by Heather Karn
“I didn’t say we were going to fight. I said your next lesson is in ten minutes. We won’t be fighting yet. Hurry up, and don’t be late or I will make you fight. Ten minutes. Back yard.”
It wasn’t hard to remember how much Raven liked sticking to his schedule, so nine minutes later we were facing one another in the back yard, both of us in workout clothes. He may have said we weren’t fighting, but I didn’t trust it and wanted to be prepared. My sun glasses darkened my sight, but it almost wasn’t enough. The sun shown bright around us without a cloud in the sky to dampen the light it emitted.
“Okay, so what’s the game plan?” I asked Raven, not liking the wicked glint in his eyes or the crooked smile he gave the person approaching behind me.
From his scent, I knew it was Avery before he even came into sight. What I didn’t expect was the snow leopard who came strutting into my line of sight. Larger than I expected, Avery’s head came up to my hip. Even I knew that was too large for a normal snow leopard. My attention flew back to Raven when Avery settled in the grass several feet away, looking more like he was ready to pounce than relax.
“What’s the game plan?” I asked my trainer, not liking the situation. Raven said we wouldn’t be fighting, but why else would Avery be here looking like he was ready to maul me?
Raven reached his hand between us. “Give me the glasses.”
Horror widened my eyes before I could stop the reaction. He wanted me to do what? There was no way.
“Not a chance.”
“Give them to me or I take them by force. This doesn’t have to be a fight if you don’t make it one. You’ll hand over the glasses and you’ll get them back when you can stare at me without blinking for thirty seconds. If you try to take them before then, Avery will stop you.”
No wonder the cat looked ready to pounce. He was waiting for me to misstep so he could move in. Great. Not only did I have to worry about Raven, but his best friend too, and they’d worked together so often it didn’t matter that they couldn’t communicate as well with Avery as a feline.
“I’ll say it once more. Give me the glasses.”
I wanted to ask why, but the sick tightening of my gut told me why. They were my crutch, and we didn’t have time for me to baby myself into my eyesight becoming normal again, so Raven was forcing it. He’d be lucky if I didn’t change my mind about the Ball after today.
“I really hate you right now,” I hissed as I closed my eyes and ripped the glasses from my face. Instead of handing them over like a good little girl, I threw them in his general direction. My ears picked up the sounds of him catching the glasses and I wanted to scream. I should’ve thrown them in the pool off to the right to tick him off. “Thirty seconds. That’s it, right? Then I get them back?”
“You look at me for thirty seconds without blinking and you won’t need them back. Start now. Open your eyes or we open them for you.” Grumpy, trainer Raven was back, and I never wanted to hit someone so hard in my life.
Gathering what little will I could muster, I stared down, hoping the angle wouldn’t be as abusive to my eyes as staring outward or up would be. I was wrong. It didn’t matter which direction I looked. They were all terrible. Pain gouged at my eyeballs and I blinked several times until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer from the pain and the tears that flowed freely to fall from my chin.
“Open your eyes,” Raven growled in my ear. I’d been so focused on keeping my eyes open and the pain I hadn’t heard him step so close. He grabbed me by the chin with firm force, lifting my face to stare up at him, if my eyes were open. “Open your eyes. Now.”
The memory of the pain crushed my will and I fought him, sending my fist flying in his general direction, hoping I’d hit a decent mark. Instead, his hand caught my wrist, and in the next second I was facing away from him with my arm twisted behind me at a painful angle. Warm breath on my face signaled my nearness to Avery. Before I could wonder if the cat was going to attack me, a large, sandpaper tongue tracked its way from my chin to my hairline, leaving behind a trail of gooey saliva.
“Gah!” I cried, my eyes opening without thinking so I could glare at Avery. There was enough time for me to catch a glimpse of his satisfied, cocky grin before the sharp rays of the sun stabbed at my eyes again. Blinking back the tears from my still overly sensitive eyes, I ground my teeth together.
