Hard Tail by JL Merrow Read Free Book Online

for it. I didn’t block—just took myself out of his path and let him blunder on by. When he turned, his face had reddened. I hopped lightly on my toes and waited for him to make the next move. It seemed his Neanderthal brain managed to grasp my subtle message that I was ready for anything he could throw at me, as his lips curled in a snarl. Anger made him clumsy, and I easily spotted the feint, blocked it and danced to one side as he steamrollered past.
    “Come on and fight, you bastard,” he ground out from between teeth so tightly clenched his dentist would probably never forgive me. I braced myself for the next onslaught—and almost jumped out of my gi when Sensei Cole’s voice bellowed past my left ear.
    “ Mister Pritchard, change partners, please.” Sensei moved into my field of view, bouncing on the balls of his feet like the Duracell bunny with a fresh battery, despite this being his third class of the evening. “Right, Mr. Knight, let’s see what you can do.” Sensei Cole was the old-fashioned type—everyone in the class, down to the tiniest tots, was Mr. or Ms. Somebody.
    Bruce shot me a murderous look and slunk off with the rangy Asian guy I’d already pegged as Sensei’s second in command—I didn’t know what grade black belt he was, but I reckoned he had to be third Dan at least. He’d probably survive a spar with Bruce, anyway. We shifted over to a vacant space, and Sensei started putting me through my paces.
    Sparring with Sensei Cole was a completely different ball game. For a big guy, he was incredibly light on his feet—but it was his control that impressed me the most. He started off slow with me, then upped the speed by precise increments, testing my reactions. Fighting with a guy like that is an incredible buzz. I knew I could trust him not to go too far—and equally, to get himself out of trouble if I misjudged things.
    We were both grinning like maniacs by the time the session ended. Sensei patted me on the back. “Very good, Mr. Knight. Very good indeed. Will we be seeing you again?”
    I couldn’t help a glance over to Bruce, who was glowering in a corner and wiping sweat off his forehead.
    Sensei laughed. “He’s just a little bit enthusiastic at times, our Mr. Pritchard. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get used to him.” He coughed. “You might want to pick a different partner for a while, though.”
    As I bowed and walked out of the dojo , Bruce glared at me. I half expected his foot to shoot out and trip me as I squeezed past his pumped-up physique, but nothing happened.
    I hoped that didn’t mean he was biding his time for a more satisfying revenge later.
     
     
    When I got home, Wolverine was in the kitchen glaring pointedly at the empty food bowl. “Who’s a cute little pussy-wussy, then?” I crooned, hoping it might wind him up. He didn’t even dignify me with a disdainful look. “All right, all right. It’s coming.” Feeling smug because I’d remembered to get some cat food at Asda, I grabbed a fork and opened up a can.
    Ye gods, that stuff hummed. It was worse than the tuna first thing in the morning. “You actually eat this stuff?” I asked Wolverine in disbelief, trying to hold my breath while forking the glutinous mass out into the bowl. He miaowed at me. Maybe he was annoyed at me for dissing his dinner.
    Then again, maybe not. It turned out Wolverine didn’t believe the stuff was edible either. He took one sniff and then backed away hurriedly, turning to me and miaowing again, this time with a definite note of reproach. “It’s all you’re getting,” I warned him. He hissed, and it was my turn to back off. Then I felt a bit ridiculous. “If you think you’re going to bully me into giving you tuna again, you can think again. I’m going to have a shower,” I said firmly.
    I escaped upstairs and sluiced off the grime of the day with a certain amount of relief—after all that sparring, I was humming a bit myself. My thoughts wandered, as they