Eleventh Grade Burns(73)

THE PRAVUS


VIKAS RAN AT VLAD with the stake held high, but he didn’t just run, he shifted in that superquick way that only vampires could move. For the evening, they’d moved their training session to an old abandoned barn at the edge of town. Vikas had said they’d require more space than the basement could supply. He never mentioned that he wouldn’t be holding back at all and, if Vlad didn’t defend, could seriously endanger his life.

In a flash, Vlad dodged his blow and spun around, ready for another attack.

“Good, Mahlyenki Dyavol. Excellent.” But no sooner had the compliment left his lips than Vikas had leaped through the air and landed on top of Vlad, who hit the ground hard, knocking the wind momentarily from his lungs. Vikas raised the stake once more, a hopeful glimmer in his eye. He would not hold back, just as a slayer wouldn’t hold back. He would not give up, just as a slayer wouldn’t give up. He would never stop.

Vlad managed to slide his knee up between them and kicked Vikas backward. His chest felt light, so much lighter than it ever had. Vlad felt a strange energy pulse through him. He gave into its will, leaped to his feet, and snatched the stake from Vikas’s hand almost without effort. Vikas came after him, but Vlad was light ... so light and full of energy. He ran as hard and fast as he could to the other end of the barn and, to his amazement, he kept going, running halfway up the barn wall, its old boards creaking under his feet. He flipped over then, planting his feet against a large beam, bouncing his way back and forth between the wall and the beam until he was on the ground again and advancing on Vikas. With a grin, he hit Vikas full force. Vikas fell to the ground and Vlad brought the stake down, stopping before he broke the skin. Weirdly both energized and exhausted, Vlad wiped the sweat from his brow and helped Vikas to his feet. “How was that, old man?”

Vikas looked visibly shaken. He exchanged shocked glances with Otis, who stood at the barn door and both shook their heads.

Vlad blinked, wondering if he’d done something wrong. “What? What is it?”

Otis stepped closer, slowly, carefully. After a moment, Vikas squeezed Vlad’s shoulder. “We have never seen a vampire move in the way that you just moved.”

Vlad looked back and forth between them, confused. “But how can that be?”

Otis shook his head. “We don’t know.”




Vlad turned the corner, exhausted from training and wanting nothing more than to go home and fall into his bed. He was so tired that it barely registered that Dorian was waiting for him just around the bend. Gasping, he grabbed his chest, feeling his heart hammer against his ribs in surprise. “Jeez, Dorian! You almost scared me to death!”

“This fear is new to you? I was under the impression you’re always frightened of me. Less so lately, but frightened, still.” He smiled his charming smile and, once Vlad’s heart rate had settled, continued. “I’ve been trying to come up with an answer to our plight, my young friend. I wanted to discuss it with you.”

“We have a plight?” Vlad searched his exhausted mind for a bit, then nodded. “Oh, you mean that whole you wanting to drink my blood and me being totally against it thing.”

“That would be the one, yes.” Dorian closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled, as if tasting the scent of blood in the air of Vlad’s hometown. When he opened them again, he said, “Would you like to hear the solution I’ve come up with?”

Vlad chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully before answering with a nod.

“What if I allow you to control my actions? You can make me bite you as gently as possible, drink as little as you deem fit, and stop me when you’d prefer.”

“No offense, Dorian, but that idea sucks.”

Dorian sighed. “You’re right. And to be frank, the only reason that I haven’t forced you to my whims is that I have a sort of respect for you, Vlad ... that and I am duty-bound. But even my appetite is not why I have come here tonight. You have questions for me. So ... what would you ask of me?”

Vlad didn’t even want to know how Dorian knew that he’d been mulling over some prophecy-based questions just hours before. But he was curious what Dorian meant by being duty-bound. “What do you do all day, Dorian? Just wait around for some sense that I might have questions for you?”

“Sometimes. I also travel the world. I’m rather fond of airplanes.”

“Don’t you spend time with family? Friends?”

“I visit my father, when he hasn’t much company, but as for friends ... well, I don’t have any to speak of. Apart from a few bribery attempts from various vampires over the years—D’Ablo being one of them—I haven’t spent extended time with our kind. They ... dislike me.” He shrugged then, and changed the subject. “About your questions ...”