always prided myself on shielding my aura.”
I wanted to laugh. A Domina. Shielding her own aura. “Why would you do that? The only reason a vampire would do such a thing was because they’re afraid of being found. But why would you be afraid of anything? Head of your house, you could take down an entire ten-story building in less than half a minute.”
And it was frightening, to see this pretty little girl, all blushes and giggles. I had little doubt that just by thinking it, she could will me to death. Just imagine that all my blood cells would dry, shrivel and it would happen.
Her dark eyes narrowed. “You are not my enemy. Indeed, I am quite indebted to you. You saved Jason when I could not. Were it not for your actions, we would be right back where we started. I will not hurt you, Ran.”
“I only have your word, don’t I?” I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but it was better than letting her see just how scared I was. Vampires could taste fear…although I had the not-so-sneaky suspicious Reiko already knew the effect she had on me.
Jason sighed. “We can sit here and snipe at each other, but what would that even achieve? Nothing beneficial, I’m afraid. Ran, you will rest.”
“And you’ll be able to protect yourself?” I sounded skeptical. I was.
He smiled. “Rest.”
He left then, leaving me alone with the last person in the world I wanted to be alone with.
Reiko stared down at her small, pale fingers intertwined in her lap and got up in a rush of perfume and satin skirts. “Sleep. We will look after you this time.”
Fully aware of how important it was that I sleep off the effects of the precog, still, it made me uncomfortable in how they sought to protect me. It should’ve been the other way around. Although, the idea I could possible protect a Domina… “Look, I’ll be fine,” I said. “I just need to rest for an hour. Maybe two. But no more than that. I’ll be up soon.”
The vampire nodded tightly and slipped out the door, leaving me alone with the single burning candle and nothing but the swiftly encroaching darkness.
***
The next two nights passed without incident.
The disposal of Michael’s body had been handled by the large, muscular human servant of Reiko, Marcus. The body was moved to the room next to mine, a sheet tossed over his broken body in a semblance of respect and I watched Marcus heft the driver’s body onto one shoulder like it was a bag of rice. He walked down the stairs and out the front door.
It had been a little past midnight when he carried out Michael’s body. That probably explained the lack of screams from the neighbors. Humans can get rather…tetchy around dead people.
And during the two nights, I watched Reiko train Jason in the basement.
I had known he was no stranger to martial arts, having witnessed his speed and strength on the first night we met, but she wasn’t just forcing him to become better.
She was training him to be a killer.
“Again!” The diminutive Domina grabbed him by the neck and shook him like a terrier with a rat. “Stand up!”
I almost felt sorry for him.
He staggered on his feet, a thin sheen of blood spotting on his temples, breathing heavily. “Let me catch my breath.”
She took a few steps back, face fixed in a thunderous expression. “As you wish.”
Contrary to belief, vampires do breathe. Albeit at a slower and less frequent rate than humans. It’s possible to suffocate vampires…provided you’re strong enough to keep one pinned down and you’ve brought a book to read, because it was going to take a while.
I leaned against the wall next an authentic weapons rack holding up several very authentic weapons. I almost cut myself on the blade of a curved axe that still had dirt on the wooden handle.
Marcus sat down next to me, arms crossed over an impressively sized chest. To be honest, looking at him, you would’ve never figured he could get his arms crossed over pectoral muscles as large as his. “Quite a change.”
He didn’t talk a lot, so every time he did, I was half tempted to check and see if it was raining fish. In the basement, I had no such luck. “You ever see her like this?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes.”
Or maybe it was a good thing he didn’t talk a lot. His voice was low and guttural, like he was a