“You’re right,” I said quietly. “She was a bitch.” The corner of my mouth twitched. “And now she’s probably off somewhere living her best life.”
I tried to play it all off, to not let her see my greed for her. Her eyes stayed fixed on me, studying me too closely for comfort, so I put on that lazy prince mask and gave her an award-winning smile before pivoting.
“But you,” I pointed at her dramatically, “need more practice before you become Miss I-can-be-bait-and-stay-safe.”
That earned the faintest flicker of amusement from her, and I latched onto it like a life line.
“Your mage will murder me if we spend the whole day talking and make zero progress.”
Then I stepped back. More distance. Necessary distance.
The second I did it, her expression noticeably dimmed.
God. Don’t look at me like that. Stay strong, Calix. This was how it had to be. Teach her. Protect her. Help her survive. Nothing more.
I pointed toward the far end of the room before I could second-guess myself again.
“First lesson,” I called out a little too loud. “Don’t smash into walls at vampire speed.”
That finally pulled a real reaction out of her. She rolled her eyes dramatically but moved into position anyway.
“Run as fast as you can,” I instructed. “Stop the second I tell you to.”
To my immense relief, she didn’t argue or push any further, so I took a deep breath. I could already feel the cracks forming in my restraint, and I wasn’t sure how much longer it would hold if she kept looking at me like that.
“Go!”
She instantly launched forward, moving fast enough that the air shifted around her.
“Stop!”
I called it early on purpose, trying to make the first attempt easy. She still slammed directly into the wall. The impact echoed loudly through the room, and I winced hard.
“You okay?”
She turned around, rubbing her nose while giving me an enthusiastic thumbs-up despite the blood running down her upper lip.
I barked out a laugh before I could stop it.
Vampire healing kicked in almost immediately, so the blood was already slowing while she stubbornly straightened herself back up.
“Again,” I called.
This time, she narrowed her eyes at me competitively before crouching lower.
“Three… two… one… go!”
Hours passed like that. Crash. Curse. Retry.
At one point, she hit the wall hard enough to spin sideways onto the floor, then popped back up, swearing viciously, while I doubled over with laughter.
“You’re enjoying this too much!” she shouted.
“You’re the one trying to headbutt reinforced concrete!” I responded, wiping a tear from my eye.
Eventually, the crashes became bumps, then near misses, then perfect stops. Finally, she halted with the tip of her nose barely brushing the wall.
No impact. No stumbling. Just complete control.
