Free Thrall by Jennifer Quintenz

unison. The rest of my world seemed to fall away; only the warmth of his touch and the gentle pressure of his hands remained. I turned my head toward his, brushing his cheek with mine. I heard his quick intake of breath, felt his arm tighten around my body. We finished the form and for a moment, neither of us moved. Then Lucas stepped back, releasing me.
    “A natural,” he said. His voice sounded almost hoarse.
    “No. Just following your lead.” I handed him the daggers. He snapped them together and returned them to their shelf. I brushed the hair back from my face, recovering.
    “I’m serious,” he said, turning back to me. “You could have a bright future in demon hunting. All it would take is a decade of dedicated combat training and the end of your social life.”
    I laughed. “Mm. Tempting as that sounds, I’m going to have to pass.”
    Lucas shrugged, faking disappointment. “It’s a shame. We’ve got all this equipment to train with, just languishing, unused.”
    “Well, teach me something else,” I said. “Something useful, that won’t require carrying a huge knife everywhere I go.”
    “Fine. You want boring, we can do something boring.” Lucas considered me for a moment, and then walked behind me again. “Let’s say someone grabs you.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “You can’t run away if they’re holding you, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Okay. I’ll show you how to get away. You grab me.” He turned his back to me. I put my hand on his shoulder. Lucas’ head turned slightly at my touch. “No,
grab
me. Like you mean business. Summon your inner warrior princess.” I giggled and tightened my grip. Lucas moved. He gripped my wrist and twisted it while turning to face me. The movement forced my elbow to point up at the ceiling and I had to spin away from him; it was that or let my elbow snap. Lucas put a slight pressure on the back of my hand, pushing it toward my wrist as my arm locked straight. With a gasp of surprise, I was on my tiptoes, pin-wheeling for balance. Lucas’ voice wasn’t even strained. “From here you could turn and run. It’d buy you a few seconds, at least.” He released me.
    “Show me how you did that!”
    Lucas worked with me for half an hour until I felt comfortable with the move. It all depended on gripping the wrist correctly, controlling the elbow twist, and not letting up on the pressure. After I’d successfully repelled him ten times in a row he stepped back, rubbing his shoulder.
    “Nice. I think you’ve got it.”
    “What’s next?” I asked.
    “I thought you were a pacifist.”
    “This is self-defense, right?” I turned my back to him. “So?”
    He came up behind me and caught me in a bear hug. “I can show you how to get out of this, too, but if we’re going to start doing throws we should really put some mats down.”
    “Where do you keep the mats?” I turned to face him, and suddenly the bear hug became an embrace. Lucas looked into my eyes, startled. My hands were resting lightly on his chest. When I didn’t pull back, Lucas adjusted his arms, pulling me a little closer. His gaze moved to my lips. I tipped my head up as he leaned forward.
    I think it would have been a perfect kiss.
    Above us, the door to the basement burst open and footsteps pounded down the stairs. We turned, startled, as Dad appeared at the bottom of the basement stairs.
    “Braedyn?”
    Hale and Gretchen entered the basement behind Dad. Every one of them looked grim.
    Lucas released me. “I was just showing her the--”
    “Out,” Dad growled. Lucas glanced at me, bewildered, and left the basement. Gretchen’s eyes burned with unmistakable hatred.
    “You,” she hissed. “Never touch him again.”
    I was baffled by her anger. “What did I do?”
    “Braedyn.” Dad took a step toward me. “I love you. Nothing’s ever going to change that.” Gretchen grabbed Dad’s arm and jerked him around to face her.
    “You knew. You knew and you raised her anyway.