He headed toward it, saying, “I knew you’d see the light.” The idiot sure had bought my line quickly.
“You guys always know best.” I knelt, like I was ready to get comfortable.
He chuckled, and it was a perverted little satisfied sound, like he was about to get lucky. “That’s right. You relax.”
He began to unzip. It marked the second time in my life I’d seen Rob’s hand on his zipper.
I was sick of it. “Let me help you.” I sprang up and around him, gripping my star between fingertip and thumb, and in one swift flick, I slashed his pants front to back.
“What the—?” His voice was a high-pitched squeak.
I backed away, watching in amusement. “By the way, you touch your pants one more time in front of me, I swear to you, it’ll be your last.”
He patted at his crotch, making sure everything was intact. “What the fuck?”
I let myself laugh. “You seemed so anxious to air it out. I thought I’d give you a hand.”
He reached around, and I saw the moment he realized there was a giant gap where the seat of his pants should’ve been. “You little bitch.”
“Relax,” I told him, mimicking his earlier instruction to me. “You said I shouldn’t mess with Trainees.” I gave him an innocent shrug. “You’re not hurt. I’m better with my shuriken than that. Besides, you helped.” I flicked my eyes toward the seat of his pants. “Small target and all.”
“You’ll pay.”
I had problems so much bigger than Rob-the-teenaged-Trainee, I found it hard to muster a care. “Will I?” I began to jog backward away from him. “I’m not the one returning to campus with a giant hole in my pants.”
I was in a grand mood as I headed to Watcher Priti’s class. I passed Tracer Otto on the path and bit my lip not to smirk at the sight of his bandaged throat. Mei-Ling had stabbed the guy with her violin bow as he abducted her. I hadn’t fully believed Ronan when he told me, but the proof was right in front of me.
“Is there a problem, Acari Drew?” Otto’s German accent was thick when he was angry.
“No problem,” I quickly replied, darting my eyes down.
Getting myself back under control, I kept my head down the rest of the way. I’d endured quite enough interaction with my peers for one day—there was no need to go looking for any more.
Expeditionary Skills Training was held outside, on a stretch of sandy beach, and by the time I reached it, I’d pulled myself together. I’d handled the Masha incident. I’d investigated a murder scene and put some boneheaded boy in his place. I’d even gotten in a bit of roomie bonding. Maybe this was how normal college girls felt.
I hadn’t yet found any clues to the actual identity of the murderer, but I’d taken the first step, and first steps felt good. First steps were empowering.
I was in a halfway decent mood for the first time in a while, but it did a nosedive when I felt him. When I saw him.
Carden. Standing next to Priti on the sand.
And he looked ready to teach.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Carden spun his head, his eyes fixing on me the moment I stepped from the rocks onto the beach. Instant longing thrummed through me at the sight of him. The gnawing in my belly became hot fingers, twining and teasing through me enough to falter my step.
He looked about as pleased to see me as I was to see him.
My feet carried me toward him. It was stupid, but I couldn’t help myself. Like breathing, it was something I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted to.
Every muscle in his body seized taut, the evidence of which was obvious—not only was he super-buff to begin with, but he wasn’t wearing a jacket over his tight white T-shirt. I’d have sworn his pecs actually cast their own shadows. It did nothing to help my addled state.
Sand had spilled into my sneaker, and I concentrated on the cool, damp grit. “Hi,” I said, my voice impressively calm.
He gave me a tight nod. “Acari.”
His voice echoed through me, and all my hard-won calm of a moment before shattered. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” The words spilled out of me. Anger, desperation, relief—competing emotions made my voice crack. Oh God, had I really just spoken like that to a vampire in front of everyone? I quickly tried to amend it by saying, “That is, it’s a pleasure to see you again, Master McCloud.”
The silence around us seemed infinite as I felt people’s shocked stares boring into me, though it was probably only a moment that passed before Watcher Priti said, “Acari Drew, are you well?”
