“I told you. The story is that she has been raised by Valeria and I, and I have been overprotective since the death of my wife, but now that Eden is almost eighteen I have decided it is time she takes up her duty.”
“And you really think they'll believe that?” McLeish's eyes may not have rolled but his tone did it for them. Eden really wanted to punch the guy.
Cyrus' voice grew low and menacing as he retorted, “They will believe whatever you tell them to believe.”
Finally the Councilman looked unnerved, paling at Cyrus' ‘scary voice'. “Of course.” Eden hurried after Cyrus as he followed McLeish into the dark shed. He flicked a switch and she glanced around. It was full of tools and other random crap. What was this? He smirked evilly at her (such a child!) and flicked another switch. She gasped as the floor opened beneath them, a concrete staircase leading down into a brightly lit hall.
“This is the access to the training centre under the theatre,” Cyrus explained, nudging her forward.
“Thank you, Councilman. I can take it from here.”
“Your boy and Valeria are already inside.”
“Is Tobe?” Eden asked just as McLeish was about to leave. She really hoped the girl was there because even though she had decided to trust Noah, it would be nice to have someone there that she kind of counted as a friend.
McLeish frowned at her question and she just knew he wasn't happy about the idea of her befriending one of ‘his people'. “Aye.”
“Great.” The smile she threw him was deliberately taunting and she enjoyed the way he ground his teeth before storming back out of the shed. She turned to Cyrus and said dryly, “I don't think he likes me very much.”
Cyrus shrugged and began descending the staircase. “It does not matter. You asserted yourself with him. It was good.”
Grinning at the praise, Eden forgot to be nervous as she followed him underground. The dank corridor veered to the right and Eden's smile promptly slid off her face. The halls were so oppressive.
She drew in a deep breath, trying not to feel claustrophobic. As they walked through the downwards sloping halls, noise began filtering towards her, grunts and cheers and the buzz of murmuring.
Cyrus took a left and stopped in front of double doors. “You ready?”
“Are they all going to stare?”
“Yes. But only because you are with me and you are Ankh.”
“A few of them know though. Those people we met a few days ago. They know. They're going to look at me like I'm a freak.”
“Then those are the ones you are going to pick to spar with. A few beatings should knock the judgement out of them.”
Eden laughed. “Yeah, you think so?”
“I know so.” He heaved a sigh and gripped the handle on the doors. “Today you will spend your time in here, training with Noah and possibly October if she wishes it, in hand to hand combat. When you are ready I will take you into training room two further up the hall. There you will learn weapons training.”
“Wait.” Eden stopped him before he could open the door. “Weapons training?” He reached out for her, brushing a stray strand of hair off her face. “Do not look so nervous, Eden.
Surely you noticed we only fight with swords?”
Now that he mentioned it…
“The art of decapitation,” he explained wryly. “We are warriors, we do not believe in guns. We fight only with swords.”
“But the soul eaters use guns. My mo- I mean Celine had one, Ryan shot you.” Cyrus nodded. “Yes, but we are immortal, Eden. It takes much to kill us and like the soul eaters, decapitation or a sword through the heart usually works best. Guns do not kill soul eaters, they barely even slow them down, and stray bullets can kill innocent bystanders. So we fight with our bodies and with swords.”
“OK.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, let's get this done.”
As soon as Cyrus swung the door open and stepped inside a hush fell over the room. Eden realised McLeish's idea of busy and her idea were totally different. There were about forty people in the room. She'd been expecting hundreds. Her eyes swept the area, widening. The ceiling was way higher than she'd assumed it would be so the training room wasn't nearly as oppressive as the halls.
In the far corner of the massive gym hall was a weight area where a few Neith were working out.