Page 10 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)

Aileen

By the time the training session with George ended, I was more than ready to crawl into bed and sleep. Unfortunately, I had private training assigned right after, so sleep would have to wait.

I dragged my feet to the cafeteria to get a quick bite, and when I left, Ragnor was waiting for me outside. He was wearing his trench coat, jeans, and combat boots, silver keys held in his hand.

“Hi,” I said, giving him a lame wave that made me feel deeply ashamed of myself.

It felt like we hadn’t spoken in far too long, which we hadn’t—not since our strained conversation about my knowing Iovan’s Imperium.

He’d been busy, I was pretending to be busy, and so now there was this tension between us that hadn’t been there before.

He nodded toward me, jaw locked. “We’re going out.”

“ Not yet ,” I wanted to joke, but the humor dissolved into nervousness when I realized Ragnor refused to meet my eyes. He was still pissed about our last conversation, I could tell.

So I said nothing and simply nodded, following him toward the exit of the League.

He led me to a parking lot outside the warehouse where the entrance to the League was, and there he took me to his familiar SUV. Once inside, he turned on the engine and reversed out of the lot, heading toward the main road to go into the city.

Soft music played on the radio, which made the silence between us more bearable but not less tense. I looked outside the window feeling somewhat stifled, as if a pair of invisible hands had wrapped themselves around my neck.

I knew I was the one at fault for this. I’d stupidly let out a hint that I somehow knew Logan and then lied about it. I knew I should apologize and explain what happened.

But telling Ragnor about my history with Logan ... It scared me, even more so than telling him about my father and the horrors he inflicted both on and with me. Because with Logan, the things I’d done were of my own volition. My father hadn’t been there to force me to do anything.

With Logan, the only monster in the room had been me.

And I couldn’t face it. Not now. Perhaps never.

There was no way for me to convey this to Ragnor. He would press me to tell him why I refused to talk about it. It would turn into a constant point of contention between us.

“Aileen.”

I tensed and slowly turned to look at him. Ragnor’s eyes were on the road, but I felt his attention was solely on me. “Yes?”

His hands clenched on the steering wheel. “You’re not asking where we’re going.”

Spine stiffening, I gave him a rigid smile and said, “Will you tell me if I do?”

“There is no reason for me not to,” he replied coolly, and a chill spread through my skin, raising my hairs on end. There was a double meaning there. A dig at my hiding things from him again.

Swallowing hard, I returned my gaze to the window and clamped my mouth shut.

After a few tense minutes, he parked the car in a suburban area at the open garage of a modern-design town house. When I was about to leave the car, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

Taking a deep breath, I turned to look at him. This time, he did meet my gaze, and his was aglow. “We need to talk.”

I gave him a fake smile. “About what?”

“You know what,” he said, his eyes narrow.

My smile faltered, and I averted my gaze. “Can we just forget it?”

“I’ve been trying to do just that for the last couple of days,” he said conversationally, “and yet here we are.”

“Please,” I blurted before I could think twice about it, and to my horror, tears welled in my eyes. I shook his hold off and turned my head away so he wouldn’t see. “Please, let it go for now.”

He didn’t say anything for a few long moments before he gave out a rough sigh and opened the driver’s door. Shakily, I got out of the car, too, swallowing the tears, and followed him inside the town house.

The living room and kitchen area was almost completely empty. Everything was colored white, from the sofas to the islands, the ceilings, and even the stairs leading to the second floor, and it gave the place a washed-out, dreamy feel.

Ragnor led me to the backyard, which was filled with neatly trimmed grass that disappeared into a wooded area, before he stopped, took off his coat and threw it on the nearby chair, and turned to me. “Let’s start with your training.”

His face was impassive, his eyes midnight blue again, and I knew he was trying to respect my pathetic plea. So I acted as if nothing was the matter and gave him a smile I hoped wasn’t as fake as the previous one. “I thought I’d be trained by someone else, so as not to have a conflict of interest.”

Despite the heavy air between us, I saw his lips twitch. “I doubt my wanting you to live is a conflict of interest, so we’re good.”

I gave an inward sigh of relief. Thank you, Ragnor, for letting me have this one secret.

“Also,” he added, giving me a much more relaxed grin, “who’s better than a Sacred to teach another Sacred?”

My temporary relief was gone immediately. “But I’m participating as a Common,” I said, frowning.

He arched his brow. “Are you telling me you haven’t planned on using your powers at all?”

“Well, yes,” I said, shrugging. “We agreed to keep my Sacred status a secret.”

Ragnor gave me a stunned look. “It doesn’t mean you can’t use it if your life is in danger—which it will be.”

He was right.

“Now, explain to me how your power works again,” he said, watching me closely.

I sighed. “I can stop and resume time by will,” I said, scowling, “though it hurts like a motherfucker when I do that, so I can only stop time for a few seconds, perhaps more if I train.”

Ragnor nodded. “Let’s try to work on that first: prolonging the use of your magic without the side effect.”

“I do have a question, though,” I said, cocking my head. “Did you get headaches after you found out you’re Sacred?”

