to him. She smiled softly, feeling slightly warm from the attention Annabeth had brought to the pair. 

    "Oh, thanks," she replied softly, looking back up at Leo who was looking at her with an expression she couldn't decipher, his cheeks a dark pink. 

    "I've had some great teachers," she explained. Annabeth shook her head. 

    "Give yourself some more credit, Kyra. You've made amazing progress,"

    Kyra nodded, not knowing what to do with the praise. 

    Leo cleared his throat, his voice coming out hoarse as he spoke. "Wow. That was awesome. Kyra I've never seen you move like that," he explained, a wide grin overtaking his still pink face. 

    Kyra smiled back at him before frowning as she noticed a shallow cut on his cheek. "I'm sorry," she spoke quickly. "I didn't even notice you were hurt."