Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (35 page)

I stopped
and turned to face Russell. "What are you doing?"

"Whatever
do you mean?"

"This.
Being all nice to me. Offering to show me places. You don't even
know me."

He
smirked. "Maybe I want the chance to get to know you
better."

I felt a
sudden tightness in my chest, and the urge to get away from the
situation as quickly as possible. "I, ummm... Thanks, for the help,
but I think I can make it the rest of the way on my own now." I
turned and began walking off once more, the rain beating against my
damp clothes and skin.

"Mikhail." A hand caught my wrist. I gritted my teeth and
looked over my shoulder. "At least take the umbrella. You need it
more than I do." He placed the umbrella in my hand, and then he was
gone.

*****

I stormed
the rest of the way to Anna's, my head down and hidden beneath the
black umbrella. When I got there Anna was waiting at the door. She
took me inside and handed me a towel.

"I was
beginning to wonder if something had happened to you," she said. I
cast my gaze to the stone floor. "Did something happen?"

"No. It's
nothing."

"It
doesn't look like nothing to me."

I sighed
and started to dry my hair. "It's just some vampire that's been
showing an interest in me."

"In a
blood-sucking kinda way, or something else?"

"Something else... I think. I don't even know."

"Do you
know their name?"

"Russell."

"Oh."

"You know
him?"

Anna
rolled her eyes. "Everybody knows Russell. He is Marcus' progeny,
after all. Take my advice and stay clear of him. He is not to be
trusted. But enough of that, let's get on with your
training."

Anna took
the towel from me and brandished a dagger in my face. She held it
by the blade, urging me to take hold of it. I grabbed the hilt and
examined it. Not even silver, I thought. It was probably for the
best that it wasn't silver, for Anna's sake. I'm not saying I hated
her, but there were a few times when I felt like I could stab
her.

"We're
going to try something different today," she said.

"And what
am I supposed to do with this?" I asked. "You said it's about mind,
not body."

"If you'd
give me a chance to explain..." Anna threw her hands into the air.
"The blade is to help with your visualisation, since you don't seem
to understand what we're trying to achieve here."

"What are
we trying to achieve?"

Anna
sighed. "Manipulating the shape and nature of your magic. You
mentioned that the first time it happened, you were slashing at a
vampire's throat with a knife, correct?"

"So you
want me to use my magic as an extension of this dagger?"

"Yes!"
Anna cheered. "Finally, you've understood something."

I glared
at her. "Maybe you just suck at teaching."

She
glared back. "I'll suck at more than that if you keep this attitude
up. It's not like I wanted to take on this assignment. Now, get to
work. I want you to run your magic down the edge of the blade and
use it to slash at the box."

I took a
few steps back from the table and stretched my arm out towards the
box, making sure I couldn't reach it with the dagger. The wind blew
outward and I channelled it down my arm, across the sharp edge of
the blade. Trying to keep it tamed across such a small area was
more difficult than I imagined. It was no wonder I hadn't
accomplished anything yet. When I thought I had it under control, I
lifted my arm and swung the dagger. And just like before, nothing
happened. I grunted in frustration and tried again, and again, and
again.

"You're
releasing your magic too soon," Anna said. "There's no point in
creating a sharp edge if you're going to let it diffuse before it
hits the target."

I took a
deep breath and repeated the process, focusing on keeping my magic
in check. I swung again, and to my surprise a small scratch
appeared on the surface of the box.

"Finally," Anna said. "Now we're making some
progress."

"It's
only a scratch," I said, pouting. It was nothing like what Anna
could manage. I wondered how long it might take me to reach that
level of skill, if it had taken me over two days of training to
manage a tiny scratch.

"Now, get
out. I have stuff to do."

"What?
You're supposed to be training me!"

"I still
have a life." Anna scowled. "Besides, you don't need me to
practice. I've given you the tools, and now it's up to you to
figure out how best to use them. Take the box if you have to, and
practice on keeping that sharp edge until you can do it without
thinking. If you can manage that, then try it without the
dagger."

"Fine." I
sighed and handed the dagger back to Anna.

"Don't
you need this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I've got
my own," I replied, picking up the box.

"Well,
good luck."

"Whatever," I muttered and headed back up the stairs and
outside.

*****

The rain
had calmed at least, and I walked back to Daniel's room. Daniel
wasn't there so I continued practising in peace and quiet, until
Daniel and Nate showed up an hour or so later. They watched
curiously as I swung the dagger, its blade whistling through the
air. Nate cheered whenever a scratch appeared on the
box.

"You
gonna tickle that box to death?" Daniel asked.

"I'm
focusing on technique, not power," I said, gritting my
teeth.

Daniel
and Nate watched a little while longer, until they got bored and
went to make some food. I paused my training for a short while to
eat with them – steak pie, chips and peas. At this rate, I was
going to start putting on weight. I made a mental note that I
needed to exercise more than just my mind.

As the
night drew on, I reached the point where I had enough control over
my magic to attempt it without the dagger. It was much harder than
I thought, trying to create that same flow of magic without the
blade to guide its path. My first few attempts yielded nothing but
frustration, but soon I managed to make a small dent in the outer
layer of the cardboard. It wasn't even close to the scratches I
could make with the dagger, but at least it was something. I gave
up after that, deciding it would be better to go for a jog and
clear my mind. Daniel joined me, taking me along the river where we
could really stretch our legs. Daniel kept pulling ahead of me. He
jogged on the spot, waiting for me to catch up before racing off
again, and as we started back, a cold fog began to set in over the
city.

