Seraphina: Initiation Read Online Free PDF Page A

before I turn to gauge Nate ’ s
reaction. Only when I turn around he ’ s
not there, suddenly I feel someone grabbing me from behind. I
struggle with him as he closes the arm he has around my throat and
begins to lift me off my feet. Instead of giving in, I ’ m still close enough to the tree that my feet can
touch it. I run my feet up the tree before me and back flip over
him, breaking free from Nate ’ s grip.
    “ Good ! Now
let ’ s go back to the house; I’ll show you
more defensive moves.” He states over his shoulder before breaking
into a run.
    Laughing to myself, I should have known that
was coming. He did specifically ask me why I didn’t fight back when
the first Demon had attacked me. Then the same thing happened
during the second attack. I should’ve expected he would drill it
into me until it becomes second nature. I ’ m able to catch up to him in seconds, run past him,
and beat him to the house. I leap up the five steps and enter the
house, locking the door behind me.
    When he finally reaches the house I make him
knock on the door for me to open it. I open the door slowly before
teasing, “Oh, so glad you could make it, do come in slow poke” as I
gesture dramatically in a curtsey for him to enter. We share a
little laugh before he heads to the side of the large staircase
that leads upstairs. He reaches his hand out to the wall and opens
a door out of what seems to be nowhere. Staring at the door, I
never would have noticed. It fit perfectly into the wood paneling
of the architecture. Following him, the door leads to a flight of
stairs going into the basement. Peering out over the railing as
I ’ m descending the steps, the basement is
all white cement and it is set up like a training facility. There
isn’t much to see because it seems to be just an empty space to
train. Reaching the bottom step I notice the floor isn’t cement as
I thought, it’s bouncy almost like a turf of some kind. Turning
around taking it all in when, I notice that along the wall of the
stairs is a vast display of weaponry. Starting from large swords to
small daggers and ending in tiny knives and throwing stars. I’ve
reached out to touch a dagger that stands out to me with a
jewel-encrusted handle when I hear Nate clear his throat behind me.
Spinning to face him, I see him standing in the center of the
basement on what looks like the middle of a target painted on the
floor. Seeing him standing there with his muscles flexing under his
black tee shirt as he watches me walking up to him I can ’ t help the flush of color that floods into my face.
He must read my emotions once again because I see him smile and
look down before glancing back up to meet my eyes. When I finally
reach him, he becomes serious and I try and remember how important
it is to focus on training. He gives me a stern look before
reaching out with one hand, trying to grasp my throat. Reflexively,
I grab his wrist and duck under his extended arm before flipping
him over my back. He smacks to the ground with a thud and a
cough.
    “ Good !” is the
only thing he says in reinforcement before climbing to his feet and
attacking me again. This time he runs towards me before spinning
around into a kick. I jump backwards out of the way just in time to
miss his foot, before I reach out, grab his ankle, and twist it.
His whole body seems to twirl with his ankle before he somehow gets
a hold of himself in the air and lands on his feet again. Without
hesitation, he comes for me again. This time, I
don’ t wait for his attack. I meet him half way and at the
last minute, throw my arm out and move to the side, clothes-lining
him. He looks up at me from his back, gasping as I offer him a hand
up. He slyly smiles before taking it, but instead of pulling
himself up, he pulls me down. Only I don’t fall, my body seems to
somehow tuck itself under and roll back so that I ’ m on top of him again with my forearm against his
throat.
    “Good, you ’ re
learning your