SIXTY-NINE | DOUBLE-DOSE

"Ready to go, gorgeous?" Yuri comes into the conference room three hours later as Ms. Jin wraps up her lecture over vampire diets and changes in it over the last century. I'm completely nauseated and mentally exhausted. Who knew vampires were so inventive with how they got their blood?

"Hell, yes!" I practically jump out of my seat. "I mean, no offense, Ms. Jin-"

"I understand, dear." Ms. Jin smiles, not looking surprised or offended in the least as I cross the room quickly to pass Yuri. "Same time again tomorrow." She calls after me and I have to suppress a groan as my shoulders slump. Seriously, how much more did I need to learn?

"Looks like I got here just in time." Yuri nudges me as we descend the stairs to the first floor.

"Not soon enough." I grumble to him under my breath, massaging my temples.

"Well, don't think I'll go easy on you just cause Ritska did." Yuri replies half-heartedly.

"Easy on me?" I scoff, flicking my annoyed gaze over to the tall man. His smile is sadder now, a little bitter.

"Yeah, I was listening to the lecture for about five minutes before I interrupted. Trust me, beautiful, there's a lot about the world you still don't know." He tells me as we pause in front of the front doors. The gatekeepers nod to us as we leave. I don't think I'll ever get used to being in this place. 'Home' or not, the Coven is still so strange to me.

"Let me guess, you're not going to fill me in?" I ask him as we leave the Coven grounds.

"Nope. Not my job." Yuri laughs, his relaxed and jovial mood back. "My job is to make sure you can defend yourself in a fight. Or at least survive."

"Thanks for the confidence." I grumble to the man.

"Anytime." Yuri pats my head, making me scowl. "Now, c'mon. We've got work to do." He claps his hands and rubs them together eagerly. "Let's start with a nice run to the training grounds." He then breaks into a run, leaving me to catch up.

- - -

Today, Yuri seems eager to push me past my breaking point. So far, we've drilled everything from yesterday and began working on a sort of constant sparring. Yuri doesn't pull his punches either. When you're fighting a man who's taller and obviously stronger than you, there really aren't many options when it comes to defense. Every time his blows land, I can feel the underlying tissue and bones bruise. Luckily, they heal almost as quickly as they form.

"Make sure you keep you knees bent," Yuri chastises me for the nth time, nudging my feet into the right stance yet again. I growl, forcing my knees to bend when they want to lock in place - to brace for impact. But as Yuri keeps reminding me, that's a sure-fire way to either break them or have some serious injury as a result.

It's getting close to dinner time, and we've skipped lunch, so I also think I just may faint any second now. My stomach felt like it was trying to gnaw at itself earlier, but I was able to ignore it. I forgot to pack lunch anyway. If I can just get through training, I'll make something hearty when I get home.

"You need a break, princess?" Mikyle is suddenly leaning against the wall of the closest building. He doesn't even look at me, eyeing Yuri as I try to keep my focus on the mountain of a man in front of me. But I can't help but notice the medical-waste cooler tucked under one arm I have a feeling is lunch.

"We've still got three hours to go," Yuri tells him without look at my shadow - ex-shadow. Yuri's next punch comes quick and hard, taking full advantage of the distraction. I let out a hiss as the air's knocked from my lungs, Yuri's fist imbedded in my gut - gutting me as I haunch over. "Oops." He mumbles, placing his other hand on my shoulder, easily supporting me.

"The hell's *wrong* with you?" Mikyle's by my side, pulling me away from my Wolven friend. I grit my teeth, struggling to ignore the pain as I straighten. *That's gonna take a few minutes to heal*.

"I'm fine," I hiss, shaking the vampire off. I was feeling pretty independent and badass until Mikyle showed up. He's not my babysitter anymore.

"Sorry, babe," Yuri tells me, placing a steadying hand back on my shoulder. "But you gotta stay focused. No one's gonna hold their punches in a real fight."

"I know, Yuri." I nod, finally able to breathe deeply again. "My bad." I add, giving him a rueful smile. "You got a hell of a right, though."

"Lucky for you," Yuri chuckles, patting my shoulder a few times before showing off his left arm's bicep. "I'm a lefty." I wince, cringing a little away from him.

"Are all puppies crazy?" Mikyle mutters under his breath, but I hear him clearly.

"Why're you even here?" I growl at the vampire, annoyed. Mikyle frowns at me and pulls the cooler from under his arm.

"I figured you didn't eat lunch - what with being stuck here all afternoon."

