Catching the Storm

45. Go Jump off a Cliff

Crystal's POV

"Jackson-" I tried to warn him when I noticed her shift on her feet, but it didn't matter because she struck out lightning fast like a coiled snake.

The kick slammed into the side of his ribcage. The punch that followed hit his face. It was painful to watch. Jackson tried to throw a few strikes of his own, but none of them landed. Tried to dodge and block her strikes, but it didn't work.

Even though she had a knife in her hand, she didn't use it. Not yet. She was toying with him first. Like she'd been doing to me on the yacht until she saw that I was somewhat of a threat. Jackson however, appeared to be absolutely no threat.

I kept the gun in my hand at the ready, adrenaline was beginning to flood my system and I knew that if I had to fight, I could. Though I also knew I wouldn't be able to beat her, at least I could actually shoot her this time.

I was tempted to try and take the shot now, if not for the fact that she was moving too fast and I'd more than likely end up hitting Jackson instead . . . which actually wasn't that bad of a thought.

The next blow she landed was another punch right to his jaw that caused him to stagger back, blood coming from his lip. He rubbed at his jaw and spit out blood. He stood tall and looked over at her as she stood still a short distance away, still smiling.

Jackson began unbuttoning the buttons on his jacket. "Thank you," He told her.

She frowned at him now, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "For what?"

Jackson shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it to the floor. "For showing me your preferred fighting style."

He held out a hand to me. "The knife you took from her," He said to me. "If you please."

I handed him the knife, still keeping a good grip on the gun.

"Shoot her if this goes sideways," He whispered so only I could hear him.

I nodded slowly.

Jackson turned his attention back to her and he purposefully made a show of twirling the knife around in his hand as she had done before.

She narrowed her eyes at him, watching him closely.

This time, he was the one to strike first. And she wasn't expecting it.

I watched in shock as Jackson managed not only to land hits on her but also managed to dodge her attacks with ease. And when she came at him again, he caught her fist in his hand, twisted her arm around, kicked at the back of her knees, and then threw her forward onto the ground.

He backed away quickly, which was a lucky thing since she was pissed and had swung her legs around with the intent to knock his out from under him.

"I think you'll find I'm a quick study," Jackson said mockingly to her.

She swung out with the knife, just barely managing to slice into his leg. He swung out with his, managing to slice into her side.

She touched her hand to her side and when she pulled her hand away, there was blood. She glared her eyes at him and twirled the knife around in her hand again.

He copied her.

"It would appear I have underestimated you, Jackson Storm," She said as they both began to circle each other.

Jackson shrugged nonchalantly. "That's kind of the point," He replied.

Both of them went at each other again. She struck out first this time. There was the clang of metal between their blows to each other as their knives collided a few times.