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The word had come out louder than I’d intended. By Ronan’s exasperated headshake, I could tell the irony wasn’t lost on him.
“You may want to keep it down,” he muttered, looking around. I’d caught the attention of one of the Initiates, and he gave her a nod. His friendly expression struck me as forced, but it seemed to satisfy her.
I toed a rock free from the path, kicking it a few steps ahead of me. “Decorum,” I grumbled. “I’d thought you were putting me in some sort of gifted-and-talented program, and instead you’re making me take a class in manners?”
“I’m not making you do anything. It’s required of all Acari. The vampires find modern girls to be . . . coarse. ” He shrugged. “You should be pleased I got you out of piano. ”
“Piano would’ve been cool. ”
“So you’d think. ”
“And what’s with combat? Are they sending me to war?” I tossed off a cynical laugh, but his curious stare silenced me. “Wait. They’re not sending me to war or anything, right?”
“No wars per se. ” He was trying to assure me, I think. It wasn’t working. “But you must learn to fight. Hand-to-hand sparring. Other necessary tactics. ”
“Fighting?” I felt the cold, prickly sensation of blood draining from my head. I’d been hit enough times in my life already—I’d hoped to put the whole getting-pummeled thing behind me. “You’re going to make me fight? I can’t fight. ”
“We’ll train you. ”
I pulled the black knit cap from my head and raked my fingers through my hair. “Like, fight with the other girls? I thought we were training to be attachés. ”
“You’ll be that and more. You must be ready for anything, at all times. ”
I clenched my hands, feeling a familiar dread wash over me. Needing to be ready for anything sounded a bit
too much like my childhood. “But swimming? Combat? I can’t do all that stuff. And I definitely can’t fight the other girls. ”
He touched my shoulder. “You can and you will. ”
The contact was light and quick, but it was enough to halt my growing hysteria. I calmed a little, noticing I’d accidentally crumpled my schedule.
And then my body seized. I flinched my shoulder away from him. I didn’t trust him or his supernatural touches. “Don’t touch me. ”
He actually managed to seem confused and innocent for a moment. Bravo, Ronan. Then he said, “You must learn to trust me. ”
We were approaching the group of buildings, and Ronan slowed his pace. “It’s not all academics on this isle. Combat tactics, physical prowess—those elements are integral to success. This system is built to train girls just like you. Trust me on this, if nothing else. You can do it. ”
I tugged the cap back onto my head. I thought it might be a little askew, but I didn’t particularly care at the moment. “Trust you? You’re the one who got me into this mess in the first place. ”
He stopped on the path, looking at me thoughtfully. “Annelise, the swimming aside, I think you might be surprised at how much you enjoy your studies. ”
I scowled, remembering the scene in the dining hall. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to witnessing my peers salivating over one another. “So, boys will be in the classes?” They’d struck me as a bunch of jocks, the lot of them. I wondered if they were as meat-headed as they looked.
“Just decorum and phenomena. Male Trainees have a different physical-education program. ”
“I’ll bet. ” It seemed obvious that stalking potential victims, catching them, and then drinking their blood required a completely different skill set.
I shivered. Did the vampires in training know what was ahead of them? How did they feel about this whole messed-up scene?
I guessed I could ask one of them. My first class was phenomena, which Ronan had said was coed. I frowned. “What does one study in phenomena, anyway?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. You’re here. ” Ronan nodded toward a stout, two-story stone building. It looked like a place you’d see on any college campus in the Northeast.
“Your only other class today is fitness. ” He pointed back the way we came, toward a building whose stark, rounded, and corrugated roof proclaimed it to be Standard-Issue Gymnasium, Circa 1970. “It meets three days a week, after lunch, two o’clock sharp. Combat meets there, too, on alternate days. ”
I loathed working out, and now I had five days a week of it? I turned my back to the gym. One panic attack at a time.
I nodded a wordless good-bye to Ronan. Hopefully he took my silent farewell for cool nonchalance, and didn’t clue in to the fact that I was about to completely lose it.
