Indulge (16 page)

“All the other students train in private too?”

“Yeah. No one wants to be defenseless if The Dark comes knocking on the front door, ya know?”

Yeah, I knew. I just wished he would stop saying it. “That’s exactly how I feel.”

“And that’s why I asked if you wanted to train. I could see it in your eyes.”

“See what?”

“That you’re a fighter. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“You sound like you’re preparing for war.”

“Isn’t everyone? It’s going to come one way or the other.”

“You’re right.” He might have sounded all doom and gloom, but Bennett really was right. He was building his own little army, training all the newer fighters as best he could. It was kind of noble what he was doing, making sure everyone was capable of defending themselves as best they could. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought he was.

“So, where we headed?” he asked as we stepped outside the Château into the cool night air. “I know you know a place.” He smiled at me mischievously.

“I never said that.” I still wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him about the lighthouse yet. “You’re the one who has been doing this already. Why don’t we go to one of your places?”

“Because, when I train people we do it at their house. Away from the Château.” He pointed his thumb behind him.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “Let’s go.” I made my way back toward the garden to take the same route I had taken the night before.

“That really was a nice move you had earlier. The sssnake,” he said.

“It doesn’t sound so cool when you say it like that.” I wrinkled my nose. “Besides, you looked pretty pissed off to be beaten by a girl.”

“Your being a girl had nothing to do with it. I just don’t like losing, but it was still damn impressive. I plan on teaching it to the other students. If you don’t mind?”

I smirked. “Nope. I don’t mind at all. Just make sure you let them know who taught it to you.”

“You got it, smartass. In all seriousness though, it might save someone’s life. You never know.”

“Can I ask you something?” All of Bennett’s openness about the war really made me think. “Do you really think The Dark is coming? I’ve been in some of the meetings and some people don’t really believe it and others think it’s the beginning of the end. It’s hard to know what to think or believe. Either way though, everyone seems to agree on one thing, if it is true we’re in serious trouble.”

“Hell yeah. That stone left in your room is their calling card. Trust me. We are deep in the shit.”

“How do you know someone just didn’t put it there to scare us? Make us think The Dark was coming?” I was thinking that Ana could be a prime suspect. She and her whole family seemed to be power hungry. Maybe that was their angle. To scare everyone into thinking this horrible evil was coming.

“It doesn’t work like that. Only a true follower of The Dark can handle one of those stones and not be affected by it. It was in your room; you know how it felt.” I nodded, clearly remembering the dread. “You think whoever put it there could have gotten far if they had felt those effects?”

“No.”

Bennett turned out to be less of a meat-head than I had originally thought. He seemed to know a little about a lot of things, and unlike most everyone I met he didn’t hold anything back. He gave me the cold, hard truth and it was refreshing.

Half-way up the hill, the lighthouse came into view and I gazed up at it, a sick feeling building in my gut. At least I knew I wouldn’t be exerting any of my special abilities tonight. Now that I knew how to tap into all my power and so easily connect with it, I wasn’t sure I knew how to access just parts of it anymore. It was like learning how to ride a bike, then trying to get yourself to forget you learned it in the first place. It couldn’t be done. Once the connection was made, that was it.

“Not bad,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I don’t think this thing has been lit in decades.”

“Looked to me like it has been longer than that,” I said recalling the thick layer of dust inside.

“Adventurous little princess, aren’t you?” Bennett said, clearly enjoying the revelation.

“Your point? And I’m not little,” I said hotly. We might have been getting along, but I didn’t like him that much.

Bennett raised his hands up in surrender. “Calm down, spunky. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just nice to see a royal that doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty, ya know?”

I just nodded, remembering the earlier altercation I had with Jarvan. At least someone else around here appreciated that I was trying to help. I wasn’t going to let vampires, Blood Guard or humans die to protect me or this region unless I was willing to do it myself. And I was, except I was determined that The Dark would be the ones doing the dying part.

“Not all of them plan on hiding in the Château while everyone else fights in the streets,” I retorted, opening the door to the lighthouse. It wasn’t as resistant as it was the first time.

