The Black God (#2, Damian Eternal Series) (17 page)

When she could talk again, she drew closer.
“Those other vamps … why do they have my brother?”

“Maybe because Jonny was using him to track
them. Maybe because they want to send Xander a message.” The vamp
shrugged. “Doesn’t fucking matter. They’ll be destroyed
anyway.”

Agreed there.
They walked out onto a low porch, and she saw
where everyone else was. Vamps were sparring all along a lakeside
bank beneath the tall, slender trees. Golden leaves had begun to
fall and pile at the base of the trees. It was cooler here than San
Diego.

“Where are we?” she asked again.

“Outer Banks.”

“Virginia?” She glanced behind her to see
the quiet retreat, a series of single story buildings joined by
wooden walkways and surrounding a central community center with a
double A-frame roof. “Okay. So is my brother close?”

“We don’t know where he is.”

Her focus returned to the vamp. “Why aren’t
you trying to find out?”

“I don’t give a shit about your brother,”
the vamp snapped. “I care about putting an end to Valon.”

“If my brother is important, he’s probably
located somewhere near this Valon guy, isn’t he?” she retorted.

He paused near a group of vamps sparring
with knives. “You know what your problem is?”

“No clue.”

“You don’t kill.”

“I don’t see that as a problem,” she
grumbled. “I can kill. I just don’t.”

“When we send you out to face Valon’s vamps,
you won’t have any of us to clean up after you.”

Charles.
She vaguely recalled hearing the vamp’s name.
“What’re we doing here?” she asked instead. “We already know I can
beat you before you raise your knife.”

“You can,” he agreed, “until someone
outsmarts you and you can no longer use your speed to your
advantage.”

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

He tossed her two rubber knives. She
snorted. Charles set down the Taser and took up a position opposite
her, about four feet away.

“Come on, Natural,” he said with as much
distaste as he treated her breakfast.

“You don’t want a weapon?”

“You won’t get close.”

Piece of cake.
Ashley balanced herself on the balls of her feet,
positioned her weapons and then launched at him.

Her right leg was yanked out from under her,
and she smashed to the ground before she was able to reach him.
Startled, she lifted her head and the leg whose chain Charles
held.

“Again,” he said and motioned her to her
feet.

Ashley considered her hobbled leg briefly as
she rose, mind racing with other scenarios whereby it wouldn’t be
in her way.

She tried again, and once more, he knocked
her onto her back without touching her.

“Dammit,” she muttered. This time, she got
up faster. “Is this realistic? I mean what are the chances any of
them gets close enough to chain up one leg.”

“You’re missing the point,” the vamp
snapped. “You need to think on your feet and not just rely on your
gift.”

She frowned. She’d never run into a
challenge that required her to change what she did.

The third time she charged him, he yanked
harder and sent her sprawling onto her stomach. Anger stirred, and
Ashley rose, this time pausing to evaluate how to close the short
distance between them. She had speed, agility and athletic ability
on her side, and the vamp had one hand in his pocket and didn’t
look at all concerned about routing her.

Think on your feet.
She did when scaling a building with no noticeable
toe and hand holds, when pure athletic ability required something
more than strength to ensure she succeeded. Her gaze from the vamp
to those crowding around to watch to the chain separating her from
Charles.

After a long pause, she tried again.

This time, instead of diving for him, she
dropped her knives, kicked up her right leg and snatched the chain.
She yanked to pull him off guard …

…
and ended up on her
belly.

“Shit!” Ashley bounced up. “Again!”

Charles didn’t even flinch. He pulled out
his phone and began texting with one hand.

The next time, she tried grabbing the chain
and wrapping it around her hand only to cry out in pain when he
yanked hard enough to sprain it.

Ashley struggled for an hour to reach him
before bending over, hands on her knees, to catch her breath. “What
… am I doing … wrong?” she panted. “Are you going to tell me or
just let me keep beating myself against the ground?”

Charles replaced his phone, unfazed while
she breathed hard. “Use the chain.”

