by Megan Duncan
His smile tugged at my heart, as he laced his fingers in mine and opened my bedroom door. There was no hint of seduction, but only warming admiration; and as we crawled into bed, he pulled me into his waiting arms. I rested my head on his chest, the sound of his heart and the warmth of his skin lulling me to sleep.
Chapter 10
An unusual sound roused me from slumber. I bolted upright, the glare of a nearby lamp blurring my vision until I successfully rubbed the thick layer of sleep from my eyes. A thundering sound was filling the typical serenity of the quiet nights in Naos. Was it lightening?
I leaned over to wake Arrick, only to find that he wasn’t there. His side of the bed was perfectly made, as if he’d never been there at all. I pulled my bottom lip in-between my teeth and tried to ignore the sting of his absence. He was normally an early riser, maybe he just didn’t want to wake me? I traced my fingers delicately along the place he had slept, missing his presence with a significant ache.
In spite of the cool breeze that was wafting in through my open balcony, I was sweltering underneath my comforter. I flung it off me with a growl, as if it had done something to offend me. In truth, I was really upset that Arrick had left. Waking up with him already gone made me feel like I had been stood up, or that last night was some kind of… I mean, we didn’t do anything, but still. Was I being over-sensitive? Possibly.
I snatched a hair tie from my bedside table, pulling my hair up into a messy bun before fanning myself with my hand. Why was I so hot? Maybe sleeping next to Arrick’s warm blooded body caused it.
The pounding sound tumbling in from outside hadn’t ceased, so I pulled my focus away from my emotions and toward the noise that had woken me. It was definitely coming from outside. I hopped off the bed, and made my way toward the balcony, my over-sized t-shirt whipping around my body as the breeze flew in. I scanned the sky as I drew closer, noting that every star was sparkling with incredible brilliance. No, definitely not a storm, there were no clouds. The more I tried to figure out what the sound was the more I began to panic. Could it be Baal attacking the Château? No, Arrick wouldn’t have left me alone if it were.
Panic crushing my heart, I ran to the balcony, flinging myself to the railing and scanning the surrounding area. What I found set my nerves at ease immediately. The courtyard below me had been completely cleared of every statue, potted plant and stone bench. The area was ignited with the fierce light of bonfires mixed with large glowing lanterns. The glow of the radiant light illuminated the crowd and I scanned the massive gathering of guards. I’d never seen so many vampires and Blood Guards all in one place before. It was quite impressive, and filled my heart with an overwhelming sense of pride.
There were several groups marching across the forefront of the courtyard, obviously circling the entirety of the compound. There were twelve smaller groups, sectioned on training mats, sparring with each other. I watched their moves closely, recognizing some of their movements from my own sessions with Eli, and then realization hit me like a freight train. War was coming, and there was nothing we could do to avoid it. Seeing everyone preparing themselves for the impending battle not only made me proud, but also scared the hell out of me. However, there was also a savage determination growling inside me, slowly overshadowing my fear. I wanted to stop Baal once and for all, and eliminate any trace that he had ever existed. I didn’t want anyone to know the horror of his evil again.
Fortitude roaring within me, I sped away from the balcony and into my closet, pulling on my training gear as quickly as possible. With sweats, a fitted tee and sneakers, I splashed cold water on my face and flew out of my room, the door slamming shut behind me. The desire to train with the guard was pounding in my veins as strong as any craving to feed I had ever felt.
Within seconds, I was bounding out the exterior doors and being swallowed up by the mass of training guards. I immediately caught sight of Arrick through the crowd, our connection pulling us together with an invisible tether. He was standing with Eli and Bennett when I popped up beside him. All of the hurt I’d felt waking up without him vanished when a broad smile lit up his face at the sight of me.
“Hey, sleepy head,” he said, pulling me under his arm after appraising my appearance in my form hugging attire.
“Hi.” I smiled back at him like a nervous school girl.
