“Ha, I bet his dick won’t be alert for a long time after the assault it just received.” Cole leaned back and extended his pointer finger with his thumbs pointing upward.
“Oh, dear.” Jess rolled her eyes and giggled. “It’s never a good sign when Cole gets punny.”
Nate was rolling on the grass, withering in pain.
“Let’s head back to the room.” The longer we stayed here, the more people gathered around. When I glanced at the crowd before turning away, I found Jordan and Madison in the front.
In those few seconds, Jordan nodded her head in approval.
Damien normally walked with me to the clearing for our training sessions, but today he’d said he would meet me there.
Of course, the last time something like this happened, Ashley had ambushed me with a surprise attack and came close to getting the best of me. At least we now knew why she was so desperate to keep her relationship with Rage, but it had ended with her demise. I killed her in self-defense months ago. Nonetheless, her death still haunted me.
I had to reassure Rage over and over that I spoke with Damien and that it wasn’t a text. He was insisting on going with me, but Damien had specifically told me to come alone. After much convincing, I trudged out of the dorm room, heading to the clearing by myself.
When I reached the clearing, the first person I saw was Madison. Her long blonde hair was in a ponytail, and her light green eyes sparkled, perfectly highlighted by her outfit—blue sports bra and black training pants. “And there she is.”
Her voice had the superior tone expected from most vampires. They all were stuck up and moody; all except for Cole.
“Yes, here I am.” My gaze landed on Damien. “I didn’t realize when you said we’d be finding someone new that you meant the next session.”
“You should know by now. I mean what I say.” Damien furrowed his brows and shrugged. “Besides, you should be ready for anything.”
He was absolutely right, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. “Alright, so now what?”
“Are you kidding me?” Madison lifted her balled hands and placed her legs shoulder length apart. “We fight. What else?”
She was a little too eager for this. I wasn’t sure if this was such a smart idea after all. “Alright.” I took a few steps further into the clearing and took a deep breath.
Damien took several steps back and leaned back on one of the trees just a few steps away. “Okay, let’s begin. Remember, no serious injuries and if anything gets out of hand, I won’t have a problem ending it for either one of you.”
I loved the clearing for many reasons. Sometimes it felt like it was a secret place tucked away and hidden with large thick trees circling the open space.
The sun shone bright, and it stirred the animal inside me. “Ready?” I’d never fought a vampire before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Suddenly her form blurred, and a fist connected with my cheek. My head snapped back, and my vision darkened for a brief second. I shook my head and blinked hard.
“Oh, this is going to be too easy.” A smirk crossed Madison’s face, and then she swung her fist upward, aiming for my chin.
I moved my head backward, narrowly dodging her.
“Stop taking the defense,” Damien yelled at me.
A deep growl resonated within me, and I swung my fist toward her nose.
She easily dodged my hand and kicked me in the stomach. I flew back ten feet and hit the ground with a thud.
Damn, that hurt. Even before I could get to my feet, she was already standing over me. With a huge smirk on her face, she wasn’t even sweating or breathing hard. Bitch.
“I’m so glad I agreed to do this.” She reached down and picked me up by my shoulders. She lifted me high enough to where my feet couldn’t touch the ground. “You aren’t good at this.”
“That’s enough.” Damien pushed off from the tree and marched toward us. “Let her go.”
“Okay.” She smiled as she let me go, dropping me once more on my butt.
My body hurt all over. I hadn’t expected to be great at fighting a vampire, but I didn’t think I’d be so awful.
“Are you okay?” Damien held his hand out to help me get up.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” If I took his hand, I’d look weaker than I already did. I waved his hand off and slowly climbed to my feet. I felt like I’d been hit by a tank.
“Awe, I wish I could say I was sorry,” Madison chuckled, “but I’m not. I’ve been wanting to kick your ass since the very first time I met you.”
“Well, you succeeded.” I held my side and slowly straightened out. “Hope you got it all out of your system.”
“Not even close.” She held out her hands again. “Ready?”
“No, I think that was enough for today.” Damien stepped in between us.
“How in the world do you get all three of them to protect you like this?” Hatred poured from her words.
“I never asked for them to protect me.” I was beginning to realize how much some people hated me all because of Damien, Cole, and Rage.
“Then you must be good in bed.” Madison stepped closer to Damien and used her index finger to glide down his chest. “I bet I’m better.” Her voice purred.
Damien grabbed her pointer finger and pushed it back to her body. “Not interested.”
“See, what does she have that I don’t?” Madison pouted, and at any moment, I expected her to stomp.
“That’s one thing.” Damien stepped beside me but kept his focus on her. “She doesn’t force herself on us. She has no ulterior motives, unlike every other girl and guy on this campus. When I didn’t warm up to her immediately like Rage and Cole, she didn’t push herself on me. She came here, worked hard, and then went straight back to her dorm.”
“Then, why is she here?” Madison shook her head so hard her ponytail whipped from side to side. “This place isn’t for the weak. You’ve got to be calculative and take risks.”
“Do you not think I took a risk just by coming here?” Somehow, right then, everything clicked and made sense for the very first time. “I didn’t come from a well-connected family, but you know that. I don’t have anything to prove to you.”
“Now.” Damien smiled at me and glanced back at Madison. “Are you in for training?”
Even though her face was tense, she nodded.
Whether I liked it or not, Madison gained something from fighting me as well. She would learn my weaknesses, so I had to get better than her and fast.
“Why don’t you take off? I’ll let you know when we’re ready for you again.” Damien watched her carefully as if she might strike at any time.
“Fine, she’ll be feeling those injuries tonight anyways.” She sashayed past both of us and headed toward the school. “Have fun.” She giggled like she was the funniest person on Earth.
Yeah, she was far from that. I had to admit I hurt pretty badly. I needed to stay strong though, so I forced my hand from my stomach. “Damn, that was bad.”
“Yeah, pretty much like I had expected.” Damien frowned and scanned me over. “They fight completely different than shifters.”