A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)

“And how do you feel about it?” I asked.

“Not that great, I’ll be honest. I mean, he’s all cold and stoic and irritatingly dismissive, while I’m struggling with feelings I haven’t experienced in a long time… and certainly not with this much intensity. I never thought I’d feel this way, and yet, here I am. The more he pushes me away, the more I need to see him. It doesn’t go well with my nature. It frustrates the hell out of me to be so attracted to someone, so vulnerable, but I can’t do anything about it, either.”

I was determined to think this over and try to come up with a viable solution for her. I really wanted to help. I didn’t like seeing her like this, and I knew, for a fact, that she didn’t deserve to be given the cold shoulder—especially not after I’d seen Jax unravel the way he had when Hansa was dying in his arms.

“There’s nothing you can do, little pup.” Hansa gave me a warm half-smile, resting a hand on my shoulder. It was as if she’d read my mind. Or my face—I was recklessly transparent by nature. “You’ve got a bun in the oven to worry about now. Besides, I’m a former tribe chief. I crush my enemies with my bare hands—or thighs, on occasion. Getting myself hung up on a Mara won’t last forever. I will get over it.”

Her bluntness made me laugh, and her strength and ferocity left me speechless. I gawked at her for a second, wishing to memorize every single thing about Hansa that made me want to worship her, in hopes that, should my baby turn out to be a girl, I’d be able to instill the same values into her.

I would certainly love raising a half-Hawk, half-wolf girl with Hansa’s attitude. She’d be breaking oh so many barriers…





Jovi





After the eventful GASP council meeting at our Mount Zur base, I called out some of our recruits for a training session on the Plateau—a name we’d given to one of our biggest practice spaces, as it occupied the entire northwestern platform and somehow broke from the cluster of limestone boxes that formed our base.

It was a semi-open space facility, with thick, square pillars that supported the stone roof. There were no windows or walls, but Aida had set up a swamp witches’ spell around the training area to prevent recruits from falling over and breaking their necks—an invisible barrier of sorts that acted like an elastic membrane and pushed the fighters back inside, since there weren’t any walls other than the one linked to the rest of the base. The ground was solid dirt, covered in short red grass that cushioned the harder landings. There were obstacle courses set in the middle, designed for army-like training, complete with ropes, wooden pillars and barriers, hay bales, and metal structures for climbing and fighting above the ground.

I moved to the middle of the Plateau, surrounded by Avril, Scarlett, and Fiona. Harper Hellswan and Caia Conway were also present, standing next to Serena and Vita, along with Hansa and Anjani. I was still getting used to looking at Harper and Caia, as they both resembled their sisters a little too much for my comfort.

Harper had taken a little more from Tejus’s facial features, but she was tall and athletic, just like Serena, with long black hair, blue-green eyes, and broad hips and shoulders. She was in her second year as a vampire sentry and had demonstrated incredible self-control, given her young age. I usually referred to her as the Cucumber, mainly because she was as cool as one, almost never showing emotions or signs of panic—in that aspect, she and Serena were very different. Nevertheless, her devotion to GASP, her friends, and her family was impressive. I almost felt sorry for anyone who might try to hurt her or her loved ones.

Caia was petite and spunky, just like Vita, with medium-length pale blonde hair and bright green eyes with a hint of teal. Grace and Lawrence had some fertility problems, and had enlisted Corrine’s magic to help them conceive—back when they couldn’t remember Vita. Whatever spell Corrine had performed, not only had it helped bring Caia into the world, but it had also gifted her with strong fire fae abilities. It had taken Vita many years to summon her first flames, whereas to Caia they had come as naturally as breathing. All in all, Caia was not one of the best fighters in GASP where physical combat was concerned, but the things that girl could do with fire had already left me speechless.

Field and Draven were on the far end, giving instructions to some of our male recruits, including Blaze, Heath’s son and an eminent fire dragon. Heath had married Athena after his period of celibacy had come to an end—she was a full female fire dragon he came upon in the supernatural dimension—and they’d introduced their son Blaze to GASP at the green age of six. From what my dad had told me, Blaze was a terrific fighter and, most importantly, could transform into a full dragon thanks to his mother’s genes. He was also highly skilled in his use of fire, which was one of the reasons he’d recently been reassigned to the Eritopian base. Most of the female recruits in our base seemed to have a soft spot for the guy—taking a lot after his father, Blaze stood tall, with navy-blue eyes, short dark hair, and rugged good looks mounted on a broad frame with solid muscle mass. Of course, said female recruits were also disappointed to find out that, like Heath in his early days, Blaze had taken a celibacy vow until the age of twenty-three. I could practically hear their brains counting the years, months, and days until it was over.