Watch yourself, Comoara.
“Done talking to them?” Lo questioned as she pulled a short broadsword from the weapons rack along the far wall. “You had that concentrated look.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, dragging my hand over my face before dropping it to my side. “I think there’s hope for them yet.”
She nodded in agreement, her curls bouncing with the move as she offered me a gentle smile. “Your situation is a lot to take in as a whole. It’s going to take time to work out thekinks.”
My mouth dropped open at her implied inflection. Cheeky girl.
It was a reminder for me to get the down low of her fuck buddy situation soon. I needed all the details. It was only fair since she knew everything about mine.
We shared a laugh before she quickly switched over to the side of her I’d only seen flashes of before. She went full-instructor mode, all mirth fading away as she pointed the sword at me. “Call forth your soul sword, now. Drake told me about it, and we’re going to work on your ability to wield it today.”
I hesitated a fraction of a second too long before letting my fangs lengthen to knick my lip enough to bleed. As Devorare materialized in my hand, I found myself flat on my back with the tip of Lo’s knife pressed into the hollow of my neck above my collarbone.
“Fucking hell,” I breathed out with wide eyes. “I’ll never be able to fight you.”
“You will,” she corrected in a sharp tone while flashing to her feet and holding a hand out to help me up. “With training and age, you absolutely will be able to. If you can actually connect to your sword, you’ll have a leg up on most, if not all, vampires.”
A single eyebrow raised at her as I took her outstretched hand and pulled myself up, letting Devorare’s flaming length lay flat at my side. “How do you know we aren’t connected?”
I tried to not get defensive, but the reminder of my inability to find my connection to my sword, past the surface level one we innately shared, hurt. Every time I thought of the lack of connection, it served as a painful reminder that I had failed during my time as a slayer. I was unable to do the one thing everyone around me with a soul weapon had on the very first day of being gifted one.
A huff of laughter came from her, but it was tinged with an iciness I’d never heard from her. She looked me in the eyes as she responded, “I’ve fought many slayers in my time, Alina. Anyone with a soul weapon was always ten times the fighter than a slayer without. It allows you to move faster, to react without thinking, to trust in your instincts on a whole new level.”
I let my head hang, glancing down at Devorare.
Please, let me in.
“You’re still moving like a slayer without a weapon,” Lo observed. “But if we can get you to tap into that connection, I’d feel a hell of a lot better about your odds of fighting any vampire besides Drake. You’d definitely be able to hold your own, and with the threat hanging around you and your men, we need you to have that edge.”
Letting my insecurities out, knowing it did me no good to keep them inside, I glanced back to her and confessed, “There’s never been a soul weapon by her name, to our knowledge. Every other weapon has a book kept, detailing their powers, how each wants to be connected to their slayer, and their achievements together. I’m in the dark with Devorare.”
Although, those achievements that were often boastful of how many vampires they’d slain seemed like less of an accomplishment. Especially now that I knew some incredible vampires that would have been on the receiving end of the blade.
“Lincoln thinks she was destined for me, seeing as she’s the first of her kind and I’m the first Van Helsing vampire,” I mused, wondering if there really was any merit to it.
“Devorare,” Lo mumbled, brow furrowed in deep thought as she stared at my sword. “To devour.” Her lips thinned as her eyes blew open. She blinked repeatedly before looking at me. “I think Lincoln was onto something with that, but you’re going to think I’m crazy for what I’m about to suggest.”
"What are you thinking?” I hedged, curious as hell.
I was willing to try anything—do anything—to finally connect to my soul sword. There was nothing Lo could say that would make me blink twice in regard to my weapon.
She shook her head, taking a deep breath before blowing it out. “Put up your mental walls to all three of your mates,” she instructed, making my curiosity fucking palpable now. “If they get even awhiffof what I’m about to tell you to try, they will be down here in an instant, stopping you and probably beheading me for even suggesting it.”
I gently coaxed my walls into place with each of them, not wanting to alert them to it because it would only make them come check on me anyway. As it was, I still didn’t think we had much time until they noticed.
“Okay, I put the blocks up, but they will notice pretty quickly,” I said, encouraging her to spit out whatever the hell she’d concocted in that beautiful head of hers.
“What if she quite literally needs to devour you to connect?” Lo murmured. “I noticed how you called her to you after spilling your blood. What if you couldn’t connect to her until you were a vampire because you wouldn’t survive what she needs when you were a slayer?”
A shiver ran down my spine. Maybe I spoke too soon in saying there was nothing I wouldn’t do to spark our connection.
I ruminated on her words, pacing around as I kept my gaze on Devorare.
You crazy bitch, is there truth to her words?
Coming to a halt, I cocked my head and sighed, knowing it was time to try something drastic with the threat hanging over my head. “What do you have in mind?”
