Page 5 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)
Aileen
The Troop’s talent show was quite enlightening.
During the gala event and the fight with the Jinn over a week ago, I’d witnessed true supernatural phenomena on a scale I’d never known before.
Those memories, like muddy waters in my head, were almost too fantastical to be my reality.
Accepting the existence of vampires was one thing, but seeing seven-foot-tall horned giants battling vampires with unnatural force, and the responsive magic from their opponents, was another.
Looking now at the stage—watching the Troop members, starting with the Commons, fighting one another—was both unnerving and alarming.
It wasn’t that the Commons weren’t good or that they fought badly—in fact, they were quite strong—but knowing Atalon and how much of a cunning asshole he was, I found their performance did not spark confidence within me.
Not when their inexperience was so obvious.
When the crowd cheered after every mock battle, I couldn’t help but look on in dread. Five Commons needed to participate in the Hecatomb. So far, the Commons who’d taken the stage would not stand a chance in a fight to the death.
Ragnor must’ve sensed my stillness because he didn’t take his eyes off the stage, but his arm suddenly slithered around my waist, pulling me closer. “Keep watching,” he told me, as though he read my mind.
Leaning into him, I obliged.
“And now, for the last battle of the Commons!” Kaylon, the pseudo host, now called into the mic from under the stage. “Please welcome onstage Commander Logan Kazar’s Brigade members, Yelene and Sulien, versus Commander Haneul Kang’s Brigade, Lynnea and ... CJ!”
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I watched a familiar man taking the stage, along with three unfamiliar ones. That man, with his buzz cut and black skin over a lean and toned form, was wearing the battle uniform with his Brigade colors, his face set in cold anticipation.
Never before had I seen him wearing anything other than kitchen-assistance, dishwashing garb.
“What’s he doing there?” I murmured to Ragnor, shocked.
CJ was a second-timer Ragnor had taken under his wing for reasons unknown.
As a second-timer, he was the lowest rank possible in the League, and his fate should’ve been far worse than working in the kitchens.
Like Isora, for instance, who’d been bought as a second-timer only to become a blood slave for the Atalon League.
Yet Ragnor didn’t particularly like the whole idea of blood slaves, or slaves in general, so he put CJ in the kitchens, giving him a life better than what he could’ve expected in any other League.
But why was he in the Troop?
“Who are you talking about?” Ragnor murmured back.
“CJ,” I said, turning to look at him. “I used to work with him in the kitchens.” He and the other two dishwashing team members—Jada and Bowen—had been the first people to be friendly with me once I became a vampire. They held a special place in my heart.
“You should ask him yourself,” Ragnor said and jutted his chin toward the stage. “Now, watch. Things are going to get interesting from here on.”
I returned my gaze to the stage.
The pair from Logan’s Brigade, wearing battle suits in turquoise, almost the exact same shade as Logan’s eyes, launched an attack first, while CJ and his partner from the other Brigade, in bright yellow gear, were on the defensive.
Within the first ten seconds, it was obvious the pair in turquoise had the upper hand.
They didn’t just work together seamlessly—their punches and kicks were intense and, more often than not, they hit the mark.
It almost looked like CJ and his partner were just there to act as punching bags for the turquoise pair.
But when it was almost thirty seconds into the fight, there was a turn in the tide. Suddenly, the pair in turquoise was retreating, while the yellow pair, CJ in particular, was on the offensive. The shift seemed so sudden, I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing right.
CJ was throwing powerful punches, pushing the turquoise pair back to the edge of the stage. His partner acted as his shield, but she didn’t need to shield him from anything; CJ was handling the entire battle on his own. He dominated everyone on the stage, at least for a few long moments ...
Until the woman in turquoise suddenly grabbed CJ’s wrist as he was about to punch her face, and while holding on to him, she sent a kick to his thighs, catching him by surprise and making his knees buckle.
Using the momentum, the man in turquoise propelled himself by CJ and reached the woman in yellow, taking hold of her throat and shoving her to the ground, swiftly pinning her.
Just as CJ was about to regain his balance and reach for the woman in turquoise, Kaylon suddenly called, “Time’s up! It’s a tie!”
The crowd roared.
