Read Online Embrace Me At Dawn by Shayla Black - Free Book Online Page B

righted himself to his full height, towering over her.
    “ Good,” he barked. “Now let’s talk about a frontal attack. If someone is coming toward you, get your knees and hands ready.”
    “ To kick and punch them?”
    “ Not exactly. I’ll teach you to punch eventually, but until you get good at it, you’re going to be easily blocked, and you’re not likely to get enough power behind the blow to stop anyone. You’ll only hurt the hell out of your knuckles. And if you’re not careful, you’ll break one of your fingers or your thumb. Raiden did it with the first punch he threw.”
    She couldn’t help but smile. “Did Ronan laugh at him?”
    “ His twin brother gave him one long ribbing. We had to call Conrad, the healer, and try to explain. He doesn’t quite understand, of course. Always wants to know why we’re simply not using our magic. You know the answer to that, don’t you?”
    “ I remember you saying that Mathias had some human Anarki, that he’d ripped out their souls and used them as soldiers. Magic doesn’t work on them?”
    Lucan nodded. “They’re like zombies. Terrible creatures with rotting flesh and the body temperature of an ice cube. They’re impervious to magic. Don’t waste your energy hitting their rotting flesh with a spell. You’ll have to fight human and nasty with these creatures. First thing you can do is to take the heel of your palm,” he said, tapping the pad of flesh, “and drive it into the creature’s nose. Shove hard. You’ll only get that chance once. Then they’ll definitely fight to kill. They don’t seem to feel pain the way we do, so you have to disable the body or brain entirely to keep them from coming after you.”
    Anka looked at the heel of her palm and simulated the movement in Lucan’s vague direction with a frown. “I can see how this would hurt, but if they don’t feel it, why do this?”
    “ Drives the bone in their nose into their brain, killing them instantly. But you have to shove as hard as you can. Hesitating or not putting your all into it can get you dead.”
    She nodded, understanding. She’d seen the undead that made up a chunk of Mathias’s army, the Anarki. They made her shudder and want to shrink away. Now she’d have to stand and fight. Palm to the nose, hit hard . “Got it.”
    “ The next maneuver is one you likely know. The problem is, it’s your last line of defense physically. By the time your attacker is close enough to you to use this move, you’ve lost a lot of options in terms of self-defense. Running, unless you’re successful here, is unlikely. He’s probably either reaching for you or got his hands on you. You can’t panic. You’ll have to look him dead in the eye and get closer.” Lucan sidled up to her, his body nearly brushing hers. “As he’s reaching out to grab you, you’ll have to latch onto his arms.” He put his arms around her and dragged her body close, fitting her exactly against him, where she’d been thousands of times, cuddled in his protective embrace.
    Her knees almost gave way, and she had to remind herself that the days in which she could throw herself against him and ask prettily for his affection were long gone. Instead, she sucked in a determined breath, grabbed his flexing biceps, marveling at how hard his body had become, then nodded. “Got it.”
    “ Use your arms to propel you forward as you lift your knee to his groin.” He raised a brow. “Gently for training purposes.”
    Carefully, she gripped his arms, bringing her body even closer, then raised her knee between his legs, barely touching the cushion of his sensitive balls. When he gave a little grimace, she pulled away, stepping back.
    “ If these zombie-like Anarki can’t feel pain, why do this?”
    “ I didn’t say they couldn’t feel pain at all. You’ve got to give them a whole lot before they do. Usually they fall apart, literally. The older the formerly-human Anarki get, the more brittle their bodies. Go for