Requiem for Blood Read Online Free Page B

been half their class who met them at the edge of the forest and Olivia knew the others were inside, watching the other fight. Mr. Stevens' class had always been broken up into two types, the hunting and weapons training portion and then the combatives portion.
    When she slid the patio door open she saw her teacher observing two boys sparring on a black mat before him. It was a two story home where the first floor had been fully transformed into an MMA style sparring ring flanked by a cage and in it, a brown haired boy was struggling as he was pinned to the mat by another. Mr. Stevens declared the winner and Noah stood up with a smile then pulled the boy up. His brown eyes were filled with rage as he thought of throwing a punch at Noah, just to wipe that sickening smile off his face but didn't act on it.
    “Good try, Randy,” he said, his chest falling up and down.
    They shook hands and exited the cage where Noah bent his head down toward Allison and wiped his sweaty face on hers playfully. She pulled away, visually disgusted and yelled out in her high pitched childlike voice, “Ah, Noah, stop!” She began laughing as he went in again and rubbed his curls against hers. When he stood up straight he turned to his teacher who looked down at him unimpressed, maybe even a bit annoyed as he took in a long breath and shook his head.
    “Good work, Noah,” said Mr. Stevens. “I hope you continue to take this seriously considering you will be hunting soon.”
    “Yeah, very seriously,” he said dismissively.
     
    After the class was dismissed, Olivia went home to change. She peeled off her dirt stained and sweat drenched shirt that clung to her skin and tossed it to the floor. The dark red gash on her arm made her skin look like it had grown paler in less than twenty four hours and her skin had sunken in so much that her ribcage was visible, each bone jutting out glaringly. She bit down on her bottom lip as she pulled a broken piece of metal out of the cut on her arm.
    “What's wrong?”
    Noah was pulling his shirt over his head when she turned her arm to him without saying anything. His face contorted at the sight of the wound that had begun gushing blood again.
    “Felicity did that to you?” he asked, dropping his shirt and walking over to her. He shook his head as he gently placed his hand on her arm and pulled it close to examine. His touch, albeit gentle, felt odd on her skin, the warmth unfamiliar. She was used to his touch but now it was foreign as it grew increasingly warm, prompting her to suspect that he had been out in the sun against the Matriarch's wishes. She fidgeted with each prod as his fingers slid across her skin and came close to the wound. He put it back down and said, “Well, there's nothing in it.”
    “Yes, I've taken care of it.”
    She walked to her closet and pulled out a towel and swung it across the back of her neck. Noah had stepped out of his shorts and was zipping up the zipper to his skinny jeans when he caught sight of Olivia's back. He threw a long sleeve burgundy shirt on, stuffing his unruly curls through the hole then rushed over to her. A darkened bruise, black with strips of blue, crawled up her back and twisted over her shoulder and he traced his fingers across it gently. She could feel the warmth from his breath and tensed under the pressure as his fingertips traced the outline of the bruise. “She did this too?” he asked, gritting the words through his teeth.
    She did a slow nod and he pulled his hand away and closed it into a tight fist.
    “There has to be rules against that! She's gone too far with that one!”
    “Her attack was within the rules of the system, and therefore, was allowed.”
    “You can't tell me you had a good time having the crap beat out of it.”
    Olivia half turned but remained quiet, her light brown, almost amber eyes fixated on the night sky. Noah had begun his passionate argument but Olivia had already checked out of the conversation, excusing herself