and an obligation to work with Josef. What would happen, I wondered, if I refused to undergo the training?
Reservations aside, I decided to give it a try. I was in good physical shape, thanks to Elsa. Surely I could at least hold my own for one afternoon.
Of course, I was mistaken.
We began to spar, jogging around one another. The first time Elsa took a swing at me, I fell down immediately. I simply had no will to hit back. My body rebelled against the very act; my arm felt as if it were pinned to my side. Fortunately, we were wearing a mountain of padding, so the only thing hurt so far was my pride.
“Come on. Attack, Olivia!” Josef said to me, and so I gave Elsa a slight push with my hands.
“Not good enough,” he said. “Come on. William tells me you taunted Nikola Pajović. What prompted you to do that?”
“I didn’t like his attitude,” I said.
“Try to find that energy again. When Elsa comes forward to strike you, raise one arm to block her, and with the other palm, hit her with all your strength.” We went through the exercise again and again, and though I always managed to block her, I didn’t have the constitution to hit her.
After a few more unsuccessful bouts, Josef brushed Elsa away and leaned in next to me, his lips just inches from my ear.
“Where is your energy, your passion, Olivia?” he whispered. “Perhaps you have not been properly schooled in the ways of passion? You are human after all. Maybe you need someone other than my brother to teach you. Maybe another vampire, who won’t be so gentle.”
At the sound of his voice, my body betrayed me. My cheeks turned pink, and I felt my pulse quicken at his taunt. But his jeering worked. With one hand, I took a swing straight at him, my palm stiff and flat, and caught him hard across the face. With my other hand, I pushed against him, using all the force I could muster, causing him to take a step backwards. The slap made a loud noise, and my stomach lurched.
Josef, however, was thrilled. “Yes! You see, you found it…your anger,” he said rubbing his cheek. “Don’t lose it… Nikola is ruthless! If you want to hunt him, you will need to maintain that edge.”
I looked over at William to gauge his reaction. He peeled himself off the wall and came over to me; putting both hands on my face as he pulled me toward him.
“Josef knows you are with me, Olivia.”
“He goaded me into hitting him,” I said, tears lurking at the corner of my eyes. “I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to fight.”
William wiped a tear away with his thumb. “You can’t have it both ways. You want to pursue Nikola. You want to work for Gabriel. No one wants to fight, Olivia, but when the time comes, you’ve got to be able to defend yourself,” he said. “You asked me to accept your life, your work. The only way I will be able to relax is if I know Josef has taught you to take care of yourself.”
Josef was standing in the corner, dark and brooding. I knew what he was thinking, because I felt it too. There was an attraction between us. I could feel his desire. As usual, my thoughts came through loud and clear.
“Vampires are competitive and covet what others have,” William said, with a gentle laugh. “It’s in our nature, though some of us can ignore our impulses. But you will be safe with Josef, he is my brother.”
I didn’t doubt William’s sincerity, but I wasn’t so sure about Josef, who at the moment, seemed to hold my fate in his hands.
“OK, I said, warily. “I will do the training.”
From then on, training, reading and campaigning became the three activities that consumed my days. I rose at dawn to meet Josef at his studio—sometimes with Elsa, sometimes alone. Then, after ninety minutes of sparring, I would return home, shower and drive to Palo Alto. My days were filled with political luncheons, walking neighborhood shopping districts, visiting the editorial boards of newspapers and writing last-minute direct-mail pieces.
Flush with additional funds from generous donors, we created targeted direct mail to send to voters, along with radio and television commercials. In the last few days, I had been on location for hours as Levi was filmed taking walks with firefighters, police officers and small-business owners. Our field