As soon as I reach the bottom, I spot one of Andy’s assistants jogging for me.
Fuck.I was supposed to have more of a break between these stunts and sparring, but the extra takes ate up that time.
His face brightens as he sees me. “You ready to go spar with Christine?”
I offer a steady grin and a thumbs-up. “Let’s go.”
Christine and Andyare waiting in the same patch of gravel where Gabriel and I sparred earlier. The ground is lined with blue foam mats, assembling a makeshift gym floor under spare lights to fend off the impending sunset. A few thicker pads are arranged near the edges, meaning Andy will want to practice some falls.
On the way over, I chugged water and stretched out some of the stiffness in my ribs, and I take a long hit from my vape as I approach. The nicotine settles my nerves. And at the end of a sweaty day next to an alpha, I need the cover for the hint of citrus that escapes the suppressants and makes its way into my sweat.
Christine eyes the puff of vapor. “Hope you’re not tired already.”
“I have all the energy I need.” I turn to Andy; my plan is to ignore Christine as much as I can get away with. While being inches away from her.
Given that Andy is as much a legend as Bella is, he’s a pretty great distraction. And even Christine shuts up and listens to him.
“Okay. We’re going to run through the basics.” Andy has a soothing, deliberate tone and a moderate Chinese accent. “We’ll be able to practice on the rig tomorrow, low to the ground. It’s not much time, so I want you to focus on making… ingredients. We’ll mix them together tomorrow, work out the camera angles. It’s going to take improvisation, immersion.”
“That’s not a problem for me,” I say, with just the lightest emphasis onfor me.
Christine’s too-blue eyes flick toward me, brow raising.
I ignore her, keeping my focus on Andy.
“Mylo, I want you to bring some capoiera into Melinoë’s fighting style. She is fluid, shadow, control. Until she isn’t. She must look fast, but because of smoothness, not quick, jerky movements.”
I nod. Capoiera is an Afro-Brazilian martial art with a dance-like style, mesmerizing and flowing. Pure capoiera is more spiritual practice than fighting style, but elements of capoeira—especially agile handstands and velvet-smooth kicks—blended with other styles make for some of the most compelling stunt fights to watch.
The style also plays well into my gymnastics background, and I’ve practiced it enough to blend it smoothly with my foundations in Judo and Tae Kwon Do.
Christine, on the other hand…
“We’re going to pick up where you left off with Alanna,” Andy says to her.
“Try to keep up,” I say.
The corner of her mouth twitches upwards. “That’s not a problem for me.”
Andy gives us our first prompt: I get to take a punch. It’s really just a fall, a classic stunt punch, no contact.
Christine swings, and as she pulls the blow, I throw my chest backwards, pushing off with my feet to send myself twisting in the air. I spot my landing on the cushion, tucking around at the last second to land on my back.
Pain lances through my bruised core, but I spring to my feet all the same.
“Good,” Andy says. “Again.”
I find a new angle to push, working an extra rotation in. Andy gives me a crisp, satisfied nod, then gives Christine a minute of notes.
“Understood?”
We nod.
“Again.”
And so it goes—ten more times. Andy gives Christine notes after each pass, working on her posture, her follow-through, her commitment.
After the twentieth reset, I’m getting impatient. As much as I value Andy’s approval, I want his attention more.
