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Catcher called Jeff's name, and the music changed - it became harder, louder, more rhythmic.
"The first step," Catcher said above me, "is evaluation. The vampire's powers are based in the physical - strength, speed, agility. The ability to jump higher, to move faster, than prey. Enhanced smell, sight, hearing - although those might require a little maturing before they kick in. And most important, the ability to heal wounds, to repair damage, which ensures that the body stays in top form." Thus, the unmarred skin on my neck.
As I steadily lifted and lowered my body, Catcher crouched before me, a finger under my chin pausing me, arms extended, in the middle of a push-up. He searched my eyes, but called Jeff's name. "Jeff?"
"She just finished push-up one hundred thirty-two."
Catcher nodded. "You're stronger than most." Hands on his knees, he rose again. "Sit- ups. Begin."
I swiveled my body into position, started a course of sit-ups. Those were followed by lunges, squats, and a set of yoga positions Catcher said were intended to test my flexibility and agility. They were all relatively easy, my body fitting into positions that - even years removed from serious dance-level fitness - should have been impossible. But I did King Dancer and Warrior poses, Wheel poses and Forearm Stands as effortlessly as if I'd been simply standing there. My muscles worked to maintain the positions, but the sensation was wonderful - like a full-body stretch after a long nap.
"So far, you're easily a Very Strong Phys," he commented.
I was in a headstand when he said it, and I lowered my feet to the floor and stood. "Meaning what?" I asked, straightening my ponytail.
"Meaning, just in terms of your patent physical strength, you're in the highest echelon. Vamps are rated on a three-prong basis. Phys - physical strength, stamina, skills. Psych - psychic and mental abilities. Strat - strategic and ally considerations. Who your friends are," he explained. "And within those categories, there are levels. Very strong at the top, very weak at the bottom, a range in between."
I frowned at him. "Give me a comparator. What are humans?"
"In strat and psych, 'very weak' by vampire standards. In physical strength, they might vary from a weak to a very weak. Many vamps aren't much stronger than humans. They need blood, and they have that nasty sunlight allergy problem, but their musculature remains essentially unchanged. Some will get powers, but even then it's later on. It's only been, what, four days since your change? Of course, even the vamps who don't get appreciably stronger get a boost metaphysically - the ability to glamour humans, mental communication, once your Master initiates the link."
I put my hands on my hips. "Mental communication? You mean like telepathy?"
"I mean telepathy," he confirmed. "Ethan will call you, initiate the link. You'll only be able to communicate with him - as your Master - but it's a handy skill to have."
I glanced at Mallory, thinking of her similar words before I took the floor with Ethan at Cadogan House. She nodded at me.
"You'll have Phys," Catcher continued. "Psychic, maybe. Those probably haven't come online yet. They may not until you and Ethan connect." Catcher moved a step closer and gazed into my eyes, his brow furrowed, like he was peering through my pupils. "You'll have something," he quietly said. Then his eyes focused again, and he stepped backward. "And those powers will move you up. You'll be a Master vampire, Merit. You'll have your own House one day."
"You're serious?"
He shrugged casually, like the possibility that I was going to be one of the most powerful vampires in the world was no big deal. "It's up to you, of course. You could stay a Novitiate, stay under Ethan's wing."
"You do know how to motivate a girl."
He chuckled. "Why don't you take five, and then we'll start you on the moves? There's a water fountain in the hallway."
I walked toward Mallory, who jumped up, grabbed me by the elbow, and pulled me out into the empty hall. I found the water fountain and latched on, my body suddenly aching for water. That was when she started yelling.
"You said 'sorcerer'! Sorcerer!" She pointed back into the training room. "That was not a sorcerer."
I guessed meeting Catcher did have an effect on her. I lifted my head and wiped water from my chin, then peered back into the room, where Catcher was sparring with a surprisingly sprightly Jeff.
"Uh, yeah, that was. Is. And believe me - I know. I was almost a victim of these little fingertip blast things he can do."
"But he's young! What is he, twenty-eight?"
"He's twenty-nine. And what did you think he was going to look like?"
She shrugged. "You know - old. Grizzled. Long white beard. Scruffy robes. Lovable. Smart, but a little absentminded professorish."
I bit back a grin. "I said 'sorcerer,' not 'Dumbledore.' So he's hot." I shrugged. "It could be worse. He could be a pretentious centuries-old vampire who's decided you're his latest project."
Mallory paused, then patted me on the arm. "You win. That's worse."
"Uh, yeah," I agreed, and led her back into the training room.
We worked for two more hours. He positioned me in front of a bank of mirrors along one wall and began teaching me how to move, how to defend myself. We spent the first hour - well, I spent the first hour - learning how to fall down.
Seriously.
Anticipating that I might be the object of an overhead toss or a clumsily executed jump, Catcher taught me how not to injure myself when I hit the ground - how to roll, to balance my weight, to use the momentum to push into a different move. The second hour we worked on the basics - kicks, punches, blocks, hand attacks. The building blocks that he'd eventually combine into katas, the combination sets that defined vampire fighting. The patterns had their origins in various Asian martial arts forms - Judo, Iaido, Kendo, and Kenjutsu, European vampires having learned the systems from a nomadic swordsman. But Catcher explained the moves had evolved into a unique form of fighting because, as he put it, "Vampires and gravity have a special relationship." Vamps could jump higher and keep their bodies in the air for longer than humans, so vampire moves were more complicated than the original human katas. Showiness, Catcher said, was encouraged.
It wasn't until the end of the second hour, after he'd begun to teach me defensive sword-fighting poses, that Catcher even let me see a sword. The sheathed blade had been wrapped in slinky indigo silk, and he unfolded it with careful concentration. It was a katana, much like the belt-bound blades worn by the guards outside Cadogan. It was sheathed in a black lacquer scabbard and had a long handle wrapped in black cord. He unsheathed it with a whistle of steel, the long, gently curved blade catching the glow of the overhead fluorescent lights.
