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staircase leading down into a brightly lit hall.
This is the access to the training centre under the theatre, Cyrus explained, nudging her forward.
Thank you, Councilman. I can take it from here.
Your boy and Valeria are already inside.
Is Tobe? Eden asked just as McLeish was about to leave. She really hoped the girl was there
because even though she had decided to trust Noah, it would be nice to have someone there that she
kind of counted as a friend.
McLeish frowned at her question and she just knew he wasn t happy about the idea of her
befriending one of his people . Aye.
Great. The smile she threw him was deliberately taunting and she enjoyed the way he ground his
teeth before storming back out of the shed. She turned to Cyrus and said dryly, I don t think he likes
me very much.
Cyrus shrugged and began descending the staircase. It does not matter. You asserted yourself
with him. It was good.
Grinning at the praise, Eden forgot to be nervous as she followed him underground. The dank
corridor veered to the right and Eden s smile promptly slid off her face. The halls were so oppressive.
She drew in a deep breath, trying not to feel claustrophobic. As they walked through the downwards
sloping halls, noise began filtering towards her, grunts and cheers and the buzz of murmuring.
Cyrus took a left and stopped in front of double doors. You ready?
Are they all going to stare?
Yes. But only because you are with me and you are Ankh.
A few of them know though. Those people we met a few days ago. They know. They re going to
look at me like I m a freak.
Then those are the ones you are going to pick to spar with. A few beatings should knock the
judgement out of them.
Eden laughed. Yeah, you think so?
I know so. He heaved a sigh and gripped the handle on the doors. Today you will spend your
time in here, training with Noah and possibly October if she wishes it, in hand to hand combat. When
you are ready I will take you into training room two further up the hall. There you will learn weapons
training.
Wait. Eden stopped him before he could open the door. Weapons training?
He reached out for her, brushing a stray strand of hair off her face. Do not look so nervous, Eden.
Surely you noticed we only fight with swords?
Now that he mentioned it&
The art of decapitation, he explained wryly. We are warriors, we do not believe in guns. We
fight only with swords.
But the soul eaters use guns. My mo- I mean Celine had one, Ryan shot you.
Cyrus nodded. Yes, but we are immortal, Eden. It takes much to kill us and like the soul eaters,
decapitation or a sword through the heart usually works best. Guns do not kill soul eaters, they barely
even slow them down, and stray bullets can kill innocent bystanders. So we fight with our bodies and
with swords.
OK.
Are you ready?
Yeah, let s get this done.
As soon as Cyrus swung the door open and stepped inside a hush fell over the room. Eden realised
McLeish s idea of busy and her idea were totally different. There were about forty people in the
room. She d been expecting hundreds. Her eyes swept the area, widening. The ceiling was way
higher than she d assumed it would be so the training room wasn t nearly as oppressive as the halls.
In the far corner of the massive gym hall was a weight area where a few Neith were working out.
Beside it were exercise machines and monkey bars. The rest of the room was taken up by four large
mats where four partners sparred. Neith were scattered around the edges of the mats, watching and
waiting for their turn. The sparring partners had stopped too at Cyrus and Eden s entrance and Eden s
gaze locked on Noah who stood on the far left mat, a Neith warrior on his back, his arm twisted in
Noah s fist. Noah s foot was planted firmly on his chest. Eden grimaced. That looked uncomfortable.
Noah was sooo going to kick her ass.
Just as she thought it, Noah caught her look and smirked cockily. Eden sighed inwardly and
crossed her arms over her chest. The problem with Noah was that he was too damn sure of himself.
He needed someone like her. Someone who would a throw a curve ball every now and then,
otherwise he would just recycle the only two expressions he had in his repertoire: careful stoic
blankness and arrogant smirk. Relaxing her own features Eden gave him a friendly-ish nod and
watched with delight as his eyes first widened and then narrowed suspiciously.
Not being mad at Noah might be more interesting than she d thought.
Chapter Twelve
Taking it to the mat
No amount of supernatural grace could ever make Noah a good surfer. He d tried a couple of times
but each time his Ankh strength had failed him and he was constantly being thrown off balance and
buried by the waves. Life with Eden was kind of like that. Yesterday in training he d almost crushed
the Neith under his foot when Eden had given him the nod.
She was talking to him now?!
Of course he d tried desperately to scramble for equilibrium, his cool calm that made him so&
cool. But by then it was too late. She had seen his surprise. It didn t stop him from trying to regain
some semblance of casual nonchalance by smoothing his features and instructing her in hand to hand
combat. And still Eden surprised him. She listened to him without comment, only doling out smart
ass comments to October who was her sparring partner. Together he and Tobe, and that annoying
nephew of Councilman McLeish, Cameron, walked Eden through a number of varied manoeuvres the
Ankh had taken from different martial arts. They started off with the grittier stuff, grappling and
boxing, using the ancient Greek art Pankration, some Judo, and Hawaiian Lua. All of them taught
how to take down an opponent and keep them down - flips, hammer fists, neck cranks, eye gouging,
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