Birth of a Vixen (Shadow Faith Book 1) Page 7

  His bedroom door burst open. Sasha stormed in. “Hey, you have a phone call. It’s…” She stopped mid-step. “Angela, you’re awake. That’s fabulous. See I told you she’d be okay. And now I’m interrupting something, aren’t I? I’ll just take a message.” She thumbed toward the door and back-stepped out.

  Lucian closed his eyes. “No, Sasha, wait. I’ll be right there.”

  “You have to answer that, right now?”

  He opened his arms out wide and shrugged. “You know how it is when you have a war to wage.”

  “Minions to order about.”

  “Exactly.”

  When he reached the door I said, “Good luck.”

  “Thanks. If it is who I think it is; I’ll need it.” He said and left the bedroom.

  I steps back took two to the bed. It was huge. I sighed, spun, and flopped backwards onto it. The sheet and comforter was a tangled mess under me. Minutes ago it was a warm, inviting place full of unspoken possibilities. Now it was cold, lonely. On a positive note at least I literarily was the only one in it.

  Chapter 9

  In a deserted, steel warehouse Lucian and I sparred, barefoot, on blue padded mats. Florescent lights hummed high above our heads from beams spread throughout the high vaulted ceiling. Our grunts and groans echoed off the cold, bare walls along with the occasional sound of our loose, silk, black pants as the cloth whistled across the padded plastic beneath us between random kicks and attempted leg sweeps.

  I blocked a punch aimed at my chest with my left forearm. Then ducked another swing that came for my chin. I sidestepped under his arm then retaliated. I targeted an upper cut at Lucian’s face.

  He grabbed the punch inches from his nose. Lucian erupted into a quick arrogant laugh. Then he twirled me around. My long braided hair slapped against his arm before my back was pressed against his naked, muscular chest. The only thing that separated his body from my own was my black tank top.

  I swung an elbow high behind me. Before I had a chance to connect he blocked. I tried again, this time I went for his ribs, but he pinned that arm against my chest.

  His strong, pale arms locked mine under my breasts in a bear hug. I found the feeling of his manhood through his pants against my lower back very distracting, in that not too overly pleasant kind of way. With his face near my ear he whispered words of wisdom. “Never assume you have the upper hand. There is always someone stronger, faster, always. Just because you have been able to move faster than a mortal all your life doesn’t give you the right to be cocky.”

  “Who says I’m being cocky? Maybe you are just getting slow in your old age.” I joked. Yes, I was the offspring of two ghouls. Yes, as a mortal I inherited aspects from the both of them, such as the reflexes and the speed of a young vampire from my mother and precognitive sight from my father. So what gave me a leg up against kids at school growing up was nothing more than a starting point against other vampires. But if that vampire was like Lucian and a hundred years old or more then I was out matched. True, those abilities increased exponentially since that horrible night with Thais, but there was always room for improvement.

  I wiggled without success within his vice grip hold. He never went easy on me. He pushed me harder, faster than the night before and with my visit into Kent fast approaching I appreciated it.

  “I think you just made my point. Besides you have that backwards; we grow in power the older we get.” He gave me another squeeze.

  “Then we are going to have to find away to speed up time because I can’t get out of this.” I groaned. I sagged and rested back against his chest. I should have fought my way out but I was content with his arms wrapped around me. It didn’t happened often. So when it did I took time and enjoyed the intimate moments we got.

  “Don’t give up yet. Think it through.” He squeezed my arms and waist as he struggled to motivate me again. “In one week you will be infiltrating the nastiest bunch of vampire politicians. They don’t get their hands dirty. They get other people to do it. People, that looked at Thais like a role model and they could be from any species: vampires, werewolves, witches, and maybe even fae. Who knows? So you have to be over vigilant. Whether by watching your surroundings or figuring your way out of a trap, you have to be prepared and you can’t give in.”

  We had been training every night for the past two months. In that time Lucian’s army had conquered every town he invaded in Ohio. His winning streak raised his confidence not to mention his consumptive nature. Thus, he propelled my lessons from casual classes where we indulged in small moments of each other’s company to a relentless boot camp of physical and metaphysical proportions.

  Lucian taught me advanced fighting techniques: kung fu and some judo, fencing, and more firearm training. It was easy to rely on our supernatural abilities, but the more we used them the weaker we got. Humans were like putty in our hands. Other supernatural creatures were a whole other story. A little extra something gave us a chance to compete with the big dogs.

  When I was not with him I was with Sasha. She tutored me in proper etiquette and psychology. The last came in handy when I used my House’s power over emotions. There was no sense in fiddling with someone’s emotions if you couldn’t calculate what they might do if pushed one way or another. I hadn’t studied this hard since I took the SATs.

  Not wanting to let him down, I analyzed the situation. Lucian rested in horse stance with his legs shoulder length apart for a more controlled balance. I was trapped under the weight of him. He was almost a foot taller than me. Even if we were both humans his strength overshadowed my own. He was ready for anything. Then again, perhaps that was where my advantage laid -in the unexpected.

