Before Daybreak (Love Bitten)

Prologue

Callidora

Most daywalkers learned how to fight at a young age, but all of my training had focused on self-defense. My parents wanted to make sure I knew how to get away from a nightwalker on the rare chance one of them got close to me. Whenever I insisted that I was ready to advance to the next stage of training and get to the good stuff, they put me off with some garbage about how I’d never need it. Being the only child of centuries-old daywalkers had certain disadvantages. Like being figuratively wrapped in bubble wrap for your first sixteen years and wondering if the rest of your immortal life would be the same.

“You’re sure Ren doesn’t mind training me?” I asked my friend Sheridan, twisting my hands together as my nerves got the better of me.

“He wouldn’t have agreed if he had a problem with it,” she assured me.

The Bancrofts were a massive family, especially compared to mine. Sheridan had lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. Asking her if one of her male relatives would be willing to teach me how to battle nightwalkers seemed like the perfect idea at the time since my parents had categorically refused to discuss the possibility with me. But now that the day had come for me to do my first training session with him, I was starting to second-guess myself.

My uneasiness was probably in large part due to the fact that I’d only met Ren in passing once before. But I’d spent plenty of time with Sheridan’s immediate family. “I kind of thought your dad or brother would be the one doing this. Not one of your many cousins.”

“I think Ren is my second cousin, actually. Or is he my first cousin once removed?” Sheridan shook her head and sighed. “I always get confused by how it works.”

I narrowed my eyes at my friend. “You know what I meant.”

“True.” She flashed me a smug grin. “But getting on your nerves seemed like a smart plan. I figured if I irritated you enough, maybe you’ll forget to be nervous.”

“Nice try, but it’s not going to happen.” I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot on the floor. “Now, spill. Was your dad against the idea of me training at your house?”

“Not hardly. Ren is cool, but he wouldn’t have agreed to meet you here if my dad wasn’t okay with the plan. They’re more like brothers than cousins.” Her bright blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “Now that I think about it, I wonder why I haven’t been calling him my uncle all this time.”

“Sheridan,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Sorry.” She held her palms up in a gesture of surrender. “Back to your original question. My dad doesn’t agree with how your parents have neglected your training. He thinks they’re putting your safety at risk by limiting your ability to fight. And he’s not okay with it.”

He’d never voiced his censure to me, but I wasn’t surprised he felt that way since he was incredibly supportive of Sheridan. “Yeah, but actively going against their wishes is totally different than thinking they’re wrong.”

“My dad was the one who asked Ren to train you because he’s worked with other female daywalkers before, while the only ones my dad has trained are my mom, Aura, and me.”

“Oh.” Knowing the plan had Kieran Bancroft’s stamp of approval filled me with relief.

“And Ren has done some of my training, too.” She executed a perfect spinning roundhouse kick and grinned. “He’s got mad skills, and he’s going to help you become a badass vampire slayer just like he’s been doing for me.”

I already knew what she was going to say, but I still asked, “And you don’t think it’s dumb for me to do this?”

Sheridan shook her head and smiled. “Not even a little bit. How else are we going to face off against nightwalkers together after we turn eighteen?”

Her answer was a big part of why we got along so well. Most teenage daywalker females dreamed about the day when they’d meet the man they were fated to spend the rest of their life with. But not Sheridan and me. We wanted to make our mark on the world first. To help save the humans who were destined consorts of our kind. To hunt down and destroy the evil vampires who wanted nothing more than to eliminate all daywalkers from the face of the planet.

I’d kept my dream to myself until I met Sheridan and she flat out told me she was going to become a badass vampire slayer when she grew up. I knew there would be no support for my goal from my family. My mother pretended I was no different from the daughters of her friends, and my father still acted as though I was six years old. “My parents are going to pitch a fit if they find out what I’m doing.”