Blood Cruel (Gods of Blood and Shadow Book 1) (18 page)

“Risky is waiting until nightfall with no good plan,” she said. “Besides, I’ll never have a better training partner than I do right now.”

“Who’s that?” Jaden asked.

Chapter 30

Train

K
atie had to suppress a giggle when she saw Jaden. He was lathered in enough sunscreen to have turned him white. On top of that, he had sunglasses and her wide-brimmed sun hat on. He wore the long coat again, along with leather gloves. To top it all off, he had her pink scarf wrapped around his neck.

She shot a glance at Loki, who nodded. He was ready to try. She raised the foam-padded stick she was going to practice with, then waited.

Above her, the sky melted into a rainbow of colours, and Jaden turned into a gorilla. The stick in her hand became a banana.

“Not that,” she said.

The world crept back to normal, and she shook her head. This time, her surroundings didn’t change, but she had trouble keeping her eyes open. She wobbled where she stood.

“Not that either, I guess,” Loki said.

She felt alert at once. Then a feeling crept over her like she was studying for an exam the night before it was due; a painful, uncomfortable feeling. “Maybe that.”

She raised her foam stick and waved for Jaden to attack. He moved too quickly for her, springing forward and grabbing her before she could even move.

He released her and moved back to his original position. Then he sprang forward again, but she didn’t do any better. He tried again and again, until she got her stick up in time to poke him in the chest.

“He’s not trying,” Loki said.

“Is that true?” she asked Jaden. “Are you holding back?”

He looked sheepish. “A little. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“This is my only chance to train with a vampire,” she said. “If you hold back, Caterina will tear me apart.”

He nodded, returning to his starting position. This time when he sprang forward, she didn’t even see him move. He had her off her feet faster than she could gasp. Her stick flew sideways and his mouth was at her throat, ready to close.

For a moment, she felt sure he’d bite her. Maybe he was too far gone to hold back anymore. But he helped her to her feet and released her, picking up her stick and returning it.

“That’s more like it,” Loki said.

“Let’s try again,” Katie said.

***

Hours later, she was mentally exhausted. A thick headache had settled over her, pressing against her forehead. She could barely concentrate anymore, but she waved to Jaden anyway.

This time, in the split second before he moved, she saw his muscles bunch. She knew where he would go before he sprang. As he jumped for her, she brought her stick up and swiped at him. The foam bounced off his shoulder.

She stood for a moment, staring at the spot the stick had hit. “Finally. I thought I’d never get you.”

Relief washed over her. It had taken so long to manage it, but she’d hit him. She could relax. She turned for the door, ready to collapse and take a nap for the rest of the day.

“You know the difference between amateurs and professionals?” Jaden asked.

“No,” she said.

“Amateurs are satisfied when they manage something once,” Jaden said. “Professionals are only satisfied when they’re successful every time.”

She sighed. “These professionals, do they eat lunch?”

Jaden shrugged. “I guess.”

“Then let’s take a break.”

She walked inside, unwilling to hear anything else until she’d at least had a sandwich. As she stepped through the door, she felt Loki’s control fade. The feeling of discomfort gone, she could breathe again. She found food and made sandwiches for her and Jaden. Then she returned with them to the table where he was waiting.

She tucked in hungrily, barely noticing the world. It was only when she finished that she realised Jaden hadn’t touched his food. He picked at it, but didn’t eat any.

“No good?” she asked.

“I’m not hungry,” he said.

She could see the worry etched on his face. If he couldn’t eat human food anymore, then he’d soon be hungry for something else.

“You won’t turn into that,” she said. “I won’t let you.”

“How? How are you going to stop it? It’s a force of nature, Katie. You can’t make it stop just because you don’t like it.”

“I have an idea. But I don’t want to say it out loud. Not until I’m sure.”

That was only half true. The real reason she didn’t want to tell was because of who would be listening. Loki wouldn’t like her idea. She was pretty sure Jaden wouldn’t either. But both of them would have little choice when she was done.

“Ready?” Jaden got to his feet. “There isn’t much daylight left.”

“I guess.” She got up and followed him out. She would have liked ten minutes to let her lunch settle, but apparently vampires didn’t need breaks.

***

By the time the sun was fading in the sky, she’d gotten much better at anticipating Jaden’s moves. Half of the time she could bring her weapon around to meet him as he sprang. A few times, it even hit him in the neck like she planned. Whether that was random chance or not was difficult to determine.

“Time to stop,” Loki said.

She could see Loki was getting weaker, barely visible anymore. As the feeling of discomfort left her mind, he faded from view. She hoped he’d have the strength to help her later, if she needed it.

As for her, her headache now clutched her whole head in its grasp. Every movement shot electric bolts of pain through her brain. She felt like she’d learnt a lot more than she otherwise might have, but there had been a heavy price to pay for it.

“If we’re done, I need to call Dad,” Jaden said. “Can I borrow your phone?”

“You want me to sit with you when you do?” she asked, handing it over.

Jaden shook his head. He turned and disappeared into the house without another word.

Chapter 31

Happy Birthday

J
aden pressed his hand against the spare bedroom door, as if checking it was really closed. He tried to take his thoughts off Katie. He could feel her somewhere below, making her way through the house. It had taken everything in him not to plunge his teeth into her neck in the garden. Over and over he’d resisted her. A day later and he wouldn’t be able to hold back. He would suck the life from her and leave her lying in that garden.

