I made sure to keep my hands up and noticed my focus increased with the pain in my arm. I was sure there were other ways he could have taught me those things, and I promised myself once I got strong and fast enough, I would make him pay for each one of my bruises.
Mirko bobbed in for a low jab, and I tried to connect my fist with his temple. He was too fast and danced back before I could touch him.
“Can we be done yet? I’m tired, and I’d like to do something else today other than collect bruises.”
“Sure. Let’s do some cool-down work, and then you can have the rest of the day.”
I exhaled on a relieved breath. I couldn’t handle one more attack or dodge. “When do we work with weapons?” Mirko had only talked about hand-to-hand combat and how things would change when I grew to be more advanced.
Mirko laughed. “We won’t. We only fight with our hands. Weapons are made for the weak. If you can’t win in a fair fight with your hands, then you don’t deserve to live.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s terrible. What happens if you’re not fighting a fair fight, and the other person is better than you? Then what?”
“You’d better hope that never happens, or if it does, you’d better hope someone more skilled than you is there to defend you.”
We were working out our last stretches when Kaitlynn and Ace walked into the gym. “Oh, good,” Kaitlynn said. “I was just coming to get you for some food.”
“Oh, I love you. I’m starving.”
I tied the laces on my sneakers and stood up. I couldn’t care less what Mirko did with the rest of his day, so I didn’t ask him. Ace remained in the gym when Kaitlynn and I left.
“Have you seen Jaren today?” I asked Kaitlynn as soon as I figured we were out of earshot. Way out of earshot.
“Yeah, I heard him when he came out of his room this morning, so I grabbed Ace, and I followed him.”
“You sneaky little minx!” We snickered. “What’d you find out?”
“He didn’t really do anything that interesting. He went to this little cafeteria they have. They call it the mess hall, same as they do in the army.”
“Weird.”
“I know. It’s funny, but the food smells good.”
“Did you see Holly Anne?” We strolled into the mess hall, and my stomach growled. Something smelled delicious.
“Yeah. When I came back, she was hovering in the hall a little ways down from our rooms. She was waiting for Jaren to get back, no doubt.”
I clenched my jaw. “I hate females. You’re about the only one I can stand right now.”
“Aw, thanks,” she said, kissing the air.
“So, did she find Jaren?” I grabbed a tray and started to fill it. An apple, some garlic bread, and spaghetti. That’s what smelled so good.
“She didn’t when I was on watch, but who knows now. Oh, and that’s Zack.” She pointed to a guy across the room. His back was to us, but he had dark hair. It was thin and scraggly from what I could see of him.
As if our looking alerted him that we were also talking about him, he turned back in his chair, an eerie glint in his eye. His cheeks sunk in a little, and his skin held a five o’clock shadow, from days ago, that suggested he wasn’t friends with grooming. A slow, ominous smile spread across his lips.
I flashed him a wobbly smile in return and moved over to the drinks. “Can we eat this in our room?”
“I dunno, but we are.” Kaitlynn snatched up napkins before we left.
We kept our heads down and hustled to our room.
“Yeah, thanks for the heads-up on Zack, Mirko,” I said to Kaitlynn as she shut the door behind her and locked it.
“He’s for sure a creeper. He didn’t freak me out like that when I was with Ace, so we need to be careful around here.”
I sighed and took a bite of my spaghetti. “Mmmmh. This is good.”
She laughed and took a bite. “What I don’t understand,” she paused for a moment to finish chewing, “is why they have a mess hall in the first place. Don’t they all eat blood?”
“Ew. Thanks,” I said, not interested in my spaghetti anymore. “There are humans here, so that would explain why they need the food.”
“Sorry. But don’t you want to know how it all works?” she asked.