“I’ve been trying.”

“Not the way you’ve been doing it.”

She rolled her eyes and straightened.

“You have athleticism on your side. Pull the
chain tight. Use it and me as leverage. There’s more than one way
to close the distance between us. You don’t need to be on your
feet.”

She frowned, calculating what he was saying
with what she thought she could do.

“I saw the surveillance footage of you
scaling a wall with nothing more than your speed and strength,”
Charles added.

“You’ve been watching me?” She eyed him.

“It always pays to know what you’re up
against. Now, try again.”

Not on my feet.
She was a fantastic tumbler and light enough she
didn’t need much space to generate speed.

Doubting this plan would work either, she
dropped the knives and pulled the chain taught. “Okay. Here I go,”
she murmured to herself.

She vaulted onto her hands and flipped over
backwards, touching the ground for a split second before flipping
again, this time with the chain in her hands. She landed almost on
top of Charles and lashed out with the chain.

He Tasered her.

Ashley gasped and dropped as hot electricity
paralyzed her temporarily. The pain slid away, and she lay on the
ground.

“Good,” Charles said. “Let’s try the next
level.”

Dazed by the shock, she didn’t fight him
when he blindfolded her and hauled her to her feet. She wobbled and
caught her balance, shaking out her arms and legs to rid herself of
the shocks.

“You can fight in the dark?” Charles
asked.

“Yeah,” she replied and keyed in her
senses.

“Show me.”

“Why are we doing this?” she demanded. “You
know I can fight.”

“I know you can fight one way. If you’re
going to help us against Valon, you need to adapt to how a vamp
fights.”

“I don’t want to fight Valon. I want to get
my brother back!”

“You can sit back here on your ass and hope
we feel like rescuing him, or you can join the raiding teams and
look for him yourself,” Charles answered. “Jonny asked me to assess
you. If I don’t like how you fight or act, I can tell him to put
you on ice.”

Anxious to help her brother, fearful of what
exactly Jonny had planned for her, Ashley didn’t object again and
lowered herself into a fighting stance.

“First round will be easy,” Charles
said.

He didn’t attack her. This much she sensed.
He kept a hold of her chain, though, to limit her movement while
three other vamps attacked. Ashley managed to fight them off
despite her restriction.

The second round, however, was a disaster.
Charles intermittently yanked her off her feet mid-fight, and she
ended up bruised and battered by the time the round was over.

He let he catch her breath without taking
off the mask. “Do you see the point I’m trying to make, Natural?”
he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “I’m not flexible
enough.”

“You aren’t
adaptable
enough.”

She rolled her eyes behind the blindfold.
“Whatever. I know I can fight if I have the chance.”

“And if you don’t?”

Ashley growled, not liking where he was
going with his lessons. “Fine. What’s next?”

“Round three.”

If ever she suspected she’d meet her match,
it wouldn’t have been with a vamp who didn’t lift one finger to
fight her. Round three was crushing, a combination of sheer number
of attackers, Charles knocking her off her feet, and the occasional
Taser.

By the end, she stayed down for the first
time in her life, too exhausted and rattled by bolts of hot
electricity to move. Ashley pushed off the blindfold to stare at
the swaying trees above, struggling to catch her breath.

Charles crouched beside her. She didn’t
bother trying to attack him this time.

“Jonny is the opposite of you. He’s cautious
and fights smart. He doesn’t have great skill or talent, and he’ll
kick your ass every time.”

“Is this supposed to be a pep talk?” she
retorted.

“It’s a warning. Xander taught you to use
your instincts. You need to add to that some thought and strategy
if you want to survive the vamps Valon has under him. They’re
ruthless and have nothing to lose.”

Ashley pushed herself into a sit. “What’re
you going to tell Jonny?”

“That you need training wheels.”

“Omigod!”

“If you fuck up the first time, you won’t be
going back out.”

“So I can go.”

“For now.”

