Free The Recruit (Book Three) by Elizabeth Kelly Page B

at Mannie. “Hey.”
    “Hey, Hannah.
How are you feeling?”
    “Okay. How
about you?”
    He shrugged.
“As good as I can.”
    She squeezed
his hand gently, inwardly relieved when he squeezed back, and
accepted the cup of tea that Douglas handed to her.
    “What did
Jordan want?” Will asked anxiously.
    She sipped at
her tea. “He wanted to talk to me about the, as he put it, recent
changes happening in my body.”
    Mannie snorted
laughter. “Fuck, he makes it sound like you’re going through
puberty.”
    Hannah grinned.
“Yeah, he sort of did, actually.”
    “What did he
say?” Will asked a bit impatiently.
    “He mostly just
wanted to know how I felt about it, if I was angry with you, did I
think I had sufficient control over my Lycan side.”
    Will rolled his
eyes. “I told him it would take time. The man’s an idiot if he
thinks you can just control it easily after such a short
period.”
    “I think he’s
just worried that I’m going to freak out and kill a bunch of
people. Honestly, the man’s got a point. I don’t have control over
it.” Hannah said softly.
    “You will,
honey. I promise you.” Will replied immediately. “We’ll go out
tonight and start practicing.”
    Hannah nodded
before taking another sip of tea. “He also asked me to take over
the kenjutsu training until Chen is back on his feet.”
    Will blinked at
her in surprise and she smiled a little. “You’ve got the same look
on your face that I did.”
    “It’s not a bad
idea.” Mannie mused. “After Chen, you’re the best we’ve got with a
sword and it would be good to keep the others training while he
recovers. I know Chen thought Henry from the current batch of
babies has potential with the sword.”
    “I told him
no.” Hannah replied.
    “What? Why?”
Mannie asked.
    “Because I’m
not good enough to train, Mannie. Chen’s dedicated his entire life
to the sword. I’ve been doing this for less than a year. There’s no
way in hell I’m anywhere near his level and I never will be. Having
me train a new person will just got them killed. Besides, Alex and
Paul have been training with Chen longer than I have. There’s no
way they’ll just accept that the person who started after them is
going to continue their training.”
    “You’re better
than them.” Will pointed out.
    “That isn’t the
point.” Hannah persisted. “I wouldn’t be happy about having someone
with as little experience as I have acting as a teacher and neither
will Alex or Paul.”
    “What did
Jordan say when you refused?” Douglas asked.
    “He just told
me to take some time to think about it and to talk to Chen about
it. He said he would meet with Alex and Paul and ask them how they
feel about working with me.”
    “You don’t have
to train them,” Will said, “you could just be their sparring
partner.”
    “Maybe.” Hannah
said moodily. “I’m just not comfortable with it and I don’t want
Chen to think I’m stepping on his toes.”
    “Hannah, have
you considered the possibility that Chen may not go back to
teaching?” Mannie asked hesitantly.
    Hannah glared
at him. “No, I haven’t. And I won’t allow Chen to think that way
either. He doesn’t need two hands to either teach the sword or kill
vampires. Do you think he’s less of a person now, Mannie? Is that
what you’re saying?”
    Her anger, so
quick to rise to the surface now, was getting harder to control.
She bared her fangs at Mannie who sat back and gave Will a nervous
look.
    “He’s faster
and better at the sword than I’ll ever be, even with only one hand,
and I won’t let you or anyone else try and tell me differently. If
we’re to get Chen back to the way he was, we can’t treat him like
an invalid. And if I see any of you acting like he is, I swear I
will – “
    “Enough,
Hannah!” Will said sharply. His hand squeezed her upper arm and she
turned to him and snarled as her eyes glowed.
    “Stop it.” He
growled at her. “Do not let your anger get the