Cardinal Tower (Trinity Central Book #1)

Chapter 16

"Alright ladies," he says in his misogynistic tone, "now you all know my name. I would go around asking for your's, but frankly, I don't care," he speaks staring at me, taunting our little dispute earlier. The other initiates probably didn't give it a second thought, but I just continue scowling at him. "Playtime's over, no one will hold your hand anymore, no one will pick you up. From now on, that's your job. Prove to me that you're strong, independent, and quick-witted, and I'll return the favor with a rank you could only dream of having.

"Today, we'll be starting with combat practice," he walks as he talks, forcing others to turn their heads to pay attention. I don't bother. "I'll demonstrate a range of attacks and self-defense moves that you should know no matter what rank you're assigned. To do so, I'll need a volunteer." Almost everyone's hand shoots up, others rise more gradually until Aria and I are the only ones without a hand in the air. Whatever move he's thinking of showing the class, I'm sure I've learned it a long while ago.

My head is still turned away when I hear Jacoby call my name.

"Castelle," he says, humor in his voice. Suddenly, twenty-nine heads turn around to get a good look at the maggot he dragged into the battlefield. Without wasting energy to turn my head, I simply respond, "I never raised my hand," annoyance in my words.

"I didn't ask if you raised your hand, I'm telling you to come and help me demonstrate." His voice is stern now. I let out a tired breath and lift myself up off the floor, pushing off one knee. If he wants a demonstration, I'll be happy to give our observing class a demonstration.

I walk around the group of initiates. Other than a whisper from a group of girls, the room is completely silent. I keep my eyes on Jacoby, my gaze refusing to falter.

When I make it over to him, he pulls my arm in towards him, only letting go when we are inches apart and I can see his gray hairs up close. "Okay class, now, let's pretend that who we have here is a Karma terrorizing the streets. This Karma is loud, reckless, doesn't follow orders, menacing to the citizens, and honestly, kinda stupid," I can hear half the class chuckling, the other half whispering, looking at me with a grin on their face. "Now, because of this, she's going to be an indecent fighter, attacking too wildly, no idea of when's the right time to move," he accents the last word, shifting a glance my way.

He moves away from me a bit, creating about a two-foot gap between each other, "First, I'll be teaching you a very, very, effective technique for when you are faced with an attacking opponent. Castelle, I hope you don't mind." I just roll my eyes, and slowly, the class falls quiet again, being very attentive to what's about to happen. I hoped they would.

Jacoby lifts one corner of his mouth as he charges toward me. Based on his gait and arm position, I can tell that he'll be attempting a savate pointe. He was right, it is a very effective way to approach an opponent, but only if your opponent didn't learn how to fight.

He extends his arm, aiming for my jaw, but before it connects, I lean back and his fist is left hanging. I watch his face scrunch in confusion when I grabbed his arm and turn, my back facing him. I pull, using his arm as a lever, and hoist the large man onto my back. There's a loud crack as I pull him further up. I leaned over and he slides off, landing on the concrete with a thud. I can see the breath knocked out of him, the pain visible on his face. Without looking away or letting go of his arm, I say to the class, "This, is self-defense."

I hear claps coming from a couple people, but I mostly hear gasps and profanities. When I let go and turn back to our audience, half of the trainees have their mouths open in awe, the others just staring at me, their mouths trying to find words to grasp. I blow the loose strands of hair out of my face and they land back to where they originally were.