122 | NO ILLUSIONS
Hale returns later the next day, as promised, though he’s got some still-healing bruises on his arms and the right side of his face. When I ask about them, he regales me with the story of his time helping Mina at Court and the mess of Revenants that decided to attack him on his way home. Luckily, Mina had anticipated an attack and had some of her freshly-turned Guardians-in-training escort Hale back.
He beams a little when he explains that all five of the newly-turned vamps held their own pretty well. Banged up, like him, but no one lost a limb or their lives. I quirk my eyebrows at him, a little surprised that new vamps, Guardian or not, could be so well coordinated. When I point this out, Hale reminds me that the newly turned aren’t like natural-born vamps. They’re stronger right now, faster, but those effects aren’t what was responsible for their abilities to defend against attack from Revenants.
“If I weren’t still of this earth,” Hale tells me, that bright glimmer still shinning in his jade eyes. “I wouldn’t be worried about the next generation. Fang and Mina are excellent instructors.” I grin at his praise, sitting back in my chair at the kitchen counter and looking to my father expectantly.
Blue’s gone to deal with Pack business once more. But we both know it’s more a ploy to get him out of the house since we both know he’d try to step in if Hale’s teaching is as intense as Zoe and Elliot’s. It’s better that I learn on my own, without having my mate distracting me anyway.
“So,” I prompt Hale with a glance out the back window, the still-over-turned flora outside pretty much reaching the entirety of my one-mile territory.
“I suppose we should get started.” Hale tells me, his eyes loosing that brightness and becoming steely. He’s not going to like this next part, and that’s the only hint I get that Zoe’s comment yesterday was dead-on. I’m in for a shit-show.
My father doesn’t disappoint.
For the first hour, just like with Zoe and Elliot, Hale measures my speed and strength, playing Revenant without any of the transformational markers. The thing is, Hale’s old, but that only makes him faster and stronger than most others I’ve faced. The Revenant being the fastest, strongest thing I’ve ever faced one-on-one. I can see the differences in the Revenant and how Hale moves and mentally adjust for each attack. The thing is, Hale’s not as single-minded as the Revenant seems to be, and my father is scarily smart. The glimmer of intelligence in his eyes is brighter today as he anticipates my moves and even seems to be ten steps ahead of me.
When we take a break, I flop down on the soft dirt, gasping and sweaty as I try to catch my breath and slow my racing heart. Every muscle in my arms and legs are on fire and there’s a painful stitch in my side. The wound the Revenant inflicted on me has healed, but the area is still tight and achy, which only makes it burn more now that I’m sucking in such huge lungfuls of air.
“You’re making good progress, Sunshine.” Hale appears over me, tipping at the waist to come into my field of vision. I wave and arm at him limply, my annoyance fluttering as limply to the surface.
“Don’t patronize me, old man.” I growl half-heartedly when I can talk. Hale’s jade eyes dance with good humor as his grin widens and he crouches beside me.
“You are doing well, Scarlett,” He insists, tipping his head to the side and studying me for a moment .”Especially since you’ve only just Bloomed.” I roll my eyes at the comment. It’s been a little over a year since I ‘Bloomed’, the vampire-born equivalent of puberty, when my vamp side activated.
“Its not good enough.” I grumble, sitting up. I can feel the wild tangle of twigs and rocks shift in my messy bun, but really don’t give a shit about them at the moment. They feel more like a badge of honor than something undesirable. I don’t have any bruises, just twigs and natural debris all over me. I know my father wasn’t holding back like he has in the past when we’ve trained.
“You’re right,” Hale’s agreeing words slap me in the face and I turn to gape at him. He’s still watching me, that cool smile still firmly in place as he continues. “But your ability is all natural talent and not something that’s easily improved upon. For training to fight a Revenant in one day, you have improved greatly.” This time, I feel his praise seep into my thick skull and my cheeks flush a little.
He’s right. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge myself, compare my self to those who have had more time and experience to learn something that sounds like takes decades to learn. I let out a heavy sigh and roll my neck, stretching out the tight muscles as I process it all. My heart beat has slowed enough that I can concentrate better without the sound drumming in my head.
“How long do you think it’ll be until I’m ready?” I ask finally, voicing the burning question that has been seared into my skull from the moment Hale agreed to train me.
“At this pace,” Hale begins, tipping his chin to the sky and searching the wisps of clouds as he thinks over my question. “I would say a month.” He decides after a long pause. I let out a long breath, the air whooshing out of my body as disappointment crashes into my chest. At the look on my face Hale frowns. “That is a very good thing, Sunshine. Do not get discouraged.”
“I know, I know,” I growl, roll my neck again. “I just-”
“You wish to track the creature down before anymore can be injured by it.” Hale nods in understanding, his face becoming blank, though his eyes are somber and tired. For a moment, my father looks old, not in a physical way, but by the ancient way his eyes seem to fill with centuries of memories in the span of a second. Like countless instances of facing foes has just flooded through his conciousness and he’s wading though all his past experiences.
I wonder just how many people my father’s lost because he wasn’t strong enough or experienced enough to fight an enemy. *How many lives weigh on his conscience? How does he deal with being practically frozen in time and not combust from the pressure of all that history? What will it be like for me to go through the same thing? Will I be able to stay sane after loosing so many people? Watching those I love waste away and age when I don’t?*
“Sunshine,” Hale murmurs gently, pulling me from the dark direction of my thoughts. His jade eyes are now glowing that acidic green, just a shade darker than mine when they glow like that. “You will be fine.” His words burrow into me, not like a Command, but with a sort of unshakeable belief only a father could have in his child.
My eyes burn as I give him a wobbly smile and swipe at my misty eyes. I let out a huff and roll my eyes as I get to my feet.
“No more slacking,” I chastise my father, holding out a hand to help him up. Hale take it, but doesn’t use me to help himself stand, his body blurs up from the ground and we’re soon back at it. I make sure to remain upbeat as I continue to train with Hale the rest of the afternoon. We only stop every couple of hours to fuel up with blood bags and take five-minute breaks when I get tired.
By the time Blue returns from his territory, I’m too tired to make much conversation, but gladly curl up against him and tumble into my first night of completely dreamless sleep in weeks.
