I looked at Aden. “Am I in the wrong class? Everyone here is higher ranked than me.”
Aden’s mouth curled into a smug smile. “After fighting you myself, I suggested you train with the older soldiers.”
“You what?”
He glanced at me, one brow quirked in challenge. “Scared?”
“No,” I said haughtily, looking away. “Just surprised, that’s all.”
I heard him chuckle right before Rook walked into the room, dressed in black pants, combat boots, and a black tank top. His hair had been pulled back and his arms and chest bulged with muscles. I could see the outline of a six-pack through his top, and my brows rose.
“Rook’s been working out,” I murmured, but Aden shushed me.
“All right,” Rook said, voice booming. For the second time upon arriving in the room, my brows rose. I didn’t know Rook’s voice could reach that volume. He had always been so gentle and soft spoken, but now he spoke with authority and menace. I didn’t know what surprised me more – Rook’s stunning new appearance, or the fact that sweet, shy Rook was apparently our instructor. “We have a new recruit training with us today. Everyone, this is Sergeant McAllister.”
Rook gestured toward me, and my classmates turned around. Surprise spread throughout the group as they took me in, realizing who I was.
“Now, regardless of previous… circumstances,” Rook said, eyes hard as he surveyed his pupils, “we welcome her into our fold, and will treat her like one of our own. Is that clear?”
Everyone’s heels clicked together and they saluted with a ringing, “Yes, sir!”
“Good.” He nodded and folded his arms. “As you know, today is our quarterly exam, where I will personally test the knowledge of hand-to-hand combat you’ve garnered up to this point. Are there any volunteers to go first?”
Several of the trainees shuffled their feet, and a few quiet seconds passed before Aden raised his hand. “Sergeant McAllister would like to go.”
“What?” I hissed. “Are you insane? I can’t fight Rook! I haven’t had any training!”
“Why not?” Aden said. “You’ve already taken on a Rogue, and that was while you were still human. You’re a vampire now, and it’s just a class. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I don’t know. Rook beating me to a bloody pulp?
“Excellent,” Rook said, eyes flicking toward me. “Join me in the water rink, Sergeant McAllister.”
I inwardly groaned. As if it wasn’t bad enough I had to fight Rook, we had to duke it out in water, too?
I had never fought in water before, and my stomach flip-flopped as I made my way to the front of the class toward the pool arena. I started to remove my shoes when Rook snapped, “Leave them on. The extra tread will help.”
Blushing, I stepped onto the platform, and hesitantly placed one foot in and then the other, gasping as the ice cold water rose halfway up my thighs.
The students gathered around. I could tell one cluster was placing bets on how quickly Rook would pulverize me. Setting my jaw, I faced Rook as he climbed into the pool on the opposite side.
My heart picked up speed as I took him in, all 300-something pounds of solid muscle.
Aden leaned over the railing, his mouth inches from my ear. “Stay calm, and look for an opening. If nothing else, just try to avoid him grabbing hold of you.”
“Sure,” I said, a little breathlessly. “No problem.”
Rook stood stock still, his dark eyes burning into mine. I wondered what he was thinking, if he would take it easy on me since I was his friend. But looking at him now, he didn’t seem like the Rook I grew up with. He was a predator, ruthless and wild.
Without warning, he charged me, water spraying up in waves on either side of his massive legs. Even as bulky as he was – and despite the fact we were fighting in water – he moved with uncanny grace and speed.
I darted to the side just as his fist slammed into the railing, narrowly missing me by inches. The foundation of the pool shook with the force of his blow, and I gulped, thankful that hadn’t been my face. My boots slipped as I backed away from him, though not nearly so bad had I been barefoot.
Thanks for the tip, I thought as Rook whirled around, expression dead-set on hurting me.
He stalked forward and I skittered backwards, nearly falling over as my heel hit a bump, like a rock, in the pool’s flooring. I ducked my hands under the water and felt the tips of plants brush my fingers.
Guess they want it to be as realistic as possible.