“Ahem!” Bennett noisily cleared his throat, pulling my attention away from Arrick, my cheeks blazing as red as a strawberry. “I was just telling Arrick about our new training regimen.”
“New training?” I looked around, before turning my gaze to Eli. He never seemed like the kind of vampire who enjoyed change.
“Yes.” His arms were folded across his massively sculpted chest. “It is time a new guard is formed.”
“A new guard?” I said with alarm. “What’s wrong with the Blood Guard?”
“Nothing,” Arrick answered, squeezing me tighter against his side.
“Eli and I have been working together on this for a while now, and we both agree that or current guard isn’t trained in the most effective tactics to stand a chance against Baal,” Bennett explained.
“What do you mean; didn’t we do well in the first attack?” I thought we had. Despite our losses, and considering that we hadn’t seen the attack coming, I thought we had held our ground rather well. I didn’t think Baal had considered we would fight back with such ferociousness. He had relied on the element of surprise, but he didn’t count on us surprising him as well.
“We could have done better,” Eli said with disdain. “I should have adjusted training at the first sign of Baal, but I must admit I didn’t truly believe he had returned until it was too late.”
“I told Eli about our training session, and that gave us the idea to form a new branch of the guard,” Bennett said.
“Your training session?” Arrick looked at me confused, and I avoided eye contact. I hadn’t told him about that. Not that I didn’t want him to know I trained with Bennett, but I didn’t want to reveal how dangerously close I had come to killing myself when I had tried using my abilities alone. I was more powerful than I had realized and without a strong hold on it I’d almost lost control.
“Yeah, we thought it would be good to practice more…” I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I tried to find the words.
“I asked her to,” Bennett took over for me. “At the time I wasn’t entirely pro-Eli.” He gave an ashamed glance over to Eli who looked both amused and irritated with the information. “I had been privately training a small group of the guard with more diverse tactics than what Eli would teach us in class. I didn’t care whether he thought we were ready or not. I believed that we had to fight fire with fire, that Baal wouldn’t fight fair and neither should we.”
“And you decided it was a good idea to have Claire a part of your little vigilante group?” Arrick questioned, sounding protective. I pulled out of his embrace, rounding on him with a scowl on my face.
“Bennett didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do, Arrick! I wasn’t against Eli, but I agreed with Bennett. I didn’t want to learn just how to deflect the dark vampires, I wanted to destroy them!” The vehemence in my voice surprised me, but I couldn’t deny the honesty of my words.
“I know you want to stop him, Claire, but improper training can be dangerous. You could get yourself or someone else killed if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Arrick pleaded.
“That was my reasoning as well,” Eli agreed. “I wasn’t happy when I heard the truth of Bennett’s secret training, but I now agree with his logic. We need to be more aggressive, and that is why I have invited all of the guard and Bennett’s group to train with us. It is time we awake the sleeping giant. We might be a peaceful region, but no longer can we fight to just deflect Baal. Claire is right, we must destroy him.” At his words, several nearby vampires and guard cheered loudly, throwing their fists up into the air. The urge to thrust my fist in the air with them alighted within me.
His wo
rds lifted my lips into a smile despite the evil we would soon be fighting. It was time we all pushed aside our fear and embraced our vengeance. I knew I had to do the same, and the little voice inside me that I usually kept caged up needed to be released. Everyone kept telling me I needed to control my anger, but maybe they were wrong. Perhaps I needed to release it.
Eli and Bennett gave me a tour of the make-shift sparring area. We walked past training mats as men and women fought each other with severe intensity. The speed at which they moved was mind boggling. I knew vampires were fast, but the guards were visibly quicker. I stopped at one particular mat where a girl, shorter than me, lifted a male vampire twice her size off the ground by his throat before slamming him back down. He grunted loudly, his face reddening at her fierce grip before she released him with a deep growl, offering her arm to help him up.
“I’m guessing she’s one of yours?” I asked Bennett, with a smirk.