He gave me a somewhat cryptic look before he said, “Not exactly. Each Sacred has different side effects. You have headaches, while others could have pain in their joints or lose their sense of hunger, perhaps even feel completely parched right after using their powers. It varies with every Sacred.

“Having said that, Sacreds learn how to use magic with minimal side effects given enough time and practice,” he continued, giving me a pointed look. “Two things we don’t have a lot of at the moment. But let’s do our best, shall we?”

I nodded, determined to do just that, and braced myself for action.

“When you’re ready, stop time and count the seconds,” Ragnor instructed. “Since I won’t be able to help you, considering you’ll stop my time as well, try to stretch yourself to the limit, which will give us a sense of your current maximum.”

“Yes, sir!” I said, mock saluting.

His lips twitched again. “Let me know when you’re done.”

I nodded and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath before I focused on my will and thought, Stop.

The pain that followed told me I needed to start counting.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I opened my eyes to slits and looked at Ragnor. For some reason, he seemed to move closer ... which shouldn’t have been possible. I’d just stopped time, after all. He was supposed to stop along with it!

“Aileen?” Ragnor suddenly said, his hands landing on my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“I ...” I said, and the pain grew stronger. “I’ve just s-stopped time, b-but y-you’re moving!”

I managed to look up to see Ragnor’s face, and his eyes rounded with shock. Slowly, he turned his head from side to side, looking around him, before his face slackened as realization brimmed in his irises. “Release the magic,” he commanded.

With pleasure was my mind’s response before I thought as forcefully as I could, Resume!

Immediately, the pain disappeared. A shuddering sigh left me, and I staggered back, almost falling before Ragnor caught me around my waist and helped me stand straight.

When my eyes met his worried ones, I gave him a reassuring smile and said, “The pain is gone. I’m fine.”

He nodded somewhat stiffly and reluctantly let me go. “What’s not fine is what we’ve just discovered,” he said, the worry still written on his face.

Confused, I said, “The only thing we discovered is that for some reason, my power doesn’t work on you.

Which doesn’t make sense,” I added, frowning as I began to pace back and forth, agitated.

“Back in the Auction, when my powers first presented themselves, no one moved, including Atalon and you, and it was like I was the only one in the world.”

“Atalon?” Ragnor asked, bringing my eyes to him. His were narrow as fury rose to his face. “What does he have to do with it?”

I froze in place. I’d just realized I hadn’t told him about what happened with Atalon back in the cell my former Lord had locked me in.

The fact he knew everything there was to know about my past thanks to his own Sacred powers.

And the really crucial fact was that, back in the gala event, when I stopped time, Atalon had managed to move then and take me to that cell right under Ragnor’s immobile nose.

“Okay, so,” I said carefully, walking toward him, “remember how back in the gala all hell broke loose?”

His face was set in a menacing scowl when he rigidly said, “Kind of hard to forget, yes.”

Feeling like I was approaching a wild predator on the hunt, I kept my eyes on him and said, “I stopped time right before then. That’s how Atalon managed to grab me and run; he somehow moved while time stopped, just like you did.”

His eyes glowed neon. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?” he growled, baring his teeth.

Wincing, I stopped right before him and cupped his face in my hands. “I’m sorry,” I said softly, scanning his face. “It didn’t come up.”

His hand was suddenly on my throat, curled around it from behind in a possessive hold that made me tense.

“I thought we were through with secrets,” he said, our noses almost touching when he brought us close with his second hand slithering around my waist, plastering my front to his.

“I thought you didn’t hide anything from me anymore. ”

I could tell he wasn’t talking just about this, but the other secret too.

And yet I decided to pretend we were only talking about Atalon.

“I didn’t hide it on purpose, Ragnor. It’s just so many things have happened, I didn’t really think about it.

” Or the fact Atalon knew everything about me, including my ugly past with Logan, which I refused to share with Ragnor.

I bet that would make him feel just peachy if he knew.

But he wouldn’t know. There was no reason for him to. Atalon would be dead in less than a month anyway, and he would take my secrets with him to the afterlife. And Logan pretended I didn’t exist, so there was no danger on that front either.

Perhaps I would be able to get away with never telling Ragnor about this side of me.

Ragnor’s eyes dimmed a little, and to my shock, he put his head down on my shoulder and hugged me tightly. “It’s fine,” he said, and his voice sounded deeper yet somewhat weaker. “Just ... I wish you would trust me, Aileen.”

My heart lurched in my chest. “I trust you, Ragnor,” I said quietly, hugging him back. “I do. Believe me.”

He tensed. “Then why are you lying to me?”

Panic roared to life inside me. But before I could think of some excuse, something to say to divert the conversation away, Ragnor did me the favor by raising his head and stepping back, releasing me from his hold.

His gaze was flat when he said, “In any case, your explanation about Atalon only cements one thing.”

With my lips dry and heart racing, all I could do was ask, “What thing?”

He gave me a somber look. “Your power only works on those who are not aware of it. Which means keeping it a secret isn’t just a temporary necessity, but the forever kind.”