A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(13)

“Holy crap, that looks amazing!” I gawked at Caia’s fire blades, and she held them up with a grin.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“Oh yeah, I definitely want to learn how to do that! Do they cut? I mean, how do they work?” I asked, my thumbs gently pushing against the caps on my lighters.

“It’s fire. It’s loose; it doesn’t cut,” Caia replied, looking at the flames. “I think I can get more energy channeled into them, to maybe make them more compact so the blades can actually cut… You know, like lasers! I mean, I can try?”

“Wow, I would definitely love to see that.” I laughed. “But even in their current state, I’m pretty sure you can inflict some serious damage, right?”

“Let’s find out.” She put on a mischievous smile and moved closer to one of the thick wooden columns in the middle of the plateau. It was normally used for climbing and balancing on its top, but my sister had other plans for it.

I watched in awe as Caia brought both her flaming swords down against the pillar. The wood lit up, the fires swallowing it whole so fast, we didn’t even see whether the blades had actually cut through it.

“Whoa!” Caia took a few steps back as the pillar blazed bright and orange.

“Oh, crap,” I muttered, shoving the lighters back in the pockets of my training suit and putting my hands out.

I coaxed the fire into doing my bidding, wiggling my fingers to force it down. The flames dimmed until the only thing left was a charred stick, with red embers still crackling down its length. I looked around the Plateau, then, and noticed that all eyes were on us.

There was a mixture of awe and surprise, while Bijarki stood out, beaming with pride as he moved toward us. I felt my cheeks flush, and Caia gave me a friendly nudge.

“Yeah, we make a good team, Sis.” She snorted. “I set fires, you put them out. Well done!”

I chuckled. Bijarki stopped by my side to drop a soft kiss on my cheek, glancing at the burnt wood pillar.

“Try not to burn GASP down, ladies,” he said lightly. “Although I must admit, that’s impressive.”

“Why, thank you ever so much,” I replied, feigning a Southern accent and fluttering my eyelashes at him. His gaze darkened, raw with desire, and I felt his incubus nature enveloping me with heat and a delicious lightheadedness before he pulled himself back and got a hold of himself.

“I’ll… I’ll go over there,” he mumbled, his silvery eyes fixed on me.

That look on his face said we were in for a long and passionate night. Not that I had any objections to that. Every night with Bijarki was full of bliss, well into the break of dawn. I just found him adorable whenever he forgot to reign in his incubus nature.

He moved over to Harper’s side. She was catching her breath, while Hansa, Serena, and Anjani recovered as well. Harper’s stamina was impressive, and Phoenix often referred to her as a beast, in the most positive sense of the word. Serena was equally infatuated with her younger and, at the same time, older sister. Serena was eighteen, but Harper was born during the Eritopian time lapse, and had recently turned twenty. Nevertheless, they were inseparable, their character differences bringing them even closer, as if they perfectly complemented each other.

“Harper, it’s time I teach you something nifty.” Bijarki smiled, prompting the vampire sentry to straighten her back in response.

“Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with genuine interest.

“You’re fast and aggressive enough to learn a new fighting technique,” he replied. “It’s part of the incubi’s warfare tactic, mastered by trained assassins, to be precise. Few are selected to learn it.”

“I feel honored, then!” She grinned.

“Try to attack me.” He winked, taking a defensive stance.

Harper nodded and immediately came at him with a left hook. He ducked, then delivered soft blows in short and simple, unexpected moves. It reminded me of Wing Chun, a Kung Fu style that had risen to popularity in the first half of the 20th century on Earth. Harper was surprised and tried to counteract his hits, but Bijarki was too fast and getting too close.

He took a step back, and pointed at the empty space between them.

“See this?” he asked. “There’s too much room. You want to get close, really close, to your adversary. You want to use your fists, knees, and feet in an effective manner, because you won’t always be able to keep your distance, and your life might depend on what you do in close quarters.”

“I like it.” Harper nodded. “But I’m guessing it’s not something you learn on the spot.”

“No, but I can show you some basic moves now, and we can set up an hour or two every day to train further.”

“Sounds like a plan. Teach me, sensei!” Harper joked.

“What’s that?” Bijarki blinked with confusion.

“Oh, it means ‘teacher’ in martial arts, a fighting style on Earth.”

Bijarki processed the information, then smirked.

“I like it. You can call me Sensei Bijarki then.”

I giggled, totally head over heels for my incubus. I loved watching him teach; it made him so happy and energized. He’d really found his calling in GASP, and was now eager to share his ample military experience and knowledge with the younger recruits.