  I sagged forward, leaning my weight against his arms, and forced him to hold me up. I slumped my head and groaned. I stayed defenseless until the tension in Lucian’s arms lessened, convinced I forfeited, before I made my move. Then in one fluid motion I stepped back through his open legs, wrapped my foot behind his ankle and threw my weight backwards. We crashed onto the mat with me on top. The collision jarred Lucian, forcing him to let go.

  I bounced back to my feet. “I did it! I did it!” Then hopped around like a crazed bunny.

  During my early celebration dance I bounced too close to Lucian. Lying on his side he swept my legs out from under me while I was in mid air. “Shit!” I collapsed to the mat.

  Lucian crawled onto me. He secured my legs to the mat with the lower half of his body and pinned my arms over my head with both of his hands. His hair fell like a golden curtain that tickled my cheeks. His locked jaw scowled and there was a crease between his eyebrows. Though he glared there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “You need to hold off on celebrating until you know for certain your opponent is down. When you have watched him perish for good then, and only then, can you truly be certain of victory.”

  I chuckled into his face. “Yes, but I didn’t want to kill you. I was just happy I got you to let go.”

  “No buts. When you strike you do it to kill. No matter who it is. If you show an ounce of mercy in your attack your opponent will take advantage of your kindness. They will kill you because you thought with your heart.” He poked me in the chest. “Instead of your head.” Then he poked my forehead. He straddled my lower abdomen as a seat. “In the end they will not care if you are their friend, or if you become their lover, or if you some how are able to prove that you are an asset to themselves or the town. They are cruel and if you drop your guard for one second they will swallow you whole.”

  “How could I forget what they’re like?”

  “Alright then.” He stood. “Since you are already sitting we should move on to meditation and manipulation of your powers.”

  “Can we work more with the bokken instead? We covered telepathy last week. I think I’ve got it down, at least when I’m trying to connect with someone in close proximity to me, so that’s cool. I could really use some work on my swordplay.” A bokken was a wooden Japanese practice sword. The swor
ds we used were roughly forty-two inches long and made of white ash.

  “I don’t see why not.” Lucian leaned over me and placed a gentle kiss upon my brow. Then he retrieved the bokkens from the stand against the far wall.

  I stood in time to catch the bokken he tossed. “Just watch where you shove it in this time. I hate it when you Silence me.” Wood doesn’t kill us like in the movies. It paralyzes us, leaving a vampire vulnerable to imprisonment or the final death.

  “I would never intentionally Silence you.”

  I lifted an eyebrow in doubtful questioning about the first time we practiced with the bokkens.

  “I only did that once and you were being a smartass.”

  “I was not.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  “That’s beside the point. You promised me you wouldn’t do that to me back then either.” I flourished the bokken in the air to get comfortable with its weight.

  “The point was that you needed to be taught a lesson and you were. Have I done it to you since?”

  “No.”

  “Have I been able to do it to you since then?”

  “No, but you’ve tried.”

  “You’re right I have. But you learned and I haven’t been able to do it. Unless you trip and fall on the point and it happens to pierce your heart then I’d say you’re good to go.”

  “Fine. And thanks for the compliment, I think.”

  “Good.” That was all he said before he charged at me full speed. I parried and the practice fight resumed.

  Chapter 10

  I stood on the balcony off Lucian’s bedroom overlooking the lush Cuyahoga Valley. Winters frosty hand stroked the air. Snow was on the way. There was something else too. I felt it. Problem was I didn’t know what it was. What I did know was that as I stared out across the valley the last few years faded into a blurred nightmare. I wondered what the price of being a spy would be. If I got caught, how much was my life worth? It wasn’t like there was a price stamp on my forehead that signaled to the nearest shopper. Blue light special, aisle five, sale on Angela Vista’s life. Get it while it’s hot!

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Lucian placed one hand on the small of my back, the other on the cast iron railing.

  A gentle contemplation played across his dark hazel eyes. A slight turn at the corners of his mouth made him look playfully angelic. The cool breeze caught golden wisps of hair. They danced across his bare shoulders. He was nothing like the monster I heard about.

  I blinked, took a second to regain control of my wondering eyes, before shifting them back to the trees. “I was just thinking about how different things could be for me. Being me again is going to take some getting used to, even if I am still a bloodsucking fiend.”

  “Why are you always this harsh on yourself?” The quirk of his lips headed south.

  I shifted my feet. “For the past three years I have been. I never had a problem with vampires, ever. Hell, I was practically raised by Caelyn. But being one and living with one are two different things.”

  He pivoted, agile as a pussycat, and faced the house. He leaned his elbows against the guardrail. “Why is being a vampire so terribly disheartening for you?”

  “Why? There are too many reasons to tick off. It’s easy to assume we have all the time in the world to contemplate why this life wasn’t the greatest but we could be wrong. Considering there’s still a lot of possible bloodshed ahead of us the end might come faster than we anticipated. I suppose that’s the biggest problem. Time and blood, lots of blood.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Let’s say there wasn’t a war going on. That everything was hunky-dory. I could travel the whole world -see it all. By the time I finish the world would be full of new sites to see. Right? But I’ll never be able to take another walk on a beach while watching a sunset. Never feel the sun on my face. Never enjoy the latest in French cuisine without it being drenched in blood. Never have a child of my own, which strangely enough wasn’t much of a concern until I realized I couldn’t have one. I took being able to bring life into the world for granted, as most women do until they aren’t able to do it. I took being human for granted.”