He smiled, pride blossoming out of him in waves. “Yeah, one of my best. That’s Kyri.” At the mention of her name, Kyri looked up, giving Bennett a devilish grin before calling on her next opponent in a stern tone. I couldn’t help thinking she was a miniature, female version of Eli. The crowds around her mat were rapt with attention, observing her every move with intensity. She might have been small in stature, but I could tell there was nothing small about her.
“Impressive,” Arrick commented, as we watched Kyri send her next opponent flying into the gathering crowd.
“That she is,” Eli added. “Had I known she was capable of such strength I would have put her against Bennett in training long ago. She’s been holding out on me.”
“She’d kick my ass!” Bennett joked. “I’m glad she started training with me.”
“Who hasn’t kicked your ass?” I asked with a giggle before sidestepping Bennett’s attempt to playfully punch my arm.
“Hey! I beat you fair and square.”
“Once!” I teased. “It’ll never happen again.” My cheeks burned from the intensity of my grin. The immense pleasure I felt beating Bennett that night training still played vividly in my memory.
“I let you win,” he said, trying desperately to save face in front of everyone.
“If you say so,” I said, giggling and taking Arrick’s hand as we made our way past more training guards.
“We’ve decided to name our new guard the King’s Snake,” Eli said, bringing our conversation back to business.
“They’ll be a tactical, covert force that delivers precision and deadly attacks to our enemy. Their main objectives are to protect the royal family, and strike down generals in Baal’s forces,” Bennett joined in, all the laughter gone from his voice. For a moment I had seen the Bennett that I once knew, but it was quickly replaced with the new, hardened Bennett. As with everyone else, the attack and the reality of what we were facing had changed him.
“The King believes we need to be prepared for the possibility that we could lose this war. That when all the guard is gone, the King’s Snake will be the last line of defense,” Eli said with finality.
“Certainly it won’t come to that?” I asked. I didn’t even want to think of losing as an option.
“We hope not, but we must be prepared for the worst.”
“I understand.” I pulled my attention away from a pair of vampires that were sparring with two long staffs and turned toward Bennett. “Congratulations,” I said, leaning in to give him a hug.
“For what?” he asked, looking almost nervous by the attention.
“We couldn’t have done all this,” I waved my arm around at the massive crowd, “without you.”
He shrugged. “I’m not doing anything that anyone else wouldn’t have done.” I’d never seen Bennett look so uncomfortable about praise before. Normally, he hunted down every opportunity to get the attention focused on him, fishing for any compliment he could get. Had everything that had happened humbled him, or did he just feel uncomfortable because I was the one saying it? I was utterly baffled by his reaction till I caught sight of Arrick’s expression. It was written clearly on his face how much he didn’t like my hugging Bennett. He was masking his emotions well, but the clench of his jaw and the scowl in his eyes gave it away. Of course, he had nothing to worry about in that area, Bennett and I were just friends, but I couldn’t help but enjoy how jealous he was. What girl didn’t want her man wanting her all to himself?
“As you can see we have one member of Bennett’s old team training several of the guard in each group. We’re hoping they can share their new skills and train our soldiers. Many of the guard, with the exception of the most advanced members, are trained primarily on defensive maneuvers,” Eli stated. His arms were still folded across his chest, making him appear like a colossus but there was a slight twinkle in his dark eyes that I had thought I caught when I saw him eyeing those around us. Like most vampires he was a brick wall, not a single drop of emotion breaking through, but I didn’t need to sense his emotions to see how proud he was. We might be preparing for war, training to battle our most deadly enemy, but we definitely weren’t going to go down without a fight. From what I had read in the library, the vampires never even saw Baal coming when he made his first assault, which was why he’d nearly destroyed us. My ancestors never expected their own kind to turn on them. They were wrong.
