Hurricane ► Jasper Hale [1]

[16]

"SO, LIKE THIS?" Allison twirled the Chinese Ring Daggers around her fingers, grabbing the handles to stop them and bringing both her hands up to stab them into the dummy in front of her. The brunette breathed out a laugh, admiring her handiwork.

"Exactly like that. See, you're a natural," Melissa appraised her daughter, wrapping a loose arm around her shoulder. The woman smiled slyly to herself, sliding her arm on Allison's shoulder up to her neck quickly, putting the girl in a chokehold.

Allison grunted, releasing her daggers quickly and wrapping both her gloved hands around her mother's arm. The brunette twisted violently, escaping Melissa's hold and crouching the the floor. Allison grabbed her daggers and stood quickly, holding her daggers slightly in front of her as she got into proper stance. Melissa laughed again, John applauding from his seat in the lawn chair.

Allison was proud of her success; she was good with Chinese Ring Daggers and archery, but she lacked slightly in hand-to-hand combat. The girl had come very far in the three months that she'd been training with her parents. Allison had focused most of her attention on training, but her parents understood that a part of her mind was always occupied with worrying about Bella.

"You are aware of how some vampires have gifts? I know several of the Cullen's are gifted."

"Um, yeah. Why?" Allison shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable with the mention of the family.

"Well, Protectors have gifts as well." Melissa continued hesitantly.

Allison stared blankly at her mother, no trace of emotion on her face.

"Some Protectors have the same gift, while others are different."

Allison exhaled deeply, "Okay. What's mine?" She hoped it wasn't something extraordinary, she had enough on her plate as it was.

Melissa blinked. "We don't know, but there are ways to test and find out." The woman cocked her head to side.

"Test me."

Melissa nodded, biting lightly on her bottom lip. The woman's eyebrows suddenly furrowed, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Um," Allison shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze. "What're you doing?"

"Can you not hear that?"

"Hear what?" Allison asked incredulously. Her hands lifted subconsciously at her side, giving her a confused air.

"My thoughts." Melissa replied, sounding like that should be obvious. The woman furrowed her eyebrows again, looking at her daughter in bemusement.

"I—what? No, I can't hear your thoughts. I'm not a mind-reader." She spoke absentmindedly, but the mention of her best friend's old love sent a sad ping to her chest.

"Not telepathy, then." Melissa shook her head, turning around quickly and rummaging through the trunk outside. She held up a small ball triumphantly, and turned back to face Allison.

"Okay, so now that we've ruled out—" Melissa cut herself off quickly and threw the ball at Allison's face.

"Oh!" Allison exclaimed, dropping into a crouch and holding her hands out in front of her to shield herself from the ball. She blinked when she didn't feel the ball hit her hands, and moved her head slightly to see her mother grinning at her.