“I know.” Bennett became quieter than usual and I got the feeling like there was something he wasn’t telling me. I sensed his feeling of loss without really even trying. I shot him with a questioning look, but he quickly turned away and up the spiraling stairs, the sounds of his footsteps echoing throughout the small room.

I followed after him, taking two steps at a time. “Come here often?” Bennett asked, taking in the view of the city.

“Only once,” I groaned. I really hoped he wouldn’t ask what I had done here because I didn’t want to tell him. “Should we get started?”

He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, staring out at the sparkling city below. “Huh? Oh, yeah. We probably won’t have enough room up here though. Don’t need one of us flying through this glass.” He knocked on the windowed walls of the top of the lighthouse.

“You’re probably right.”

We headed back to the ground floor and moved the furniture around to make room. The room filled with clouds of dust and dirt, so I propped the door open with a heavy rock.

The secret training with Bennett didn’t turn out to be as interesting as I thought it would be, though the skills he taught me were still useful. The first thing he wanted to teach me was how to escape capture.

Holding me in different positions, he told me how to contort my body to escape or to remove the opportunity for the enemy to strike. I hadn’t known I was so flexible, bending my body in unnatural ways.

“Say you are grabbed like this.” Bennett came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck. “How would you escape?”

I easily remembered the maneuver he taught me and latched my hands onto his forearm as firmly as I could. Using every leg muscle in my body, I stepped back, then hooked my ankle around his. I forced his leg forward and my entire body backward, crushing him to the ground. Landing on the hard concrete floor, a grunt escaped him.

“Not bad.”

I rolled over and offered my hand. “We should have brought a mat.”

“Nah, no point. We aren’t going to have one when the real time comes are we?”

“Have you tried talking to Eli? I’m sure he would agree that everyone should be as prepared as possible. As soon as we get word on what’s happening in the Noire region… who knows what could happen.” I still held out hope that things at the Palace were still in order, but the outlook was poor.

“My guess is, if they haven’t heard ‘nothin yet, than that’s our answer.” He pulled two sports bottles out of his pack and threw me one. At least one of us was prepared. “I’m sure that messenger or whatever ain’t even coming back.” He brought the bottle to his lips and chugged.

“He’s coming back,” I growled.

Bennett’s eyes widened in shock from behind the bottle. “I forgot. You two are… what do they call it over there? Blood Mates?”

I crossed my arms. “Got a problem with that?”

“No, it’s just weird. But whatever.” He shrugged and threw his bottle back into his pack.

“Yeah, whatever. We should probably start heading back.” I looked out the window to see if dawn was approaching and my heart tightened in my chest. “Fire!”

“What?” Bennett ran to my side, ramming me with his shoulder. We both stared at the Château in complete shock. It was nearly completely ablaze.

I shoved Bennett out of the way and ran outside as fast as I could. I stopped a good hundred yards from the lighthouse and narrowed my vision. Electricity was firing inside my body.

Bennett halted to a wobbly stop beside me. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

“We can’t just rush in. We need to see what’s going on.” I was trying to be smart about this. If we just went storming in, we’d likely get our fangs handed to us. Literally.

“Damnit! You sound like everyone else. If you want to stand around and watch everyone die then that’s your problem.” He rocketed past me with a throaty growl. He was going to get himself killed. I knew it. No matter how great a fighter he was, there was always someone better.

I followed after him, not allowing my fear or anger to consume me. This was it. The moment we had all been dreading and trying to prepare for - only it was happening a lot faster than anyone had suspected.

I thought about my parents. I didn’t want to lose them. Not now. Not when I had just finally had them in my life. I pushed myself harder, the connection inside me sparking. I didn’t care anymore how hard I exerted myself, how much it hurt to feel the power burning through me. I was going to save them if it killed me.

I pumped my legs faster and flew past Bennett in seconds. He grunted from behind me as he tried to keep up - but he didn’t stand a chance. There had never been a vampire like me before. My abilities could be endless. My fangy smile gleamed in the night as I ran.

