Page 25 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)

Aileen

My body’s discomfort woke me up.

When I opened my eyes, it took me a few moments to remember where I was, not only because the surface I was lying on was that of a sofa rather than a bed, but also because the living room I was in was smaller than the one in Ragnor’s suite ...

Right. Last night, I crashed at Isora and Zoey’s place.

Cuddling the comforter close, I stared at the ceiling, wishing I could disappear, if only for a short while.

Because today, I had to start training with Logan, my now partner for the Hecatomb. And if that wasn’t enough, I would also have to see Ragnor in the afternoon for the private training.

Every fiber of my being rebelled. I didn’t want to see either Ragnor or Logan. The mental fortitude required for dealing with both of them was beyond me at the moment.

I was too tired and felt too guilty to be able to face both the demons of my past and the sad reality of my present.

But the Hecatomb waited for no one. And overruling my other emotions was the steadily rising anxiety about it being so soon and my feeling so underprepared.

And I had to remind myself that at least my situation was far less miserable than Jada’s.

I heard a door creaking open followed by approaching footsteps. Then Isora’s face popped up, her cobalt eyes peering at me. “Good morning,” she said, giving me a concerned look.

“Morning,” I retorted and forced myself to sit up. “Slept well?”

She nodded, and I could feel her eyes follow me as I put on my sneakers and rose to my feet. With a sigh, I turned to her and gave her half a smile. “Thank you for letting me crash.”

“Anytime,” she said quietly just as another door opened, revealing Zoey’s haggard look. “Morning, Zo.”

Zoey yawned and gave both of us a nod. Then, as we’d done many times before, we went to the cafeteria together for breakfast.

Unfortunately, I had barely put a spoonful of bacon and egg in my mouth when a familiar redhead made her way toward me, her eyes fixed on my face.

Swallowing the food hard, I ignored Isora’s and Zoey’s looks as Margarita stopped right next to me, her expression disdainful. “Come with me,” she barked.

My first instinct was to refuse. But something in her catlike green eyes made me clamp my mouth shut and rise to my feet. “Lead the way,” I murmured, grimacing as I felt many pairs of eyes peering at me from across the cafeteria.

As I followed Margarita to the exit, it felt as if I was being led to the guillotine.

I mean, it was Margarita, Ragnor’s Lieutenant, who’d hated my guts almost since day one.

In fact, she had tried to sabotage me multiple times during those horrid times before the Auction, when I was still a newbie.

She’d also threatened me to stay away from Logan and Ragnor. Which made me wonder if that was what this was all about right now.

While Ragnor and I were being discreet about our relationship, I doubted she wasn’t at least a bit aware that something was going on between us.

It wasn’t like we were purposely hiding; I had been staying in his suite ever since I came back to the Rayne League.

It would’ve been weird if she, and others, hadn’t noticed something.

If she was bothered about it, she could’ve easily said something before. So that left only one option.

Margarita led me to a small storeroom not far from the cafeteria. Once I was inside, she closed the door and locked it behind us.

Tense, I leaned against the wall and folded my arms, my eyes glued to her as she leaned against the wall facing me. She also mimicked my stance, folding her own arms and giving me a bitter look. “Logan told me the gist of it, you know.”

I braced myself for what was soon to come.

“He hates you,” she told me almost conversationally. “So much, in fact, that last night, he came begging to our Lord to pair him up with someone else.”

Narrowing my eyes, I tried to pretend I wasn’t panicking inside. Not because Logan wanted another partner—that much I knew, for obvious reasons. Rather, it was because Ragnor now had absolute confirmation that something bad had gone down between Logan and me in the past.

The one part of my past I really, really didn’t want Ragnor to know about. Which had led to our current stalemate, which had also led to our recent arguments and fights.

“Our Lord and Magnus were adamant, however, that this is the right decision,” Margarita said, not hiding her disgust. “So you and Logan are going to remain partners after all.”

She glared at me as if this decision was my fault and said, “I’m warning you, Henderson. Do not interact with Logan more than need be for the training sessions and the Hecatomb. If you do ...” She gave me an ugly smile. “You’ll find out exactly what I’m capable of when you hurt what’s mine.”

Her words made my already-shit mood sour. “Despite what you and Logan think,” I said through clenched teeth, “I have no intention of hurting him in any way. In fact, this whole Hecatomb is about ensuring we all come back in one piece—both mentally and physically. So this threat is quite redundant.”

Margarita sneered. “Let’s hope you’re right,” she spit. Moving to the door, she turned the key sharply and pulled it open violently before storming off.

I leaned my head back and took a deep breath. I knew I was going to be on my best behavior, but I couldn’t say the same about Logan.

Our last fight from many moons ago still rang in my head.

“ After all this time, I expected some sort of decency from you ,” he’d growled.

“ Shame on me for believing that you had changed. That you might be different. But I was stupid, and that’s on me.

You are a fucking monster. You are exactly what your father made you.

And you can’t change because it’s who you are. ”

Facing that kind of attitude, I had a feeling I was in far more danger than he was.

When I entered the allocated training room for me and my Hecatomb partner, Logan was already there, doing push-ups. He didn’t look up when I closed the door behind me, nor did he say anything as I took off my shoes and began doing some stretching myself.

A loaded silence spread through the room as we warmed up for far longer than was normally needed.

I was reluctant to be the first to make a move.

