Pet name? What-bloody-ever. “I happen to disagree with you. Now if you don’t mind, I have a squad to train, and you’re delaying the session.”
“I would appreciate it if you would move the session to the tactical field.”
And I would have appreciated it if he’d sod off home, but we didn’t always get what we wanted. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that will not be happening.”
He lifted his chin. “Then I will be forced to note your failure to cooperate with my request. I will also note that you persist in wearing vests, revealing more skin than necessary.”
“Yes, I’m sure the squad are drooling at the sight of my arms and shoulders. Maybe you should be a little more concerned with how very little your colleague is wearing, Mr Collins.”
Turning away from him in a sure sign of dismissal, I switched my attention to the squad. Max and Stuart turned amusingly giddy, clearly having missed working with everyone.
Having been fully debriefed on our ‘plan’, Max and Stuart were sure to fake weaknesses that they didn’t have during the session, and they didn’t question the longer breaks that they were now getting. They also took advantage of their recent encounter with death by faking tiredness and claiming to need a rest here and there. Although I knew it was for the best, it was still pissing me off because not only did it interfere with their training, but it meant that I couldn’t push them harder. And I needed to push them harder. Paige’s presence could cause a battle of some kind, and I needed the squad fully prepared. Of course they were more than capable of protecting themselves and each other during battle without additional training, but I wanted to be sure that they were at their best.
Expectedly, Collins spent the entire time asking questions and criticising my every move to the point of nit-picking. In addition, he complained for the millionth time that I swore too much (so?) and made a sound of disapproval each time that I did. He also complained that bringing Dexter from his tattoo form was distracting the squad – that was the whole point: to teach them to perform while distracted, because that was what they would need to do in a battle. Furthermore, he complained that when I divided the squad for sparring, I pitted them against members who they were quite vulnerable to gift-wise – well, duh, how else were they going to learn to rely on more than just their gifts to survive in a battle? The bloke was utterly clueless.
Eloise also gave her penny’s worth: I was condescending, I was too impatient, and I lacked room for error – all of which was simply to piss me off. But I didn’t rise to her bait because I knew it greatly annoyed her. Maybe that was why at the end of the session, when the squad had left and I’d just returned Dexter to his tattoo form while Collins babbled at me about something or other, she reached out to touch Jared. In a split second, a dark combination of rage, jealousy, possessiveness, and a need to hurt whipped through me so fast and hard that I almost swayed. I wanted nothing more than to grab the bitch and throw her across the arena. But I didn’t.
However, something else happened.
Just as her fingers went to touch Jared, a cold draft sliced through the air, raising the hairs on my arms. We all stiffened as the icy breeze built and built until, suddenly, a silvery-blue wind of pure energy formed around Eloise. What happened next was even more shocking. Like it was a vacuum, the whirlwind literally spat her across the wide space, causing her to collide into the far wall. What the fuck? The silvery-blue energy wind then instantly disintegrated like mist.
Jared’s head whipped around to face me. How did you do that?
I blinked. I didn’t. Or, at least, I hadn’t meant to do it. That counted, right? I kept my face carefully blank, not letting Collins or Eloise see my confusion.
Coughing and dusting herself off, Eloise rose to her feet. “You bitch!” She marched toward me, and I half-expected the wind of energy to appear again. It didn’t. Not even as she closed in on me. So I did the smart thing. Rather than attack her, and thus give her what she wanted, I called, “Novo.” Like that, a jet black Dexter was draped over my shoulders again. He hissed at Eloise, his scales turning red, and she stopped dead in her tracks. She was perfectly aware that he would attack her without hesitation if she attempted to harm me in any way.
Eyes wide, she pointed at me, shaking. “You just”
“What had you expected would happen?” Jared’s voice was calm, bored even. “Sam and I are Bound. You tried to touch me – and we all know that it was a flirtatious move on your part. Bound couples have gone to war over each other. You’re lucky that all Sam did was send you on a little trip across the arena.”
Eloise swerved to face a gaping Collins. “Do something! She attacked me!”
Outraged, Collins went to speak, but Jared beat him to it.
“No, she didn’t. She defended our bond.” Folding his arms across his chest, Jared glanced at Collins. “You know how it works. Your colleague’s behaviour is considered a threat to the bond. She wanted a reaction. She got one.”
Collins clenched his fists. “It was a most violent reaction that could have left Eloise seriously hurt! My report”
“Note it all down if you must,” I told Collins, somehow still masking my shock at what had just occurred. “But you’ll need to also note her provocative behaviour.”
Eloise curled her upper lip. “All I did was try to touch him!” Dexter hissed at her again, making her flinch.
“Ah, but it wouldn’t have been an innocent touch,” I pointed out. “Flirting with a Bound male is as good as signing your death warrant.”
“That is no excuse for your actions, Commander Parker!” maintained Collins. “And I believe it is quite clear that you do not deserve that title!” His raised voice earned him a hiss from Dexter.
“The session is over,” rumbled Jared, scowling, “so there are no more notes for you to take. I suggest you both go.”
“The session may be over,” allowed Collins as he marched toward the door, “but this is not.” He strode out of the building with an outraged, complaining Eloise in tow.
Once they were gone, Jared turned to me. “How did that happen?”
“I honestly have no idea.”
He inhaled deeply. “Then I think we need to have a chat with Antonio.”
So we did. Well, Jared did. I just sat next to him on the sofa in the parlour room opposite Antonio and Luther, who hadn’t said a word. I was still in shock, and I was also shitting myself. My gift had gone haywire once before, and I didn’t like the idea that it could be happening again.
Sensing my unease, Jared shackled my wrist with his hand and massaged my pulse point comfortingly with his thumb. I hadn’t returned Dexter to his tattoo form, wanting to calm his overprotective state first. Plus, he strangely had a way of relaxing me. Curled up beside me, he was currently a brilliant blue, indicating that he had calmed and was pretty content. Well, at least one of us was.
Antonio looked at me. “I cannot say I’m surprised this has happened.”
I blinked rapidly. “Say again?”
“You are an expressive person, Sam. But you have spent the past few weeks bottling up your emotions, despite how hard Collins and Eloise have tested your patience. Anybody who strangles their emotions will eventually get to a stage where they ‘explode’. A vampire’s gift is tied to their emotions. As such, it was truly only a matter of time before your gift…had an outburst, shall we say.”