The pressure on my arm eased, and instead of focusing on my teary blindness, I turned my attention on payback for the two of them. This was torture, and I hated that I was so weak and being forced to do this. There had to be a better way, one that didn’t include my arm being torn off or a face washing by an overly confident shifter.
Unable to take any more, I closed my eyes and ducked my head, but I’d made progress, keeping my eyes open for longer between blinks. The pressure on my arm returned and increased.
“Open your eyes,” Raven growled again. That was fast becoming my least favorite order to spill from his mouth.
“Give me a second to regroup.”
My arm was yanked further, forcing a cry from me. Biting my lower lip, I opened my eyes, my vision still blurry. It was time for me to retaliate. If I didn’t do something, I’d be lucky to use that arm later today or tomorrow.
Avery’s face was in mine again, his tongue sticking a half inch out of his mouth like he was prepping for another face lick. While I blinked far more than I needed to, I gathered what spit I could muster, and when I could hold my eyes open for more than a few seconds, I met his gaze. I’d never been an expert at the art of spitting, but the glob of saliva hit its mark, right between the snow leopard’s eyes. I would’ve gloated, but I didn’t have time.
With Avery hissing his displeasure, I turned my attention on Raven. Still on my knees, I was limited in my attack on him. This was not my forte, but I did the one thing I knew how to do. My head whipped back, connecting with his face. He grunted, his grip loosening enough so that I could twist out of his hold. Blinking fast, ignoring the pain, I sprinted away from them until I was sure I was several feet away.
Turning on my heel, I faced the two men already stalking toward me. Avery appeared annoyed and snarled at me as he came in from my right. His long, white teeth were sharp, and even though I knew he’d likely not use them on me, that did little to convince my brain that his fierceness wasn’t real. Then again, I wasn’t certain beyond any doubt that he wouldn’t attack me.
Raven was moving in from the left, blood dripping from his nose. He let it run without trying to stifle it. The scent of the warm liquid reached me. My eyes may have been my biggest weakness since they weren’t working right, but my nose was working just fine. The sweet scent tickled my senses and I fought to focus on the man and not the blood.
With both of them approaching from either side, that left the center exposed, but that was their tactic. I’d never be able to run between them with enough speed to outrun both of them before they caught me. It was either prove I could do this and stare at Raven for thirty seconds or get my butt handed to me again.
“If I do this and don’t close my eyes, will you stop?” I asked him, keeping my eyes open for as long as I could, gasping with the effort.
“Maybe before you attacked us,” Raven growled. “Now you need to fend us off while you work on your eyesight.”
My heartbeat tripled while fear fought to make its way up my throat in a wave of puking. I hated feeling cornered and trapped, especially while being stalked. Every nerve was on alert, and I had no idea how I was going to get out of this. If I did make it out unscathed, I wasn’t speaking to Raven. And Avery could forget me even looking at him.
They were within feet of me. With short, shallow gasps of air, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. They were both fully trained fighters, and I couldn’t hold my own against Raven when I could see, let alone when I was near blind with tears. It was then I realized my sight was clearer than it had been, and I was able to keep my eyes opened longer. Maybe Raven had a point with this, but no
t the fighting.
“Let your body follow its instinct,” Raven directed. “Push the fear away. Your body knows what it wants to do, but you’re holding it back.”
“Then stop stalking me so I can concentrate on it.”
“No. Use your imagination. I’m a vampire. You don’t get to stop until I say you stop.”
My jaw clenched, waiting for the first of them to attack. Raven gave himself away a second before he made his move. Releasing a growl, I dove at Avery as Raven launched himself at me. Avery’s eyes bugged when he saw me coming, not expecting me to go for him instead of meeting the attack, or he hadn’t expected me to move as quick as I had.
I did as Raven directed and listened to my body as I flew through the air. My senses heightened just before I tackled Avery. We flew head over tail until we landed a few feet from one another. It took me a second to recover, but he was already on his feet, snarling and growling like he was ready to tear my throat out. My body finished reacting.
