“I’d never agree to it.”
“No, I suppose not. But at least promise me that you won’t do anything too horrible, even if you’re so pissed at me that you can’t see straight?”
I laughed as I snatched one of the blades from his hands. “Okay, I can promise that as long as you promise never to act like a total and complete jackass ever again.”
Cal smiled. “I can definitely promise that.”
I moved toward the beast and positioned the tip of the blade where I thought Cal’s fingers had been. “Is this the right place?”
Cal narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized my hand, and then the blade, edging it slightly to the side and then wrapping his fingers around my wrist to straighten my angle. “There.” He stepped away. “Can you feel the resistance of the muscle?”
I applied some pressure, flexing my arm as I tried to push the blade in. It wouldn’t budge. I braced my other hand against the beast’s shoulder, lifting myself slightly off the ground in order to get better leverage. A sweat broke out on my brow as I pushed down with all of my strength, forcing the blade in, bit by bit.
Heaving a deep breath, I let loose a growl as I finally felt it slide in. I released my breath in an explosion of air and turned toward Cal. “Holy crap! That is some tough muscle to get through.”
Cal nodded as he pointed at the blade. “Yeah, and you managed to miss the heart’s center in your effort to get it in.”
I turned back to the dagger and opened my mouth to argue, but Cal was right—the blade was drastically shifted to the side, not going at all straight down as Cal had told me to do.
I rubbed the back of my hand over my forehead. “Okay, so I guess I’m going to need some practice.”
Cal nodded as he yanked the blade out of the wound. “That’s why I’m showing you this now.” He raised his hand, and with a bellowing yell, slammed the blade deep into the flesh again, bypassing the wound I created and hitting the beast in exactly the right place.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to kill a beast, only a Huntress can.” I pointed to the wound, trying not to sound overly impressed even though I totally was, awed even.
“Yeah, so?” Cal cocked a brow, as he released his hand from the hilt of the dagger.
“So, how come you know how to drive that blade in exactly the right spot?”
“The knowledge is partly innate, partly learned. When Hunters start training, we are taught about the legacy, about our duty to the Huntress and to the Order. The information about killing the beasts is passed along by older Hunters, but it’s information that we all know intuitively. It’s only housed in us so we can pass it along to you, the Huntress. If I tried to kill a beast, got as far as embedding this blade into its chest, pierced its heart even, it wouldn’t die. It would just pull the damn thing out and probably stick me with it. So it falls to you, Huntress.” He winked. “No pressure.”
I looked on, my eyes wide with surprise. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to do that.”
Cal snickered. “I’ve been training for years. I have the skill and the knowledge, which means you do too. You just need to awaken it.” He laid his hands on my shoulders and turned me toward him, his face drawn into a frown. “We have seven days to get this right, Morgan. Seven days before the lunar eclipse. I don’t care how much time we have to spend down here, but you will find your expertise in wielding the death blow.”
I stared up at him, my eyes still wide, my mind disbelieving. Seven days to whip my body into shape and master this incredibly precise move?
Yeah, right. The man is out of his freakin’ mind.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mine
Cal was pleased with their progress, but not totally satisfied with Morgan’s abilities. She hadn’t yet mastered the right strength or angle to kill the beast, even after hours of training.
And now she looked ready to collapse with exhaustion while she forced another forkful of food into her mouth.
They had trained past dinnertime and had missed the meal with the others, so he’d picked through the leftovers to put together something edible. It was probably for the best anyway, since they were both covered in sweat and stank like the beast.
Morgan closed her eyes briefly as she slid another piece of roast beef into her mouth and slowly began to chew.
“You did well today, Morgan.” He couldn’t help his pride from seeping into his words. Even though she hadn’t perfected the technique, she had put in a more than adequate amount of effort, not even wanting to stop when he insisted that they give it a rest for the day. She was determined to succeed.
Morgan opened her eyes, a lazy smile spreading over her features. “Thanks.”