Page 26 of The Vampire Oracle

8

Sal

“Get up, Sal,” Osiris barked.

My eyes looked up at him, narrowing. I was a better fighter than this. Maybe because he was shirtless with sweat dripping down his body. That was distracting. Or was it the extra weight of my arm? I was always in pain when it rained, even if it was only a little bit in the morning.

Osiris was showing me no mercy, and I was getting my ass kicked.

I rolled onto my good arm, pushing myself up. I put up one fist, the other not moving no matter how much I pushed it.

Osiris was the first to strike first, his fist hitting my block. I pushed his arm away, throwing a few kicks his way. He blocked each and every one until his back hit the wall.

But he was fast, grabbing my ankle, hitting his palm against my chest, and taking me down. His large sweaty body pinned me to the ground. I wheezed from the pain radiating from my back.

“I thought you were Spectre? You lied,” he teased in a chuckle.

My eyes dropped to the space between us, which wasn’t much.

Slowly, his eyes dropped over my body, and he sat back on his heels. This position didn’t help either, lust hitting the pit of my stomach.

“Stop beating up the poor girl,” Jinn called across the room.

“Poor girl?!” I snapped, foot kicking Osiris’s chest.

He grabbed my ankle and then punched me in the throat. The air in my body seized as I rolled over on my stomach.

“Reflex! God! I’m so sorry, Sal!”

Waving him away, I sat there coughing for a moment and feeling defeated. I was an amazing fighter. I was trained by the best, even with one arm. Why couldn’t I do it now? What was wrong with me? Even with the vampires, I lacked. Was I getting soft? Or was something wrong with me?

I sat up on my heels, breathing hard. Abel moved to me, sighing.

Kier was out for the day, doing whatever he… does… Briar and Cain left to get what Cozen needed for my arm, leaving Osiris here to kick my ass while Abel, Jinn, Cozen, and Beck watched.

Lovely.

“Let’s take a break before our next lesson,” Jinn suggested, and I nodded.

Kier

I sat at the desk, finger tapping against the desk with nerves. It had gotten to the point where she invaded my head. All I thought about when I left was, “Will Ashbourne be okay?”

I’d had girlfriends and never cared too much about their safety, mainly because they weren’t her. She was a skilled killer or said to be. I watched her on the cameras get her ass beat by my brother. It was sort of satisfying to watch.

But at the same time, I was nervous. Did she play us? No, she did alchemy better than most. Not better than me. But better than most Bishops. Her fighting skills were just flawless. But that was with one and a half arms. If she had full control, she would be unstoppable.

But if she had… no control…

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Theo told me upon entering the room.

I glanced over my shoulder before standing before the Father. He was high ranked and close to being a High Priest.

Theo snickered at me. He loved seeing me stand down to him. Together we sat down at his desk, across from each other.

After a few moments of looking down, he nodded.

“Paperwork has been done by all the Bishops on the incident at the academy,” I explained, tapping my fingers on the desk.