Wolves' Bane (The Order of the Wolf, #3)(68)
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.”
“You’ll nail it tomorrow,” he offered, as he cleaned the last of the gravy off his plate with a hunk of bread and plopped it into his mouth. “We still have six days to prepare.”
Morgan put her fork down and pushed her plate toward him. “I’m too tired to chew. You want the rest?”
Cal shook his head as he stood from the kitchen island, pushing his stool back to rise. He took both of their plates to the sink and scraped the rest of her food into the garbage before putting both dishes into the washer.
She was standing on unsteady legs when he finished, and he swooped toward her, his arm going around her waist to hold her up. She leaned in to him and he wrinkled his nose. “You stink.”
She cocked an eyebrow up. “You’re not smelling so hot yourself, tough guy,” she teased as he started them toward the door. “Is that tub in our room big enough for the two of us?”
His heart thudded with renewed energy and his cock grew hard instantly, surprising considering how exhausted he’d felt only moments before. “Oh, yeah, it’s big enough.”
They moved up the stairs and down the hall arm in arm, his eagerness to get into that tub making it next to impossible not to run with Morgan in his arms all the way there.
When they were in the room, Morgan stripped off all of her smelly clothes and left him staring dumbfounded at her bare ass as she waltzed into the bathroom. The sound of water pumping into the giant Jacuzzi tub was enough to have him frantically ripping his own clothes off too. A brief moment of guilt tugged at him. She was clearly exhausted, barely able to eat. What was he thinking? Wanting to ravish her body when she obviously needed some sleep? And yet, seconds later, there she was, poking her head out from the bathroom, her finger crooked to beckon him.
“What are you waiting for?” she purred as she ducked back into the room.
Cal scrambled out of his pants and quickly followed her. She was already submerged, her body hidden by the soapy suds of bubble bath. The room smelled like fresh fruit, a far cry better than the stink of the beast that they’d been smelling all day.