CHAPTER 11 #2
“We’ve been tracking these vampires since the attack on Penn City, and the incident in Blackham,” she explains, her weapon trained on an incoming target. “Then activity spiked in this area not long after you and your boyfriend went missing.”
“Max—”
“Has been safely retrieved.”
I want to press for more information, but the adrenaline that kept me going is slipping away and fading fast, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion.
Above us, the battle rages on. Several vampires are already starting to retreat into the depths of the forest with injuries that will take hours to heal.
Clementine locks eyes with me from across the clearing, her expression a mixture of fury and restraint.
If she weren’t this good at masking her frustration, I’d say she’s livid.
With one last deadly glare, she melts into the shadows, her cohorts following suit.
My head jerks to the spot where she had fallen, finding emptiness instead.
She managed to heal a head shot quick enough to escape, which is terrifying.
Lexa barks orders into her comm unit as more slayers descend from the trees, securing the perimeter and checking for stragglers. At last, she turns to me. “We need to get you both back to the city. General’s orders.”
“I need to retrieve my dagger first,” I insist, my wounds throbbing painfully. “It was my spare.”
Fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt, Lexa holds out my lumen dagger, its teal glow casting a faint light on her skin. “This one?”
“How did you—”
“Hard to miss with a trail of blood marking the way.” She hands it to me, then ducks under my arm and helps me move. “Medical team is standing by.”
A transport arrives within minutes, its engines humming quietly as it hovers just above the forest ground.
Slayers load Max onto a stretcher while a medic examines my wounds.
“You have been flagged as missing persons,” Lexa informs me as the transport lifts off. “Chief Penn is not happy.”
I lean my head back against the metal wall of the aircraft, suddenly exhausted. “Story of my life.”
As the medic cleans and dresses my wounds, I catch Lexa watching me, her expression unreadable.
“I thought about contacting you,” she says. “After what happened with your father and the others.”
The medic’s hands pause before continuing their work—everyone knows about the massacre.
“Why didn’t you?” I ask, keeping my tone neutral.
Her shoulders slump. “I figured you needed space. Distance from everything that reminded you of that day.”
“I did.” I wine as the medic applies pressure to my wound. “But it would’ve been nice to know someone from before still cared.”
“You’re right.” She hesitates, her head dipping low. “Perhaps it was me that needed space. I lost people too that day.”
I absorb her words, feeling the old wound pulse beneath the fresh one, the memory of that night hanging between us. Just like Mira and Henry, Lexa was on assignment elsewhere. But unlike Lexa, they escaped death only to have it find them again years later.
“Mira and Henry…” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I wonder if she knows how close she came to sharing their fate in Blackham. If she realizes that the same white-haired demon who slaughtered our comrades years ago was likely watching from the shadows as she collected my broken body.
Lexa’s face tightens, a muscle in her jaw working silently before she speaks. “I know.”
The medic finishes bandaging my wound and moves away, giving us privacy.
“What happened out there?” Lexa asks, changing the subject.
I narrow my eyes, searching for the right words to explain something I barely understand myself.“Do you believe sire bonds are real? I thought they were just a myth.”
“If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that most things we dismiss as myths have some truth to them. Especially when it comes to vampires.”
I nod, unable to disagree with her. “I think I’ve just witnessed one.”
Lexa accepts it in silence, her expression tightening slightly, but she doesn’t push for more.
As the lights of Penn City grow larger through the transport’s windows, my thoughts drift to past memories of us together.
When Lexa and I first met, both of us twelve and new recruits at Redmoore Academy, we spent more time at odds than in agreement.
I remember her striding into the training hall, all exemplary posture and unwavering confidence.
While the rest of us were nervous wrecks, Lexa moved like she already belonged there.
“You’re holding it wrong,” were her first words to me during knife training. Not exactly the foundation for a friendship.
“I’ve been handling knives since I was eight,” I shot back, irritated at being corrected by another recruit.
She raised an eyebrow, took the blade from my hand, and demonstrated the proper grip. “Now you’ll be able to strike better.”