The tension in the room was already severe as it was.

I could feel myself freezing up, too, as not-so-irrational fear spread through me.

Not just because of the Hecatomb and what our relationship meant when it came to a life-or-death situation but rather because of what our relationship entailed.

Watching him moving up to jumping squats while continuing to ignore me, I felt an old pain flare in my chest. A memory hit me of a time when we were human and we were training together, joking and laughing about, shooting the breeze without a care in the world.

I’d felt so much love for him then. Love I now knew was not really romantic love but love from one human being to another. I’d cared for him. I’d needed him.

Just like I needed him now if I was to survive the Hecatomb.

Each pair had its own trainer. I knew from Zoey that Magnus was her and Cassidy’s trainer. It made me wonder if Margarita and Ragnor were also going to be trainers and if one of them was going to be assigned to us.

I was not happy about either of these options.

When the door finally opened, my worries were proved to be justified.

Ragnor strode inside, kicking the door shut behind him, and shrugged off his trench coat as he headed to the front of the room. He threw the coat aside, kicked off his shoes, and focused his midnight blue gaze on Logan.

Logan straightened and gazed back, his face set in a bitter yet resolute expression.

“Let’s make sure all three of us are on the same page,” Ragnor said without preamble, still not looking at me as he leaned against the wall. “Logan, you’re aware of Aileen’s expertise with Iovan’s Imperium.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement that I felt was directed as a dig at me. I inwardly flinched while Logan bobbed his head once sharply.

Ragnor’s eyes flashed neon so suddenly, I couldn’t help but outwardly wince.

“Then this will make it easier,” he said almost sarcastically.

“Logan, since you’re Aileen’s partner, then you must know the following detail.

” He barely glanced at me before fixing his gaze on Logan again. “Aileen is Sacred.”

Logan stared at Ragnor with an impassive look for a few long moments before it seemed Ragnor’s words finally computed. His lips curled downward, and he reluctantly turned to glower at me, as if it were my fault. “Is she now?” he snarled.

I looked away, shaking with anger. Ragnor actively ignoring me did not bode well. Neither did Logan’s reaction to the news Ragnor shared without consulting me. Then there was the tension thick in the air, suffocating me.

“She can stop time,” Ragnor now said offhandedly. “I don’t recommend she use it during your round, but it will be good if she has it ready just in case. Now that you know, her time stopping won’t work on you.”

“Time stopping,” Logan murmured, glowering at the floor. “Of course she just had to be different ...”

Ragnor’s face turned murderous.

And I was through. “Can you not talk about me as if I’m not in the room?” I snapped, fury rising inside me.

Ragnor and Logan ignored me. “Let’s focus on general training for now,” Ragnor said, his voice as angry as he looked.

“In two days, we’ll start the group training, and you’ll sharpen your cooperative skills while facing the other pairs in mock battles.

So for now, let’s start with the basics of Iovan’s Imperium. ”

Logan scowled. “Can’t we use another method?”

“Since you’re versed in it to a certain degree, I believe this method to be best,” Ragnor said. “Of course, we won’t neglect other methods. But let’s start with this one as the basis of the strategy we need to develop for you to use in the Hecatomb.”

Logan’s dissatisfaction was evident. I, too, was growing angrier as the minutes ticked by. Part of me wanted to leave the room and escape this suffocating tension. Another part wanted to hit both of them for ignoring me and acting as if I were nothing but air.

But I forced myself to practice patience. This was too important to let myself stoop to their level of pettiness. So even if they wanted to act this way for the entire training, I had to be the bigger person and swallow my anger.

So for the rest of the training, while Ragnor basically instructed Logan, with both of them avoiding talking to me at all costs, I gritted my teeth and focused on the training only.

Despite the evident animosity between the three of us, we managed to outline some sort of strategy for the Hecatomb. With Ragnor’s chilly suggestions and Logan’s monosyllabic responses, we at least managed to communicate, albeit poorly.

I’d been on my best behavior. I’d taken the high road. But the moment training was over and the two men got ready to go, I couldn’t restrain myself any longer.

“You really want me to die, don’t you?”

Both men stopped what they were doing.

Furious, I walked toward them. “I allowed it for this session,” I said quietly, my hackles rising, “but next time you decide to act like I don’t exist, or like I’m public enemy number one, I’m not going to stay silent.”

Ragnor was the first one to look at me, his eyes devoid of emotion.

I glared back. “I know you both feel wronged by me. I’m deeply sorry for that.

But that doesn’t excuse your behavior. You two should know better.

Especially you,” I snapped at Ragnor. “You’re supposed to be older than dirt, aren’t you? Then act your fucking age, old man.”

I turned my glare to Logan, who was now staring at a spot beyond my shoulder.

“And you, Logan,” I said, my voice trembling.

“I know you have issues with me. But please put them aside until after we make it out alive in the Hecatomb. After that, you can go back to treating me like I don’t exist, but at least until then, treat me like your Hecatomb partner. ”

I didn’t wait for them to respond. I took my leave before either of them could speak, feeling a wave of exhaustion draping itself over me.

But beyond all that was hurt. Not because of Logan, though that hurt in its own way, but because of Ragnor. Because despite everything we’d been through, he’d never behaved like this before. He’d never utterly ignored me.

And that scared me far more than the prospect of dying in the Hecatomb.