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

“Oh, crap,” I muttered, shoving the lighters back in the pockets of my training suit and putting my hands out.

I coaxed the fire into doing my bidding, wiggling my fingers to force it down. The flames dimmed until the only thing left was a charred stick, with red embers still crackling down its length. I looked around the Plateau, then, and noticed that all eyes were on us.

There was a mixture of awe and surprise, while Bijarki stood out, beaming with pride as he moved toward us. I felt my cheeks flush, and Caia gave me a friendly nudge.

“Yeah, we make a good team, Sis.” She snorted. “I set fires, you put them out. Well done!”

I chuckled. Bijarki stopped by my side to drop a soft kiss on my cheek, glancing at the burnt wood pillar.

“Try not to burn GASP down, ladies,” he said lightly. “Although I must admit, that’s impressive.”

“Why, thank you ever so much,” I replied, feigning a Southern accent and fluttering my eyelashes at him. His gaze darkened, raw with desire, and I felt his incubus nature enveloping me with heat and a delicious lightheadedness before he pulled himself back and got a hold of himself.

“I’ll… I’ll go over there,” he mumbled, his silvery eyes fixed on me.

That look on his face said we were in for a long and passionate night. Not that I had any objections to that. Every night with Bijarki was full of bliss, well into the break of dawn. I just found him adorable whenever he forgot to reign in his incubus nature.

He moved over to Harper’s side. She was catching her breath, while Hansa, Serena, and Anjani recovered as well. Harper’s stamina was impressive, and Phoenix often referred to her as a beast, in the most positive sense of the word. Serena was equally infatuated with her younger and, at the same time, older sister. Serena was eighteen, but Harper was born during the Eritopian time lapse, and had recently turned twenty. Nevertheless, they were inseparable, their character differences bringing them even closer, as if they perfectly complemented each other.

“Harper, it’s time I teach you something nifty.” Bijarki smiled, prompting the vampire sentry to straighten her back in response.

“Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with genuine interest.

“You’re fast and aggressive enough to learn a new fighting technique,” he replied. “It’s part of the incubi’s warfare tactic, mastered by trained assassins, to be precise. Few are selected to learn it.”

“I feel honored, then!” She grinned.

“Try to attack me.” He winked, taking a defensive stance.

Harper nodded and immediately came at him with a left hook. He ducked, then delivered soft blows in short and simple, unexpected moves. It reminded me of Wing Chun, a Kung Fu style that had risen to popularity in the first half of the 20th century on Earth. Harper was surprised and tried to counteract his hits, but Bijarki was too fast and getting too close.

He took a step back, and pointed at the empty space between them.

“See this?” he asked. “There’s too much room. You want to get close, really close, to your adversary. You want to use your fists, knees, and feet in an effective manner, because you won’t always be able to keep your distance, and your life might depend on what you do in close quarters.”

“I like it.” Harper nodded. “But I’m guessing it’s not something you learn on the spot.”

“No, but I can show you some basic moves now, and we can set up an hour or two every day to train further.”

“Sounds like a plan. Teach me, sensei!” Harper joked.

“What’s that?” Bijarki blinked with confusion.

“Oh, it means ‘teacher’ in martial arts, a fighting style on Earth.”

Bijarki processed the information, then smirked.

“I like it. You can call me Sensei Bijarki then.”

I giggled, totally head over heels for my incubus. I loved watching him teach; it made him so happy and energized. He’d really found his calling in GASP, and was now eager to share his ample military experience and knowledge with the younger recruits.

I looked over to the other guys, and noticed Blaze had been left without a sparring partner. Patrik had retired to the door to confer with Draven, Jax, and the elder Novaks. Bijarki noticed, too, and briefly glanced at Caia before he called the fire dragon over.

“Blaze!” he said. “Get over here and spar with Caia. Can’t have you standing around so idly!”

Blaze instantly nodded and crossed the Plateau at a sprint. He was the spitting image of his dad, Heath. His dark blue eyes fixed on Caia as he reached us. He looked at Bijarki for a moment, pressing his lips together.

“Are you sure?” he murmured to Bijarki, then settled his gaze on Caia again.

“I’m positive, Blaze. Do not underestimate your opponent,” Bijarki replied. “Use both physical combat and fire skills. Reps of five minutes with one-minute breaks in between.”

Bijarki then focused on teaching Harper some new moves, while Caia moved closer to Blaze, her teal eyes glimmering. They both nodded to each other, and assumed their fighting stances.

“I’ll, uh, be blowing fire in my human form,” Blaze stated, his tone slightly awkward. “I’m a bit large for this platform as a dragon… I might topple a few columns.”

“Okay,” she replied, offering him a small smile. “I’ll start, then.”

Caia moved, flipping open her lighters and summoning a long fire whip, which she lashed at Blaze so fast, he had to jump back a couple of feet to avoid a burn. It caught him by surprise, but he didn’t immediately use his own fire. Instead, he dodged her strikes until he managed to close the distance between them.

Caia turned three hundred and sixty degrees with her fire whip to amplify the impact of her next lash, but Blaze dropped down and swept her feet from under her. Caia fell flat on her back with a grunt, her flames extinguished, and Blaze offered her a hand. She took it, and he helped her up with a pull that brought him a little too close, their faces inches away from one another.

They seemed entranced, until Caia took a deep breath and reignited her lighter, this time fashioning two short fire batons. The flames seemed more concentrated than her previous sword forms, reminding me of the incandescent blade that Ori had used against Azazel.

“I definitely didn’t expect that,” Blaze warned Caia. “Your skills are impressive.”

“I would like to see yours, too, while we’re here,” Caia replied with a smirk, then came at him with a succession of fiery blows. Blaze pulled back, dodging the hits, then blew a strong fire column at her, prompting Caia to bring her forearms together in a cross and immediately turn her batons into a thick, flaming shield. It worked well, but the strength of Blaze’s fire pushed her farther back, forcing her to take a knee.