I forced a neutral expression. “I…Yes…I’m sorry. I have a headache, is all. I missed lunch,” I added quickly, lying to explain it away.
That seemed to mollify her. She peered hard at me. “How many meals have you missed? You look pale.”
“Just the one.” I fisted my hands to stop the trembling. “But I’ve been working out more.”
“You know how important our meals are,” she said with equal concern and scold in her voice. I was a Watcher Priti favorite. She really, honestly liked me.
I liked her, too. But just then that meant nothing to me—all I was able to register was how close she was standing to Carden.
It was jealousy to the nth degree and it felt like madness, like acid was searing a hole through my insides. I feared the throbbing in my head would make my skull shatter. I fought to keep my face bland.
Thankfully, Priti seemed clueless as to my sudden, overwhelming urge claw her eyes out. “I gather you met Master McCloud on your mission,” she said. “I’ve asked him to be our special guest today. He’ll be taking us rock climbing.”
“Yes, we’re acquainted.” I smiled, sure it looked more like a teeth-baring.
Carden’s eyes were on me, intense and unreadable, like they might peer into my soul. Was he paler than usual, too? I thought he might be. I had to look away.
My gaze went to the horizon, gray and vast, interrupted only by the gigantic pillars of rock that rose from the sea like chimney stacks. Here, the sea churned, black water and white froth that pummeled and roiled, powerful enough to have punched ruts into the ancient granite over the centuries.
One thing reassured me: At least we weren’t going to have to go in the water. People didn’t go into this water.
There was a reason Priti used this particular beach for her classes, and it was the same reason Ronan never surfed here. Inlets like Crispin’s Cove were protected—land cradled the water on either side, making for more manageable surf. It also meant rocky beach.
But this bit of coastline jutted bravely into the sea, fully subjected to the punishing waves—waves that, across generations, had battered the shoreline into sand. It was the favorite spot of many teachers, and good for things like wind sprints or hand-to-hand combat while knee-high in the breakers.
Ronan wouldn’t surf here. The waves were erratic and unpredictable beasts, cresting and smashing into the sea stacks. Not a great ride if you’re on a board.
“Good afternoon, my little birds, and welcome to Expeditionary Skills Training.” Priti’s voice brought me back to reality. She always sounded so shiny, a lethal fighter with a sunny disposition. “Different missions demand different skills. As Acari Drew can tell us”—she gave me an appreciative smile that I didn’t deserve—“some missions require a facility with language or disguise. Others require no more than the simple ability to survive in the wild, and those are the skills we’ll be addressing this term. Basics like shelter, navigation, and”—she smiled brightly at Carden—“rock climbing.”
Carden took over. Or rather, he bowled me over.
I was used to the flirty, naughty-boy Carden. This Carden was different. This Carden was pure Vampire.
He stood, arms crossed at his chest and legs slightly parted, straight and solid, like an echo of the granite pillars behind him. He commanded the class, and every eye on that beach was glued to him. “In a survival situation, there are three things you need to address above all others. I call them the three H’s. Heat.
H20. Hunger.”
“Don’t forget hatred.” Some Acari had said it in an attempt at humor or flirtation—I wasn’t sure which. She looked impressed with herself and her own bored superiority.
Carden slowly swung his gaze to her, like a wolf sizing up prey. “Aye. Hatred—an easy answer. But it’s the easy answers that kill you.”
The girl’s face fell, her superior look replaced by a mix of contempt, resentment, and fear. In a few words, he’d turned her sass into a deficiency. Like she’d made a joke, and now we could cross her off the list because she clearly wouldn’t survive the week.
Seeing Carden now, I thought it miraculous that I’d found myself in his good graces. Was it only the bond? Would he have been just as disdainful with me if we didn’t have this chemical connection?
“Hatred is easy,” he continued. “Anyone can feel it. It’s the rare person who’ll face a life-or-death situation without emotion. Without panic.”
