thought for a moment. âAgent Edwards is good, but sheâs not the kind of challenge you need if youâre going to be in top form for fieldwork. Youâll train with Elton from now on.â
My defenses went up. âIâd rather be by myself.â
âThat may be, but you canât challenge yourself the way an opponent can,â he said. I tried to argue, but he cut me off. âI need you to do this. Iâm taking a risk keeping you here and pushing to have you in the field. I need you at your best.â
I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms. He was right. I owed him. âYou think heâs going to go for this?â
âI donât care what he wants. Heâs the only person in this place who can give you a real workout and who wonât try to kill you if put in that kind of situation.â
I gave him a doubtful look. âI wouldnât be so sure about that.â
âHe has the strongest sense of duty,â Simmonds said. âIf I give him the assignment, heâll carry it through.â
I arched an eyebrow. âDo you want to tell him or should I?â
Simmonds stood and walked around his desk. âIâll handle it. I called him down shortly before you showed up. He should be waiting outside.â
âCan I stay and watch?â I asked, smiling at the thought.
Simmonds tried to keep a straight face, but I caught him holding back a laugh. âI think itâd be better if I spoke with him alone. Send him in when you leave.â
 â¢Â â¢Â â¢Â
I leaned against the wall across from Simmondsâs office, waiting for Scorpion to finish his meeting. I knew heâd be pissed, but if we had to work together, there was no point putting it off. A couple of girls had showed up after a few minutes. They seemed around my age and took it upon themselves to wait as far away from me as they could.
It was about fifteen minutes before the door was flung open.
Scorpionâs nostrils flared in frustration, which quickly turned to aggravation when he saw me. âWhat did you say to him?â The two girls at the end of the hallway glanced, wide-eyed, at each other, before skirting around Scorpion and disappearing into Simmondsâs office.
âI didnât say anything.â I shrugged innocently as the door shut behind him. âAccording to Simmonds,
you
were the one telling him about my training habits.â
His shoulders tensed as his annoyance grew. He sauntered ahead of me and I kept pace with him. âWe have to do this.â He was practically spitting. âHeâll be checking up on me.â
âIâm not exactly thrilled about this either,â I said.
He snorted. âRight. What do you have to complain about?â
âDo you really think I want to spend time with you?â He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I could see Iâd surprised him. âWe spent the last three years fighting each other. I donât like you any more than you like me. And despite what Simmonds says, I donâttrust you not to kill me.â
He kicked his jaw out and laughed. âIf I wanted to kill you, Simmonds wouldnât be able to stop me. And you wouldnât stand a chance.â
I arched an eyebrow. âOh, really,
Travis
? So all those times we squared off you just
let
me go?â He glared at me out of the corner of his eye, but didnât speak. âChina. Russia.
Thailand.
You werenât actually
trying
to kill me there, is that what youâre saying?â Again, he stayed quiet. âYeah. Thatâs what I thought.â
I yanked on the door to the training room, but Scorpion came up behind me and shoved it closed. âIf weâre going to do this, weâre going to do it my way.â
I let my hand drop to my side. âOf course.
Everything
gets done your way.â
He shook his head, his irritation increasing. âWhat is that supposed to
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