Sourness filled my mouth as my already larger than normal canine teeth, or mini fangs, grew into full fangs on both my upper and lower jaw. Hissing, I showed them off while I rose to a low crouch. Even with my attention on Avery, I was fully aware of Raven trying to make his way behind me. I shot him a quick glare, all the while keeping my senses focused on Avery.
The leopard shifter made his move the second my eyes were diverted, launching himself at me. A wave of power stole through my body. As he hit me, I adjusted my weight, grabbing the feline by his throat and shoulder. Using his momentum, I twisted and threw him at Raven, who barely ducked to miss being hit by his best friend, who ended up taking a dive into the pool.
Water cascaded around us as I turned the rest of my focus on Raven. He hissed, his own teeth already lengthened to meet my attack. My body shook with the excitement of the fight and I fought to control it. I could still smell the blood that was now a slow dribble from his nose. Swallowing, a slow burn made its way up my throat. I recognized it within an instant: the need to drink.
With fresh blood so close, I fought my brain and body to ignore it. The focus had to remain on Raven, but the more I tried, the worse the ache in my throat became until I whimpered with the effort. My trainer used this against me, and I wasn’t paying nearly enough attention to him and in the next instant, he tackled me. Straddling my stomach, he forced my arms above my head and hissed in my face. I reacted in kind.
Bringing his face low so his nose was inches from my mouth and the scent of his blood was strong, he grinned. “Congrats, Koda. You passed. Now, go downstairs and grab some blood, and next time, make sure you check your eye color before a lesson. They’re too dim to withstand a fight. You should have been able to beat Avery without any effort, but you passed. Get going.”
Raven rolled off of me, and I wasted no time running for the house.
Chapter 24
I didn’t leave my room the rest of the day, and Raven didn’t try to make me. Instead he texted me around dinner time that he’d left a plate of food outside my room and he was in his office so it was safe to grab it. If I’d thought I wasn’t being obvious about my task of avoiding him, I would have been dead wrong. Jackson had made steak, and he texted me after dinner to see how I’d liked it.
When I’d first ran to the basement, I’d meant to head straight to my room, but my body had other thoughts, heading straight to the mini fridge to pick out a vial of blood. There was one left with Raven’s name on it, but I’d been so angry with him I hadn’t wanted to take it, but the memory of the scent of his fresh blood assailed me and I’d reached for it and uncapped it before I could stop myself. Once the vial was open, I couldn’t stop myself from tipping it back.
Irritation rode me hard. The empty plate that had contained my steak sat on my nightstand, within reach of where I sat against the bed’s headboard. While the meal digested, I worked through what had happened this afternoon, playing everything over again from the moment I’d stepped into the back yard until I’d made the mad dash to the basement.
Releasing a sigh, I climbed from the bed to leave the room, ignoring the plate. Instead of climbing the stairs, I headed toward Raven’s office. The door was open, and when I stuck my head in, I found him reading through a pile of papers on his desk, his fingers woven into his hair and his brows furrowed.
“Is this a bad time?” I asked, interrupting his reading. He lifted his head, noticing me for the first time. His eyes were glazed over, but as he blinked, they took in the moment and the tense expression on my face.
Standing, he came around the desk and motioned to the chairs we’d sat in the last time I’d been in his office. “It’s not a bad time. Come sit down. I take it you want to talk.”
“I do. Can I shut the door?”
His lips thinned and he nodded. Closing the door behind me, I met him at the table. Raven sat after I took my seat, and he waited in silence as I thought about how to say what I needed to say.
“First, I need to apologize,” I started without looking at him. “You were only trying to teach me not to use the sunglasses as a crutch, and instead of complying, I attacked both you and Avery. I was wrong, and when you retaliated, I blamed you for the whole thing and the situation, when in reality, it was me who caused it by fighting you.
“Second, I’m sorry for my poor attitude afterward and for forgetting to drink blood before the fight. You’ve warned me, but I keep forgetting since it’s so new and I’m not used to checking my eyes or having enough blood in my system. It’s no excuse, and I’ll try to do better.
“Third, I need to apologize to Avery for spitting on him and throwing him in the pool. I’ll do that when we’re finished. And if you don’t want to take me to the Ball anymore, then I understand.”
