Fearless Fiery Beauty

Chapter 14: More Than Just Bruised Pride

“Really?”  Edana asked excitedly.

“Well if you’re going to be in the middle of a war, you’re going to have to know at least some sort of physical contact, and from what I saw at Bonfire, you’ve already got the basic skills.  We just need to refine them,” Lucian explained.

It had been two days since Edana had taken her new vampyre friends to Bonfire.  After the pathetic attempts at introductions, they had all headed upstairs for drinks and dancing.  Greg, Trace, Dan and Jerry had been very impressed with the vampyres ability to hold their liquor.  They of course, didn’t know that they were vampyres, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have known that the antibodies in vampyres’ blood are a lot more adept at counteracting the alcohol in their bloodstreams before it reaches their brains, meaning they had to drink about four times the amount it takes to get a human intoxicated just to feel a slight buzz.  So, the vampyres had spent the whole night drinking like fishes.  Dan and Trace, as usual, had gotten completely slaughtered.  Jerry had stayed partially sober to keep Edana company, as per usual, while Lucian spent the whole night complaining about Edana’s ‘prude nature’.

The next day, Lucian had spent the whole day talking his father into letting Edana train in combat.  It had taken much persuasion but he had finally agreed, and now he was letting Edana in on the news.

After much excited behaviour, jumping around and – much to Lucian’s surprise – hugs, she was sent off to meet Mr Crio, the weapons and combat master.

Lucian watched her leave with a bemused expression on his face.  He drank her blood again the previous night and, this time, was able to tell the differences between the taste of the adrenaline and cortisol, or in Edana’s case, the lack of cortisol.  He still struggled to believe that she never experienced fear.  She was beginning to get really irritated with his attempts to shock, scare or surprise her: he had gotten into the habit of appearing out of nowhere, throwing things at her suddenly or attacking her ferociously and unexpectedly or getting someone else to do it.  So far, nothing at worked.  The only emotion it seemed to inspire in her was irritation.

Lucian sighed and walked downstairs to his father’s new study.  He knew his father had lied to Edana about how they had come across the house; he knew Edana was suspicious of the lie; but he also knew that Edana was blocking out her uncertainties.

When Darren had gone to his father the second time to show him the truth about Edana, his father had immediately begun calling people to his aid.  He found the closest clump of woods near her house and had a few vampyres in government speed up the process of having it qualified as a private nature reserve and having the deed put in Prince Gabriel’s name.  Then he rounded up a group of vampyres in architecture and construction and gave them not only permission, but explicit instructions to use their vampyric strength and speed to build a house according to his specifications.  He gave them 36 hours and thanks to their extraordinary abilities, they made their deadline.  Then, lastly, he organized a team of interior decorators to paint and furnish the house that would be their home after Edana agreed to his deal.  Two hours after he made the last call, she did and so the house was completed a mere 20 minutes before they arrived.

Prince Gabriel felt that these details would halt the progress they had made with Edana.  That she would stop trusting them if she found out they had made living arrangements before she had even agreed, so they had lied to Edana, told her they found it, as is, except for a few personal details, and organized for Prince Gabriel to buy it after she had agreed.

Lucian thought his father should be very grateful that Edana was choosing to ignore her suspicions.  He was sure she would be even more furious if she found out, not only what they had done but that they had lied to her about it as well.  Like her name suggested, Edana was full of fire, and his father should stop playing with it.