Kael smiled. “And yet so much more. You see her fangs?”
He opened the metal vampire’s mouth so Eve could see the protruding fangs. “A vampire’s teeth are about thirteen millimeters longer than a human’s canine. Can you imagine such a small measurement leading to so much destruction?”
“I had no idea…” Eve answered, testing the strap by trying to sit up in the semi-reclined seat.
Two soldiers entered the room and flanked Kael, each carrying a tranquilizer gun.
“What is this?” she asked.
“You’ve been upgraded, so you must understand my need for personal protection.”
“Why would you need to be protected? I’m the one being upgraded, right?”
“No, Eve. You are being tested.”
“Tested?” she asked, staring uncertainly at the gleaming silver head.
“During your mission, you risk being bitten by a vampire. Victor feels that it is imperative you not only know what it feels like, but that you know how to handle such a wound.”
“My tech suit is impenetrable to fangs, so it should protect me from a bite. And if I were bitten, it would accelerate my body’s healing response.”
“What if you are caught without your tech suit?”
Eve ticked her head back and scoffed, “Why would I be without my suit?”
Kael gave her a cruel smile. “Life isn’t always scripted. There are variables that no one can predict, Eve. We must think of all possibilities and prepare for every danger.”
He entered something into the tech on her hand. “What are you doing?” She tried to pull her hand out of the metal clamp, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Disabling your pain receptors.”
“You’re not using that thing to bite me,” she warned.
“Actually, I am,” he replied matter-of-factly. “And then you will know what a vampire bite feels like. The people of Verona are being bitten, brutally attacked at times. You need to feel this, to know their pain, so you will know what is at stake if you fail in your mission.”
Eve argued, “I know what’s happening out there. I watch the broadcasts. You don’t have to use that thing to bite me. I get it.” She tried to pull her feet out of the restraints, she wriggled her hands back and forth, and she arched her back to stretch against the leather strap. Nothing worked.
“You only know what Victor allows you to know, but there is so much being kept from you, so much you need to learn, and we are running out of time.”
He demonstrated the device, explaining what he was about to do. There was a button on the back of the skull that opened the mouth and another that snapped it shut. Eve flinched as metal clashed against metal. Then he depressed the button to open the mouth and positioned it on the soft flesh a few inches above her knee. He hit the button to close the mouth and the fangs sank in deep, blood seeping down her leg. Eve’s scream made the guards jump backward.
They trained their guns on her with shaky hands. Kael released the jaw and eased the fangs from her leg, quickly snapping them on her arm. More screaming. More blood. Eve was sobbing for him to stop, but when he snapped the other arm and leg, she was done begging.
“I’ll kill you if you bite me with that thing one more time, Kael. I’ll kill you, and I will enjoy every second of it,” she promised.
Not bothering to respond to her threat, he positioned the device at her neck. She twisted to get away, and before he could depress the button, she had torn loose from her restraints. Faster than my eyes could track, she held him by the throat, pressed up against the door glass, which was splintering under the pressure of his skull.
“I told you I understood the stakes,” she growled. Just as quickly as the explosion occurred, she sighed and fell to the floor, releasing his neck reluctantly as she collapsed. Two bright red darts stuck out of her back.
“She never told me this,” I said through clenched teeth, fists balled.
“They wiped her memory of it, and then used her suit to speed the healing process. She had no idea it even happened.”
I took a deep breath. “Does it get worse?”
She nodded.
The next video began. I stood at Eve’s side in front of the arena, where soldiers had just released ten vampires into the arena at once. “They want us to slay them all?” she asked, apprehension in her voice. “This is the first time they’ve given us more than two vamps at a time. Where are Titus and Abram?”
“They aren’t coming,” I answered quietly. “These are yours to slay, Eve.”
Victor entered his viewing box, unbuttoned his freshly pressed suit jacket, and sat down.
“Don’t show them weakness,” I continued to coach her, “or the vamps will see you as a meal.”
“Good,” she grinned, winking at me. She flicked her eyes to Victor, more worried about his opinion than ten vampires. “There’s no way I can fight more than a few vamps at a time. This is crazy,” she said, louder.
“Show us what you can do, Eve!” Victor shouted. “It’s them or you.”
A camera was trained on her as she stepped up to the door. It slid open on whisper-quiet tracks and quickly closed behind her. Surrounded by vamps, she backed up until her back bumped against the door, then she turned around and began banging her fists on it. The vampires smiled, closing in on her. She lifted her head and smiled at me through the glass door, removed two stakes from her holster, and struck so fast, none of them saw her coming. In less than a minute, she’d slayed ten vampires single-handedly.
Victor gave her a satisfied nod as he stood, and then clapped in appreciation. “Well done!”
She gave him a bow and walked to the exit where she handed me her stakes. “I did it!” she exclaimed. “I knew I had to strike fast because there were so many, but that was intense.”
“Clever – making them think you were scared.”
“I was scared,” she admitted, adrenaline still pulsing through her as she bounced on her toes.
“So was I,” I responded, glaring at the space Victor had just occupied.
The video feed ended and I looked at Yarrow. “I don’t remember any of this. Why didn’t I go in with her? Normally, I would’ve gone into the arena with her.”
“What if he ordered you not to?”
I gritted my teeth. Victor was my commander, and if I wanted to remain Eve’s trainer, I had to play by his rules and follow his every order.
“The next video is… weird.” Yarrow pointed to the screen where a camera panned in on Abram’s face. His pupils were like pinpoints.
“What’s the matter with him?” I whispered, but Yarrow shook her head.
Victor came in from the left of the video and stood in front of Abram. “Is he ready?” he asked, looking over Abram’s shoulder.
Kael answered, “He is.”
Two soldiers led Abram into the arena. Victor followed them inside. “Do you know what you’re fighting?”
“Vampires,” Abram answered in a malicious tone.
“Yes, but one vampire in particular. She’s dangerous, she’s fast, and she’s strong, but if you don’t stake her, she will stake you. Only one of you will make it out of this arena alive. Do you understand?”