Don't Dare the Dead (The Victorious Redemption Book 3) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Offers

Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief as Kendrick shrank back to his human form.

“Not too bad, pup,” Jasmine congratulated him. “A little close to the mark on some of those rights, but we’re making real progress here.”

They had spent the afternoon in the shade of the barn, cycling through each hell-hide to see how far they could push the boundaries of control. The first few attempts provided similar results, but during bout six, they had a breakthrough.

Jasmine had taken a step back at the first swing of Kendrick’s fist. They’d managed to prevent his initial attacks on Jasmine, getting him into a mild state of calm where he could stand and snarl and hold back. This time, Jasmine had managed to approach slowly, initiating a small game of shadow boxing with the hell-hide beast.

His movements were clumsy, born from a desperate will to control each tiny movement. She saw a glint of humanity in his eye, and as he pawed at her, she ducked away. She took the next punch and Kendrick stepped back, almost stumbling, but held off from the chaos they knew was inside.

“Holy shit,” Jasmine had muttered when they managed to convince Kendrick to shift back. “That was incredible.”

“You did it,” Delilah praised him after she shifted back into her human form. She offered a warm smile to Kendrick. She looked tired. Her own efforts had yielded less success than Kendrick showed.

“I can’t believe it,” Kendrick uttered. “It feels so…liberating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fucking difficult inside there, but I could rein it in. I held off the anger and could muddle through the rage.”

“What was it like?” Delilah asked.

“Like I was swimming,” Kendrick returned. “The world was moving around me, nothing quite seeming real. Yet, I found I could focus on Jasmine and fight to control the beast within. Whatever is inside us certainly doesn’t want to be controlled, but I think this can be done, Del.”

Delilah had eagerly taken up the challenge to control her own efforts. With each bout she caused less devastation around the barn until finally, they could get her to a place where she stopped aiming for Jasmine. Still, each time she shifted back, she looked around the place with some embarrassment at the destruction she had inflicted.

“You’ll get there,” Kendrick encouraged.

She didn’t seem convinced.

Kendrick high-fived Jasmine, beaming. “I know it’s going to take some more work, but I am on cloud nine right now.” He crossed to Delilah and hugged her. “We can do this. We can.”

Delilah sat on the ground with her legs crossed and her elbows resting on her knees.

“Oh, come on, Del.” Kendrick nodded to Jasmine. “Want to try one more time with the corpse kid? You’re getting so close.”

“I’m good,” Delilah snapped. Anger and defeat mixed in her voice as her shoulders slumped.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Jasmine offered, moving closer to the pair. “You’re moving at different paces, but you’re making progress. At least this time you didn’t try to slash me to pieces. That’s something, right?”

“I said I’m good,” Delilah shot back.

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