“I agree,” Professor Wykoff added. “The four of you should be helping to protect each other, so thereareno openings. Instead, each of you went on the most aggressive offense possible, instead of taking turns to attack while the others held the enemy off.”
Talk about our greatest weakness. Danny was right. Esther and her demigod goons had been able to beat us the other day because they worked together, and we hadn’t. He’d pointed out our biggest flaw.
“Can you see people’s weaknesses, like Esther?” I asked Danny.
“Nah,” Danny said. “I’m kinda the opposite. I see people’s deepest desires— what they want the most. That’s my demigod power.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Kallie said. “You being able to see what we desire shouldn’t have given you that much of an advantage.”
“Sure it does. It was easy,” Danny replied. “Once I knew what you all wanted, it was simple to manipulate. Marcus wanted to protect Kallie. I had to disarm her first, so he’d be too distracted trying to save her and would be unable to defend himself. Ava wanted to figure me out, and her trying to guess what my demigod power was threw her off, leaving her vulnerable. And Charlie was focused on beating me up, notwinningthe match, so I took advantage of his anger and used it against him. I knew he’d fuck up and get sloppy. I just had to wait for when.”
“With that kind of demigod ability, you can do anything,” Marcus said. His tone held a shiver of fear.
“It’s not perfect,” Danny argued. “I can see people’s deepest desires, yes, but it’s still hard for me to utilize. I can’t tell when someone is lying, to me or themselves, and if someone has two opposing desires that are equal in want, I’m not always sure which one to manipulate. It’s not a sure thing, and sometimes I get it wrong— and sometimes, I have toaskpeople what their deepest desire is before I can manipulate it, because I can’t always see it. Wards and magical protections can trick me and get in the way.”
“Marcus can protect our minds. It shouldn’t have worked,” I argued.
“I can’t protect you from everybody, especially if I don’t know what I’m protecting you against. I’ve protected us from Seers— witches who can mind read or predict our intentions— but some mind manipulators like Alistair can get through,” Marcus panted. “Looks like this guy is one of them.”
Danny chuckled. “Whatdoyou truly desire, Marcus? You don’t need to tell me— I can guess.”
Marcus flushed and turned his back on Danny, mumbling something under his breath.
“That’s an unusual power to have,” I stated carefully. Demigod powers were influenced by personality. Danny’s demigod power indicated that for all his bravado, he was a huge people pleaser.
Danny let out a huff. “Yeah, well… as a kid, it was a lot safer for me to cater to what other people wanted. Having a super sensitive alarm system about my parents’ feelings kept my ass out of some shitty situations.”
It got rather quiet, and no one dared to ask him to clarify. I changed the topic, because I could sense this wasn’t something Danny wanted to talk about. “What kind of magic did you use on Marcus?”
“Yeah, I wanna know. It dropped me to the floor,” Marcus said, giving a grimace as he rubbed the arm that he fell on.
“Blood distortion. It’s when a vampire takes control of a person’s blood and uses it against them. Sometimes, a vampire can use blood distortion to make people their puppet. In some cases, a vampire can use it to disable a victim and make them feel pain, as I did with Marcus,” Danny stated. “I don’t need to make him bleed to do it. I can manipulate what’s in his body from a distance.”
“That’s similar to what a Toaqua can do with water in the blood,” I stated, impressed. I could use Water magic to move limbs, but was otherwise limited.
“Yeah, but I’m kind of shit at it, and I can only use it every now and then. Not to mention it doesn’t last— I had to pull it back quick with Marcus, if you couldn’t tell,” Danny said. “But it’s useful in a pinch. Maybe one day I’ll be strong enough to use it properly, but for the moment, I still get too drained to harness it well. It’s hard magic. Most vampires can’t use it.”
For Danny to admit that he couldn’t do something told me how difficult blood distortion really was. Still, he was a tough demigod. I respected what he could do.
“Let’s try working together as a team,” Wykoff suggested.
We practiced for the rest of the afternoon. We sparred a little, though it was nothing as brutal as the first time around. Wykoff and Amber instructed the four of us to fight Danny again, but this time, she had us alternate who was on the defense and who was attacking, giving us instruction as we sparred.
It definitely made a difference, and I saw we were more effective. If we had worked together like this when Esther had found us in the woods, maybe we would’ve been able to chase her cronies off.
Danny kept trying to help, but he could be a littletoohonest, and his pointers pissed Charlie off more than they provided anykind of advice. By dinner, I was worn out and starving. Wykoff and Amber dismissed us, and Danny dipped out the moment we were let go.
“Ancestors, that guy’s a prick,” Charlie complained as we left the arena. “I didn’t hit him hard enough, because if I did, he would’ve shut up. He was babbling the whole time.”
“Danny pointed out all our weak spots. We learned a lot from him today. He can teach us what we need to know,” I said.
“He’ssofull of himself. I’ve never met a guy more in love with a mirror,” Charlie mumbled.
“I mean, he’s kind of a jackass, but I really do think he wants to help. Being arrogant doesn’t make him evil.”
And I wasn’t so sure Danny’s attitude wasn’t all an act, either. Charlie was a quiet guy, so it wasn’t any surprise his and Danny’s personalities clashed. But they’d have to figure out a way to work together, because we were on the same team.
Marcus and Kallie followed us as we were led to another beautiful balcony overlooking the palace gardens. A long table had been set up, and food had been placed out for us. Dinner was served— spinach-artichoke pasta, with glazed salmon on the side and lemon-lavender sponge cake for dessert. All of our friends were here, chatting as they ate.
