He saw the look of fear and sadness on my face and softened his voice. "I did not have help. No one knew what was happening to me. Fear not, my child, I can help you without the suffering I endured."
Derek cleared his throat and squeezed my hand. "I'm so sorry about your family. I almost lost my brother once." He glanced at me and smiled. We both thought back to the time I accidentally sent his brother's soul to a demon dimension. Derek had also almost been lost to me, but I'd risked everything to rescue them both. It was the only thing that exonerated me from my crimes.
"I can see how important it is that Rose trains. And I thank you for taking her as your student. She means everything to me. I would not survive if I lost her."
Tears formed in my eyes as Talon instructed us both to close our eyes so he could take us deep into meditation. Once again I met my animals in my special room, and I examined each, getting to know their signature and the feel of them. I spent the next several hours trying them on, learning to become them and learning to feel the differences as my shifting became more natural and less difficult.
But I still had so far to go before I'd be strong enough to defeat the Beast. I just hoped whatever I could do would be enough.
TEN
Be A Man
DRAKE
Come, be a man. Drown thyself? Drown cats and blind puppies!
— William Shakespeare, Othello
I HADN'T GIVEN thought to how Beleth and I would get to wherever we were going. I guess I assumed a car, like a normal person.
Nope.
Beleth had other plans, yanking me off the ground and flying into the sky so high I would have turned into a red splat of nothing had he dropped me. I felt like the captured prey of a great hawk, being brought to the nest for dinner.
We flew for most of the day with no words spoken. It would be impossible to communicate at the speeds we were going. I expected my skin to freeze off or get wind burned, but my Nephilim powers had changed me and instead I felt like I belonged in the sky, craved it almost as much as I craved blood.
We landed somewhere high in the mountains, so far from civilization of any kind that only the birds would know of our deeds. Beleth placed me on the ground and stood in front of me, pulling two Nephilim swords from his back. Where did he keep those things, I wondered?
I took one from him and admired the ornate hilt inlaid with clear stones and the way the blade shined with its own inner light.
"That is yours by birthright," Beleth said. He threw a scabbard at me and I laid it next to my backpack and ran a finger along the blade of the sword, expecting it to be dull for practice, but it drew blood almost before I could feel it, so sharp and fine was the blade.
"We're going to fight with these?"
"Your abilities will keep you alive," he said. "But you will feel the pain."
Without warning he lunged at me, and I blocked slowly, with such awkwardness I felt ridiculous. I'd never trained with swords, not really. Being a kid with a fake plastic He-Man sword didn't count, I was sure.
"Your training will be complete if you can manage to hit me with that blade."
I figured that would prove to be a lot harder than it sounded.
I wasn't wrong.
I charged him with my sword, without grace or elegance, but with strength and speed, and Beleth jumped out of the way and stabbed me in the shoulder.
"Fuck! That hurt like a son-of-a-bitch!"
"Forget the pain," he said, his sword red with my blood. "Move. The Beast won't wait for you."
I pushed the pain out of my mind and attacked again, but he jumped in the air. I turned, expecting him behind me, but no. I looked up and saw him hovering with his wings flapping.
It was too late.
Beleth dove down and slammed into my shoulder, knocking me across the cliff as my sword fell to the ground.
He walked over to me and stared down at my prone form with no expression on his face.
"You will learn to fight. But first, you will learn to fly."
ELEVEN
Divided Duty
DEREK
My noble father,
I do perceive here a divided duty.
— William Shakespeare, Othello
WE SET UP guards around the school, mostly IPI agents, but also many of us teachers were rotating guard duty to help. My dad sent our pack to take wolf form and guard the woods as well. He couldn't come himself because he was overseas for business, but I appreciated his help. Things had changed a lot in my relationship with my family since I'd met Rose. They loved her for it.
I'd be on guard duty later this afternoon, but for now I had a martial arts class to teach. These kids needed to know how to defend themselves, now more than ever, though we all hoped they'd never need to.
Even with a breeze blowing through the trees and filling the air with the scent of jasmine, the twenty students in front of me dripped sweat with faces red from pushing themselves so hard.