“How many guards are going to be in the King’s Snake?” I asked curiously as I eyed two female vampires sparring with each other using daggers. Their movements were so fluid it was almost as if they were fighting their mirror images. One of them had her hair braided in a long, black ponytail, while the other had a sleek, blonde bun atop her head. The clang of their blades rang through the night with each strike, matching only the sound of their cries as they exhaled with the extreme effort of their movements. They were utterly inspiring, and I hoped that one day I could fight like them. In my eyes they were more than two vampires, they were warriors.
“We have twelve currently, but with more training we will have more. Eli is hand picking them himself,” Bennett gestured to Eli who was standing behind us, scrutinizing a group of three vampires brawling. “Kyri was actually one of the first to be accepted.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah, I mean there was no way Eli could say no to her. She practically demanded he let her in.”
“I hope she’s as good as she thinks she is,” Arrick commented. His words would have sounded condescending if it weren’t for his sincere tone. He didn’t doubt her abilities, but he knew how important that special force was. If our worst fears were realized, they’d be all that stood between Baal and my family.
“She’s better. Trust me,” Bennett answered back, confidently. “Plus, it’s in her blood. Literally.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Kyri is Eli’s daughter,” Bennett replied as if it was common knowledge.
I was shocked at first, but then I realized how much sense it made. She had his fierce countenance that demanded respect from those around her, the same challenging tone, and the same powerful aura about her.
“Well, if she’s half as tough as Eli, then I know we will be in good hands,” I commented, glancing back at the sparring mat where Kyri was exchanging blows. Her opponent had landed a lucky strike to the side of her head, but she retaliated by doing a roundhouse kick, knocking them to the ground. I watched as the vampire rolled over onto his knees, shaking his head before spitting crimson blood onto the pavement. Little Kyri packed a lot of power. That kick to the head definitely rattled that vampire’s nervous system.
As I made my way farther down the line of clashing vampires and guards, my eyes fell across a sight that brought a squeal of joy ringing out of me. Of their own accord, my arms flung into the air to wave at Robin and Dmitry who were standing on the very last mat. I dashed over to them, Arrick in tow, with a cheesy grin on my face. Seeing them training with everyone else made me immensely happy. Not only was it good to know they’d have my back, but it w
as also good to know they’d be well trained in defending themselves.
Robin bounced up, waving back at me before doing her best to shove one of her loose curls back into her ponytail. A sheen of sweat was beading on her brow, collecting the nearby light of lanterns and making her skin look like it was glowing.
“Look at you!” I said appraisingly, eyeing Robin’s training get-up. She always looked so sweet, and fragile, but in sweats and a t-shirt she looked pretty tough. Especially when the flush of her cheeks displayed how hard she was training, not to mention the thudding of her heart that I could hear like a drum inside my brain. In fact, I could hear everyone’s heart hammering like a thundering stampede. If they were human, I could imagine my thirst being hard to control.
“I know!” she giggled sheepishly, until a gasp exploded out of her as quickly as a popped balloon. Dmitry tackled her to the ground, sitting on top of her, his hands holding down her wrists. I jerked forward, my instincts taking over, any thought that they were simply training completely left my mind. I had one foot on the mat when Arrick’s iron grip wrapped around my waist, preventing me from taking another step forward. I looked up at his stern face, ready to demand he let me go, when I saw him nodding for me to watch the mat. I turned back around as Dmitry growled, lowering his fangs toward Robin’s pulsating neck. Everything inside me told me to stop him. Seeing Robin lying there, seemingly helpless, was making my blood boil.
Just as Dmitry’s fangs were inches from her neck, Robin jerked upward before rocketing to her side. Before I realized what had happened, she had taken Dmitry’s place and was sitting atop him ready to sink her fangs into his waiting neck. The look of downright shock on his face was priceless.
“How did you do that?” he asked, completely bewildered as she climbed off him, a triumphant grin on her face.
“Easy,” she replied cutely, smiling. Bennett chuckled heartily from behind me, and we all joined in, to Dmitry’s chagrin.