Above the Law

Chapter Five

"Get up," he said softly, though his voice sounded like a deadly command. He slowly circled the girl on the floor. She pushed herself shakily onto her hands and knees, spiting blood from her mouth onto the matted floor, then glared up at him. He wasn't fazed; he continued to circle her like a hungry shark. "Get up, kid." His voice was still quiet, but it was more forceful this time.

She pushed her hands off the floor and sat back on her heels and wiped her mouth with the back her hand, breathing heavily. Eden thought he would have gone easy on her during her first training session, but she was very much mistaken. She'd wound up on the floor over thirty times—though she'd stopped counting her failed attempts— in the last hour, and she still had another two hours of this tortuous training to go.

She stood on shaking legs and faced the man in the mask, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He wasn't wearing his leather suit; just a black T-shirt, sweatpants, and his mask. But he didn't need the leather, all he really needed was the mask; she would never be able to figure out his identity with it on.

"What are you supposed to be aiming for?" he asked.

She swallowed. "W-weak spots." She swallowed again, more forcefully this time. It didn't help. "The eyes, knees, balls, neck." She sucked in a deep, rattling breath that made her wince.

"Then why," he began in a lethally quiet voice that made her shiver, "are you not aiming for the weak spots?" He continued to circle her, eyeing the exhausted woman. She offered no explication. "Because you're not thinking. Think, Eden, think. You can't just swing a pipe and hope it lands a hit. You've got to be smart."

Eden hung her head and let out a breath. She was too exhausted to think, let alone keep up this maddening training. He grabbed her face gently, tilting it upwards and only inches from his. She stared miserably into those soft brown eyes, only now noticing their color. "Think. I know you're tired, but think." He pulled her back against his chest and clasped his large hands around her wrists. "Again," he whispered against her ear. She shuddered. "Throw your arms out to the side, bring your hips back with as much force as you can, distance yourself, and then think. Ready?"

She gritted her teeth and nodded. "Ready."

All at once she threw her hands to the side, her hips back into his, and herself forward. His grip on her wrists ceased, though that was the easy part. She spun around fast, coming face to face with him as her foot connected hard with his kneecap. He growled and staggered backwards, though a smirk was on his lips.

"Better."

She smiled and wiped at the hair sticking to her sweaty face, and though she was exhausted and sore, Eden was proud she'd made some sort of accomplishment today.

She was covered in sweat while he'd hardly even worked one up. She thought she'd been in good shape, what with her working as a pole dancer for over two years, but she could hardly breathe within twenty minutes of the training session. Just the fact that she hadn't had a heart attack yet was an achievement of its own.

He handed her his water bottle. "Drink."

She grabbed at it without hesitating, but she fumbled with the lid in her sweaty hands.

He held out his hand. "Here."

She pulled the bottle to her chest and drew her brows together, frowning slightly. She stuck the cold water bottle under her damp shirt; it grazed against her stomach making her skin breakout in goosebumps before finally twisting the cap off with her shirt. "I'm not some defenseless weakling, you know. I can open a water bottle without help," she said quietly.