I crashed into the wall of heat surrounding the Château. The entire eastern side -where all the meeting halls, training rooms and so on were located - was consumed with flames.

This late at night, most everyone would be in bed. Or so I hoped.

“Follow me!” I shouted to Bennett, and took off just as soon as he caught up with me.

Through the roar of the fire I could hear shouting, screaming and growling. The Dark was definitely here.

“What’s the plan?” Bennett asked.

“I’m going to save my parents and kill every member of The Dark that I see.” The word kill felt alien in my mouth and was wrapped in malice and rage. Until becoming a vampire I had never wanted to kill anyone or anything - but right here, right now, it felt right.

“Sounds good to me.”

We sped to the front entrance and burst through the doors. It was eerily quiet. Smoke hung in the air. I remembered the first night I had walked into the Château and how I felt like an intruder. Now I was defending it as my home.

The echo of screams close by rattled in our ears, and I could see Bennett’s body tense. I never would have imagined that he would be the one to stand by my side when the war came crashing down on us, but I was grateful to know that he could handle himself.

We ran in the direction of the screams to find a servant lying on the floor of a hallway, blood pooling around her. She was cowering in fear as her life pulled away. She stared blankly at the ceiling as Bennett knelt over her, feeling her pulse. I recognized her face. She was the maid I had scared the first night I had come to Naos. I had always meant to apologize to her and never had the time. Now I never would.

“It’s too late for her,” he said, looking up at me, blood soaking his knees.

I growled, baring my fangs in rage. “There has to be something we can do for her.”

Bennett stood up and clutched my shoulders with incredible force. “We need to focus on the ones we can help.”

I grunted and took off for the upper floors. I didn’t know where to go first, so I just let my instincts lead me. We ran up two floors, clutching the railing to propel us even faster upward.

On the landing of the second floor, I could see the doors of the ballroom had been yanked from their hinges. Movement inside caught my eye and I signaled to Bennett.

“I see it. You ready?”

“I’m ready,” I said. There was no doubt in my voice.

The intensity of the fighting, nor the pools of blood that reflected the golden décor of the room weren’t what surprised me. I pushed back the sensation of shock and only a sharp breath escaped. The members of The Dark didn’t look at all like I had imagined. No nightmare could have prepared me for the evil before my eyes.

They were close to seven feet tall, with thick muscled bodies and dark graying skin like flawless yet decaying flesh. Their mouths were an entire row of fangs and their eyes were bright red. Their hideousness only urged my desire to kill them even more.

Vampires and Blood Guards fought savagely in the ball room. Their movements were swift and fluid, but they were outnumbered. I looked to Bennett for one solid instant before we bolted into the fray.

A younger vampire lay on the floor, growling under a beast. Her stomach was a soggy, bloody mess. I knew the beast was going to land a killing blow on her, and so did she. The girl screamed in rage, accepting her fate like a true warrior.

I swallowed hard and made my move. This was my chance. This moment would define the rest of the night for me. If I could take this one monster down, then I could take them all. All I needed was to taste their blood just once.

The beast raised its hand to strike her down. A glint of silver flashed. A thick blade was clutched fiercely in his grasp. I knew I couldn’t go for his weapon. There was no way I could take it away. So, I had to do the only thing I could think of.

The girl’s eyes flashed in fear for the first time when she saw me rushing toward the beast. Her head shook in warning, trying desperately to make me turn back. For me, that wasn’t an option. His back facing me, his attention on her, I jumped upward. A scream of rage bubbled out of me, foaming my mouth.

I slammed my hands onto the sides of the beast’s head, and with my body completely connected to my power I unleashed it into him. Searing heat burned the flesh of my fingers, but still I held on.

It toppled backward, swaying unsteadily. Brightness began to seep from his skin like a hand covering the bulb of a flashlight. It screeched a sharp cry and my lips upturned in a victorious grimace as the animal inside me was freed. With my fangs barred and power burning through me, I snapped the beast’s neck, dropping him to the floor.