Just then, it felt like he was the one without emotion. He was utterly removed from me, more like them than he’d ever been.
“You need to get your mind right,” he said calmly, “if you’re to survive this.” He pointed to the water at his back.
Oh God. Were we going to go in the water after all?
I tuned in to the roar of the sea, a raging hum that filled my head. Its power was so great, it’d punched holes through those towering granite pillars. It had ground boulders into the sand beneath our feet.
“Sometimes you have control over your situation. Sometimes you can find water easily. Sometimes shelter presents itself.” He began to walk around us, catching our eyes, addressing each one of us. “But sometimes you’ll have no control. Sometimes your situation will control you. Forget food or heat; sometimes all you’ll have is your will to survive.
“Every one of you has faced a competitor in the ring and you were the ones who walked out alive. Facing nature is no less than that. When on a mission, you must view the outdoors as you would an opponent. See your natural surroundings as a threat. Because if you let nature catch you unawares, she will kill you as surely as any enemy.”
He stopped in front of me and touched a finger just above my left breast. My heart leapt. The feeling of perfect connection was so profound it made my vision waver.
“You must know this in your heart,” he said in a voice hoarse with intensity. His touch was a brand, burning through the flesh and bone, straight to my heart. But it wasn’t a sexual thing. In that instant, I felt how he was trying to communicate something to me. Something that might keep me alive someday. “You must believe you can master every situation. Or you will be finished before you even begin.”
I gave the slightest nod. He gave the slightest nod in return. I knew a peculiar sensation—it was the feeling that I’d found something.
With a sharp breath in, Carden turned from me. “Watcher Priti has asked for a climbing demonstration.”
Climbing. Not swimming. Relief swelled through me as he headed inland, toward one of the cliff walls lining the beach. Anything beat swimming.
Priti interjected, “Today, Master McCloud will introduce you to the basics. And then we’ll be mastering these skills over the coming weeks as I lead you on our own climbs.”
Carden led us far along the beach—farther than I’d ever been—and stopped at the base of a modest-sized face. He slapped his hand against the rock. “The basics.” He looked up, squinting against the glare. Sunlight picked shades of gold and red in his hair, and the wind whipped it into a tangled halo around his head. He was beautiful. “This wee rock should pose no trouble. I’ll talk you through it as you go.” He faced us. “Who’s first?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I can climb.” A girl stepped from the group. It was the Acari who’d made the crack about hatred. I wondered if this was her way to prove herself.
Carden narrowed his eyes. “Can you, indeed?” He stepped aside so she could take her place at the base of the rock wall. “And I’d thought there was always something more to learn. But what do I know? I’m a lad of only…let’s see…over two hundred and fifty years now.”
The other Acari tittered at his joke, but I saw from the steel in his eyes that this was no laughing matter. Things rarely were where vampires were concerned. I was discovering that Carden’s nonchalance was much more of an act than he let on.
“Your name?” he demanded.
“Acari Kate.” Her eyes were fever bright. It made her look like a junkie whiffing a fix.
“All right, Acari Kate. You’ve climbed before?”
She nodded, pleased with herself. “A lot.”
“Have you ever done a free climb, climbs-a-lot-Kate?” There was a hint of derision in his voice, like he’d seen her type before.
Her lip curled. “That’s all I do. I’m from Colorado, and there we—”
“So you know to imagine your path before you begin,” he said, cutting her off. Acari Kate didn’t like it, but I did, guessing that it was for the benefit of those like me who’d never scaled a rock in their lives.
Shielding his eyes with his hand—the glare can’t have been easy on vampire eyes—he pointed up the face. “Search for the shadows along the rock. Those are the cracks and ruts that will be your handholds.”
“I know,” she said, and took off.
Carden’s smirk spoke more to his disgust than amusement. “This is not a race. If you try to compete with Mother Nature, you will lose.”
We watched her climb, and she was impressive, scrabbling up the cliff side. I made a mental note to beware if I ever found myself facing her in a combat ring—the girl had killer fingertips.
