“All the way out.”
He turned on his right shoulder to face me. Niko didn’t stare at me the way other men did. Perhaps I was just as exciting as one of those airport thermal detectors, but it made me self-conscious and I put distance between us.
“You can remove their core light until they’re mortal again?”
“Yep. It’s not always easy to take them down, but once I’ve gained the upper hand, it’s lights out.”
Niko rubbed his smooth chin. “An exceptional gift indeed. In early times, Stealers were hunted—feared because they had the power to remove immortality. It’s a rare gift even among rare gifts. Do you keep their energy?”
“No, God no!” I exclaimed with a shudder. “It stays inside me for maybe a day and then leaks out.”
“Does it make you stronger?”
“I’ve never played around with their gifts. It doesn’t make my energy stronger, but I guess their power stays inside me for a short time.”
“If you can’t flash, are you able to use your energy to attack another Breed?”
“Yes, I can throw energy into other Breeds as a weapon.” I took a seat on a weight bench. “I’m only half Mage, and I suppose mixing two species together diluted things. I guess that ruins the training session you had planned.”
“Hardly,” he said with a crafty smile. “I want to test how well you fight.”
“This shouldn’t take long then. I can’t fight.”
He belted out a laugh and moved toward me. Niko wore all black, except he wasn’t wearing shoes on his feet. “Don’t be so modest. I’m aware of your track record.”
“I carry small weapons and have a few moves I rely on, but I’m not about to embarrass myself when you realize that I don’t fight like a ninja. I have strong legs, so if I get into a tangle, I can hurt a man with these nutcrackers. I lure them into confined spaces, like bathrooms, and my opponents aren’t exactly skilled fighters. I use other means to take them down.”
“Other means?”
I shrugged even though he couldn’t see the gesture. “Usually it’s their stupidity I depend on the most.”
“Are you really half Vampire, or is that just a rumor I’m hearing?”
I jumped when one of the lights above us began to buzz. “It’s true.”
A single brow arched. “So you bite your victims.”
My tone grew defensive. “It works, but I never drink from Vampires; I just stake them up close. They’re horny little bastards, so getting them alone has never been a difficult chore. Their overconfidence is what makes them weak, and most of them respond to a pair of tits and a little lipstick.”
Niko’s expression switched from a fierce warrior to that of a kid who just overheard his first sex story. Maybe I was too déclassé for polite society. I tugged at my drawstring, a little ashamed by how uncouth I’d become over the years.
Niko stretched out his arms. “You might have hidden gifts we have yet to uncover. I’m not convinced that you can’t flash; I just think you must have had an incompetent Creator. We’ll need to test your healing abilities before we begin any sparring. I don’t want to hurt you if you can’t heal. I’m going to run up and talk to Viktor while someone else comes down to test your Vampire skills. Is there anything else you want to tell me regarding your Mage gifts?”
“No, but can you do me a favor?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t bring up my Creator again. That’s not something I want to talk about.”
Emotions swirled within me. My Creator was the man I was hiding from—a monster who’d seized an opportunity to not only ruin my life but to make me nothing more than a commodity. I didn’t want to revisit those memories; I wasn’t ready. And if people knew about him, he might be able to find me.
I caught a look on Niko’s face I couldn’t peg, and his gaze darted around my body. “As you wish. As far as I’m concerned, you meet all my expectations for a candidate, but we still need to test your Vampire skills. Remain here. Round two is coming up. If you don’t meet his expectations, Viktor might let you go, and this will be the last time we speak. Best of luck, Raven.”
Chapter 6
I reclined on the bench and gripped the metal bar. The weights were set to 150 pounds. When I pushed on the bar, it took a Herculean effort to lift it. My muscles quivered, and I bent my leg, using the bottom of my foot to help push the bar up.
A sputter of laughter came from the doorway. I let go, peering at the entranceway to my left.
Christian was standing within the recessed wall by the door, leaning against the wall on his right shoulder, his arms folded. He was dressed casually in dark pants and a black Henley shirt that fit him too well. The first few buttons were undone, and he’d pushed the sleeves of the cotton shirt up to his elbows.