Except maybe Jack. She could be wrong, but she suspected that Jack's training plans might make Levi's seem like child's play.
To be fair, in just a week, she'd made considerable progress. She practiced the "block punch, grab, and twist arm" move Levi had used on her every day, moving against an invisible attacker, her hands only grabbing air—but she got faster and faster.
By Sunday, walking up to Night Hill, she was looking forward to showing her progress, although she wouldn't admit that to Levi.
He told her he'd pick her up at six at the bottom of the hill, so she arrived at five-thirty, determined to speak to Bill again.
She knew something was wrong almost right away. Bill's cabin was dark and empty, its door wide open. Behind it and to the left, the gate heading up to Night Hill was open.
No, not open. Smashed. Destroyed.
Hearing and feeling movement behind her, she spun on her heels and breathed out in relief when Mikar appeared.
He lifted his arm, pointing east.
"On the hill. Now."
Not Night Hill. Coscnoc.
She opened her mouth. "No questions,” he said. “You run, you hear me? Don't look behind you, run—through the woods, not on the trail. Don't trust any of your friends. One of them is behind this."
The next moment, he was running up Night Hill, leaving her side for the first time in three months.
Chloe stared at his back for a heartbeat. She'd never seen him so spooked, not even in London. What was he afraid of?
Don't trust any of your friends. One of them is behind this.
Behind what exactly? Breaking Night Hill's barrier? She didn't understand a thing.
But she did know one thing: Mikar had protected her since she'd entered Oldcrest. He had been a deterrent, at least, and maybe even a shield. And now, he was gone.
So, turning to face east, she ran.
At least she was good at running. The huntsmen hadn't dubbed her Cheetah for nothing.
Night Hill and Coscnoc were perhaps a mile apart, separated by a muddy ravine. Any other day, she would have headed south, toward the Institute, and then north to Coscnoc, but the three-mile delay wasn't an option right now. She trekked through the mud, forcing herself to keep her gaze forward. Once she'd reached the base of the east hill, she glanced at her legs and grimaced.
"Sorry, pretty boots. I promise I'll clean and polish you."
If she survived whatever was happening.
Obeying Mikar's directions, Chloe remained away from the paths leading up to the summit, although running through the woods wasn't easy. When her lungs protested, she took a short break, using the opportunity to remove the mud at the sole of her boots on a tree trunk.
Then she leaned against it, closing her eyes.
What was going on?
Her eyes flew open. Someone was here. Again, surprise gave way to relief.
Levi.
"Oh my god, Levi. I don't know what's going on. Mikar…he told me to come here and then left. What's happening?"
Levi made no reply.
Something was wrong. He looked wrong.
No smirk, no smile. His eyes were hollow, void of emotion.
"Levi?"
Finally, he spoke.
"I didn't want it to be this way. Believe me."
What was he…
He advanced at the speed of light, making it clear that until now, he had truly slowed himself down so she could see him, relax around him.
Don't trust any of your friends.
They weren't friends. Not truly. And Mikar wouldn't have warned her against Levi, his own master.
Chloe took one step back.
Too late. His hand was around her neck, keeping her in place. She didn't need to remember his lesson to know that she was screwed.
Yet she struggled, trying to break free. Of course she did; the dumbest animal would have done the same in her shoes. Levi's grasp tightened.
"Listen to me, Chloe. You're going to need this." He held up a chain with a strange metal pendant hanging from it, a dark stone at its center.
No, not a stone. A tiny flask filled with liquid.
Blood. It looked strange—wrong—but she knew, she just knew it was blood. Its faint scent. Coppery, heady.
"Do you understand me, Chloe?"
She shook her head as much as she could manage with his iron fist keeping her in place. She didn't understand a thing.
From the beginning, every single one of her instincts had been confused around him. Run away, run into his arms. Kiss him, plunge a knife into his chest. He'd infuriated her just by existing.
Still, her brain couldn't process everything. He was hurting her, and talking about a damn necklace.
There was a noise to her left. He let her turn her head.
She froze.
London had been nothing—nothing—compared to this.
She saw them running up the hill toward them. Hundreds of ferals, darkening the woods with their shadows.
But their greatest strength is that they travel in packs. If you see one, there'll likely be a hundred on its heels.