"I'm not *stuck*, I've been *training*." I snap at him, then feel a wave of dizziness cloak my body. I stumble a step, my hand flying to press against my spinning head. I curse under my breath, blink a few times as I regain my balance. Thankfully, neither man tries to help steady me, though both are now eyeing me warily.

"And apparently weak because of it." Mikyle mutters, shaking his head and turning to Yuri. "She needs to eat."

"*She* is right here. And can speak for herself." I growl at the vampire, annoyed. Yuri smirks and gestures to me.

"She's spoken." He tells my shadow, clearly amused. "It's up to you, babe." Yuri adds to me, waiting expectantly for my reply. I stand a little straighter and give my neck an experimental roll.

"I can go a few more minutes." I conclude when nothing happens. Mikyle frowns, but doesn't say another word as he walks towards the nearest porch to perch.

"Atta-girl." Yuri grins and claps me on the shoulder. "Let's show that vamp what we've been working on, yeah?" He adds, getting into an offensive stance. I nod back eagerly, bouncing on my feet as renewed energy runs through me.

I give the Wolven a few seconds to get ready, as a curtesy, before going in with the newest move I've mastered. I bring my left arm in close to guard my torso and hold my fist under my chin incase my trainer decides to attack. I close in on Yuri in seconds and we're mere inches apart when I try to land a blow to his left flank, but he's fast and clearly not gonna go easy on me just cause Mikyle's watching. The large Wolven blocks my punch before it gets anywhere near his side. His own right comes out to catch me like it had earlier - but I'm ready this time - glad I left my other arm in the guarding position to block.

At the same time as my left blocks his right, I take a few steps back, wincing as the jarring impact of his strength strikes the side of my arm. My feet barely stay in one place as I force them to move with me, but I'm physically spent so they're a little slower than I'd like. There's a weird ricocheting pain that seeps from the point Yuri hit me and I have to grit my teeth as the feeling crawls up my arm. I shake out the limb, but it doesn't help.

"You okay there?" Yuri asks, still in a fighting stance as he advances, taking up a more defensive position as he does so I know we're still sparing.

"Fine." I reply shortly, rolling my shoulder as the pins and needles in my bones turns to a burning ache.

"Sure you don't want to take a break?" Yuri hesitates, his eyes flicking to my mouth as the fire wraps around my jaw.

"I'm fine." I snarl, narrowing my eyes. But I feel the fullness in my mouth that means my fangs have dropped down. I press my lips together tightly, telling myself it's nothing to worry about. *Breathe*. I think as I move back into Yuri's space. The pain quickly subsides as I calm myself and focus on the task at hand. I relax as my fangs retract, though my relief is short-lived.

uri notices my control and takes full advantage of my distracted mind. He can be pretty fast when he wants to - and deadly. I'm having to switch between blocking and attacking faster than my feet are used to - nearly tripping over them as I dodge and maneuver around Yuri's lighting-fast fists. I dig deep, searching for the extra reserves of energy I know are buried in me. Instead of finding revitalizing energy, all I feel is a numbing cold that borders on burning.

I gasp, realizing my mistake as my vision ripples and the chords of time make the air shudder and vibrate. Without thinking, I back peddle away from the Wolven as his form suddenly speeds up. My hands catch of the strings, my weight tugging them until I'm falling to the ground - and feel them physically snap in my hands. My vision blurs and darkens before everything around me goes bright - blindly bright.

The energy I was searching for earlier bursts through my body as I hit the ground - but more like I'm slammed into the packed dirt - a crater rippling out around my form. Time jumps back into place, speeding up, then slowing back to it's usual pace around me as I struggle to breathe in air I know isn't there. Instead, someone pries open my mouth and dumps something down my throat. Fire ignites in me the second the familiar tasting stuff hits my tongue.

Everything hurts. And when I say everything, I mean everything. The world's spinning and my muscles seem to think it's a fine time to dance on my bones. I'm on the ground, clutching to my throat as it burns - like I've just ingested acid. Yuri's yelling at me, and I'm pretty sure there are other voices, but I can't seem to focus on much else outside the searing pain.

"Stop!" Mikyle yells from somewhere, but whoever's forcing the liquid down my throat ignores him as my body continues to spasm. And as the rest of the stuff slides down my throat, I feel everything in me fall silent. I gasp, sucking in precious breaths as my cells quiet. Rough, strong hands are on my face as my vision returns - and the first thing I see are two beautiful silvery-grey eyes before everything falls away.