Page 29 of Shadow

I had never been the type to hold grudges. “That’s okay. I’m forgettable, or at least I try to be.”

His expression shifted, his brows furrowing. “Why?”

Ah, the million-dollar question. “I’m only alive because of my father. He made sure I had a job that kept me off the front lines. He knew I wouldn’t survive. King’s insistence that I train is, well… it’s really stupid.”

Boot’s face hardened into the familiar unfriendly expression I’d come to expect. “King knows what he’s doing.”

I grunted in response because I heard King and Boot grunt so much. “It’ll feel good to prove him wrong.”

“King is never wrong,” he stated with entirely too much superiority.

I laughed. “He’s got you brainwashed. He is just a man.”

“And Beast,” Boot countered. “Never forget that. King has control, but when he’s angered, he doesn’t hesitate to lose it.”

I managed to find my balance again, lifting one foot without being told. “Is ‘beast’ the politically correct way to talk about your other side?”

Boot shook his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “You mean our monster side?”

“You said it, not me.” I glanced up, my grin teasing. “This time, I’m not looking down.”

“Your government said it,” he replied, his tone turning bitter.

He wasn’t wrong. “They did,” I admitted. “Some believe it, and some, like my father, did not. He respected you.”

“Yes, your father was a good human,” Boot said, though his tone shifted slightly, and I caught something in his eyes, something I couldn’t quite place.

“Did you know him?” I asked, switching legs on the ball without using the wall for support.Progress.

“I met him once and shook his hand. That’s all. But I knew he wasn’t afraid of us, and he didn’t resent us. Your father mostly dealt with Greystone.”

The mention of their former leader made my heart tighten. “He spoke highly of him,” I said quietly.

“King’s a better leader, but don’t ever tell him I said that,” Boot replied, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. “Greystone held more resentment for humans than King does.”

That didn’t add up. Greystone and my father had been friends, and King practically radiated his dislike of humans. “If you say so,” I answered doubtfully.

“You ready to move on?” Boot gestured to the floor.

“You mean get off the ball?” I asked, hopeful that I’d finally graduated from this torture device.

“You need to build core muscle. The ball is the best way to do it.”

“Haha, you’re hilarious,” I deadpanned, watching as he walked away to pick up a pair of small hand weights, each around five pounds.

“Keep both feet on the ball until you find your balance,” he instructed.

I did as he said, but as soon as he handed me the first weight, I wobbled and fell. At least now he caught me before I hit the ground.

“This won’t work,” I said, throwing imaginary daggers at the ball with my eyes.

“Tell me about your father,” he prompted, assisting me back up.

I sighed. “My father was quiet, but when he spoke, people listened. He had that natural presence, you know? He never had to yell to be in charge.”

Boot nodded slightly, urging me to continue.

“He believed in leading by example. When I was younger, before the war changed everything, he used to take me fishing. Not because he liked fishing, but because I did.” A small, wistful smile tugged at my lips before I pushed the memory aside. “He could gut a fish in seconds, clean and precise. He told me once that precision in the smallest things prepared you for precision in the biggest.”

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