Ashley almost sighed in relief. Nothing
sounded worse than being left behind when she had a chance to help
her brother.

“Part two,” Charles said and stood. “You
need to learn to fight with our vamps.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Now?”

“Tired?”

She nodded.

“You ever watch the
Dog Whisperer
?”

She shook her head.

“The host always says the best time to train
a dog is when he’s tired.”

“I’m not a dog!” Ashley said, startled.

“Might as well be, Natural.” Charles
motioned her up.

Offended, she bit back another response, not
wanting to end up Tasered for pissing off Charles and climbed to
her feet. “I don’t care if your vamps get killed out there,” she
said.

“You should. They’ll be guarding your
back.”

The three vamps on the other side of their
practice area glanced at one another.

“Yeah, they don’t share your teamwork
ethic,” she said sarcastically.

“Jonny gave orders. If anyone fails to do
his part, he gets disciplined,” Charles was gazing at the three.
“You don’t have to like it. You just have to obey.”

The hesitation in their features vanished
fast.

“What does disciplined mean?” she asked
quizzically.

“It means he kills them.”

She glanced towards the vamps once more and
swallowed the question at the tip of her tongue. It was one thing
to know Jonny was a vamp, another to know he killed. Not at all
certain how to grapple with what he had become, she turned her
focus to the vamps.

“Pair up. Spar one another. The pair still
on their feet at the end of this wins,” Charles instructed.

“Come on, Natural,” one of the vamps called
to her gruffly.

Ashley went, troubled and tired.

By the end of her day with the vamps, she
was ravenous and exhausted. Charles led her by the chain back to
her bedroom and locked her in. On the nightstand beside the bed was
another bag of fast food. She tore into it and wolfed everything
down before taking a quick shower. A gym bag of clothing sat on the
bottom of the bed. It was hers, and she sifted through it for her
favorite leggings and t-shirt to change into after bathing.

Unable to recall the last time she’d been so
worn down from a day of training, she braided her hair and sat down
with a sigh. As with before, there was a knock at her door the
moment she went still.

Charles opened it. “You’re being summoned,”
he said curtly.

She didn’t have to ask who was ordering her
around, but she was more leery than before after learning how much
Jonny’s vamps feared disappointing him. She tugged on her shoes and
watched in irritation as Charles picked up her chain again to lead
her through the dorm where no one but her was staying.

He escorted her into a neighboring building,
this one with larger rooms and more vamps. He led her to a small
suite and opened the door for her.

Jonny had a mini-apartment with a living
room area and kitchen. He also had a porch, and the open door
caught her attention. She didn’t know how far away the nearest
Guardians or a cell phone was, but if she had half a shot to run,
she’d be able to escape.

As if understanding her look, Charles
chained her to the round bar table in the tiny dining room. She
remained on her feet. He left, and she waited.

Jonny’s claim she had something to trade for
his blackmail scheme made her touch the bite scars at her neck. A
day with Charles and the vamps was challenging and interesting.

Being the Black God’s food source?

She’d rather be Tasered a hundred times over
than experience the helplessness when he incapacitated her and the
piercing fire of his fangs.

“Charles said you did well.” Jonny’s soft
voice came from the direction of the porch.

Unable to sense him, she wasn’t certain if
he’d been there since she walked in or not. “Hmmm. That’s not
exactly what he told me.”

“He’s a critical teacher.” Jonny stepped
into the room. “If he can teach me to fight, he can mold
anyone.”

Ashley didn’t feel up for small talk, not
when she knew what was coming. Her heart was pounding faster than
when she fought the vamps earlier and she was self-conscious of how
Jonny was gazing at her – steadily, intently. Like the predator he
was. She’d never really understood this about him before now. “How
often do you kill your vamps?” she asked.

“Only when they disobey. I have a couple of
capitol offenses,” he replied, unfazed by the question.

How did I ever think this
was the same guy?
She studied him. Quiet
power radiated off him. He approached, and she found herself
backing away for the first time since they’d met.