“No. I just want it all to go away. The more I know, the more realistic it will be that my life will never be the same. I mean, before Sunday night, I was finally realizing my dreams. I had Jaren. My best friend dated his best friend. We were becoming popular with the seniors. Jaren had his new place figured out. It was all going so good.” I paused and looked at her. “I’m scared I won’t be able to spend this summer with you, or go to prom, or graduate, or anything. Everything as I knew it is messed up.” My lip quivered and tears welled up in my eyes.
“Oh, Brooke,” Kaitlynn said. She put our trays on the desk and wrapped me in a much-needed best friend hug. “We’ll stay together. No matter what happens.”
“Not if my mom makes me move.”
Kaitlynn pulled away and looked at me, her forehead creased and her brows raised.
“There’s no way my mom’s going to let me go back to normal if I make it out of this. She’s a spaz. A move is almost guaranteed.” Tears crowded on my lower lids and fell over, running down my cheeks.
Kaitlynn hugged me tighter. “We’ll figure it out. I’ll get expelled or something. I’ll make my parents send me wherever you are.”
My laugh got muffled in her shoulder. “You can’t do that.”
“Oh, trust me. If it will keep us together, I’ll do it.”
“Why do you even still wanna be friends with me?” I searched her face. I couldn’t understand why she could accept it so easily.
“Just because you find out something’s in your blood, something that’s been there the whole time, doesn’t mean you’re different all of a sudden. It doesn’t make you automatically evil. I could find out my blood type is A negative tomorrow, and you know what? I look at it the same as you finding out what brand is in your blood.”
I smiled, wanting to believe it and let my fears melt away. But they wouldn’t. “Yeah, but A negative doesn’t mean a whole species wants something from you, or wants to kill you.”
She clasped my hands. “I can’t blame you for any of those things.”
I shook my head and wiped my face. “Jaren can.”
“I don’t think he blames you. I think he’s not sure how to process it all.”
I huffed. “He sure seemed to like the idea of processing Holly Anne.”
Kaitlynn snorted. “I bet it was more that he was flattered. I don’t believe anything will come of it. Oh sure, she’ll try, but I doubt he’ll go for it.”
“Hmm. We’ll see. His track record hasn’t been that great.”
A light tapping sounded on the door.
“Who is it?” Kaitlynn hollered.
“Jaren.”
I rolled my eyes, and then checked myself in the mirror. I straightened my pony tail, cleaned up my eyes, and then nodded, sitting back down on the bed.
Kaitlynn hopped off the bed and unlocked the door. He strolled in, looking unsure about himself.
“I wanted to see how you were doing.” He leaned up against one of the desks with forced ease.
I was mad at him, but he had a lot of guts and must’ve still cared or he wouldn’t be here.
I sighed. “I guess as good as could be expected.”
He nodded toward the sweat pants I wore. “Did you train with Mirko this morning?”
I cracked a small smile. He knew very well that I did. “Yeah, it was brutal.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“Lots.” His posture swelled in anticipation of taking action. “It’s alright, though, because I’ve already learned a lot. It’s a part of the process.”
His gaze held lingering questions.
“I promise. It’s fine.”
He nodded and then seemed to be gathering courage for what he wanted to
say next. “Look, about Holly Anne. I didn’t do anything. I was surprised, is all.” A smile lit up his face. Such a hot, normal Jaren smile that it fractured some of the pieces in my heart. “You surprised me, too. Stepping up to her like that. Wow. That was big for you. I kind of liked it.”
“Oh, stop. It was nothing.” My face flushed. But it was a big deal. I never thought I’d have the courage to stand up to Tiffany that way, but now I was able to do it to a vampire.
“No, you were only ready to rip her head off,” Kaitlynn clarified.
“Yeah, well...anyway, how have you been doing?” I asked Jaren, changing subjects.
“I’m doing all right. Mirko’s driving me crazy, but other than that, things have been okay. As okay as can be expected.” A nervous chuckle echoed between us. “What do you think of him?” Jaren rubbed his shoe against the carpet.
I watched him for a moment, not sure of what I should say or how honest of an answer he wanted.