My mind raced through options as Rook drew closer, and I tried to calm my racing heart. I glanced up, seeing Aden watching me with a hand over his mouth in thought.
“Strike one!” Rook bellowed. “Never remove your eyes from the enemy!”
Before I could blink, he was upon me, wrapping his monster-sized hands around my neck. I managed to gulp down some air before he shoved my head underwater, pushing so hard the back of my skull dug into the muddy bottom. I struggled to get my feet under me, but he had me pinned. My lungs burned as my hands splayed out, grabbing at his wrists, and digging up chunks of plants.
Fear raced through me. Rook, what are you doing? Let me up, or I’m going to drown!
Still, he pressed against me, and darkness danced at the edge of my vision. Maybe I was wrong about him, when he had said he didn’t blame me for what happened to him. What if he was actually very angry about it, so angry he’d want to kill me?
No. No, this is your Rook we’re talking about. He would never intentionally hurt you. He’s just pushing you. Think! Find a way out!
Something rough brushed against my fingers, and I grabbed for it.
A rope.
A wild idea formed in my head, and I suddenly went slack, praying my air would hold out long enough for it to work.
Rook’s grip immediately relaxed, his fingers sliding from my neck. I let myself lay limp, my eyes closed as if dead, as he hauled me above the surface.
Someone’s fear, real and vivid, coursed through me as Rook picked me up.
“You always go too far!” Aden yelled, his voice sounding funny because my ears were plugged with water. “They may be vampires, but they’re not indestructible!”
“A Rogue wouldn’t show an inch of mercy!” Rook snarled back. “My methods may be brutal, but at least they’ll know –”
The rope was still clutched in my hand. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes, and with a fierce yell wrapped the rope around Rook’s neck in a lasso. He dropped me to pull at the rope, and I used it to swing around, landing on Rook’s back. I pulled up on the rope, tightening it, and Rook choked and stumbled, the extra weight on his back throwing him off balance. He tripped over something, and as he started to go down, I released my grip on the rope, springing off his back to land on the platform. There was a loud splash behind me as he went under, and I slowly stood, panting hard. I swayed, feeling a bit dizzy from lack of oxygen.
Groggily, Rook rose from the water, pulling the rope from his neck. The room was dead silent, the students gaping from me to Rook as he walked toward me and stepped out of the pool. I resisted the urge to back away, the memory of him trying to drown me still fresh on my mind. My eyes rose to meet his, and to my surprise, he smiled.
“Well done,” he said. He turned to face the rest of the class, who erupted into applause, their expressions awed.
“McAllister has passed. Some of you would do well to take from her initiative and creativity.” He patted me on the back, signaling I could go back to the crowd. He caught my gaze, something like regret in his eyes. Just when I thought he might speak, he turned away and shouted, “Next!”
I couldn’t get away from Rook fast enough.
That was weird. What was that look for? Was he upset he didn’t kill me after all? Or maybe he was sorry he almost did… Argh! I don’t know what to think, or who to trust anymore!
I scowled, and looked up to see Aden waiting at the side of the pool, fidgeting and trying to contain
the worry spreading across his face. I stopped in front of him, chilled and dripping onto the floor.
“I…” His eyes took every inch of me in, as if not believing I was there. Slowly, he raised his hand toward my cheek before abruptly clearing his throat, letting his hand drop back to his side in a clenched fist. Once again, his cool mask was in place. “Good job,” he muttered, casting his eyes down.
I followed his gaze, staring at his hand. Another inch and it would have been touching my face…
“You’d better go change before you catch cold,” Aden said tightly.
Briefly, I wondered if I had made him mad, but before I could ask, he turned on his heel and walked off, leaving me to my thoughts. Shouts broke out to my right as a new fight commenced, and I took the opportunity to slip out of the training room.
That was odd.
