Killer Empire

Chapter 17

THE GIRL IN front of Devora shrugged her shoulders once in dismay, a pout making its way to her rosy red lips as she assessed Devora's figure. She tapped the pen in her hand against the corner of her mouth, hesitating for a split second before scribbling profusely on her clipboard. As she wrote, her lips moved to utter words Devora couldn't quite catch. It was only when she strained her ears that she caught the words 'too skinny' and 'it's gonna be tough' murmured under the blonde's breath.

"Alright." Slapping her clipboard and pen on the metal table, the girl straightened up with a fierce glint of determination shining brightly in her eyes. "My name is Candice, I'm sure Nathan had already told you, and I'll be your trainer for today."

At her words, Devora simply nodded. She wasn't sure what she should say in such a situation. Nathan was supposed to be the one training her but due to a last-minute emergency, he got pulled out of the building by Julius Cain to complete a task. One in which Devora didn't have 'high enough of a clearance' to know about.

"Devora Evans... Is that how you pronounce it? Devora?" Candice raised a single eyebrow questioningly.

The twitchy little brunette nodded her head a few more times.

"Yes," she affirmed. "Deborah, but with a 'v' instead of a 'b'."

From the corner of her eyes, she could see a few other guys in the gym perk up in attention the second Candice voiced her name out loud. They giggled like a bunch of schoolgirls, some of them nudging their elbows against their friends' waists as they spoke in hushed whispers, their gazes constantly fixed on Devora. She squirmed under their scrutinizing gaze, memories of her days in school flooding back to her mind. These boys (they didn't deserve to be called men) reminded Devora distinctly about a certain someone that had mocked her one too many times. She had nearly forgotten about it with the rush of the previous few days but alas, the memory soon returned to her.

"Right..." Candice trailed off, toying around with the weapons she laid out on the metal table prior to the start of the training session. She reached past the clipboard and picked up a small blade, her finger stroking the gleaming metal tenderly. "Cute name," she commented.

Picking up the knife, Candice moved in a flash of movements. She turned around to face the boys behind her, swinging her arm swiftly as she sent the blade soaring. Her throw took not even a single second's worth of hesitation but it was aimed to perfection. The pointed tip was wedged into the wall right in-between two of the boys, the sharp end skimming against one's earlobe. They were all stunned silly, their voices lost in their throats. The guy that had gotten the blade closest to him reached up, touching his injured ear. When he looked down at his hands, his fingertips were coated with red. The cut had sliced through the skin, thus inducing blood.

Turning back to the metal table, Candice didn't even spare them a glance as she spoke. Her tone was monotonous but when looked at a little closer, Devora found hints of a threat laced in her words.

"Keep your mouths shut, boys," she warned. "Or it will be your throats next."

Almost immediately, the boys started to scramble away frantically, the injured one gently nursing his ear as he did so. The scene was so hilarious that for a split second, Devora had forgotten that they, too, were trained assassins and not the average teenage dirtbags.

"Now, where was I?" Candice calmly scratched her chin before she straightened up. Pressing her knuckles against the table, the joints popped under the pressure as she continued to think, absentmindedly moving her hands here and there to get all the air bubbles out. She brightened up after a few moments, grinning. "I know! Let's start with a quick round of stretching before timing you on the treadmill."