Stranger by Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown

Author:Sherwood Smith & Rachel Manija Brown [Smith, Sherwood]
Language: eng
Format: azw
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-11-13T05:00:00+00:00

22

Jennie

JENNIE CIRCLED ROSS, LOOKING FOR AN OPENING ON his left. She’d found that he learned faster if she didn’t encourage or explain.

She feinted, jabbed, ducked under his kick, and swept low to take out his left knee. He pivoted. Down rammed his right arm, strong as whipcord and steel, to block her kick. She glimpsed a fleeting smile that sparked a sunburst in her heart. He was getting it, all on his own. Even if he never recovered the full use of his hand, he was slowly filling the hole in his left-side defense.

He attacked. She let him step in, then moved close and grabbed his left wrist. He instinctively turned it to try to grab back, but his fingers couldn’t grip. She twisted his arm into a joint lock and swept his feet. He hit the ground, his hair fanning around his head. She pounced, pinning his arms with her hands and his body with her weight. Ross tapped out.

He was learning, but he wasn’t there yet. And he knew it.

He grinned up at her, muscles loosening under hers. It was nice to see, though she knew he’d soon tense up again. She’d never seen him relaxed except during or right after a match.

Jennie rose and offered her hand to pull him up. Then she remembered: he didn’t like being touched once they were done sparring. She was about to step back when his fingers gripped hers. A grunt, a tug, and he was on his feet again, his breathing even, the steady pulse above the curve of his collarbone visible at the loose collar of his shirt. He was still far too thin.

“I’m thirsty.” A voice broke the magic circle.

It was Z, standing with the other students in the schoolyard.

She sensed something amiss, but everyone was where they should be—and then she noticed Indra, perched on the fence post. That was odd. He usually spent his mornings with his family, or in private lessons with Sera.

“Good session, don’t you think?” she called, giving him a wave. Then she turned to her students. “Practice is done. You’ll find your assignments on your slates.”

She turned to ask Indra about shield side defense, but he was gone. Odd.

Ross was squeezing his left hand in his right.

“Give it time.”

“I know.” Now that he wasn’t fighting, he was falling into his habitual slouch, as if closing into himself.

Jennie hated seeing that as much as she hated seeing the dark smudges under his eyes. Nasreen had whispered that they were the shadows of his incredible eyelashes, but she knew better; Mia had mentioned finding Ross asleep in her yard.

He had agreed to go to the beach with the two of them and the kids, so maybe he wanted to socialize but didn’t know how. “Come to Luc’s with me tonight,” she suggested. “I think you’d really like Sera Diaz. The Rangers are friendly, I promise. And they love to talk about sparring.”

At the word “Luc’s,” Ross’s shoulders had tightened. “Thanks. Maybe another time.” He shot through the school door as if escaping a firing squad.

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