The halls were deserted as I walked back to the locker room, though I had the eerie feeling I was being watched. Every now and then, I would glimpse a camera, and hear the opening and closing of a lens. If my memory wasn’t so good, I’m not sure I would have made it back to the lockers. Part of me was irritated at Aden for abandoning me so quickly after I had almost died, since it was supposed to be his job to watch over me, not to mention he hadn’t done a thing to really stop it. He had almost acted mad I had nearly drowned.
Probably because I would’ve made him look bad, and he’d have to face Frost’s wrath.
I noticed the smell the moment I turned the corner. It was strong, like meat rotting in the sun. I gagged, covering my nose and mouth with my hand as I stepped into the locker room. I sniffed the air, trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from.
What is that?
I slowly walked farther into the room toward my locker. The scent was growing stronger.
With a weird mixture of curiosity and dread, I zipped through the combination and pulled on the latch. The door opened, and out spilled a bloody thing about the size of my fist onto the floor with a splat.
I jumped back, biting down hard on my tongue to suppress a yelp.
“What the…”
Fresh decay radiated off the object, and I bent down to look at it closer, hardly able to stand the stench. It was ovular, with tubes protruding from one side and weird blue-black veins crawling like vines across its slick, bloody surface. With a start, I recalled an image I had seen on a poster in my freshman biology class.
It was a heart, a human heart, or so I thought.
No, I corrected myself, picking up on the telekinetic signature, the same one I’d sensed on Paris, Aden, and everyone else at the base. Not a human heart - a vampire heart.
Something stuck out of the side of it, and I kicked the heart over with the tip of my boot. My stomach turned. There, embedded in the center, was a small black cross with a blood-smudged note tied to it.
Trembling – from fear or shock, I don’t know – I knelt and gingerly pulled the note from the cross, unfurling it. My eyes widened as I took in the message, goose bumps sprouting along my clammy skin.
Scrawled in blood were the words “The wicked will burn.”
Chapter 13
I changed quickly and returned to class shaken. At the end of the day, I told Aden about the incident. He brushed it off, saying it was an empty threat, but an uneasy feeling remained with me, like I’d swallowed gravel.
What if Rook had planted the heart in my locker to shake me up? Maybe I was meant to see it before class, so he could kill me off more easily.
I shook my head. It was insane – this was Rook. But I hadn’t seen him for three years, and I had abandoned him and my brother to the Rogue. Maybe he wanted revenge. I felt sick at my stomach, I was so confused.
It took me a long while to fall asleep that night, since the image of the heart kept coming back to haunt me. I finally decided to try meditating, feeling somewhat stupid but calming down as I forced my mind to be perfectly blank. Around three in the morning, I had finally drifted off when a scream ripped through the air. A dream had seized me the moment I’d fallen prey to sleep, drawing me into Orion’s last moments, and I bolted upright, reaching out and screaming, “Orion!”
As his screams died away in my head, I realized someone was actually screaming in real life, somewhere outside. The screams sounded strangled, more like a tortured animal. They were also very high-pitched.
It’s a woman, I realized with a start.
I stumbled out of bed and threw open my door, walking the short distance down the hall to Aden’s room and knocking on the door. When no one answered, I opened it to find his bed was still made, as if he hadn’t been home yet.
My brows furrowed and another scream came, this one louder and more desperate than the others. Still groggy, I descended the stairs two at a time, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep.
There was a warm, orange glow glaring off the floor right under the crack beneath the door. I crept up to the door and peeped through the hole. Bright colors swam past the porthole, but the lens distorted the shapes too much to peg down exactly what they were. I grasped the doorknob, hesitating.
Maybe I should wake Mrs. Knight, or try to locate Aden somehow. An agonized wail from the other side made me cringe, and gritting my teeth, I reached to unlock the door. I frowned. It was already unlocked.
Weird.
There was another scream, and I threw open the door. At first, I didn’t believe what I was seeing. Men in long, hooded red robes stood in a line in front of the apartment, lighted torches in their hands. Their faces were covered, except for the two slits in the fabric that allowed them to see. They parted down the middle, revealing another robed figure clutching a woman to his chest, a red hot poker digging into her neck as she screamed.
