“Sorin,” I warned.
He chuckled and started to walk a little faster. “Maybe she would be more inclined to keep you around.”
I tried to push him, but he took off at a run, cackling. I chased after him down the carpeted halls of the castle. The dread and doubt Sorin’s words had inspired melted away as I ran after him.
“It was a simple question!” he said.
I ran harder and finally caught up with him, managing to jump onto his back. Unprepared for my weight, he stumbled forward and fell. I rolled off him onto my back, and he followed. We lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, laughing, and for a moment, I felt happy and unburdened.
“This is cozy,” said a voice, and I looked up to find Adrian smirking. He stood beside Daroc, who did not appear to find any humor in the situation, and it was under his gaze that Sorin ceased to laugh. I felt his anxiety descend as he got to his feet.
“Let me help you,” he said, holding out his hand, and I accepted.
“We were just on our way to train,” I said.
“Obviously,” Adrian said, an amused curve to his lips. “If it involves rolling around on the floor with you, perhaps I should join.”
I pressed my lips together and glanced at Sorin. He was staring at the floor rather than Daroc, who seemed desperate to get his attention and frustrated that he couldn’t.
“We’ll leave you to train,” Adrian said, and he stepped forward, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I’ll take you on the floor later.”
As they passed, Daroc glanced at Sorin, but he still did not look at Daroc. As they disappeared around the corner, I started to ask Sorin about the interaction, but he stopped me.
“We should start,” he said. “We’ll run out of time.”
He walked ahead of me, and I hurried to catch up with him.
“Sorin,” I said. “Who knows about my ability?”
I was both curious and worried. I did not imagine Adrian would tell very many people, but since Sorin knew, I assumed Daroc also knew.
“Very few, I think,” he replied. “This isn’t something you want getting out until you have some control over the change.”
It was going to be hard enough when it eventually became common knowledge. Not only could I shift into a creature that had killed a number of my people…there were a fair number who had been bitten just like me and given no chance at survival.
Sorin led me into a large, open room. The floor was stone, the walls brick, and there was a stretch of open windows high above my head. It was cold, even though a fire raged within the hearth.
“Since we must use discretion, we’ll train in here,” he said.
“What is this place usually used for?”
“Fencing, mostly,” he said.
I was a little surprised and laughed. “I cannot imagine you following the rules.”
“I never said I participated,” he replied and faced me.
I knew it was time to begin, and I realized I had dreaded this moment because I did not want to be what I was. I did not want to face it.
“How did you shift the first time?” Sorin asked.
I paused, uncertain if I should be truthful. I still remember how I had woken up, desperate to fuck and so hot. “I…was having sex with Adrian.”
“Huh,” he said, an amused look in his eyes. “Have you tried that again?”
“You know, Sorin, turning into a dog is usually the furthest thing from my mind when I am fucking.”
“It was only a question,” he said. “Everyone has different sexual tastes. I am not here to judge.”
I glared. “I will stab you. I have no qualms.”
“No one knows that better than Isac,” he said, and then he sighed. “I suppose we will have to do this the hard way.”
I started to ask him what he meant by the hard way when he attacked.
I had not spent much time watching Sorin fight, but he was fast and nimble. I barely saw the flash of his sword as he brought it down on me, and all I could do was block it with the daggers I kept strapped to my wrists. They were a laughable weapon compared to his, but I managed to cross them and stop his blade.
“What do you think you are doing?” I seethed.
“What does it look like?” he asked.
He unlocked his blade, and I barely had time to escape, dropping to the ground to avoid his blow. I freed the hilt of my blade from its brace and swung, but Sorin jumped back. The distance allowed me to rise to my feet. I weighed my options quickly, wondering if it would be worth throwing my dagger, but I did not trust I would hit my mark with his speed.
“You have more than one strategy for defense,” Sorin said. “Use it.”
“An animal cannot hold a weapon,” I said.
“You do not need to hold one,” he said. “You are one.”
“You cannot tell me you fight as a falcon,” I said.
Sorin smirked. “I won’t tell you then.”
He lifted his blade as if it were a spear and threw it. Once again, I found myself ducking as it zoomed over my head. It landed with a thud, the hilt vibrating, in the wooden mantle of the fireplace, and before I could rise to my feet to go after the blade, Sorin had shifted and flown upward, toward the high ceilings, and was now diving for me at a speed that made him nothing more than a blur in the air.
I bolted, but even as I ran, I felt his sharp talons in my hair. I covered my head with my hands.
“Sorin!” I screamed.
His answering call was a command—do something! But I felt no pull to shift, no indication that there was any other part of me than my human self.
Fear would not tear this creature from me.
Something stung my hand, and I knew Sorin’s talons had cut me. Then he flew ahead of me, shifting as he reached for his sword, and by the time I was able to come to a stop before him, the tip of his blade was pointed square at my face.
I glared at him.
“You are a horrible trainer,” I said, letting my hands fall from my head. I examined the wound he had made. It was a long and deep cut.
Sorin inhaled. “Adrian will not be pleased with me.”
“I’ll convince him not to cut you up if you promise to never do that again.”
Though I was not as angry as I wanted to be. There was a part of me that appreciated facing Sorin and watching how he fought.
He frowned. “I truly am sorry, Isolde.”
I sighed. “I suppose I cannot be frightened into shifting.”
“No, but apparently you can be aroused into it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not funny.”
Sorin sheathed his blade. “You have to admit, it is amusing.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “How did you learn to shift?”
“I was thrown off a cliff,” he said.
My eyes widened. “What?”
“It was early in my change,” he said. “When Adrian was attempting to gain control over our population and numbers. Daroc and I were taken by surprise and captured by a few rogue vampires. They knew Daroc was important to Adrian and sought to torture him by throwing me off a cliff. I guess fear brought out my nature.”
In moments like this, I realized just how much I did not know about Sorin or Daroc or even Adrian. They had lived so many lives since I had died.