I let out a breath I’d held for the entire minute of the mock battle. CJ was good. Better than good; unlike the green Troop members before, he seemed to be a veteran. Same went for the pair in turquoise, Logan’s Brigade members, but CJ in particular seemed seasoned in a way no other Common was.
“I’m glad this event’s taking place,” Ragnor suddenly said, and I turned to look at him. “Being able to see the progress my Troop members have been making is a rare opportunity I don’t normally get.”
I frowned. “How come you don’t know what’s going on in the Troop?”
He glanced at me briefly before returning his midnight blue gaze to the show. “It’s not that I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I get weekly reports from Magnus, who’s in charge of the Troop.”
Magnus was one of Ragnor’s two Lieutenants. “Not to sound judgmental,” I said carefully, “but why aren’t you in charge of such an important division of your League?”
Without looking at me, his lips twitched. “That sounds awfully judgmental of you, Aileen.”
I rolled my eyes at his teasing tone. “You know what I mean.”
He let out a breath. “The Troop requires constant surveillance,” he said, face and voice both turning grave.
“I have many enemies, and since I’m the face of the Rayne League, those threats are also true of the League by proxy.
The Rayne League is one of the very few Leagues in the world that cultivates a military force, and there is a reason most Leagues would rather not have such a force in their midst.”
Ragnor’s hand suddenly crawled under my shirt, caressing the skin of my waist almost absentmindedly. “Historically speaking, many Leagues that had some sort of militia went through a coup d’état.”
That, I didn’t expect. “Why?”
Just then, Kaylon’s voice suddenly came through the speakers. “We’ll take a fifteen-minute break before the final rounds! Complimentary drinks and snacks are awaiting you outside!”
Isora and Zoey rose to their feet and turned to me. “Are you coming?” Isora asked, her eyes staying on me. Zoey didn’t seem to notice Ragnor was right there next to me either. His hood might’ve hidden his face, but how could they not see him? Especially when his hand was fondling my waist?
“No, I’ll stay,” I said, confused. “Get me something to drink on your way back, though.”
Isora gave me a mock salute, and the two left the hall along with most of the audience.
“You could go with them,” Ragnor murmured in my ear, causing me to shiver.
Ignoring the sudden heat crawling over my skin, I said, “I’d rather you tell me why they can’t see you.”
His hand grabbed my chin and turned my head toward him. “Is that really what we should talk about?” he asked, eyes dropping to my mouth.
I licked my suddenly dry lips, and his eyes flashed neon.
Feeling my nipples pebbling against my bra, I looked around me, saw we were relatively alone in our section of the gallery, and leaned closer to him.
Heartbeat quickening in excitement, I sank my teeth softly into his lower lip, flicking my tongue against it.
A rumble vibrated through his chest, and he pulled me over so I was straddling him with my back to the stage.
His heated, neon-blue eyes looked at me as if he could see me naked.
His hands roamed over my waist and up my ribs, until they reached the sides of my breasts.
My breath stopped as anticipation left me highly strung.
He cupped my mounds and squeezed them so hard, a loud moan escaped my mouth. Biting my lip hard, I watched as he kneaded my chest and grinned in savage satisfaction.
My eyes lowered to his crotch, where his cock tented his pants, hard and ready. Shuddering in sudden need, I freed his cock and grabbed it with both my hands. He bucked against my hold, and his hands left my breasts and lowered to my buttocks, squeezing them tight through my jeans.
I really wanted to have sex right there and then, but when I heard the murmurs of people returning to the hall, I paused, zipped him closed, and went back to my seat.
He gave me a disappointed look. “You know I made it so nobody notices us.”
“Don’t waste your magic on silly things like this,” I chastised him.
He chuckled, squeezed my thigh, and leaned back. “Sex with you is never silly, Aileen.”
Before I could respond—with what, I didn’t know, considering he completely caught me off guard—Isora and Zoey returned, cutting off whatever it was I was going to say.
The next part of the show was the Gifted Troop members’ time to shine. And shine they did.
Unlike the first part, this was more of a spectacle than anything else. Here, battle experience wasn’t as important as it was with the Commons. Here, what mattered was pure, undiluted power .