Chapter 47 The Training

Chapter 47 The Training
The Primigenii envoy leaves with promises to return.
Thad’s declaration of war didn’t scare them. If anything, they seemed pleased, like this was exactly the response they wanted. Dominique escorted them to the gates while I watched from the study window, digging my nails into my palms hard enough to leave marks.
Now the mansion is in a frenzy. Vampires are arming themselves in the hallways, and human soldiers are checking weapons in the armory. Everyone is preparing for a battle that could come at any moment.
Everyone except me. Because I’m the weakest link and have no clue how to defend myself.
That needs to change.
I find Dominique outside the armory, strapping a blade to her thigh.
“I need to learn how to fight,” I tell her.
She glances up at me with one eyebrow raised. “You’ve never thrown a punch in your life.”
“Then teach me.”
“It takes years to become proficient in combat. Decades to master it.”
“I don’t have decades. I might not even have a week.” I plant myself in front of her so she has no choice but to look at me. “I refuse to hide while everyone else risks their lives for me. I won’t be dead weight.”
She presses her lips into a thin line as she eyes me. Whatever she sees must convince her, because she nods once and finishes securing her blade.
“Training room. Ten minutes. Wear something you can move in.”
The training room is in the basement, tucked behind a door I’ve walked past a dozen times without ever noticing. The floors are padded with thick mats, and weapons line every wall. Swords and axes and things with blades and chains that look like they belong in a nightmare rather than a training facility.
Dominique is already waiting when I arrive. She’s changed into fitted pants and a tank top that shows off arms corded with muscle. Her brown hair is pulled back in a braid that runs down the center of her spine.
“First lesson,” she announces as she rolls her shoulders. “Forget everything you think you know about fighting.”
“I don’t think I know anything.”
“Good. That makes my job easier.” She stalks to the center of the mat and gestures for me to join her. “Vampire combat is nothing like human combat. We’re faster, stronger, and harder to kill. The techniques most humans use won’t work for us. The only people who know how to kill us, work for us.”
“The soldiers who are everywhere,” I surmise as I step onto the mat. “What techniques do work?”
“Speed. Knowing where to strike to cause maximum damage.” She drops into a fighting stance with her weight balanced on the balls of her feet. “Try to hit me.”
“What?”
“Hit me. Anywhere you can.”
I swing at her face, but my fist connects with nothing. She’s already behind me, and before I can turn, she hooks her foot around my ankle and sends me crashing to the mat. The impact knocks the breath from my lungs.
“Too slow,” she states from somewhere above me. “Again.”
I push myself up and try for her stomach this time. She sidesteps and grabs my arm, using my momentum to flip me onto my back. The ceiling spins above me as I struggle to remember how to breathe.
“You’re telegraphing your moves. I can see what you’re going to do before you do it.” She offers me a hand and pulls me to my feet. “Stop planning and start acting.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve had years of practice.”
“Stop making excuses and try again.”
We continue like this for hours. She knocks me down over and over, and my body hits the mat so many times I lose count. Every muscle screams in protest. Every bone feels bruised. My pride takes the worst beating of all.
But I keep getting up.
Somewhere around the hundredth attempt, something clicks. I stop thinking about where I want to hit her and just move. My body reacts before my brain catches up, and I actually manage to graze her shoulder with my fingertips before she dances away.
“Better,” Dominique admits with a hint of approval in her voice. “You’re starting to use your speed. Most newborns take weeks to figure that out.”
“Most newborns aren’t being hunted by an ancient vampire clan.”
“Fair point.” She tosses me a water bottle from a rack near the wall. “Take five. You’ve earned it.”
I collapse against the wall and gulp down the water. My shirt is soaked through with sweat, and my hair has escaped from its ponytail to stick against my neck. I probably look like a disaster.
I feel like one too.
“Can I ask you something?” I manage between breaths.
“You can ask. Doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“Why are you helping me? You barely know me, and you didn’t seem particularly thrilled when I first showed up.”
Dominique shrugs and replies, “Because Thad asked me to.”
“That’s it? He asked, so you agreed?”
“That’s part of it. The other part is that I’ve seen what happens when vampires can’t defend themselves.” She looks away from me before she adds, “I’ve watched good people die because they didn’t know how to fight back. Because they froze at the wrong moment or zigged when they should have zagged. If I can prevent that from happening to you, I will.”
“Even if it means going to war with the Primigenii?”
“I’ve wanted to go to war with the Primigenii for decades. They’ve had it coming for a long time. This is just the excuse I needed.”
“What did they do to you?”
The smile disappears. “That’s a story for another time. Finish your water.”
I don’t push. Everyone in this house seems to carry wounds that haven’t fully healed. Dominique is no different.
I finish the water and climb to my feet.
“Show me something else,” I tell her. “Something I can actually use if they breach the mansion.”
Dominique walks toward me. “There’s a move that works well against bigger opponents. It uses their strength against them, but the timing has to be perfect. A fraction of a second too early or too late, and you’ll end up on the ground with a broken neck.”
“Teach me.”
She walks me through the technique step by step, showing me how to position my body, where to grab, and when to pivot. I fumble through it a dozen times before I start to understand what she’s asking of me. My feet keep tangling, and my arms refuse to cooperate.
“Not bad,” she says after I finally execute it correctly. “Do it a thousand more times and it might actually save your life.”
“A thousand?”
“Muscle memory. When you’re fighting for your life, you won’t have time to think through the steps. Your body needs to know what to do without your brain getting in the way.”
I nod and reset my stance. A thousand repetitions, then. However many it takes.
The Primigenii want me. They can come and try to take me.
But I’m done being the one who needs saving.