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“Change into clothes you can move in,” Seth said.
Teagan and Violet exchanged glances. “Black cargoes and t-shirts with tactical boots,” Teagan said. “Standard Fortress uniform.”
“Perfect. We all have something similar. Might as well dress and act like the unit we are. Meet in the living room in fifteen minutes.”
When they entered the training center thirty minutes later, they were the center of attention. Conversation ceased as they approached Peters and Richardson.
Peters smiled at Seth. “You’re early. I like that in my troops.”
He gave a slight nod, shifted his attention to Richardson, and waited. This was where the challenge would come from. Richardson had something to prove after the fiasco yesterday with his enforcers. In a community this size, the news had spread about Seth’s men taking down the ambush team.
Richardson sneered. “I hope you and your team are well rested, Dixon. My men will not go easy on any of you.”
So, this jerk thought Teagan and Violet were the weak link. Richardson and everyone else in this training center were in for a surprise. “You don’t care about our health. Let’s get on with this.”
Fury glinted in the leader’s eyes. “You and your team take position in the center of the mat.” Richardson motioned to the rest of the people in the room.
Their one hundred plus member audience moved to surround the mat.
Really? Did Richardson think Seth and his team would bolt if faced with a tough challenge? If so, he was in for a big disappointment.
Seth signaled his team and, after a stare down with Richardson, joined them. He and his teammates watched as the enforcer team from yesterday’s debacle plus ten more men swaggered onto the mat and formed a circle around Seth and the others.
A two-on-one challenge. He glanced at Teagan, eyebrow raised. Seth knew he and his men could handle two men at a time, but what about Teagan and Violet? Had Maddox trained them to take on two opponents at once?
She winked at him.
Well, guess that was the equivalent of no problem. “Spread out,” he murmured to his team. “Watch your backs and that of your teammates.”
As he watched, Jerry and another man followed Teagan to her position a few feet away from Seth. Two other bruisers headed for Violet.
Violet and Teagan grinned at each other and turned back to face their opponents.
Seth almost wished he could stand on the sidelines and watch the women take apart the men challenging them.
Richardson blew a whistle. Immediately, noise in the training center exploded as the enforcers converged on Seth and his teammates. The militia members egged on their comrades and heckled the newcomers.
Out of the corner of his eye, Seth saw Teagan’s mouth stretch into a saucy grin at her opponents as she teased them with a come-ahead gesture. He snorted. She was actually enjoying this. Crazy woman.
Seth’s attention shifted to his two opponents. The biggest of the two rushed him, telegraphing a move to wrap him ina bear hug by spreading his arms wide and lumbering toward his opponent. He sidestepped, tripped Bear, and used the other man’s momentum to shove him to the ground. Before he could follow up with a neck chop, the second man moved in.
This one had more brains than his partner. He circled, looking for an opening. Seconds later, he darted in with a roundhouse punch aimed at Seth’s face.
Seth blocked it and landed his own right cross, followed quickly by a left. When Brains stumbled back, Seth sensed rather than saw movement at his back. He ducked and shifted to the right.
Bear’s momentum sent him careening into Brains, taking them both to the mat. “Get off,” hissed Brains.
While these two untangled limbs, Seth took a second to check on Teagan. One of her opponents was down, unmoving. An angry Jerry came at Seth’s woman with his hands fisted. She spun on one foot and a split-second later, her foot connected with Jerry’s jaw.
Nice. Very nice. His girl had this fight in the bag. A quick glance at Violet showed she was as adept at hand-to-hand combat as Teagan. Poetry in motion. That was the only description he could come up with for the women. No question, the trainers at PSI had done a spectacular job increasing Teagan and Violet’s skill level beyond what the Army taught them.
Brains shoved Bear to the side and leaped to his feet. With a roar of fury, he sprinted toward Seth. Again, he sidestepped enough that Brains missed him. Seth slammed the side of his fist against the back of Brains’ neck. The man dropped to the floor, unmoving.
One down. One to go. Seth turned his focus to Bear, who finally stood up.
The big man shouted obscenities. “I’m going to kill you. I don’t care what Mr. Peters said. You hurt my friend.”
Seth balanced on the balls of his feet, waiting in silence. Jawing like that wasted time and energy and caused men to lose their focus.