Page 58 of Saints & Sinners

So... she knew.

I glanced down at my hand and twisted the gold ring on my pinky.

I was so fucked.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I arrived at the canteen precisely at seven o’clock. Empty chairs and tables sat scattered in the dim lighting, and for a second, I thought I’d beaten Hunter here, but as soon as I stepped further in, his voice cut through the quiet.

“You’re late,” he said, arms crossed as he leaned casually against one of the tables.

“By, like, thirty seconds.”

He smirked, pushing off the table as he motioned for me to follow. “You just cut your training time in half, but I’ll be gracious.”

I snorted, falling into step beside him as he led me toward the back of the kitchen. We were both in our Warrior attires, save for the jacket and my hair was no longer up in a ponytail or plait. The lights flickered dimly as we moved through stacks of crates and shelves. “So, where exactly are we going? The canteen hardly screams ‘training ground’ unless we’re having a few snacks first before I start learning. I wouldn’t mind that; I quite like the canteen’s apple crumble.”

He glanced down at me with an amused glint in his eyes. “There’s a passageway here. It leads to the armory.”

I blinked, a rush of excitement and confusion bubbling up.“There’s an armory here? Like where they keep every single weapon ever used?”

Hunter chuckled at my reaction and nodded. “The armory is pretty strictly controlled by the angels, but I figured out a way to it years ago.”

We stopped at a wall of cabinets that looked like they held stacks of canned goods. With a swift glance to make sure no one was watching, Hunter reached up and twisted one of the handles. The wall shifted with a low mechanical groan, sliding open to reveal a narrow, shadowed corridor.

“What in the haunted mansion...” I muttered as Hunter walked past me. His lips curved into a half-smile, and it shocked me because this was the most I had seen him smile in the space of two minutes.

“Why are we here?” I whispered as we made our way through the dark corridor. “I thought we’d be training—oh, I don’t know—outside?”

“This is your training.”

I laughed, waiting for him to crack another smile, but he didn’t. “Oh, you’re serious? You’re just going to throw me into the armory?”

We both stopped, and he turned halfway, studying me like I was missing the obvious. “If you’re going to train to a Warriors standard, you need to know each weapon inside and out. What it does, how it feels in your hand, and, most importantly, how it reacts to you.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then paused, realizing he was right. It was more than just holding a sword or swinging daggers left and right.

“Alright, fine, but what if I already know all about angelic weapons?”

Hunter’s mouth twitched as he took me down the steps into a vast dungeon-like room with thousands of weapons dotting theplace. He led me to a rack and held up a strange, curved blade. “What’s this called, then?”

I stared at the weapon, racking my brain. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t name it to save my life. “That?” I pointed at it. “Well, that’s a—” I started making gestures with my hand as if I were digging at the ground. “Fling...flinger?”

“Thought so,” he said.

I scowled, feeling a blush rise. “Fine. Educate me then, since you’re obviously the expert.”

“I am, thanks for acknowledging that.”

I fought not to roll my eyes, and for the next hour or so, he guided me through each weapon—naming them, explaining their strengths and drawbacks, and how they were meant to be used. He was thorough, his voice low and smooth as he spoke. There was a surprising passion in the way he talked about each one, and it was shocking to see him so animated.

After a while, he stepped back, watching me. “Alright, now pick one.”

I looked over the selection, my eyes trailing across the various blades, staffs and bows. After a moment, I reached for a dagger with a jagged, obsidian blade. It felt cold and smooth in my hand as I studied it. The dagger was called a Nightsteel. According to Hunter, it was forged from the nightmares demons inflicted on souls in hell. It could render someone in a nightmare-like state if injured with it.

“Good choice,” Hunter murmured. “Now show me how you’d use it on me.”

I laughed, glancing up at him. “What, you want me to just... attack you with this?”

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