The Chosen One, My Ass! by Michelle Summers

Author:Michelle Summers [Summers, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charming Lil Penny
Published: 2023-04-26T23:00:00+00:00

Hey. Something is up with Jake. Any chance you can take the kids for an overnight Friday night, so he and I can have a chance to talk about whatever it is we need to discuss?

The three dots pulse and then,

Of course! You know Tabitha adores them all! Can’t wait!

Thank god for best friends. I try to get through the rest of the week, focusing on my training and not my marriage. But Jake isn’t the only one who’s being cold right now. George has become all business.

Thursday is mostly self-defense. He dedicates all morning to showing me how to evade and defend against a slew of different attacks. He also shows me a bunch of blocks and parries, as he calls them. At the end of the day, I learn a few different kicks and punches. I particularly enjoy the front thrust kick and the jab, cross punch combo. I feel like I know what I’m doing quickly and that I have a lot of power behind them. Well, for most of the techniques…

“I don’t understand why this jumping side kick is so hard for me!” I slam my fist on the tatami after landing on my ass for the millionth time today.

George is patient with me, more patient than I probably deserve. Finally, I detect a hint of warmth in his voice when he speaks to me. “Miranda, you’ve been doing karate for three days. Maybe give yourself a grace period before you expect yourself to do it all perfectly? Even with your gifts, it’s amazing how fast you’re picking this all up.”

I shake my head. “Nope. That’s unacceptable. There are creepy ass jinn thingies and little red bat people and I’m the one who is supposed to stand in the way of them. I need to get this shit down now. I can hear softer sounds than I could before, see things clearer than I could before, and kill giant monsters. Why can’t I do this kick?” I walk in a big circle, shaking my limbs out, trying to get out of my head, and just do it.

“I’m glad you can’t.” George stands perfectly still until I stop pacing and glare at him. He lowers the body shield he’s holding and picks at the stitching so he doesn’t have to look at me while he talks. “You’re special, but so are the martial arts. They are to be respected. If you could do everything perfectly right away, you’d be missing out on all the fun.”

I’m floored. “The fun, you say? Really? You know, you’re right. Getting my ass kicked by a blackbelt, not to mention the fucking minotaur, so much fun, George!”

“Okay, I get it. Try again.” He regains full control of the shield by wrapping both forearms through the straps on the back. Then, he raises the shield so the top edge is in front of his cheek, and he braces himself in guard stance. “Hajime.”

I jump into guard stance myself, take a deep breath, and start running.

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