“I think he’s funny, but he’s also cocky. He’s a good fighter and knows what he’s doing, so that’s all that matters to me right now.” I left out the parts that Kaitlynn and I thought he was a fine specimen of the male gender, and how I found pleasure in the way his muscles stretched and went taut when he fought. Those things felt like too much information.
Jaren nodded in relief.
“What about Holly Anne? Have you seen her today?” I wanted to know, and I wasn’t ashamed to ask.
“Um, yeah. I have. She approached me on my way back from lunch.”
“What did she say?” I tried to keep my voice even. I didn’t want him to be afraid to tell me things.
He scratched his nose. “She wanted to know my name and meet me.”
“Did you kiss her hand?”
He laughed, relieved. “No, she tried, but I shook it instead.”
Kaitlynn and I laughed.
I soured the moment with my next thought. “You know, she could make you. If she can do that dream, mind control thing, then she could make you do anything.”
His eyes met mine for a horrified moment, and then he shook it away. “No. I think she has too much pride to try that on me.”
“I hope so,” I said.
“Me, too,” Kaitlynn added. “We should ask Mirko or Ace about that.”
“About what?” Mirko asked, inviting himself into our room.
“Your mind control...thing,” I said, not sure what to call it.
“Sanjam. What about it?”
I tried to figure out how to phrase my thoughts without mentioning Holly Anne. “Well, there are humans here. And us. Do you guys have some sort of etiquette or rule that protects us from it?”
Mirko’s lips curled. He tilted his head toward Jaren. “You guys scared?”
“No,” Jaren defended. “Brooke brought it up. Not me.” He pointed to himself in a gesture of innocence.
“Well, do I have to worry about it or not?” I barked at Mirko.
“That is one thing you do not need to worry about, Slatki. We have an unwritten code that it’s disrespectful and rude to use it at The Base. It’s similar to walking around naked…,” he turned toward me and grinned. “Sure, you could do it, but it would make some of those around you feel squeamish.”
“’Kay. Thanks. Now go away,” I told him, flipping my arm in a shooing manner toward the door.
“Oh, spunky, too. Sexy,” Mirko said, leaning back on his heels.
“We were having a conversation before you walked in.” Jaren glared at Mirko.
Mirko chuckled. I didn’t know why, but he seemed to enjoy the reactions he caused in other people. “I did come in here for a reason other than to hang out with you.”
“Fine,” I said.
Mirko’s face fell into a serious scowl. “I’ve been checking with some of my contacts. Jelena has sent out lackeys to find you, and one line has been made aware that Jelena has a lackey here. At The Base.”
I breathed in shallow, quick gasps. “What does that mean?”
Jaren’s expression turned gloomy. “We’ve come all this way, only to be led directly to the person who’s trying to take her? What a joke.”
“She’ll be safe here. All this means is that you all have to stick together and not go anywhere without Ace or me.”
Jaren grunted. “We’d have been better off staying at Garwin’s. You guys could have stayed there with us. It’s a lot nicer there, too.” I think the last line was spoken purely as a dig to Mirko.
“Garwin’s property is in no way safer than it is here. There, you have to worry about an attack from many people. Yes, someone is here, but that is a single individual who will be dealt with. Big difference. And when I find the mole, because I will, I’ll kill ’em.”
Mirko spun around and left, not bothering to close the door behind him. I knew from the vicious glare on his face that another person would soon die because of me.
15
Training, Not Fanging
Ace walked with me to meet Mirko in the gym for the day’s training. I was stuck wearing the yoga pants because I had yet to find where to do laundry here, and everybody’s noses were keen enough to tell that I’d worn the sweats already.
I hesitated at the thought of being beat on for the second day in a row, but I was determined to bring some heat to Mirko today.
He was already in the gym, setting up floor mats, when we arrived.
“What are those for?” I hollered across the gym.
