Crossfire ~ {Book 2 in the Emerald of Annihilation Trilogy} #Wattys2017

Chapter 11 ~ Train the young, strengthen the old

Lily's POV.

The time ticked away as Dylan and I waited in front of the cafe for the others to arrive. We hadn't heard back from them, and they might not come. But we still had hope. I glanced at my watch and back at Dylan, who adjusted his sunglasses. 

"Did you really have to bring those?" I asked. "What?" He asked innocently, like a little child. "They make me look cool." I rolled my eyes and looked around again. "Besides," He leant down till his lips brushed my ear. "You love it." 

I chuckled. "Whatever makes you happy, Dylan Tanner." He grinned, pecking my lips before straightening. "Where ae they?" he whined. As if on cue, twin motorcycles sped up. I grinned. "There they are."

The cycles had two riders each. On one rode the twins. The other Mark and Henry. "You came." Dylan fist bumped Henry. Mark barely looked at me. As did the twins. "Look. Guys...." I stepped forward. "I owe you all a huge apology. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk that day. I wasn't thinking about you guys. Only about myself. And I'm sorry for that."

They looked at each other before attacking me.......in a group hug. "How could we stay mad at you?" Mark kissed my cheek, and Jay hugged my arm. "Yeah, we need our fearless leader." Amber slugged my shoulder. 

I grinned. "Ok, we're off then." Dylan pointed to the black Ford van in the parking lot. "It's not flashy. But it's not flashy, but we don't want to bring attention to ourselves." We made our way over to the van and I pulled open the sliding side door. 

"Weapons are in the back. Along with uniforms and other necessities. There is a built-in computer for you Henry, when we need it." They wowed and got into their seats. Amber and Henry in the back and Jay and Mark in the middle with Dylan and I at the front.

"Does it have WiFi?" Jay rubbed his hand together, grinning like an idiot. "No wifi. Sory bud. baddies can track us if we had it." Dylan responded. "So...where did you get it?" Amber asked the question I knew they were dying to ask. "It pays to have friends in high places." I smirked, switching on the engine. 

"So we're going to just go into battle like this?" Henry whimpered as we pulled up into XForce HQ. "No, silly. You guys need training before anything else. "Your dad with be helping with that, Henry." 

We exited the car and strolled into the compound. "Right on time, kids." Duke Dutch grinned from ear to ear. (Pic above in Duke now) He was like a second Uncle to me. So usually I called him Uncle Duke. "Hi, dad!" Henry ginned. He barely got to see his dad since he took over from my mom and was like her second-hand man.

"Uncle Duke grinned. "Right this way." We followed him past the receptionist's desk. "Hiya Jane!" I ginned and waved at her. Jane's jaw dopped and she lowered her glasses to stare at us. I chuckled and followed Uncle Duke to the training room. 

"We'll split you guys into teams." He nodded to me, whipping a live hand grenade to me, after pulling out the clip with his teeth. My mind flared as my fingers worked and disarmed the bomb. "Wow...." Amber gaped. 

"L-Lily?" Mark blinked in astonishment. "Lily will be teaching one group. I'll do the other. Uncle Duke scratched his chin where there was a fain bit of a beard. Uncle Duke hadn't shaved in a while, I could tell the stress was getting to him. 

(A/N 

OK, this just shows how much time goes though all the six books of DTDS series! Seriously how can this guy go from this....

To this?!.....

Wow....time is amazing.....

Anyways. Enough with my rant. Back to the story! :)

A/N end)

Lily's POV. 

I grinned and nodded. "OK. You'll teach them hand to hand combat while I'll teach the weapon handling." I nodded. "Sounds good." I walked over to the mat and began to stretch. "Dylan, Jay, and Mark. With me. The rest of you go with Lily." Uncle Duke shouted orders. 

Amber and Henry made their way to me. "WHo's up first?" I asked. "I'll go easy on you." I grinned. "Oh, no you didn't, girl." Amber shook off her jacket and tossed it to a flustered Henry, who caught it, but stared at it cluelessly. 

I smirked and stood casually. "Come at me." I challenged her. "Don't go easy on me." Amber threw a punch at my face but I moved to the side, making her stumble forward. "I won't." I retorted. "But that was pretty weak."  She had quite the power, but she wasn't stable.

One thing I had forgotten about Amber. She had serious anger issues...like my dad. Amber turned and attacked again, this time landing a kick in my rib. I collapsed to my knees, wincing. "Lily! You ok?" Henry asked, moving to help me up.

Before he could get to me, Amber crashed into me, tackling me and wrapping her arms around my neck in a headlock, choking me. I gritted my teeth and pulled her arms from my neck, pushing her.

I stood and caught my breath. Amber let out a loud shout before charging at me like a mad bull. I ducked and rolled to the side. "One thing you should learn, Amber. I slid under her legs and stood behind her. "Don't let your anger blind you. Learned that from my dad." 

I pinned her, and waited for her to tap out. "N-not gonna do it." She stuttered. "Run out of breath then." I smirked and pressed a little bit harder on her throat with my elbow. She finally tapped and I let her stand up. "Work on your self-control." 

I turned to Henry. "You're turn big guy." He threw Amber her jacket and attacked. His form was better but his punches were too soft. "Harder, Henry. Punch with more force. You're not giving me a fist bump. You're trying to take out my head." 

He nodded and tried harder. And he succeded. The long day ended too fast. "Good luck you guys." Uncle Duke waved at us from the entrance. We waved back. "Homeward bound." I mumbled, starting the van. 

"We're all staying at Dylan's place tonight." I announced. "Huh? Why?" Dylan whined. "Because your place is the only place we can relax and unpack." I answered. "Lets go then." Mark pressed the towel to his face, dabbing at the sweat that drenched his face and shirt. 

"One thing we can all agree on," Jay leant back and grinned. "I call first in the shower when we get there."

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