Ryan swung and missed a dozen times before I tried punching him. My fist caught him in the gut, and he landed nearly in the same place as before. He stood up, but then doubled over, trying to catch his breath. He took a step, and then bent down again, holding up one finger.

“Sorry!” I called.

“My turn!” Bex said. He wasted no time, and I could see in his eyes that playtime was over.

He lunged, and I moved. Blocking each of his punches, I used Claire’s leg sweep, knocking him to his feet. He jumped up, missing the first punch, and then landing the next. It stung, but it felt like I had accidentally walked into a door instead of the full power of a Hybrid pounding into my jaw.

“Oh!” Jared yelled. His hands were on his head, his fingers intertwined. He hated this. He had spent his life protecting me, and now that we were married and I was pregnant with his child, he was allowing me to be a guinea-pig-slash-punching-bag.

“You okay?” Bex said, breathing hard.

I frowned.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” Bex said, lifting my chin to see the damage.

“Again,” I said, squatting defensively.

“No!” Jared yelled. “No, we’ve seen what she’s capable of. That’s enough.”

I shook my head. “I’m fighting a thirteen-year-old, Jared,” I said quietly. “I wasn’t trying that hard.”

Bex crouched. “That’s insulting.”

He lunged again, and although our movements would have blurred to the human eye, I had no trouble keeping up. Each move Bex attempted seemed nearly in slow motion. Within seconds, Bex was in the air, and then flat on his back.

“My turn!” Claire said, pulling on fingerless leather gloves.

I steadied myself. Claire had always frightened me. Bex, I had sparred with before; I was familiar with his moves. But it had been months since Claire and I had practiced together, and I was unfamiliar with her strategy. Still, I didn’t want to make Jared worry, so I planned to step up my game a notch. I couldn’t let Claire punch me. Jared would feel guilty enough. Not to mention that even though she loved me now, Claire been waiting for this moment a long time.

She glared at me from under her brow as she always did to intimidate an enemy. That part I was familiar with. She would not hold back, and she wasn’t afraid to hurt me.

This was going to suck.

Bex helped Ryan to Jared’s side, and Ryan fell onto his knees, sore and demoralized.

“Get her, Nigh!” Ryan yelled.

“Hey! Whose side are you on?” Claire said.