Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 15

The two hours spent doing combat training with Kalko and Devon after that served to not only remind her that her body was not entirely recovered from the previous day, but that she really had no clue how to handle herself in a fight. At least working with Devon made her less irritable than working one-on-one with Kal - and she didn't have to keep everything so covered up.

By the time they were finished she was sweating, tired, a little bit bruised and a lot more relaxed than she'd been since she first arrived. She was starting to understand how throwing her mind and body into something wholeheartedly could distract her from her cravings. The slowly developing strength and tone in her muscles also made her feel more in control, and that was a good feeling.

They decided to stop past the kitchens on their way upstairs for something a bit tastier than water. Devon found some bottles of soda in the fridge and tossed one to Sierra before screwing off the cap on his own and taking a long gulp. He leaned back on the counter and watched Sierra drink from hers speculatively.

"You know that you're doing pretty well, don't you?" he mused out of the blue.

"You don't need to patronize me. I know I suck at the combat stuff, and I haven't exactly been great at anything else yet. If I wasn't a skin walker they'd probably throw me out on my arse."

"You're gonna get there, just give it a little more time. Hell, I thought I knew a thing or two about fighting, but Kal clearly knows how to take everything up a few notches. He's a good trainer - he'll bring us both up to speed."

"I guess... It would help a lot though if he wasn't such a dick," Sierra grumbled.

Devon snickered.

"Kal is more like a machine than a human - you need to take emotion out of everything he says and does with you. Most of his actions are motivated by strategy, not feeling."

"If you say so," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

She headed towards the exit and turned at the doorway with a smirk on her face, followed by a series of robotic movements and the phrase "Hasta la vista, baby," in a dry Austrian-accented monotone.

Caught by surprise, Devon nearly fell on the floor laughing.

"Oh that's priceless - but we'd need to give our Terminator a more Hawaiian accent somehow," he noted between tears of laughter.

They were still recovering from that little jibe together as they walked towards the stairs to go up and shower, when Devon suddenly hesitated and nearly dropped his cold drink. A short, clumsy fumble resulted in him catching it seconds before it actually hit the ground. Unfortunately that didn't stop it from fizzing over onto his hands and all over the floor. But he barely noticed because, by that point, his focus was solidly on something in the great hall. Sierra moved up to his side to get a better look.

"She's back!" he noted a little too excitedly.

Senka's eyes danced over to him and she scowled disapprovingly as she made her way across the hall towards them with Adam following on behind. She did not look like she was in a good mood. Then again, Sierra had yet to see her in anything resembling a good mood...

"What happened?" Sierra inquired politely as she stepped aside. She had to pull a somewhat gobsmacked Devon out the way.

"The mission was a complete waste of time," Adam informed them, looking a little bone-weary and unimpressed himself.

"What do you mean? There was no-one out there?" Sierra probed.

Senka huffed. "It was just Hulk Logan."