of royals and onlookers, watching the scene.
The click-clack of the bamboo swords fil ed the air.
“I hear you’re pretty good,” Patrick said. “But not as good as me, I’m sure,” he said, with a wink.
He increased his pace and so did she, and soon they were standing with the others. They stood off to the side, and Caitlin watched as the two vampires in the middle sparred.
Caitlin couldn’t believe it. It was Taylor and Tyler. The twins.
After al these centuries, here they were, stil sparring with each other. As she watched, Tyler came in for a lunge, but Taylor used her wings and flew right over his head; as she did, she cracked him hard in the back with her bamboo sword.
There was a roar among the crowd.
“No fair!” Tyler yel ed to Aiden, who watched patiently. “She used her wings!”
Aiden stepped forward.
“Taylor, you know better,” he said.
“It was more of a leap than a flight!” she said.
Aiden shook his head slowly. “Disqualified.”
Taylor, dejected, walked off to the side.
“Caitlin!” Aiden yel ed out.
Al eyes turned to her, as she felt her face flush with embarrassment.
“You’re up!” he yel ed.
As Taylor left, a space opened on the sparring floor. Tyler stood there, waiting for his next opponent.
Caitlin walked slowly, feeling the eyes on her, and faced off with him. She squeezed the hilt of her sword tightly, assured by its weight.
As she faced off with Tyler, about ten feet away, she studied him. He looked exactly as she remembered. If she remembered, he was fast, and liked to jab more than swing. He also had a tendency to sweep his opponents.
She looked into his eyes, and saw a blend of mischievousness and ego. She could tel from his glance that he expected this would be an easy victory.
Tyler jumped into action. He lunged right for her with the sword, and if he’d been successful, he would have poked her hard, right in the gut.
Luckily, Caitlin’s reflexes kicked in. At the last second, she dodged, stepping to the side, and Tyler went flying passed her. But he only missed her by a hair. Caitlin was surprised by his speed.
She focused. She had to get her game on.
She let him charge again, preferring a defensive position.
This time, he struck from above, coming right down for her shoulder blades. She grabbed both ends of her sword and held it above her head, and blocked the strike. Locked in a sword clash, inches away, she could see him sweating, grunting, as he struggled to bring his sword straight down, to break her grip, to overpower her.
Instead of fighting his strength, which was considerable, Caitlin decided to use it against him.
She suddenly leaned backwards, ducking down, letting his sword come down, landing back on her shoulder blades.
She saw her opening. She kicked him hard, with a front kick, right in his solo plexus. She could’ve kicked him even lower, but she didn’t think that would be fair.
Stil , her kick did considerable damage. He col apsed to his knees, winded, clearly not expecting it. Caitlin stood over him, and held the tip of the sword to his exposed throat. She needn’t do anymore. Clearly, she was the winner.
There was a muted roar of approval among the coven, as Tyler, ashamed, got up and limped off the battlefield.
“Who wil stand and fight her?” Aiden cal ed out.
There was a momentary silence among the group. No one seemed to want to.
Final y, a voice cal ed out. “I wil !”
Caitlin looked over, and was surprised to see who it was.
Cain. Except now, he had a shaved head, and looked much meaner and larger than she had remembered.
If he remembered Caitlin at al , it clearly was not with joy.
He had a meanness, a coldness in his eyes, that she hadn’t remembered. He wore a cut-off version of their uniform, and his muscles were bulging through skin. He looked like a hardened warrior.
He held in his hands two bamboo swords—one long, one short. He also had several other sparring weapons on his belt. Clearly, this was unfair. She was outmatched. She should have been given the opportunity to have equal weapons.
She glanced over at Aiden, indignant, but he looked in the other direction, indifferent. He knew she was mismatched with the weaponry. Apparently, he wanted her to be.
Caitlin didn’t have much time to reflect, because Cain burst into action. He grabbed something from his belt and in a flash of an eye, pul ed it back and swung it