The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 0506

"You can sit there, Ariel's boy," Blaze says, waving a general hand towards the wall by the door as Luca follows me into the small gym and pulls the door shut behind him. "You are not to interrupt. Read your book, if you would, or watch. But no talking." Luca raises his eyebrows at me, I think a little baffled and intrigued by this bossy little man, but he nods and does as he's told, taking a seat by the wall and settling his bookbag on the ground next to him. As I drop my own bag by the door and head to the center of the room, Luca pulls out the same book he was reading in the hall and opens it in his lap, starting to read it. Or at least, pretending to.

"Hands behind your back," Blaze says, taking his familiar, relaxed fighting stance across from me and raising his own hands. When I exhale a deep breath and knot my hands behind my back, he nods once. "And we begin."

Blaze is instantly moving, as he always does, his hands like knives in the air coming for me so quickly that I can barely see them. I move backwards, dodging his blows as best I can. When I run out of space on the mat, I move swiftly to the left - which is when he gets me. "Hahaa, princess," Blaze says, smacking me hard on the shoulder. "Got you."

I scowl a little, glaring at him. "You always get me."

"You are getting faster though, little bird," he says quietly, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leading me back to the center of the room. "I see your progress. Soon, when you can get all around the room without a touch, I will teach you how to block."

time - what feels like hours even though I know it's less. And honestly, even though it seems basic, it's all that we do. On our first private meeting together I was surprised when Blaze made me put my hands behind my back - told me that I wouldn't learn to strike at all until I could

cannot hit," he had said, his cheerful smile on his

pretty hard, to demonstrate his point that I really, really needed to learn how

very good at it yet. But like he said - I am getting better. When we first started a few days ago I could barely get one step without Blaze smacking me. But he taught me some techniques about how to watch for movement, how to

By the time the class ends, I make it nearly halfway around

little, hugging him back. "In a few short months we will teach you how to do it with a knife in your

grinning as I

steady nod. Then, to my surprise, he turns

at us and pointing a thumb at