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He shakes hishead.
"Not as long as you're withme."
We wash off in the locker room and then Michel pulls on his t-shirt. Before we leave for Franklin Park, he reaches into a pocket in his jacket and withdraws and small piece of cloth, which had been folded up into a tiny package. He unwraps it and takes out a piece of flesh colored rubber with two red gashes in it – a fake vampirebite.
"Here," he says and tilts my head to the side. He peels the backing off the fake bite and then kisses my neck softly before placing the fake bite there, just below myear.
"If, for whatever reason we're separated, this is for your protection. I want you to look like you're claimed. Otherwise someone might try to take you. You could beat them if they didn't ambush you, but if there are more than one, you might not be able to fight them all off. That will take furthertraining."
I touch the fake vampire bite, frowning. Then, his face changes, his fangs extending, eyes red-rimmed, and he bites his wrist, daubs his finger in some blood and smears it first on my chin, then some on my face next to my mouth. He actually looks scary when he's in his hunter mode and I frown, touching my face, my fingers coming backbloody.
"What are youdoing?"
"Any vampires in the park will smell my blood on you and think I've claimed you. They'll believe that you're my blood slave and they'll know that they'll have to fight me if they want you. I'm one of the older surviving vampires, so they won't challengeme."
I examine my fingers. "You're marking me like a dog marks itsterritory."
"That's exactly right, Eve," he says and sighs, his face reverting to its more human look. "That's what wedo."
I look at my fingers and then tohim.
"Why teach me to fight if I'm not going to useit?"
He shakes his head. "Sun Tzu once wrote that supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Fighting's dangerous. You could be hurt. If you're ambushed, you might be overcome. If you get too close to a vampire without realizing it, you could succumb to their powers and be helpless to fight. Better not to fight at all." Then, he reaches into an inside pocket in his trench and withdraws a small thin stake with a roundhandle.
"But if you have to, use this and do what I taught you. Use your full body weight and hit at the right angle. Remember, we're bloody hard to kill, even for anAdept."
I take the stake and feel its weight, passing it from one hand to the other, finally taking it in my righthand.
"Here?" I mime staking him with it. He frowns and steps back for a moment, as if he thought for one moment I'd actually doit.
"That's right," he says, his voice a bit shaky. Finally, he smiles. "Just don't get anyideas."
I don't smile back. "I already killed you once,remember?"
"How could Iforget?"
I look at the stake in my hand. "I didn't likeit."
He nods. "I'm glad you didn't. Don't get a taste for it. At least not forme."
"I do have a taste for you," I say and smile and that elicits a little throat noise from him and he grabs me once more and kisses my cheeks, his tongue touching my skin and I feel something surge inside ofme.
"Lets go," Michel says and leads the way out of the FosterBuilding.
* * *
Chapter 20
"The heart hasits reasons that reason knows notof."
Pascal
We take Blue Hill Avenue to Circuit Drive and stop under a streetlamp in the middle of the park. Michel comes around to my side and leans over me while I'm still in my seat and undoes my belt forme.
"Stay close," he says softly. "If anyone approaches us, play it as if you're my blood slave. Act a bit drunk or stoned. That way, you won't have to say anything and if there's a threat, they won't be expecting you to be capable of self-defense. We definitely do not want anyone to know you're anAdept."
He helps me out of the car and a tremor of excitement goes through me at the prospect of being among vampires. We enter the park, and in the darkness, I can see as if through a night vision scope, allowing me to navigate despite the dimness. Ahead, I see only a sea of trees and brush with a faint green glow over the landscape from starlight and ambient light from thecity.