I hated her for weeks after that. Hated her precision, her discipline, her ability to follow every rule without question. Everything I struggled with came naturally to her. While I was constantly reprimanded for my unorthodox approaches, Lexa was held up as the model recruit.
It wasn’t until our first field mission together that things changed between us. We were tasked with investigating vampire activity in an abandoned factory, supposed to be reconnaissance only.
I recall the rust-scented smell and the moonlight filtering through broken windows, painting the ruins in shards of silver.
“We should split up,” I suggested, eager to prove myself.
Lexa frowned. “Protocol says—”
“Protocol will get us spotted. Trust me.”
Reluctantly, she agreed.
I took the upper levels while she covered the ground floor.
Halfway through searching the third floor, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a struggle below.
Breaking every protocol in the book, I leapt over the railing, dropping three stories and landing in a crouch just in time to see Lexa surrounded by five vampires.
She was fighting brilliantly, moving with the skill of a veteran, but the fact remained that she was outnumbered.
Without hesitation, I threw myself into the fray.
Back-to-back, we fought, her disciplined technique complementing my wild, instinctive style.
When it was over, five vampires lay dead, and we stood breathless, covered in vitae, staring at each other with newfound respect.
After that, we were inseparable. We trained together, studied together, and pushed each other to be better.
Lexa taught me discipline and strategy, while I taught her improvisation and instinct.
We became the academy’s most effective duo, setting records that still stand today.
We shared our dreams, fears, and ambitions.
I told her about my brother, about growing up half-vampire in a human world.
She told me about losing her parents to a vampire attack when she was just a child, about being raised by her grandfather who had once been a slayer himself.
Then, at fifteen, the massacre happened. And everything changed.
Now, a decade later, we’ve both aged into ourselves.
I study her profile carefully. Despite everything, the years have been kind to her. She’s still full of deadly moves and glares, but there’s a new confidence in how she carries herself.
Captain’s insignia suits her.
“Congratulations on the promotion. You deserve it,” I say, finally breaking the silence. “You saved me more than I can count.”
“Thanks,” she says, her mouth quirking in a half-smile. “Just doing my job. Not that I’ve let you off easy either.”
A hearty laugh escapes us both, fleeting but genuine.
Lexa was also the only one who would join me at my table for lunch or walk with me in the hallways.
Sadly, she wasn’t often around—after the massacre, forces had been stretched thin.
Training was accelerated and promotions were rushed to fill gaps.
Lexa was one of the few pulled into that grind, tasked with keeping the ranks steady while I was left floundering in her absence.
The training hall reeked of steel and sweat as pairs of slayers circled one another. I hovered at the edge of the room, watching them thrust, parry, and laugh, occasionally stumbling under one another’s strikes.
When Jasmine sat down, clearly intent on taking a break, I approached her partner, Gracie.
“Spar with me?” I asked, hoping this wouldn’t be another rebuff.
Gracie hesitated, her eyes darting around the room. “Maybe later.”
Without another word, she quickly retreated toward the benches where the rest of her friends sat. The others either avoided eye contact or exchanged uneasy glances as I was forced to acknowledge what I already knew: no one wanted to train with me.
Then Colton appeared, hands on his hips. “I’ll spar with you.” He smirked just enough to make my teeth clench. “On one condition.” His eyes trailed the racks of weapons lining the walls before fixing on me. “You don’t get to use your dagger, just your limbs.”
“Why?”
“Because it’ll be safer in my hands.” His grin widened. “You know, for everyone.” He walked up to me, then plucked the dagger from my belt. As he weighed it in his hand, testing the balance, a satisfied look plastered his face. “Not bad.”
“But—”
“It’s only fair, isn’t it? You’re half-vampire.” He mockingly cocked his head to the side. “Come on, don’t be scared. I won’t aim for your heart, I promise. I’ll even let you wear a bulletproof vest if you want.”
I considered that, but the smothered chuckles around me made my pride burn hotter than reason.
“Fine.” I stripped the vest from the hook before tossing it aside. “No dagger. No armor.”
Colton’s smirk faltered for just a split second before he barked a laugh. “Suit yourself.”