The first hit wasn’t even that hard, but it still knocked the breath out of her as she fell.
Danielle hit the ground with a grunt, dust blooming around her like a mockery of smoke. The impact rattled her spine, and for a second, she just lay there blinking at the sky, wondering how much of her dignity had just leaked out of her ear.
He'd told her to block him, to defend herself. He'd shown her stances and moves in slow motion. None of that had prepared her for the first blow.
It wasn't like she'd never fought before, back in the orphanage not every kid was kind. Sometimes it came down to being scrappier than the others just to protect your things. But she had always been more of the "run away" type of kid.
“Up,” Connor said, the word ripping her out of her memory. She gazed up at him
