Chapter Nine
I WAS AMAZED AT HOW QUICKLY the weeks flew by. My mornings were filled with classes, and my afternoons were filled with pushing myself to the limit as I practiced my combat and warper abilities. It was difficult to find the perfect balance between being a lady and a kick-butt warper.
While I still yearned for my jeans and tees, I found that I didn’t loathe my skirts quite as much as I had originally. There was something empowering about knowing you’d have the upper hand in a fight because you would be underestimated and dismissed as a piece of fluff. What could I say? I liked to think of myself as a badass in a corset. Now, if only the corsets were leather…
Classes about the preternatural world with Travis were the easiest part of my day. My mind eventually began to accept all the things in my new world, the things that went bump in the night that I’d never believed in a few short weeks ago. Travis taught me the basics about vampires, shifters, werewolves, fae, and other creatures, and it wasn’t long before I began learning how to spot them all. Some were easier than others because their eyes were a big giveaway.
Most newly made vampires’ eyes, for instance, were ringed in bright red, while the older, more powerful vampires’ eyes were ringed in gold or silver. Vampires were able to cast an appearance illusion while in society, making their eyes seem either normal to humans, or cause people to glance away and not make eye contact. The weaker, newly made vampires relied on charms made by witches to keep their illusions strong for longer periods of time.
Shifters’ and werewolves’ eyes had a distinct animal shape and often had dual- or tri-colored irises—brown with golden streaks or gold with black streaks. The eye shape and color were more pronounced close to a full moon or right before they were going to shift. Extreme emotions—such as anger, lust, or hate—would cause their eyes to start the shifting process.
Other preternatural creatures were harder to spot, with fae being one of the hardest because of their superior glamour skills. Travis hypothesized that because I was able to see the blonde vampire’s red-ringed eyes, I would be immune to the illusions vampires used to hide their biggest giveaway. That was sure to come in handy.
The hardest class for me was Elaine’s etiquette class. After eighteen years in a different era, it was a challenge to learn the proper way to sit, stand, walk, and eat. It was even harder not to fidget, snort, or curse under my breath. When we began learning dances, I felt relieved. Finally, there was something I was halfway decent at. Part of me loved unlocking more of my feminine side—dressing up, being treated like a lady. But mostly, I was dying to rock out to my iPod and dance around my apartment in boy shorts and a tank top while no one was watching. I pushed away my wild side, though. I had a job to do, and I was going to see it through.
Needless to say, by the time I got to my afternoon classes with Dr. Blake, I had so many pent-up frustrations I’d take them out on him. For several days, we worked on controlling my warping abilities, since they would be a huge advantage in tough situations. We found out one day, with Travis’s help, that I had been freezing my entire surroundings. With a lot of practice and concentration, I learned to focus my energy into freezing only my opponent and not everyone in the room, and that helped me conserve a lot of energy. I still became weak after using my powers, but not nearly as badly as I had before.
We also figured out my reflexes were becoming quicker since my abilities had been activated. And perk number three of having awesome warper abilities was that I could expend some of my energy into punching and kicking, making myself stronger. I became more of a threat and an asset. In all honesty, I was starting to enjoy the extra strength my powers gave to me.
Dr. Blake and I sparred daily, and I learned how to take an opponent down using just my hands and legs. My body had hurt for a solid week after the initial daily drilling, but eventually, it got used to the abuse I put it through. We never discussed what had happened in my room the night Elaine and I had had a little too much fun; we both were trying too hard to pretend it had never happened. If only it were that easy.
Being in close contact with Dr. Blake was a sort of sweet torture; he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in me like that, even though I was pretty sure he found me attractive. I’d noticed the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. I could only assume he didn’t want to get involved with a student, or maybe he just wasn’t interested in a relationship at all. I could deal with that as long as I got to punch things.
Time Warper: Fated, A Sage Hannigan Novel Page 10