Page 85 of Sloth
“Once you got this down, we’ll spar at the same time. Go.”
So she had to act out an emotive memory… then learn to internalize it, then learn to do that while getting beat up by this big burly real life action hero.
Sloan caught her reflection’s eyes. Okay. She’s got this. Think of a feeling. What feeling? Pain, was her obvious first choice. Making an opponent crippled with that feeling would come in handy. She was tempted to use her nails to bite into her palms, but shook her head. What if she was incapacitated and couldn’t hurt herself? She wanted to do this properly. No more cutting corners.
That thought promptly brought up feelings of Max and she had to shut her eyes.
Soon, baby. Soon.
Seeing her hesitance, Tony suggested, “What about a strong feeling you can recall from a recent event. What about how you felt when you knew Max was leaving you in that car with Beatrix.”
Her brows snapped together and she glared at him.
But he wasn’t fazed. He turned to his reflection, took a deep breath and… simply becamesomeone else. His face crumpled his eyes glazed, and he collapsed, hands covering his head as it shook in denial. He acted distraught for another moment, and she believed it! Then he straightened, reset, and said, “Or maybe it was like this.” Then his eyes darted about the room, struggling to find purchase. He muttered “no” multiple times and paced listlessly.
Damn he was good. “You’re pretty good at this acting thing, hey, bras.”
He grimaced, ignoring her compliment. “You try.”
Sloan’s heart clenched. She didn’t think she was ready for this. “Can we try something else? Another emotion?”
His gaze softened. “Okay, what about pain? Can you picture yourself having a headache?”
That, she could do.
For the next hour, they acted out a variety of feelings. Pain, sleep, and fear. They’d decided to focus on three main sensations. The following hour, Sloan practiced conjuring that physicality internally. Then the hour after that, she was sweating it out on the rubber mat, taking a beating from her brother.
“Arms up.” He jabbed at her head.
She blocked, breathing hard. A dart back on her feet, and he jabbed again but she surged back again. Twisting, she sidestepped and ducked under his swinging arm to come in and put a fist in his side. He grunted, but used her low position to grapple and throw her down.
The air knocked out of her, but Tony took no quarter. He used the full force of his strength to wrestle her into a choke hold, legs and arms both trapping her inside the cage of his body. Panic flared and her training froze in her mind.
“Any day now, Sloan,” he taunted. “I’m still waiting to feel—ungh!”
Slam!She’d conjured her headache and shoved it outward. That pain knocked into Tony and had him releasing her to clutch his head.
He rolled away and entered the fetal position. “You can stop now,” he burst.
She swapped the internalized headache with sleep and watched his eyelids get heavy until his long lashes swept his cheekbones. Only when she saw his body go lax did she let go completely and unlock a compartment of calm. Over the course of the day, she’d found a combination of Max’s compartmentalization techniques, and Tony’s internalization techniques worked best.
Crouching down, she placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder, giving him a shake to wake him. “You okay, Tony?”
He groaned. She’d projected those horrible feelings at him for three hours and he didn’t complain once. With another groan, he uncurled and lay on his back, long arms and legs splayed like a star, and he stared at the ceiling.
“And the grasshopper has become the master,” he joked, then rubbed his head. “Jesus Christ, that last one still hurt. I’m so glad you didn’t make me bleed.” Something occurred to him and he snapped his eyes at her. “You’d better not make me bruise. Makeup will hate you.”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure the bleeding thing was only while my powers were settling in. I haven’t had another repeat occurrence since. Sorry about the pain, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I owe you one.”
“How about a beer?”
“Done.” She could do with one too.
“And then we’ll do it again tomorrow.”
Twenty-Five
Over the next two days,when Sloan wasn’t training with Tony, she was working on Sara’s cell. It was late in the afternoon when she sat in the basement headquarters workshop, sitting next to her father. The smell of oil, metal shavings, and something chemical filled her senses until she rubbed her nose to rid it.
