Charlie couldn't untie all the knots in his head—or his heart.
"What do I do?" Charlie asked.
Viktor shrugged. "Honestly, kid? I don't know. Never expected anything like this to happen. But you're not bound to Simon forever if that's what you're worried about. Plenty of vampires live independent lives away from their sires." He paused. "You just gotta learn how to be independent."
"Right." Charlie forced a wobbly smile. "How do I do that?"
"Well…" Viktor thought. "I guess the blood training didn't work out." His eyes lit up with an idea. "Let's try something else."
"Please don't make me drink anything else."
"No, this is different. Better." Viktor leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Every vampire has an animal form. Something that connects to their strongest ability."
Charlie peeked up. "Like turning into a bat?"
"That's mostly movie bullshit. Real forms are more varied. It's usually tied to whatever your strongest trait is. I knew a vampire who had amazing perception and she could turn into an owl. And then there was this guy who had incredible strength. He turned into a grizzly bear."
Despite himself, Charlie felt a spark of interest. "I can be really fast."
The fact that he couldn'tcontrolhis speed was a different matter that he shoved aside for now.
"Exactly," Viktor said. "So your form will be something fast." Viktor's enthusiasm seemed genuine now. "Maybe a cheetah. Or a falcon! Imagine diving at two hundred miles per hour."
Charlie sat up straighter. A cheetah would be cool. Sleek and deadly, all coiled muscle and grace. Or a falcon, sharp-eyed and free, nothing but sky and speed.
"How do I find out?"
"Meditation, basically. You focus on your core nature, let your body find its true shape." Viktor stood, pushing the coffee table against the wall to clear floor space. "Sit in the middle. Cross-legged is fine."
Charlie positioned himself on the carpet, trying not to feel ridiculous. "This seems more like yoga than vampire training."
"You want to discover your inner predator or not?"
Inner predator.Charlie liked the sound of that. Maybe he'd be a wolf. Or a powerful and lethal jaguar. Something that would make other vampires stop laughing at him.
"Close your eyes," Viktor instructed. "Focus on your speed. Remember how it felt when you ran from Simon at the bar."
Charlie's memory supplied the panic, the desperate need to flee. His body moving faster than thought, propelling him up and away from danger.
"Good. I can see you connecting. Now let that feeling spread. Don't force it, just let your body remember what it wants to be."
A tingling started in Charlie's fingers and toes. Like pins and needles but deeper, his bones themselves shifting. His skin prickled, itched, then?—
"Holy shit," Viktor said.
Charlie opened his eyes. The room looked wrong. Too big. Too bright. Everything in sharp focus but from a much lower angle.
He looked down at himself.
Brown fur.
Four legs.
Paws.
Big paws, granted, but definitely paws. And his ears… He could feel them, hanging down past his face. Soft and floppy and…
Charlie thumped his back foot against the floor in frustration. The sound was exactly what he feared.
