down ‘two pair ironwood sticks, one and one half feet long’ on the shopping list and see if we get them.”
Christoph went to the kitchen. There was a small notepad stuck to the fridge door listing various grocery items. Under “2 chicken breasts, bone/skinless” he wrote “4 ironwood sticks, 1-1/2 ft. long”.
As Christoph walked back into the living room, Ashi shook his head. “You actually wrote that down?”
“Miracles happen.”
* * *
Analie called Isabelle to let her know she wasn’t feeling well. Bad cramps. She’d do her homework in her room, alone.
She all but sprinted to the kitchen for breakfast, then immediately back to her room.
Sure, these vampires were downright cuddly compared to the ones she knew from stories, but there wasn’t any point in letting the whole world know you were pink and flat-faced for a couple days out of the month.
* * *
Mouse was having a fabulous day. She was too wound up to take her day sleep, so had offered to take Wesley’s shift and guard the house. She bled off some of her energy by working on her accuracy with a schlager blade.
She set a small block of wood on top of the counter that overlooked the kitchen and proceeded to go through forms. First position, thrust, second position, thrust, third position, thrust, fourth position, thrust. She checked, and was pleased to see that in each case, she’d hit the same tiny knot.
She went through a few more repetitions, but was interrupted by a commotion by the front door. Curious, she went to check it out, which was the only reason Analie didn’t see her when she came out for breakfast.
What was going on?
* * *
Christoph and Ashi had shifted equipment aside in the gym to have room for sparring. Neither of them wanted to throw each other into Thad and Sebastian’s TV. There weren’t any sparring mats, so they agreed there would be some hard falls.
Three minutes later, Christoph fought dirty and used a cheap shot to get Ashi in the kidney. After Ashi stopped doing his Dance of Agony, he made Christoph stand—sort of—with his knees bent at ninety-degree angles, spread out, back straight, with his arms stretched straight out in front of him.
“What’s this called, other than sadistic and unusual punishment?” Christoph asked as his legs and shoulders started burning.
“Horse stance.” Ashi was standing in front of him with a broomstick.
“It hurts.”
“You’ll develop excellent balance and form with this stance.”
“‘Develop’ implies I will be doing this a lot.”
“You will.”
Christoph shifted, then yelped as Ashi rapped his head with the stick.
“This sucks.”
“Funny, I’m having a lot of fun.”
* * *
Thad stumbled in the front door clutching his bleeding shoulder. His right arm hung at his side, and his shirt and pants were torn, bloodied, and dirty. Mouse rushed forward, dropping her sword. One of the daytime human security guards slid in after him and slammed the front door shut while Mouse yanked Thad into the hallway. She had to step into the sun streaming into the foyer to do it, only for a few brief seconds, but it was enough to turn some of her smooth skin a deep, harsh red.
Ignoring the pain, she knelt to examine Thad’s wounds, placing a cool, soothing hand to his forehead to hold him down as his muscles seized up. She had to prize up his fingers to see his shoulder, though she let him go back to clutching it to keep pressure on the wound once she saw what had happened.
Someone had stabbed him. There were a few defensive wounds on his palms and fingers from where he held up his hands to ward off some slashing blows. Another shallow cut was on the back of his leg, not too deep. Someone had tried to hamstring him, but hadn’t succeeded.
While she tended to his injuries, tearing off strips of her skirt, the security guard hurriedly gave orders into his walkie-talkie. The guard on the monitors was reporting a group of five running away from the building and he’d get on the horn to the cops. A third guard on patrol around back was ordered to pick Jessica up from school to deal with Thad’s injuries. Some of the other vampires crept out of their apartments, watching, worried and silent, drawn by the shouting and scent of blood.
Analie heard the shouting and was curious enough to venture from her room. She crept across the living room, still in her PJ’s, and peeked through the open living room door.
In her