All three girls slowly entered the training room with sport clothes rumpled, hair hastily tied, eyes half-lidded with sleep and regret. Their steps were sluggish, feet dragging. Eight men already filled the space, stretching, sparring, wide awake and far too energetic. Mike stood at the center with folded arms.
“Well, well,” he called out, strolling toward them with a smile that was anything but kind. “What’s this? Didn’t get enough beauty sleep?”
Cova stifled a yawn, Katika glared somewhere in front. Lili said nothing, but the twitching shadows curling around her fingers betrayed her mood, fatigue and lack of control.
Mike’s eyes narrowed. “Today’s focus is on physical discipline: strength, endurance and definitely means no powers.” He took a step closer. “If I see even a hint of them, you’ll be dropping for a hundred push ups each time. No exceptions.”
He turned pointedly to Lili, who didn’t bother hiding the coils of shadow dancing along her knuckles. “I said no powers.”
Lili’s eyes flared. “Yeah? Well, it’s not like I can just flip a fucking switch, Mike! Maybe try not yelling in my face at this ungodly hour, and they’ll calm down!”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “That’s the shame, isn’t it?”
He took a step back. “Two hundred push ups.”
Cova and Katika blinked and instinctively looked down at themselves, but Mike waved them off.
“Not you two. Just her.” He jabbed a finger toward Lili.
Lili stared at him for a moment. Then, with a muttered curse, she dropped to the floor and started pushing.
“One,” Mike began counting loud and slow, “two… You better keep going, Lili. You’ve got a long way to go. And trust me, this is the easy part of your day.”
The girls stood to the side, watching her quietly. Cova had a small wince of sympathy, Katika mouthing: you’ve got this.
***
Lili stumbled out of the training room, her arms limp at her sides, swinging uselessly with each uneven step. Every inch of her body screamed in protest, but her arms felt like two sacks of numb weight, disconnected from the rest of her suffering existence.
Cova and Katika trailed behind her, not nearly as broken, but wisely keeping a step back.
“At least you did nearly two hundred,” Cova offered gently, trying to sound encouraging.
Lili let out a wheezing noise that might have once aspired to be a laugh but died somewhere in her throat. “Out of five hundred,” she rasped, her voice like gravel, bitter and broken.
“I mean…” Katika added, with a weak grin, “it’s almost half. Kind of. If you squint.”
Lili growled under her breath, stopping just long enough to glare at both of them before continuing down the corridor. “How the fuck am I supposed to eat? Or piss? I can’t feel a single finger! What the hell am I supposed to do? Telepathically unzip my pants?!”
Cova snorted.
Katika burst out laughing. “I’d pay to see that, honestly.”
“Shut up before I stab you with my mind,” Lili grumbled.
“Can’t lift your arms, babe,” Katika replied, smirking. “You’d have to glare me to death.”
“I might.”
The next morning, the trio dragged themselves back into the training room. Lili’s steps were slow, uneven; the strain of the previous day’s punishment written across every inch of her posture. Her clothes were wrinkled, mismatched, like she’d pulled them from the bottom of a forgotten drawer without even looking.
Mike spotted her immediately and smirked.
His gaze swept from the top of her tousled hair to the battered shoes on her feet, taking in every detail with the sharp eye of a man who lived to make others regret underestimating him.
Lili noticed. Her shoulders tightened, her back straightened by instinct alone, though it screamed in protest. She braced herself. If he ordered push-ups again, she knew that her arms would snap off before she managed a single one.
Mike’s voice was deceptively calm and amused. “Where are your shadows, Lili?”
She blinked, confused.
What happened? Left them curled up under your pillow?”
Lili’s jaw clenched. “They’re asleep,” she muttered, then added more dryly, “like I should be.”
Mike’s smirk deepened. “Today is about control and if your shadows can’t behave, I’ll make you do twice the work to make up for it.”
“Great,” Lili said under her breath. “I always wanted to die from sarcasm.”
Cova leaned over and whispered, “At least you look like a glorious wreck.”
Katika snorted. “Yeah, fashionably dead. We should all aspire.”
Mike glanced over his shoulder, where eight men stood in silent formation. “You’re sparring,” Mike announced. “Pick your partner.”
The three girls exchanged quick glances, then turned to scan the waiting soldiers. Each of them was carved like stone.
Cova folded her arms, Katika raised an eyebrow, as if already calculating her odds. But it was Lili who stood frozen, the blood draining from her face as she swallowed the bitter lump rising in her throat.
Her gaze swept the room, landing on one man whose arms looked like they’d bench pressed boulders since birth. Another cracked his knuckles. Her stomach turned.
“This is bullshit,” Lili muttered under her breath. “He knows I can’t even scratch my nose right now.”
“What’s the matter, Lili? You’re not backing out, are you? Or do your shadows only come out when the lights are off?” Mike called out.
Lili’s weak and trembling fists clenched. Fire flickered behind her tired eyes. “I’ll pick,” she growled through gritted teeth. “Just don’t expect me to be polite about it.”
She stepped forward. Her finger rose, shaky but sure, pointing to a man standing just slightly apart from the rest. Broad-shouldered, square-jawed, easily twice her weight. He didn’t flinch, only crossed his arms with a sneer that said he expected her to fall flat before the first strike landed.
Mike arched a brow, and for a flicker of a second, the edge of his smirk deepened.
Lili moved lightly, sidestepping and watching him instead of charging: the flick of his weight when he breathed, the way his left knee dipped ever so slightly when he shifted.
Her opponent stepped forward confident and grinning, but Lili didn’t respond. She continued circling.
Let him make the first mistake, she thought. Let him think I’m broken. Let him underestimate me. And then I’ll remind him why survivors don’t need to be the strongest.
The man finally lunged and reached to grab her. Lili dipped low, rolling under his outstretched arm. One palm barely brushed the ground for balance, and in the next breath, she rose behind him and struck him. Her elbow slammed into the back of his knee. The man stumbled forward, and as he tried to regain balance, she twisted, one leg hooking around his and yanked.
He hit the ground hard and sharp exhale burst from his lungs. His eyes flew wide in stunned silence.
Other men stood still, caught in the moment. Even Mike blinked once and there was respect flickering in his eyes.
From the side of the room came two claps—light, then louder.
Cova grinned. “That’s our girl!”
Katika joined in with a laugh, her hands smacking with delight. “Remind me never to pick a fight with her when she’s sleepless.”
Mike turned. His glare was sharp enough to silence them. Both girls snapped their mouths shut mid smirk and the sound of their claps dying so fast it seemed they weren’t here.
Lili strode back toward Mike, smug, victorious smirk curling across her lips. Sweat clung to her brow, her breath shallow, but her eyes sparkled with satisfaction.
Mike turned to the others. “Cova. You’re up. Choose your partner.”
As Cova scanned the line of waiting men, Mike’s gaze shifted back to Lili. “Next round, you’re going against two,” he said flatly. “Pick carefully.”
Lili’s smirk cracked and her breath caught for half a second with confidence faltering mid flight.
A week slipped by in sweat, bruises, and exhaustion. The days blurred into endless drills, relentless sparring, Mike’s voice screaming orders.
Somewhere beneath the ache and fatigue, Lili realized something had changed. Despite the madness of his methods, Mike had achieved two impossible things:
She had finally mastered the shadows. No matter the pressure, the pain, or the pull of emotion, they remained contained.
Also, he had unlocked a whole new kind of fear of not ever crossing Mike or Rafael again…
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