Blood Games (Chicagoland Vampires 10)

“Yes, Helen?”

I glanced back, found her standing at the bottom of the stairs, hands folded as she waited for Ethan’s attention. I hadn’t even heard her approach.

“Amit is settled, asked that you meet him in the training room in half an hour.”

Ethan smiled slyly. “I will. Thank you for coordinating.”

Helen nodded, disappeared efficiently down the hallway toward her office.

“Will you let him beat you since he came all this way?”

His laugh was strangled. “He’s the most powerful vampire in the world for good reason. Although I know a few tricks here and there.”

“I’d avoid the one where you kiss your opponent in order to throw him off balance.”

His eyes shone like emeralds. “I’d never do that, Sentinel. That’s a foolish boy’s trick.”

“Which you, being a mature, centuries-old vampire, certainly wouldn’t employ?”

“Certainly not,” he said, but kissed me again, nearly throwing me off balance.

I suppose even the most mature of men had the occasional ornery impulse.

* * *

T minus three hours until the testing, and the House still rang with excitement. Not just because of the challenge—a line of fear trickled through the magic at the risk he was undertaking. But Amit was the most powerful vampire in the world, and he was a friend of our Master’s and here to help him prepare.

Cadogan’s Novitiates weren’t going to miss that show. Hell, most of the vampires in Chicago wouldn’t have missed the show if they’d had the opportunity to watch. I belatedly realized I should have invited Catcher and Jonah. They’d have enjoyed the spectacle just as the vampires in the training room’s balcony, which was nearly full, were prepared to do.

Lindsey and I edged past bent knees in the balcony’s front row, squeezing into small gaps beside Malik and Luc.

“Does anyone else suddenly want popcorn?” she asked as she leaned forward over the balcony rail. Magic filled the air.

Popcorn would have been good. The balcony hummed with energy, like we were all settling in to watch a blockbuster movie on opening night.

The training room door opened, and Amit and Ethan walked inside. Both wore black gis. Both had bare feet. Ethan had pulled back his hair, and his Cadogan medal shone at the base of his neck.

They met in the center of the mat and bowed formally. Then Amit clapped Ethan on the back and they shared a few private words.

When they were done, Amit looked up at those of us in the balcony. “You love and respect your Master, of course. But he is one of the finest warriors I have ever known. And I have known many.” Amit grinned slyly. “But that does not mean he is a better warrior than I am.”

There were good-natured jeers from the audience, which Ethan tamped down with a raised hand. “If he believes he is so, shall we say, Masterful, then we should invite him to show us, don’t you think?”

The vampires erupted with applause, of course. They both knew how to work a crowd. They were handsome and strong vampires in their prime, and I suspected they were equally arrogant. And there on the tatami mats preparing to battle each other, they looked as happy as anyone I’d seen in a long time.

Since they were so happy, I allowed myself to relax, to take a temporary respite from worry and anticipation and simply watch them play.

They began with katas, the building blocks of vampire fighting. They stood beside each other and worked through strikes and blocks, their motions remarkably similar and fluid.

When they glistened with sweat, they shared a few words and separated again. Ten feet away, facing each other across the tatami, they bowed again, then angled their bodies in preparation for a fight.

The crowd went wild again, and Ethan looked up at us and winked jauntily. Someone thought to turn on the radio, and AWOLNATION pumped through the speakers with driving bass and canny lyrics.

“Anytime, old man,” Amit said, and beckoned him forward.

Ethan moved first, with a crescent kick that Amit batted away with a hand. He struck with a jab that would have connected with Ethan’s liver, but he pulled his punch at the last moment. This was a warm-up, after all.

But that he didn’t mean harm didn’t also mean he wasn’t going to challenge Ethan.

Ethan was good; there was no doubt. But Amit was . . . something else altogether. If there was a creature beyond vampire—a being with the strength and grace to make being a vampire look ungainly and awkward—Amit was it. The benefit of being the most powerful of vampires, I supposed. His moves were perfectly efficient, perfectly balanced. His power looked deceptively effortless, and I bet there were plenty in history who’d underestimated him, who’d mistaken grace for weakness.

Actually, Amit’s style had a lot in common with ballet. One of the most amazing feats of skilled ballet dancers, male or female, was their ability to make incredibly challenging moves look effortless. Through years of practice, they honed muscle and tuned muscle memory to make leaping splits and pirouettes en pointe look as simple as walking. They had preeminent control, just like Amit Patel.

Ethan made an advance, a series of kicks and strikes that moved them halfway across the room, his motions nearly blurred with speed. Amit deflected them, but not as easily as he had the individual strikes. He had to work to battle Ethan back, which made my own blood race with excitement. Amit was a beauty to watch, certainly. But Ethan was execution and power—the modern dance to Amit’s ballet.

He executed a side kick that reached high enough to nearly brush Amit’s hair back from his head. Amit bent backward from the waist to avoid it, then completed the rotation, hands to the ground, flipping his feet over so he was standing again.

Amit’s eyes went wide with pleasure. “You’ve been practicing.”

“I have a very good sparring partner,” he said, and I flushed with pride as the vampires around me chuckled collegially and patted me on the back.

“Way to be, Sentinel,” Lindsey whispered.

I nodded but kept my eyes on the duo and their pas de deux on the mats. They made it very easy to watch.

Chapter Twenty

CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

When their workout was over, they cleaned up and returned to Ethan’s office to reminisce. I gave them time to chat, checking my messages and returning to the Ops Room.

I found Luc and Lindsey at the conference table. “Where is she?”

I didn’t need to specify. “Still at the hotel, waiting for details about the physical test. Kelley’s got eyes on her, lots of room service being delivered.”