A wave of terror rolled through me as my brain finally woke up and I realized who she was.
Mrs. Knight!
The man holding her captive looked up long enough to notice me, his cold intelligence shining through his eyes. “So trusting,” he crooned, lifting the poker from Mrs. Knight’s neck. Tears streamed down her pained face and she sagged in his arms, blood dripping onto her nightgown from the raised flesh on her neck. “Oh how easily the lamb comes to slaughter,” he sang. “We called her, telling her something had happened to her precious Aden, and she stepped into our fold without question. So willing, so trusting.” He looked at me, hatred and loathing filling his eyes. “Look what her trust has cost her, hunter.”
I immediately recognized the thick, gravelly voice. It was the lab technician who had cornered Angel and me in the hall earlier today.
“Let her go!” I yelled, pausing in the doorway. The anklet hummed around my ankle, a reminder not to stray beyond this point. “Dammit!” I hissed. I hated feeling helpless.
The man surveyed me with satisfaction. “Ah, so the beast is caged,” he said lightly. “Looks like this lion is less of a threat than I thought.” He tossed Mrs. Knight to one of his colleagues. She tripped and nearly fell before the man yanked her back to her feet, jerking her arms behind her back as he took the poker from his leader. “She has sinned by aiding one of the wicked, and now she must be made an example of.”
The word “wicked” echoed in my mind, and I looked at him sharply. “You’re the one who put the heart in my locker.”
His robes shook with laughter. “Not so stupid after all, is she gentlemen?” He looked around, and the others nodded their agreement, their laughter fueling my growing anger.
One of the men cackled and Mrs. Knight – on the verge of unconsciousness – fell forward, nearly taking him down with her. He hauled her up and backhanded her so hard across the face I heard her jaw unlock.
On instinct, I started out the door when a bolt of electricity surged up my leg, white hot and cold as ice at once. My muscles tingled then went numb, convulsing in spasms as I struggled to step back inside. The shock ceased, and my whole body shook as I gripped the doorframe.
Damn! Aden wasn’t kidding when he said it packed “twice t
he punch.”
The man howled with laughter. “Try that again! Please!”
Shaking, I straightened, anger humming along my skin with the residue of the shock. I looked at Mrs. Knight. Her head had lolled to one side, and her mouth was set at an odd angle. An ugly bruise bloomed along her jaw.
My eyes widened in horror as the leader drew back the fold of his robe and produced a butcher’s knife. Its jagged teeth gleamed in the firelight as he slowly approached Mrs. Knight. He raised his hands and his voice. “This harlot has been found guilty of harboring a hunter! And for her transgression, she must be punished accordingly.”
His comrade forced her down hard. Her bare knees hit the ground with a loud crack and she sobbed as the man pulled back on her hair, exposing her throat.
The leader positioned the blade along the side of her jugular.
“No!” I braced myself as I leaped from the door. Electricity immediately seized me, raking my body with jolts so painful I thought I would collapse right there. Thankfully, all the adrenaline coursing through my veins kept me alert enough to function through the pain. With a ferocious snarl that sounded more animal than human, I fought off the men that raced toward me, their knives and swords drawn.
The leader looked up in shock as I kicked a man hard, sending him flying into three others who had been running away. They fell down in a heap as I ran for the leader, my body being cooked from the inside out. I screamed, an outward manifestation of my inner turmoil, and threw such a hard right hook at the leader’s face that he sailed through the air and landed a few feet away, letting go of the knife. It skittered to a stop at my feet. I snatched up the knife, and in a blur, cut the throat of the man holding Mrs. Knight. His eyes widened in shock as he keeled over, dead. Mrs. Knight fell onto her side, panting and crying.
My eyes snapped up as the leader rose, rubbing his face through the hood. Blood was already seeping through the fabric, dyeing it dark red. “You’re different from the others,” he rasped. “You’re faster, stronger… not vampire or human… a demon!”
The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) Page 13