  “I’ve spent a lot of time despising being a vampire. The worst part is that I can use the word hate in reference to myself. I hate the word hate. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” I licked my lips, shook my head and tried to think of a different word.

  Lucian slid along the rail closer to me. He took hold of my forearm and pulled me in. Then wrapped his strong arms around my waist. He kissed my forehead. “Then we are going to have to work on getting you to not use the word hate. Its good to look at both sides of life, but you are focusing mainly on the negative. Even with all the time in the universe laid out before us it takes but a moment to truly appreciate life, whether you are a human being or a bloodsucking fiend. Its about time you see that.”

  “And how do you propose I do that?” I walked my fingers up his arms, then continued the trek across his broad shoulders to intertwine them under this hair. I stared into his hypnotic eyes, unafraid.

  He flashed me a devilish smile. “Come with me.”

  With an extravagant flare he spun me out of his arms. He took hold of my hand and in an almost blinding rush of lightening speed he drug me behind him. We went back inside the house, through his room, and down the hall to Sasha’s room. Then Lucian showed an immeasurable amount of control when he knocked on Sasha’s door. That was, until he barged in.

  The purple painted room had a queen size bed with an over abundance of purple and green pillows scattered over a matching comforter. The only thing in the room other than the bed was a full-length mirror on a white metal frame in the distant corner. Next to the mirror was an open walk-in closet.

  Sasha peeked her head out the open closet. Her hair fell in two, long black pigtails. “What’s up?”

  “Angela needs to be living inspiration this evening. I believe you can help her with part of this dilemma.” He put me between him and Sasha.

  “Is it dress up time? First we have a makeover, now I get to dress you in pretty clothes. This is going to be so much fun.” She leapt out of the closet, clapping her hands. She bounced, giggled, and bounced again in her navy jumper.

  My eyes widen with shocked abrasive tension. Lucian did nothing to help matters as he nudged me into her arms. I glanced over my shoulder in a silent plead for him to make it all stop.

  There was no such luck. He stood there grinning from ear to ear. He waved me goodbye. He then crept backwards out the door and held the knob until the last second. The only audible verification of his retreat was the latch as it sank into the wall.

  Amazing, he took on vast armies throughout the Cabal but couldn’t stand up to one little vampire once he set her loose. Maybe I should have rethought this whole hero ideal I had of him.

  Twenty minutes was all I could endure of Sasha’s endless ramblings about different shades, twists of hair, and long dresses verses short. After the first five minutes I believed I had had my first out of body experience. Every word she mumbled entered my brain. I heard them all. I could have repeated half the conversation. Since there really was only one half of a conversation that took place between us -she did all the talking- it made the repeating process a little easier.

  Instead, I pondered over what Lucian planned. What would I do for him if I knew the inner workings of his psyche the way he knew mine? He knew more about me than any member of the old gang. Intimate barely described how close he and I became after that first night. What we did went beyond any semblance of a normal romantic relationship, and we’d only met. Where were we to go from here? It was the age-old relationship question.

  Under Sasha’s ramblings there was a distinct crackle of wood burning in the lounge. I thanked Sasha, cautiously exited her bedroom, and went down to where I believed Lucian awaited me. A faint amber glow illuminated the edges around the lounge door. I spied through the crack in the door. I wasn’t sure why I hesit
ated. Perhaps it was the anticipation of revealing the unknown.

  Lucian basked in the ambience in a tuxedo. He wore his golden hair loose around his shoulders. The fire picked up warm caramel highlights. The effect created a radiant halo around my shadowman.

  His far off contemplative stare morphed into wonderment when he noticed me in the doorway. His eyes widened for a second. Though his smile tightened the adoring admiration that brightened his eyes remained. “When I asked Sasha to help you find something to wear…” He cut his sentence short.

  My nerves became more rigid. Now there was pressure not to break this hold I had on him. I wanted to be everything for him that his eyes told me I was. However, I was anything but perfect.

  “Come into the light.” Lucian offered me his hand.

  It took a couple slow steps before I reached him and I was doing it in black, four-inch stilettos. I was not accustomed to heels this high, but I managed. The first positive perk about being a vampire popped into my head, poise.

  The satin hem of the rich crimson dress swept the tops of the heels. It was a backless A-line with twisted straps that tied at the base of my neck and trailed down to where the dress covered the small of my back. The neckline dipped low and showed off enough cleavage to be appropriate, yet, seductive.

  Sasha left my hair down except for one diamond barrette she clipped to the side. Then she taught me to put on deep red lipstick that matched the gown, almond eye shadow, and a hint of rouge. I’ve never been big on makeup, even when I was human. Tonight I was willing to accept change. I was left feeling glamorous.

  I took his hand as the last waves of nervous tension escaped me.

  Without blinking he found the words. “You look lovely.”

  “Thank you.” I beamed up at him. Even with the heels Lucian was still about four inches taller than me.