The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 2: Chapter 23

I watched her leave, the spot on my face still sensitive from the touch of her lips against my skin.

Shit, what had I gotten myself into? She had never hidden her interest in me, and even if I couldn't quite understand it, I also couldn't escape the fact that I had come to like the way she regarded me on some level. She was undeniably attractive; I had noticed that from the first, even when she seemed to be nothing but a cold-hearted monster.

Damn it, really, what was I supposed to do?

I forced myself to stop gaping after her. She was already gone, through the tunnel, presumably back to her lair following her humans who had gone on before her during the brightest part of the day. I couldn't let myself get distracted. I had things to do again, too. I started walking back to the main residence, forcing my mind onto what I had seen while she rested during the light of day.

This human rebellion was a tentative thing. It hung as if woven of spiders' thread and one small disturbance could rip the whole thing down.

The people here tried to be optimistic, but it was obvious they knew the risks of what they were doing. Strangely enough, their unease gave me hope, because anticipating future threats made them more likely to overcome them.

I desperately wanted to be a part of overcoming them. The listlessness of my days in the wilderness after finally killing the demon bloodsucker had lifted, and I wanted to move forward with the same determination as I had wanted to kill him. The idea of breaking this cruel world and building a new one where humans could be free called to me.

And the leech, Vienne, was a necessary complication to that.

It was increasingly hard not to actually like her on some level when she stopped playing around with me and acted serious. She could not be more full of herself, but then she would say something like how she wasn't actually necessary and I couldn't help but feel...

I didn't freaking know. She was clearly trouble, and instead of staying away from her like I should have, I kept walking straight towards it—and her—as if I craved a life of difficulty.

Shit. There was nothing I could do, so I would put her out of my mind and focus on finding a place here. It was strange, somehow, to find myself working towards a goal, not alone as in the past, but with many other people who shared my desire to meet the enemy head on.

Strange, but good. I just got my first taste of it, and I liked it.

Things were moving, and I wanted to help them move. Even if it was after my lifetime, as she had cautioned, the idea that I could help prepare the next generation to win the fight was enough to satisfy me. I understood the strategy of waiting until the time was right to make a move, because that was how I had survived my hunt for Jack. Wait, watch, and then strike with lightning speed when I was ready and while they were still unaware.

I pushed open the door to the building in which I would live. The longest I had stayed in any place had been when Vienne had held me captive, but in little less than a year this place would take that title.

Wasting no time, I made my way up the flights of stairs and to the room I had been assigned. It was not that late, but I was going to start training in the morning and I wanted to be well rested. I had seen people working at it today, and this wasn't training with the pretence of self-defense for her guards, this was serious bare knuckled, take down a leech as fast as possible training.

I was looking forward to it, I thought, as I moved around the room getting ready to sleep.

According to Connor, after a few weeks, depending on where they assessed me regarding my skills, he wanted me to take on some training duties. My unique experiences had him wanting to spread around what I knew to other humans, and I was happy to do so. He had been curious about who had trained me, but I kept my mouth firmly shut about Hadron. The cranky old man valued his privacy, and I would not break that trust.