Page 33 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)

Aileen

Ragnor’s entire demeanor changed.

I didn’t notice it at first, since the day after our talk, Logan and I, along with the other Hecatomb pairs, joined together for an ensemble training session, practicing mock battles and honing our cooperation skills.

Since the cojoined sessions were overseen by Magnus and Margarita rather than Ragnor, I didn’t see him until it was time for my private session that evening.

He acted the same as he always did and was affectionate enough to sneak in kisses and some fondling in between practice rounds, but I couldn’t help but feel he was keeping a measure of emotional distance.

Perhaps it was because he’d told me something extremely private about himself and he didn’t know how to acclimate to feeling vulnerable, or perhaps he regretted telling me in the first place. Whatever it was, it made me feel uneasy.

And unfortunately, my being uneasy showed.

“Fuck, Aileen,” Logan growled at me as I landed on my ass after Neisha easily dodged my attack and sent me flying. “What the hell is wrong with you today?”

“Nothing,” I snapped at him, scowling as I climbed to my feet. “I’m fine.”

Logan glowered at me, eyes glowing. “I thought you wanted us to put our past behind us,” he hissed at me quietly enough so only I could hear. “But now you’re acting as if I don’t exist? Very mature.”

His words irked me to no end. In fact, Logan’s entire attitude since he’d forced a kiss on me two days prior had been grating on my nerves.

I’d done my best to move on from that because we genuinely had no time for such scuffles when the Hecatomb was right around the corner, and yet he acted bitter and cynical every time I dared speak to him.

So now when I wasn’t, he suddenly cared? What the fuck was that all about?

“You know, not everything in this world is about you, Logan,” I hissed back at him and walked to the table at the far end of the room to grab a bottle of blood.

He followed me. “Then at least be professional and put whatever it is out of the training room,” he sniped, as if he were itching for a fight.

And since I wasn’t calm enough myself to put a stop to it, I whirled around to face him, only to find he was barely an inch away, his body plastered to mine. “Back off, Logan,” I growled in warning, and it wasn’t just about the physical proximity.

“No,” he said in a low voice, eyes holding mine. “I think it’s time we talked and cleared some things up so you won’t act like a little bitch.”

His sheer audacity helped me to momentarily forget Ragnor and focus solely on him. “ I’m acting like a little bitch?” I said, shocked. “Who’s the one that ignored me first? Who’s the one who forced a kiss on me as if it would get rid of his fucking trauma?”

His face turned thunderous. “ And whose fault is it that I have this trauma?! ” he yelled at me, hands grabbing my shoulders. “The very least you could do is take fucking responsibility instead of acting as if I’m the one at fault!”

An animalistic growl escaped my throat as I completely lost it. Before I knew what I was doing, I punched his face.

He gave me a humorless, wild smile in return and punched me in return.

Ignoring the pain on my cheek, I screamed in rage and pushed him to the floor, straddling him as I sent my fists flying at his face one after another, seeing red.

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind and forcefully took me off him, while I saw Neisha helping Logan to his feet as he spit blood.

I struggled against the hold. “ Let me go! ” I shrieked, thrashing around.

“You’ve got to calm down, Henderson.” I heard Oberon’s voice in my ear. Apparently, he was the one who held me. “You don’t want to make more of a spectacle out of it than it already is, do you?”

His words made me grow still, fighting to catch my breath, as I was suddenly aware Logan and I were surrounded by the other participants, along with the two Lieutenants.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Let me go,” I said breathlessly.

Oberon released me, and I glared at Logan, who was glaring at me back with enough hatred to fill a continent.

A clap of hands drew everyone’s attention to Magnus, whose face was grim.

“Let’s take ten, everyone,” he said, glancing briefly at me before he said, “And while I know tensions are high with the upcoming Hecatomb just a couple of days ahead, please do try to restrain yourself and work together with your partners rather than against them.”

I looked away, furious with Logan, Magnus, Oberon, and everyone, really—but mostly with myself.

I’d let Logan goad me. And I had no one to blame but myself.

As everyone left the gym, I reached the table and grabbed a blood bottle, drinking its contents almost in one sip.

My heart was beating hard in my chest, and I was still feeling the adrenaline from before, along with the need for violence, but this time, I did everything I could to push it all down.

Unfortunately, my efforts were in vain.

“Aileen.”

I turned around and felt my barely contained fury threatening to explode when I saw Margarita standing there, her face carefully blank. “Yes?”

“Come with me,” she said and turned around, heading to the exit of the gym.

Since I knew ignoring her wouldn’t solve whatever this was, I threw the now-empty bottle away and followed her out.

She took me to an empty training room and shut the door behind her before turning to me. I was about to speak when she slapped me.

The violence within me still hadn’t dissipated, and I was tempted to succumb to it once more when Margarita’s eyes glowed and she said, “It seems you really don’t take my warnings seriously.”

Cupping my bruised cheek, I glared at her. “This is none of your fucking business, Lieutenant ,” I snarled.

“Logan is my business,” she hissed back, “and you dared mar his face with your dirty whore hands.”

I barked out a humorless laugh.

Her face grew angry. “Since words don’t seem to get through to you, I’ll start moving to actions.”

“I don’t care,” I told her truthfully. “So do your worst, Margarita, but don’t forget that whatever happened just now with Logan, he still needs me as his partner.” When her eye twitched, I grinned. “So I wouldn’t recommend roughing me up, if only for his sake.”

She growled, but I ignored her, moving past her and outside the room, heading back to the main training facility.

I was done with letting people think they could do whatever they wanted with me. I’d been lenient with Logan for a long time, and for a good reason, but now that it was coming to bite me back in the butt, I could no longer ignore it.

The same went for Margarita. I was through with having others intimidate me as if I were their little lackey.

So for now, I would do everything I could to ignore them and just focus on the mission, which was to survive the Hecatomb.

Anything else could wait.