When it came, I said, “Will you train me?”
“Train you?” He seemed bemused.
“To fight. Will you train me?” I’d trained a lot and was a reasonable fighter. And my dad had taught me defensive moves if someone attacked, but I needed the distraction, needed to improve my skills if I was going to stay in this world.
“Amy, you will never beat a vampire, especially not Karson, even if I do train you.”
“It’s not about beating him, Ethan, although I would like to slap his face really, really hard.”
“There’s a long queue of people who think the same.”
“I just feel so helpless. I need to somehow take some power back, even if it’s only mental. Even if all I can do is defend myself against humans, that’s something, isn’t it?”
He studied me for a few beats, considering, then shrugged and said, “Okay.”
I peered up, a smile gracing my lips. “Can we start in the morning?”
“Sure, you better get back to bed. I might even teach you how to kill a vampire if you promise not to sneak into my bedroom at night and stab me in my sleep.”
“You wish I’d sneak into your room.”
He smiled widely as he headed to the door. “I most certainly do.”
I shook my head and laughed. I remembered Michael, I probably woke him, too late now. I went to the toilet. Aware Ethan could hear me pee. Oh well, I guessed he was used to it. I climbed into bed and snuggled under the covers, Ethan’s words ran through my head. Karson cared for me, and yet he’d thrown me against the wall. No, he’d moved me against it. I didn’t touch the wall, there was no thump, no pain—a whisper fast movement, not even a tight squeeze against my arms. He didn’t intend to hurt me; of that I was certain. It was a warning, not to push him, intended to scare me. But the anger in his eyes, that was genuine. Was his anger born out of my defiance? Was he attempting to stamp his authority over me. Or was it fear that if I pushed him too hard, he might lose control and hurt me? Maybe it was both. Whatever his rationale, for reasons I couldn’t entirely fathom, it had devastated me.
He was an intriguing man. Vampire. Man—which was he more of, I couldn’t decide. I knew he was dangerous. My mind could process it with all the logical thought it wanted, but my blinded heart yearned for him. Yearned to have him hold me, yearned to see the smile that could light up a thousand candles.
The revelation came slowly at first, it seeped in softly, whispering with its hot breath into my heart and my mind, but then it came like a roar of thunder.
I was in love with him.
In love with a vampire. It was ludicrous, and yet here it was. I loved him. I couldn’t decide when it’d happened exactly. Maybe I had been since the moment he linked his arm through mine and we walked down the dark alleyway; maybe even before that. The first moment our eyes had connected; something had sparked inside me that day, and remained lit, glowing deeper and deeper, at every look, every smile, every word, every touch.
I laid there for a long while letting the revelation settle over me, and eventually I closed my eyes and let sleep cradle my staggered thoughts.
* * *
I dreamed. Shadow Man stood before me, but I was no longer afraid. He turned. I followed. He walked into the deep of the night through the dense black forest. The winds caught against branches and whined warnings.
‘Run, Amy, you stupid girl, run.’
I walked on.
He disappeared beneath the canopy of trees. I followed. I found him paused by the lakes edge, beams of moonlight shimmered on the silvered waters like a graveyard of ghosts. He walked into the cooled, murky depths. I paused at the lake’s edge, and he whispered, “Come, come sit with me.”
I followed.
The cold water pressed in around me. I walked on. Something slithered against my legs, I looked down, I couldn’t see anything, but it had to be a fish or a reed. I walked on. Deeper and deeper we went.
Shadow Man disappeared into the deep, dark depths below.
I followed.
Something touched my legs. Something hooked around my leg. It dragged me under. Claws sunk and tore at my skin, holding me down and I couldn’t breathe. I tried to scream but it was lost in coffin of water. Small bubbles floated up and away to safety. I clawed at the water, kicked furiously toward the surface.
I couldn’t breathe. It wouldn’t let go.
I fought and struggled, but the harder I fought, the tighter it held.