Part of him felt anguish at the thought of her dead. But a greater part of him felt nothing at all. That part, the one that scared him, told him she was a meal. Without her, he’d wither and die. It was all part of the food chain. The one humans thought they were at the top of, until they saw a real predator coming.

Jaden moved to the bed and turned on Katie’s phone, calling Rans.

When his father answered, he sounded tired. “You got away okay?”

“I did,” Jaden said. “If we work together, after I turn, can we defeat Caterina for good?”

“Definitely,” Rans said.

“Then I’ll come back,” Jaden said. “We need to end this. I’ll even let you drain her, increase your power. But I need the truth first. Were you going to kill me?”

Rans paused a long time before answering. “Once… a long time ago. But not anymore. You’re my son and I love you.”

“When’s my real birthday?”

Rans paused again. “Tomorrow.”

“I’m coming over.” Jaden hung up the phone and laid it on the bed. Taking all his things, he stuffed them into his bag and shouldered it. Then he opened the window and got onto the ledge.

The room was a storey up, a jump he’d seen his father do a thousand times. He launched himself out and fell to the ground, landing catlike on his feet.

When he moved, his steps felt lighter. As the sun had sunk, his strength had grown. At first he hadn’t been holding back with Katie in training, but he’d felt his power growing. By the end of the day, he knew if he didn’t hold back he’d have killed her.

He let his steps lengthen, skipping along, moving faster than most humans could. It was easy, he didn’t even feel out of breath. With a start, he realised he didn’t need to breathe at all. He was only doing it out of habit. When he stopped, he felt no urge to begin again.

The few people he passed shot him strange looks, and he slowed his pace a little. He was acting strangely, drawing attention. That was the one thing his father had taught him not to do. He might have lied about everything else, but Jaden knew he’d told the truth about that. It was every vampire for themselves, even if humans wouldn’t understand what they were looking at.

He kept his eye out for Caterina, but if she was anywhere nearby she didn’t make a move. When he reached his house, he realised why, when his father appeared nearby. Rans had been trailing him the whole way.

“Have you accepted who you are?” Rans asked.

“I have,” Jaden said. “I’ve no choice now, anyway.”

“It takes everyone a while, but we all accept it in the end. If we’re going to defeat Caterina, you’ll have to eat before we fight her. Your strength is all potential right now. You need blood to feed that power.”

Jaden nodded. He searched inside himself for that slight pang of doubt, but it was gone. He was hungry and someone out there would be his first meal. The thought made his fangs grow in anticipation.

“By midnight, you’ll be one of us,” Rans said. “We’ll go out right after. I’ll need to teach you how to hunt without getting caught.”

Jaden nodded.

“You have an invitation into your friend’s house,” Rans said. “But that might be too much for a first feeding. We’ll start with something easier.”

Jaden didn’t reply, he just opened the front door of their house and walked inside. He went to his room and sat on the bed. What his father had said was true. He might have trouble killing Katie now, but in a month, maybe less, the idea would grow on him.

He turned on his computer and put on the latest episode of his favourite show, looking for a distraction. But after ten minutes he had to admit it wasn’t the plot holding his attention. All he could see was the blood pulsing in each actor’s neck. He shut the show off and realised for the first time why their house was filled with books.

He got up and left his room, going to his father’s study and pulling a book from the shelf. The characters in the book were more dead than he was. They wouldn’t remind him of how much he needed to feed.

Once back on his bed, he lay down, cracking the book open and reading. It took him a minute before he realised he hadn’t turned the light on, and he was reading in the dark.

***

A few minutes before midnight, he put a bookmark in the book and closed it. He sat up and looked around his room. Everything was black and white, but otherwise as visible as in daylight. He put the book on his nightstand and got up, reaching out to touch his chair. It was exactly where it seemed to be.

He took a step toward the door and instead sprang into the wall, careening off it. He struggled up again, not hurt but confused. This time when he moved, he barely pushed off on his foot at all. The step took him to the door.

He opened the door gently and found his father waiting outside.

“I heard the crash,” Rans said. “You’re ready.”

Rans took Jaden’s hand, guiding him like he used to when Jaden was a boy. He helped Jaden walk down the stairs and outside, stopping him each time he moved too quickly.

He led Jaden to the garden and then let go of his hand. “You need to learn to walk again. A pureborn has far more power than a vampire usually does after they turn. You have as much as me, but you got it all in one go.”

Jaden nodded and tried to walk to the far side of the garden. Each step took concentration. His impulse was to push harder, and each movement worked differently than he expected. He realised why vampires skipped along. Even light steps pushed him into the air.

He turned and walked back, reaching his father again without falling.

“Keep going,” Rans said. “If we’re going to fight Caterina, you need to move efficiently.”

Jaden nodded and turned to skip across the garden again. He wondered what power he had. If he jumped as hard as he could, how high would he reach? He decided perhaps it was better to keep learning to walk before he leapt tall buildings in a single bound.

The thought he’d become Superman made him smile. He kept walking, over and over for an hour, until he was sure he could manage it without too much thought.

“All right,” Rans said. “Follow me. We need to find you a meal.”

Chapter 32

Feeding Time

J
aden trailed his father, skipping along the path behind him. They kept their movements slower, more believable, while among the suburban houses. Once they got closer to town, though, Rans leapt high onto the first apartment building they came to.

Jaden stared up after him, five storeys up where his father was beckoning. Gathering his strength, Jaden jumped as hard as he could, rocketing up through the air over the top of the building. Then plummeting down to the car park on the other side. He turned and realised he’d done what he’d thought he could: hurdled an apartment building.