That
morning, I went to bed exhausted. I was both physically and
mentally drained. I didn't even have the energy to complain when
Daniel rolled over in his sleep and put an arm over me. To be
honest, I didn't mind it. It wasn't anything at all like when Ash
cuddled up to me. It was friendly, comforting and warm. There was
no awkwardness about it, just two people enjoying a bit of human
contact and body heat. I laughed to myself as my eyes closed,
because if anyone had tried to snuggle with me a few weeks ago,
they would have ended up on the floor.

"Hey,
sleepyhead. Time to wake up," Daniel said, giving my shoulder a
quick nudge.

"No," I
grunted and rolled over.

"Yes, I'm
afraid so."

I
ventured to open one eye. Daniel was sitting on the edge of the bed
in his boxers, pulling on a pair of socks.

"It's not
even starting to get dark," I said.

Daniel
stood and went to the window. He opened the blinds, letting the
sunlight flood into the room, stabbing at my eyes. I screwed my
eyes shut.

"Up.
Now!"

"Why?" I
moaned.

"We're
going over to Violet's, remember?"

I sat up
and yawned, using one hand to cover my mouth and the other to
shield my eyes from the glaring light. "Why didn't you tell
me?"

"I did,
didn't I?"

"No."

"Ah, well
I meant to. Anyway, it doesn't matter now. Hurry up or we'll be
late. You don't wanna be late with Violet, trust me."

With a
heavy sigh, I dragged myself out of bed and plodded into the
bathroom. I had a nice hot shower, and as always, time seemed to
fly by. Daniel was soon banging on the door, urging me to hurry.
After drying myself off, I brushed my teeth and exited the bathroom
with a towel around my waist.

Daniel
had on a pair of blue jeans and a deep green shirt with the sleeves
rolled up that brought out the colour of his eyes. I wasn't sure if
we were supposed to be dressing up a little – not that I had much
choice with my limited wardrobe – so I picked out a pair of black
jeans and sweater. When I was dressed, we went next door to make
sure Nate was ready. Daniel knocked once.

"Hang on
a second," Nate called out.

"It's
time to go," Daniel replied, trying the door handle. It was
unlocked. We went inside to find Nate hopping about, trying to pull
on a pair of jeans. Daniel slapped his face with the palm of his
hand, and then shook his head. "Didn't you set an alarm?" he
asked.

"I
forgot," Nate replied, slipping into a light blue
jumper.

With Nate
finally dressed, we began our walk to Violet's house. As with the
day before, dark grey clouds swelled in the sky, threatening to
rain down on us.

"How much
farther?" I asked as the first drops began to fall.

"Just
over the bridge," Nate said, pointing into the distance. I
recognised the bridge from earlier that morning, when Daniel and I
went for a run. As we crossed the river, there was a flash of
light. Seconds later, a loud rumbling rolled through the air, and
the skies opened up in a deluge of giant raindrops. We ran the rest
of the way, but it was already too late. Violet's doorbell rang as
we huddled under the small porch. Sebastian opened the door. He
blinked for a moment, and then laughed hysterically.

"Didn't
you think to bring an umbrella?"

"Is
something wrong?" Violet asked.

"We're
gonna need some towels," Sebastian shouted to her. "Come on in," he
said. "Leave your shoes by the front door and come sit next to the
fire to dry off."

"Oh
dear," Violet said as she looked at the three of us huddled around
the open fire. She handed us each a towel, which we used to dry our
hair and faces. "Did you not think to bring an umbrella with
you?"

"That's
what he said." Daniel laughed, inclining his head towards
Sebastian.

It didn't
take too long for us to dry off, especially after Nate decided the
fire wasn't nearly ablaze enough. Sebastian was in and out of the
kitchen, offering us hot drinks and checking on the food. The smell
coming from the kitchen drifted through the house, teasing our
noses and stomachs.

"Daniel
told me you're training with Anna," Violet said. "How's that
going?"

"I'm
starting to get the hang of it," I said. "But it's much harder than
I thought." If there had been a piece of paper or cardboard at
hand, I would have demonstrated it for them. Instead, I settled for
a brief explanation of what I had learned and was trying to
accomplish. I left out the part about what my ability could do to
people. Daniel was still the only person I had confided in, and he
was sworn to secrecy.

"Sounds
complicated," said Sebastian. I often forgot he was an ordinary
human, having no supernatural ability other than being able to
communicate telepathically with Violet, which I hadn't seen them
use all that often. And by that, I mean they usually spoke out loud
to each other. Of course, I couldn't be sure how much they kept to
themselves.

When the
food was ready, we sat down at a circular wooden table. Sebastian
and Violet brought in the food – lamb chops with potatoes, carrots
and green beans. At last, a real meal. Violet sat down with us. She
had a small plastic pouch filled with blood in her hand.

She must
have caught me looking because she said, "You can buy them at the
supermarket here."

"They
even sell werewolf blood," Daniel said. "But it's damn expensive
compared to the ordinary stuff."

"Because
it's better?" I asked.

"No."
Daniel shook his head. "There's not many werewolves around at the
moment. Still, making a quick donation is good for earning a few
extra credits on the side."

"They
come in different flavours too," Violet said enthusiastically. "I
prefer B-positive, but it's a little less common than the other
types."

In my
mind, I imagined a large factory with people on a conveyor belt,
heading inside a strange machine that sucked out their blood and
packaged it in neat little pouches. I shuddered. Maybe it was more
like a tax for living in the city.