A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)

Avril didn’t stop. She used her knees and shins to weaken his legs before she swiftly moved around him and jumped high enough to wrap her legs around his left shoulder, over his back, and pull him down with her weight and a little help from physics. They both landed heavily on the ground, with Avril twisting Heron’s left arm around, close to breaking it loose from the shoulder. Her legs straightened and put enough pressure on his upper back to stuff his face in the short red grass.

I could hear him grunting below, and I bent forward and watched with delight. Avril had him in a tight hold, keeping his arm at a painful angle. She beamed at me, then looked at Heron.

“And the lesson is…” She exhaled sharply. “That you should never ever underestimate a Novak, Heron.”

My heart swelled with pride as Heron caved in and slapped the ground three times to yield.

“That’s my girl!” Cameron shouted, watching from the sidelines across the Plateau.

Avril released him and jumped to her feet. I gave her an appreciative pat on the shoulder, then helped Heron get back up. He dusted himself off, befuddled as he grimaced from his sore shoulder.

“Oh, you’ll heal fast. You’re a Mara!” I chuckled.

He glared at me for a second, then switched his focus to Avril, who stood tall by my side, a defiant smile drawn from ear to ear. Heron then surprised me by giving her a curt nod, his jade eyes locked on hers.

“Nice one,” he said in genuine appreciation. “This was my first time fighting a female GASP recruit. Thank you for making it memorable.”

Avril didn’t seem like she’d expected his concession either. She only nodded in response. I had a feeling she was having a hard time finding her words, and, given the way her cheeks flushed slightly whenever she looked at him, I could guess why. Avril was not indifferent to the Mara’s charms, but she was good at keeping it to herself, for the most part.

“It’s not over, though,” Heron added, his pride bleeding all over the place. “I’ll find your weak spots, and I will take you down.”

“I look forward to laughing in your face as you try, sure,” Avril shot back.

My mischievous nature took over my recruit selection process, and I figured why the hell not—I could suggest throwing a young and cheeky Mara into the Tenebris team, for good measure! While I wasn’t the one making the final decisions, the other senior GASP officers were always open to my suggestions, given my combat skills and Eritopian experience.

“Okay, okay,” I intervened, cutting through the sizzling tension riding between them, and nodded at Fiona. “You want to go again? Scarlett can keep Heron busy for a while.”

Fiona nodded, Heron and Scarlett took their positions, and Avril waited patiently for another round with me. I glanced over to the other girls. Harper was getting tired, so Hansa had taken a step back, letting the vampire sentry focus on just Anjani and Serena. I watched as Hansa’s gaze wandered across the Plateau, settling on Jax on the other side.

The Lord of Maras was busy sparring with one of the incubus recruits. He noticed her looking at him, then came down hard on his opponent with several hits that eventually knocked the young incubus on his back. The tension between Jax and Hansa was gradually increasing, to the point where even her attention made him more aggressive.

I wondered whether it would be a good idea to talk to Jax about this, but I figured it would be better to have Anjani try speaking to her sister first, and tackle the problem from both sides. They were our friends, our family and allies. Whatever was going on between them, they needed to sort it out before it got worse.





Vita





I loved spending time with Caia, mostly because she had a way of making me want to always improve my fire fae abilities. I’d already come a long way in the span of a few months, but watching my sister take out her customized lighters and get into a fighting stance was always exciting.

She’d given me a personalized set of my own as a wedding gift, and I brought them out. I had them with me at all times—not just because I was comfortable with having a permanent fire source, but also because they reminded me of Caia, the best sister I could possibly ask for. Her lighters were rectangular and plated with smooth, stainless steel engravings of fire dragons. She’d been fascinated with the species ever since she was a kid, from what she’d told me. Mine, on the other hand, were oval, with ancient Eritopian runes etched into their silver casings. Caia had worked with Viola and Bijarki to get them done, and I’d nearly cried on my wedding day when she handed them over. The runes were a message to me, inspiring and powerful words that I’d already internalized.

“I’m gonna show you a new trick now.” Caia smiled, raising her arms. “I’m not sure you know, but some fire fae can fashion solid objects out of fire.”

“Seriously?” I’d had no idea, and I certainly had never thought I’d be able to do such a thing.

Caia had been playing with fire from the age of four and was much more advanced than me, but she was also an excellent teacher—patient, encouraging, and a fan of positive reinforcement. I loved her to bits because she brought out the best in me, and I often wished I’d been there while she was growing up. She was the best thing to come out of that Eritopian time lapse, in my book.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s all about using your energy, concentrating it into a shape of your choosing, and channeling it until your inner fire pours into it. I know, easier said than done, but let me show you what I mean.”

She closed her eyes for a second, and the air seemed to heat up around us. She clicked both lighters open above her head. Their flames flickered blue and amber. She took a deep breath, then passed her thumbs over the small fires and slowly brought her arms down.

I gasped as I watched the lighters leave behind two flame trails that shaped themselves into a pair of long swords, made of pure fire.

“Holy crap, that looks amazing!” I gawked at Caia’s fire blades, and she held them up with a grin.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Oh yeah, I definitely want to learn how to do that! Do they cut? I mean, how do they work?” I asked, my thumbs gently pushing against the caps on my lighters.

“It’s fire. It’s loose; it doesn’t cut,” Caia replied, looking at the flames. “I think I can get more energy channeled into them, to maybe make them more compact so the blades can actually cut… You know, like lasers! I mean, I can try?”

“Wow, I would definitely love to see that.” I laughed. “But even in their current state, I’m pretty sure you can inflict some serious damage, right?”

“Let’s find out.” She put on a mischievous smile and moved closer to one of the thick wooden columns in the middle of the plateau. It was normally used for climbing and balancing on its top, but my sister had other plans for it.

I watched in awe as Caia brought both her flaming swords down against the pillar. The wood lit up, the fires swallowing it whole so fast, we didn’t even see whether the blades had actually cut through it.

“Whoa!” Caia took a few steps back as the pillar blazed bright and orange.