She paused at a difficult point, searching for a handhold.
“See how she finds her center,” Carden told us. “Her breath, her movements…She remains composed and even.”
Kate bent her knee to her chest, nestling her foot in a crack, then lunged, stretching high for the next handhold.
“Ah, there. Did you see how she used her legs?” His gaze lingered on me as he said, “You must let your legs do the work. They’re stronger than your arms.” I felt his hand over my heart again, even though he was several feet away. A phantom caress soothed me. Reassured me. “You must never think your arms weak. You’ll only panic. Trust your legs—they have all the power you’ll need.”
I believed he’d catered his comment to me, the person who’d just recently managed her first series of successful pull-ups.
When he glanced back up, Acari Kate was near the top. He shouted, “That’s enough. You’ll be unable to make it all the way.”
But Kate upped her speed, calling down, “No, I can make it.”
“My role is not to scold you like wayward children.” He set his jaw in a grim line as he faced us. “The intention was to discuss climbing. I fear this has become a lesson about pride.”
I’d been mesmerized by the sight of Kate scaling the rock like a spider, but Carden’s tone demanded my full attention. What lesson would he teach Kate when she came back down? I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to have to see this side of him.
I hadn’t realized Priti stood behind us until she announced somberly, “Pride kills more surely than the fiercest competitor.”
Dread prickled my skin. So sure they were. But why?
Pebbles crumbled loose, skittering down the rock wall, and we all swung our heads, looking up the cliff. What did this girl think she was trying to prove?
“Almost there,” Kate shouted with satisfaction. More rocks trickled down. “Whoa.” She laughed, a rolling, self-satisfied cackle that sounded crazy. I wondered what was wrong with her. The wind carried her laughter over our heads to the sea.
Carden stalked from the cliff face, looking disgusted. We parted to let him through. His arm brushed mine as he passed, and breath whooshed into my body, my traitorous lungs sucking in air, trying like an animal to catch his scent.
“I can reach the top,” she shouted, sounding determined. Maybe she
wasn’t nuts—maybe she just had something to prove. Hell, maybe she just really liked climbing. She was mere inches from the top now.
“Vanity outlives the man,” Carden muttered behind me.
“Acari Kate,” Priti called. “You will return. Now.”
“A Scotsman said that,” Carden went on, sounding as coldly impassioned as any vampire. “Robert Louis Stevenson.”
“Okay, okay,” Kate shouted. “I’m coming back down.”
But she didn’t. I squinted into the glare. Watched as her leg pushed her up. She reached an arm over the ledge. Hoisted herself higher. She froze.
And then Acari Kate screamed. A terrified, shrieking scream, like she’d looked over the ledge only to be faced with a nightmare. A large chunk of rock broke free and bounced down, and we had to jump back not to get hit. Tiny rocks dislodged, crumbling down around us like hail. She screamed again, and this time it seemed she barely stopped for breath. It was one long, uninterrupted cry.
Everyone gasped when her foot slipped. But then her arm slipped, too, and she began to fall, the image surreal as both her arms spun in the air like a slow-motion windmill.
I clapped a hand over my mouth, aghast, as she tumbled down, bounced once against a jut in the cliff wall, and landed with a chuff in the sand.
Her body was still.
After her screams, our silence was deafening. There was only the breathing of the girls around me, heavy like we’d just run laps. Waves crashed behind us, a loud, rhythmic thrumming reminding us that we were minuscule and meaningless and that life went on without us.
Finally Carden broke the silence. “This is enough.” He gazed out toward the sea, and what I saw in his expression was unexpected. Beneath the anger, I imagined I saw sadness, too. Had he really wanted to help us? Did he want us to succeed? To live?
Watcher Priti told him quietly, “Perhaps it is time for your demonstration.” Her tone was that of one adult giving another a hint.
And then she turned and stepped away. But as she did, I spied her sliding a small device from her belt. She keyed something in. Was she texting?
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