In the days that followed, Echo spent her time recovering and practicing her shooting. The training gradually ramped up-from hitting targets at 50 meters to 100 meters, and from stationary targets to moving ones. As her body grew stronger, the training got tougher and more demanding.
One day, in the basement, Echo watched the moving targets through her sights and nailed each one right in the bullseye. She raised a brow as she set the gun down, feeling completely exhausted.
Glancing around the empty basement, Echo wiped the sweat from her palms and muttered to herself, “Does this even count as punishment?”
“It’s not punishment at all,” Cobra’s voice suddenly answered from behind her. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips.
Echo frowned when she saw him. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Cobra pushed off the wall and sauntered toward her. “Did Boss ever tell you this was a punishment?”
Echo arched a brow but stayed quiet. Exactly-Ryan never explicitly said it was a punishment, which was why she wasn’t sure. If this wasn’t his idea of punishment, she had no clue what worse thing might be waiting for her.
Noticing her expression, Cobra chuckled and said, “You really think defying the Boss is gonna slide by that easily? There’s no way. And teaching you how to shoot? That’s not a punishment. You know how many people in the Dark family would kill to have me train them? None of them are even qualified. You sure are slow to catch on.” He gave her a smug smile.
Over the past few days, Echo had learned that Cobra was the best shooter among the four leaders. Having someone like him teach her didn’t feel like any kind of punishment at all.
Frowning slightly, she began to piece things together.
Ryan hadn’t given her any other orders, and as sharp as Echo was at reading people, she couldn’t detect anything strange in his behavior. She still couldn’t figure out what Ryan was really planning.
Cobra glanced at the targets and gave a small nod. “Not bad. You’ve been working hard.”
After that first day when Echo hit two shots, the no-water, no-food rule had been lifted. The last few days of training had been up to her discretion, and Cobra had expected someone like Echo to slack off. But to his surprise, she took it more seriously than he’d imagined.
Hearing his comment, Echo shot him a cold glare. “Cut the sarcasm. I know exactly what the Boss is thinking. I’m not stupid, and I’m not soft,” she snapped, giving an annoyed snort.
Ryan hadn’t explained anything-he just told her to practice shooting, over and over, with the difficulty increasing each day.
Sure, it could pass as punishment, but Echo wasn’t dumb. She knew she wasn’t skilled in combat or martial arts, and at her age, it’d be tough to make much progress in that area.
Shooting, however, was a different story. It was simple-success depended on precision, accuracy, and quick reflexes. As long as she could see, aim, and react fast, mastering shooting wasn’t out of reach.
And since Echo had spent her whole life working with her hands, she had a natural advantage. Her sensitivity to timing, surroundings, people, and pressure gave her a solid edge. That was probably why she picked it up so quickly.
Ryan must’ve known that from the start-his instincts were spot on.
If she wanted to work under Ryan, stay by his side through life-or-death situations, and survive in that kind of environment, self-preservation was crucial.
Sure, she had grown up in an organization and made a name for herself in the underworld, but in a world where life and death could be decided in a second, she needed to learn survival skills-and fast.
Shooting was the quickest thing for her to master.
Echo wasn’t dumb. When Ryan told her to start firearms training, she knew exactly what it meant, so she didn’t fight it or complain.
Getting the best shooter in the Dark family as her instructor and having access to top-notch equipment?
That wasn’t punishment; it was an investment in her.
The only thing that nagged at her was the fear that this wasn’t Ryan’s punishment-if it were, she’d at least know what to expect. But not knowing what else he had in store made her uneasy.
Ryan really wasn’t a nice guy.
Cobra’s grin deepened slightly as he listened to her. He had already suspected that Echo understood the purpose of the training, which was why she took it so seriously. And now, seeing her in action, it was clear-she was sharp, even if she occasionally had her moments of confusion.
“Your task today is to hit seven shots in a row within one minute,” Cobra said as he stood in front of her, checking the target monitor.
Four hits so far. Not bad. Getting four hits in just a few days was impressive-it showed she had talent.
But hitting seven in a row? That was a different beast. Only someone who truly understood guns would know how difficult it was, and only someone who used them to kill knew how essential that skill could be.
Echo frowned slightly at the challenge but didn’t argue. She loaded her gun and got back to practicing.
Cobra raised a brow, smirked, and left without saying another word.
Shooting was something you had to figure out for yourself-relying on instinct, touch, talent, and, of course, pressure.
Teaching her step-by-step? That wasn’t how it worked.
And doing it hands-on? Yeah, that’d get him blown to bits by the Boss. No thanks.
Giving her the task and getting out of her way? Now that was the right move.
Outside, Bill was waiting by the door.
When Cobra stepped out, Bill smirked and raised a brow. “Seven shots in a row? Man, you’ve got guts assigning that.” He walked alongside Cobra, carrying the drinking water they’d prepped for Echo.
Cobra’s smirk faded as he replied seriously, “It’s the only way. We’ve got to train her up fast, and the only way to do that is by raising the difficulty. The Boss is in way too much of a hurry.”
Bill’s smile disappeared too, and he nodded, looking serious. “Yeah, but if she’s going to survive real danger later, she has to put in the work now. I think Echo understands that.”
Cobra gave a small nod. “She doesn’t have much skill, but the Boss has set his sights on her. That just means she’s gonna have to work twice as hard.”
They exchanged a quick glance, shook their heads, and walked off.
Back in the basement, Echo kept practicing, over and over.
She didn’t care much about lofty ideas or theories. All she knew was the one simple truth: The more sweat you save in peace, the more blood you’ll lose in war. If she didn’t want to bleed, she had to give it her all-work hard, push herself, and then work even harder.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Seven shots in a row, all straight to the bullseye.
As the mechanical voice from the monitor announced her perfect score, Echo gave a slight smirk, set her pistol down, and rolled her neck and shoulders.
Yeah, she was exhausted, but she was getting used to it. As long as her body didn’t betray her, she could handle anything.
This wasn’t even real suffering-definitely better than what she’d endured as a kid.
She packed away the custom handgun Ryan had ordered for her and, out of habit, tucked it under her arm.
Everyone had their preferred spot for their weapons, and hers had always been under her arm. It was a habit from way back that she never bothered to change.
Pushing open the basement door, Echo glanced at the dimming sky outside-it was already twilight. No wonder she felt hungry.
Rubbing her head, she started heading toward Ryan’s villa.
Cobra and the others could monitor her progress from the surveillance feed, so she was free to go wherever she pleased.
The main estate of the Dark family was massive.
After living and wandering around for the past ten or so days, Echo figured there were at least twenty or thirty villas scattered across the property, each serving a different purpose. Meeting rooms, lounges, and entertainment areas were housed in separate villas.
The villas where people lived, however, were occupied by Ryan and a few core family members. Some lived off-site, but whenever Ryan was around, anyone with a room on the estate-those high enough in rank-would return, ready for his orders or whatever else might come up.
Echo walked through a small wooded area in the garden, which happened to be the only path leading from the basement to Ryan’s villa.
At some point, an earlier generation of the Dark family had decided to plant sycamores here, and over the years, the trees had grown into a small forest. It gave the estate a certain prestige-owning your own little forest on the grounds was, apparently, another sign of status in the family.
Out of the corner of her eye, Echo suddenly caught a glimpse of a white figure darting through the trees, vanishing just as quickly.
She frowned, staring at the spot where the figure disappeared.
What the hell was that about?
She stopped in her tracks and turned to look in the direction where the white figure had been.