Fallen 2. Torment(66)

rest of you will watch."

Luce was relieved her own name hadn't been called. The more she saw of

Francesca and Steven's teaching method, the less she understood it. One intimidating

demonstration took the place of any real instruction. Not watch and learn, but straight to

watch and excel. As the first six students took their places on the deck, Luce felt huge

pressure to pick up the entire art of fencing right away.

" En garde! " Shelby bellowed, lunging backward into a squat with the tip of her

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sword just inches from Dawn, whose sword was still sheathed.

Dawn's fingers were zigzagging through her short black hair, pinning sections of

it back with a brimming handful of butterfly clips. "You can't en-garde me while I'm

prepping for battle, Shelby!" Her high voice got even higher when she was frustrated.

"What were you, raised by wolves?" she huffed through the last plastic barrette between

her teeth. "Okay," she said, drawing her sword. "Now I'm ready."

Shelby, who had been holding her deep lunge throughout Dawn's primp session,

now straightened up and looked down at her rough nail beds. "Wait, do I have time for a

manicure?" she said, psyching Dawn out just long enough to allow her to drop into an

offensive stance and swing her sword around.

"How uncouth!" Dawn barked, but to Luce's surprise, she instantly ratcheted up

her swordsmanship, swishing her blade skillfully through the air and knocking Shelby's

aside. Dawn was a fencing badass.

Next to Luce, Jasmine was doubled over laughing. "A match made in Hell."

A smile had crept onto Luce's face, too, because she'd never met anyone as

unshakably upbeat as Dawn. At first, Luce had suspected phoniness, a facade--where

Luce came from, the South, that always-happy bit wouldn't have been real. But Luce had

been impressed by how quickly Dawn rebounded after that day on the yacht. Dawn's

optimism seemed to know no limits. By now, it was hard for Luce to be around the girl

without chuckling. And it was especially hard when Dawn was focusing her girly cheer

on beating the crap out of someone as bleakly opposite as Shelby.

Things between Luce and Shelby were still a little weird. She knew it, Shelby

knew it, even the Buddha night-light in their room seemed to know it. The truth was,

Luce kind of enjoyed seeing Shelby fighting for her life while Dawn happily attacked

her.

Shelby was a steady, patient fighter. Where Dawn's technique was showy and

eye-catching, her limbs whirling in a virtual tango across the deck, Shelby was careful

with her lunges, almost as if she had only so many to ration out. She kept her knees bent

and never gave up anything.

Yet she'd said she had given up on Daniel after one night. Had been quick to say

it was because of Daniel's feelings for Luce--that they interfered with everything else. But

Luce didn't believe her. Something was weird about Shelby's confession; something

didn't match up with Daniel's reaction when Luce had almost-sort-of brought it up the

night before. He'd acted like there wasn't anything to tell.

A loud thump snapped Luce back to attention.

Across the deck, Miles had somehow landed on his back. Roland hovered over

him. Literally. He was flying.

The enormous wings that had unfurled from Roland's shoulders were as large as a

great cape and feathered like an eagle's, but with a beautiful golden marbling woven

through their dark pinions. He must have had the same slits cut into his fencing garb that

Daniel had in his T-shirt. Luce had never seen Roland's wings before, and like the other

Nephilim, she couldn't stop staring. Shelby had told her that only a very few Nephilim

had wings, and none of them went to Shoreline. Seeing Roland's come out in a battle,

even a practice swordfight, sent a ripple of nervous excitement through the crowd.

The wings commanded so much attention, it took Luce a moment to realize that

the tip of Roland's sword was hovering just over Miles's breastbone, pinning him to the

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ground. Roland's bright white fencing suit and golden wings cut a stark silhouette against

the dark, lush trees bordering the deck. With his black mesh mask pulled down, Roland

looked even more intimidating, more menacing than if she'd been able to see his face.

She hoped his expression would look playful, because he really had Miles in a vulnerable

situation. Luce jumped to her feet to go to him, surprised to find her knees shaking.

"Ohmigod Miles!" Dawn called out from across the deck, forgetting her own battle

just long enough for Shelby to go in with a whip-over, touch Dawn's unshielded chest,

and score the winning point.

"Not the most sportsmanlike way to win," Shelby said, sheathing her sword. "But

sometimes that's the way it goes."