He looked up at me with a wicked grin and then finished placing the mats. He moved around shirtless, and I blushed at the reaction my body had while gazing upon his tanned, toned chest. “We’re doing some ground work today. Plus, I figured you should learn how to extend your fangs, which will take a while, and I thought this would be a good place to sit.”
Horror faded the blush from my face. “Un-uh. I agreed to training, not fanging.” I turned around to head back to my room.
“Get over here,” Mirko said, using his commander’s tone with me, “and let me explain to you why you need them in a fight. If you still disagree, and honestly think they’re not valuable, then you can skip today’s training.”
I stopped. I absolutely wanted to skip out on training today. I turned around and walked back with a victorious curve to my lips.
“Remember when you asked me about training with weapons?” Mirko asked, coaxing me into his explanation.
“Yep, and you told me we wouldn’t be.”
“That’s true, but one of your best defenses in a close fight is your fangs. How would you stop someone when you have them held with both hands and no weapons? And you have yet to learn about your powers, let alone control them.”
“Powers?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mirko said. “All Pijawikas have some degree of power. Take Jelena, for example. Her power is starting and controlling fire with her mind. I guess people nowadays would say she’s pyrokinetic.”
My eyebrows raised and my jaw dropped. “But…how do you know she can do that?”
“Ace, can you shut the door, please?” Mirko asked, and then sat down on the mat.
He had my attention now, so I followed him to the floor and sat across from him.
He exhaled uncomfortably. “Let’s just say that I have had a rocky relationship with Jelena.”
“What? Like you dated her?” I was appalled.
“No,” Mirko laughed. “I wish that’s all it was. The story I’m about to tell you hasn’t been told by me, except for a small number of times. Four before now, to be exact.”
“So, why tell me?” I wanted to know what he knew about Jelena, but I didn’t want to pry into his personal life.
“Because you need to really grasp who she is, and start taking training seriously.”
I grew somber and tilted my head, waiting for him to continue.
“As you know, I was turned into a Zao Duh. I wasn’t turned because I wanted into this life, nor did I want a chance at immortality. I didn’t even change over becau
se I wanted the strength, the speed, or the power. Yes, they’re nice now that I know what to do with them. But I didn’t choose this.”
His eyes looked lost behind dark memories.
When he spoke again, his eyes were cloudy. “I was forced.”
I raised my eyebrows. I hadn’t expected that.
“I fought for Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in the War of Austrian Succession back in the 1740s.”
“Whoa! That makes you…what? Over three hundred sixty years old.” My jaw hung open.
“Give or take, yes.” Mirko pressed his lips together and looked down at the mat.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that you don’t meet someone over three hundred years old, well…ever.” I reached my arm out to rest my palm on his hand.
Mirko stared at me for a sorrowful moment and then continued. “Well, I fought among many warriors, but I soared above them all to the top of our ranks. I could see what my enemy would do as soon as he conceived it. Jelena saw this in me and wanted it for her own use. I didn’t know there was such a thing as Pijawikas when she approached me.”
“She had me followed to find what she could use against me. Well, she found it. In my little sister. She was barely five at the time.”
He had a sister?
“Jelena told me that if I didn’t change over she would do terrible things to Miska. She said that she would use fire to burn Miska, and then burn her in the same spot over and over again. I couldn’t do that to Miska, so I changed.”
I frowned. I would have changed, too.
“Jelena’s purpose for me was to fight for her to keep the Pijawikas in power and the Zao Duhs and humans as slaves, or to slaughter them. I find it ironic that she changed me into a Zao Duh, for the sole purpose to fight against what would become my own people, and my freedom. When I look back on it now, the only thing I can relate it to is Hitler.”
“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”
“It was terrible, and I was ruled by her until Zladislov became the new leader of the commission. He freed the humans, Zao Duhs, and me from Pijawikan slavery.”
I stared into his sienna brown eyes and saw the pain he must have carried all this time. But he never showed any of it. He was playful and laughed often.
Descended by Blood Page 11