The next instant, the earth, sky, and wind were engulfing her. She felt sick to her stomach and taken by a tornado. Then the motion stopped as fast as it had started, and she found herself on solid ground.
Chloe blinked. They'd moved so very fast. They were hundreds of feet up, still on Coscnoc.
"There's no escaping the hill now," he said, hand still on her throat, another one around her waist.
His grip was the only thing keeping her upright.
"We're surrounded. And lower down the hill, the masters who unleashed the ferals on us are waiting for us. If I tried to get you out of here, I'd fail. They'd fight, and the moment you're out of my reach, they would destroy you. Rip out your heart. Behead you. Nod if you heard me."
So many words, all meaning one thing.
She was going to be killed. Someone would manage to get to her. There was no hope of getting out of this.
She sniffed. "Why? Why do they—"
Her voice broke. Did it matter why?
“We don’t have time, Chloe. Not now. Remember everything I’ve said. Focus on it. Can you do that?”
It didn’t sound like he was trying to hurt her after all. She swallowed with difficulty and nodded.
“Good girl. I’ll see you on the other side.”
She wanted to ask what he meant.
But he’d snapped her neck, and she was already dead.
Control
Three months ago
* * *
“You’ve tamed a magnificent beast, Leviathan,” the goddess had said, so long ago. “And a clever one. Do as you please but heed my warning. If the creature inside you stirs, you would do well to listen to it.”
Levi had been a wild thing in his youth. Passionate about right and wrong, ready to right wrongs and fight for those who couldn't stand up for themselves.
Then, he'd grown up. Realized that fangs, claws, and the monsters of the deep sea couldn't solve a thing. And he'd used his skills another way. His mind was superior to most immortals, and he bent it toward finding cures to the most devastating illnesses, inventing devices that saved lives. He was a scientist, and proud of it.
Fifteen hundred years had passed since Ariadne had said those words to him, and not once had he needed to listen to her advice.
Until that night.
The beast was rushing to the surface, desperate to be freed.
Levi let it run. All night and most of the morning, as fast as he could, without rest. Run, run, run. He didn’t understand it; he just knew he had to get there.
His steps took him to a familiar gray city awakening in the rain.
London.
His clothes were torn and his shoes had holes. Levi headed to the home he kept in Kensington to change as fast as possible, and he followed the call pulling him forward, like a passenger along for the drive.
That’s when he saw her for the first time, and he knew right then.
She would have died if he hadn’t made it.
He knew her name. He’d seen a picture of her before, attached to a file. A prospective student at the Institute.
Chloe.
When she’d just been a name and a picture, he hadn’t understood. Now that she was in front of him, now that he smelled and felt her, he got it.
She was one of them. A fledgling well in transition.
And something more.
Someone had gone to great lengths to get to her without dirtying their hands. Why? It made no sense. Born vampires were rare but relatively inconsequential. Their kind saw them as something precious, because only one or so was born per century, but they had little power until they gained experience and skills after turning.
Why was a noble trying to destroy her?
It didn’t matter. Levi just knew that she was his.
His responsibility.
His…
Shit.
Part of him wanted to walk up to her and slit her throat now. Get it over with. To complete the transition, they had to let their mortal selves perish. A traumatic experience for anyone, even those who’d been prepared their entire life. But one look in her big blue eyes and he knew she was ignorant, innocent, in need of care and time.
He’d give her both. As long as he could.
Now, she was in his arms, lifeless, pale, and cold. Levi wished he’d explained things, told her on that very first day that it was always going to come to this. She would have to die.
She’d been too cheerful and insouciant, and he, cowardly. She wouldn’t forgive him for making this so brutal.
Chloe stirred, exhaling deeply, swallowing as much air as her lungs could carry.
Her hands were trembling, her eyes filled with tears. But she moved fast. Faster than him.
He wasn't surprised when she managed to flip him over and squeeze his throat.
From the start, the creature inside her had revolted against him, against his authority, because she was more dominant than him. Stronger than him.
It hadn't quite made sense. He’d had theories, but the truth only became certain when he'd received an unexpected visit.
Two months ago
* * *
A slayer was at his door, escorting a creature who shouldn't have existed.
Dark hair. Eyes so blue they lit up the room more than his lamp.