did. Tristan’s anger ebbed as we did the moves several times and I controlled my strength.
“Now,” Charlotte said, “pretend Tristan is a norm about to enter danger and you only need to scare him so he’ll run away. Hardly any force. Just enough to grab his attention.”
I lightened up more, barely striking Tristan with my hand or foot. I continued the moves as long as they kept saying, “Go!” and, as I swung my leg around in what felt like a lazy roundhouse, I wondered how much longer we’d be at this because it really was ridiculous. Fist fighting? Really? When I could shoot a lightning bolt out of my hand? This was a waste of time I could be spending with Rina.
The next thing I knew, my leg became trapped, and my body suddenly flipped over, my stomach flipping with it. The hand released my leg, and two arms caught me right before I hit the ground, breaking my fall. Still, they felt like two bars of steel against my back, knocking the wind out of me. The beams above swam in and out of focus. So did Tristan’s face as he laid me on the ground and stood over me, his hands on his knees, his arms braced as he glared down at me.
“I said harder,” he snarled.
“I didn’t hear you.” I meant to match his ferocity, but I was still catching my breath.
“Exactly.” He turned and walked away.
I forced myself to my feet and found disappointment written all over Charlotte’s face.
“If you don’t focus, you can easily be taken out,” she said, her voice low and calm.
Tristan spun around and suddenly stood in front of me. “In other words, you let your mind wander and you could be dead.”
“I’m pretty sure, in a real fight, I would be completely focused. This just seems pretty freakin’ stupid. As if we’d ever fight this way.”
“How did you fight Vanessa?” Tristan asked, his voice still venomous. “Wasn’t that hand-to-hand?”
“Of course it was. I didn’t have powers then, remember?”
“You can’t always rely on your powers!” He whirled again and paced.
“Alexis, you have to be prepared for any situation,” Charlotte said. “We’re not gods who can go around wielding powers out in the world. Sometimes we go face-to-face, mano-a-mano. Sometimes we use weapons. Sometimes we use our powers. You must know how to handle every situation. You must be prepared.”
“Okay, I get it.”
Tristan appeared in front of me again, too fast to see him move. “Are you sure? Because that just now, in the real world, would have been the end of you.”
“I said I get it. Sorry if I have a lot on my mind!”
He opened his mouth, but Charlotte interrupted him.
“I think we’ve done enough for today,” she said.
“I agree!” I stomped to the changing room to retrieve my clothes then stomped out of the building, toward the mansion. Tristan appeared next to me, pacing his strides to mine.
“Lexi,” he said, “I’m sorry.”
“You should be!”
“I had to get your attention. Your mind—”
“Was elsewhere, I know. You didn’t have to throw me on the ground.”
“Well, technically, I didn’t. I threw you into my arms.”
I gave him a sideways glance and saw the smirk I expected. “I sure hope that’s not your idea of romantic because if it is—”
He stepped in front of me, cutting me off both verbally and physically. I blew out a breath of exasperation and stared at our feet. He lifted my chin with his fingers to look me in the eye.
“The thought of you fighting scares the hell out of me. If something happens to you . . .” His voice trailed off. He shook his head, as if erasing a horrible thought. “I can’t lose you, my love. I need you to be prepared for anything.”
The pain in his eyes, dimming the gold flecks, engulfed me. My throat worked to swallow the lump in it.
“I’ll try harder next time,” I murmured. “I’m just anxious to see Rina. If I can get the telepathy thing under control, we can find out about this girl. She and Dorian are all I can think about.”
Before Tristan could respond, we were ambushed by a six-year-old. Dorian came out of nowhere, flying into his dad’s arms.
“Can we play now?” Dorian asked. Tristan looked at me.
I waved my hand, as if shooing them away. “Go. Have fun.”
They took off, Dorian jabbering away.
After a quick shower, I rushed downstairs, picked up on Rina’s mind, and followed my sense to her. I hadn’t realized