A tear leaked from my eye, and I wiped it away quickly, hoping he wouldn’t see my weakness. At least my voice hadn’t wavered or cracked, but if I had to speak again, I couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t. I hadn’t thought I’d become emotional about this, but I was tired, stressed, and overly emotional.
Raven reached across the space between us to set his hand on mine. “Avery is fine. He understands why you reacted how you did, and I’m sure, like me, he didn’t expect you to react well to today’s task. He didn’t appreciate being spit on, but he thought it a decent tactic, and suggested I tell you to aim for his eye next time so that it blinds him temporarily in the one eye instead of annoying him. There’s also no need to apologize to him or to me. It was a training session, and we all did what we had to do to complete it. We all made mistakes. You should have drunk blood before the fight, and I should’ve stuck to my word that it wouldn’t come down to one. Because of that, you have every right to be upset.”
“But I’m the one who started the fight.”
“And I should’ve ended it when you agreed to stare at me for thirty seconds instead of letting my adrenaline and eagerness to fight blind my mind. We’re both at fault. And it’s no reason for me to not want to escort you to the Ball. It would take a lot more than a lesson well learned by all of us to change my mind.”
“Thanks. I really don’t want to go alone.”
“And you won’t. Remember, you passed the lesson, and I was also impressed. You took my direction and applied it, even though you were weak from not drinking blood yet today. Remember, you have to drink it more often right now because your body is finishing the changes and needs the nutrients within the blood. Once the changes are all complete and stable, you won’t need as much blood as often.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind. There’s just so much to remember now.”
Raven chuckled as he leaned back in his seat. “If you want, I can have Avery remind you. I’m sure one lick of his tongue and every warning from today’s lesson will come right back to you.”
I rolled my eyes. “He was getting me back for not showing him my dress, wasn’t he?”
Laughing harder, Raven stood and moved back to his desk, ending our talk. “Yes, he’s quite irrit
ated about that.”
“I bet he is. I’ll see you later.”
I was halfway out the door when Raven called after me. “Koda, I forgot to tell you, I have to be at headquarters for most of the morning tomorrow for some meetings. If I’m lucky I’ll be home around noon. If not, it’ll be mid-afternoon. If you need me, call or text. I’ll answer for you. Avery’s taking Lee to our tech division so they’ll be gone. I’m not sure what Jackson and the girls have planned, but if they leave, you’ll have the place to yourself.”
“So I’m stuck here?” I asked, not liking that it sounded as if I was under house arrest.
He grunted. “No, you aren’t. If you have to go somewhere, take the Suburban. You might want to take the time to practice your fighting skills, though.”
“I have a package from my mom that might be getting in tomorrow. She sent it to my old house. It’s from my real mom, so I want it.”
“Yes, that’s important,” Raven agreed. “It may give us more information about who your parents were and which House you’re in.”
“And what happened to them both,” I added, not caring which House I was in yet. All my life I’d wondered what happened to my biological parents. Hopefully something in the package would tell me.
“If you need to go, do it. If someone’s around, you might want to take them with you, just to be safe.”
Turning away from him, I walked away mumbling, “You’d think I was attacked every day or had a bounty on my head the way you talk.”
I knew he heard me, but he left me alone. It was just as well. Not ready for bed yet, but also not wanting to socialize, I snuck upstairs to raid a bag of chocolate from the pantry and locked myself back in my room to spend the next hour texting back and forth with Lee. He was worried about me, but I reassured him I was fine. Relaxing in bed, I slipped into sleep still wearing my uniform.
By the time I woke up, cleaned up, and dragged myself upstairs for breakfast, Raven had already left for the day. It wasn’t like I was late. Everyone else was just showing up, pouring cereal in bowls or syrup over leftover waffles. Raven was early leaving, to which Avery explained Raven had met up with some colleagues at Headquarters before his meeting. They were a team from out of town who happened to be visiting, and Raven rarely had a chance to see them, so he arrived early.