Page 71 of After Darkness Falls

"In a way, yes, but there's no known cure. The ferals cannot stop themselves from gorging on blood. They bite and drain anything—vampire, human, shifter, demon, god, you name it. In most cases, they just kill their victims. But when they bite vampires, it's worse. They infect us."

Chloe grimaced. "So you could go all fangy?"

He snorted. "They'd have to get to me first." The lightheartedness disappeared fast. "They're too mindless to pose much of a threat to someone like me. And too slow. But their greatest strength is that they travel in packs. If you see one, there'll likely be a hundred on its heels. Against a vampire, you stand your ground and buy yourself time. Against a feral, don't hesitate. Run. Climb out of the way if you can. Hide. Use whatever artifice might fool a simple dog relying on its instincts."

She took in everything he shared, letting herself understand the implications. In the end, she only said one thing.

"Vampires are a lot faster than me."

He shrugged. “Your adrenaline will kick in. And muscle memory will help. More than you know. It's a wondrous thing. One day, you’ll wake up and know all these moves. You’ll know how to block, fight, lunge faster. You’ll be able to anticipate your adversary's next move with just one hint."

Chloe wrinkled her nose. "I can't imagine getting to that point."

Especially against him. Levi grinned, extending his hand to help her up.

"Again."

32

A Blood Stone

Her schedule got considerably more challenging; in addition to her usual classes, she took an hour of endurance with Professor Beaufort each morning, and learned to climb with Jack, who was a slave driver. Despite the wind, he insisted on practicing out of doors. The Institute training room had aperfectly good climbing wall, but it apparently wasn't good enough for Sir Sadist of Sade, who preferred to make her scrape her hands on the steep, calcareous walls of a hillside in the Wolvswoods.

On Thursday, she was told to head to the main gym.

The woman waiting for her was dark, sensual, beautiful, and mysterious. Her brown hair had red streaks in the sunlight, and while most of her features pointed to an Indian heritage, she had a dusting of freckles on her nose and green eyes that sparked with gold near the center.

Chloe didn't think she'd ever seen a more beautiful woman in her life.

"I'm Greer."

An unusual name Chloe had only heard once here. "As in Greer Vespian?"

"That's it."

She whistled, impressed.

She didn't know what she'd expected, exactly—someone a little more like Blair and Gwen, feminine, bubbly—but at a glance, Chloe would have pegged Greer as a huntsman. She had the look of a well-trained fighter and the analytical eyes of someone who knew how to put an adversary on their ass thirteen different ways.

"I've had some of your potions. You rock."

It was hard to tell under her ochre skin, but Chloe would have sworn the witch blushed.

"Thanks. I try. All right, so, I heard you've just taken up training."

Chloe winced. "Last weekend."

From her grimace, Greer seemed to understand her plight.

"Well, take it from someone who's been through this—sparring, running, obstacles; they'll make you strong. But without the basics, your body is just a list of limbs you don't really understand."

Chloe was ready for more torture. She was determined to never again feel as hopeless as she had in London, and if this was what it took, then she would go the distance.

"Right. What are we doing?"

Half an hour later, Chloe moaned in relief. Greer had made her lie on her back on a yoga mat and move her knees down to the floor on her right side while her head was turned the other way. Every single bone and muscle in her body thanked her for it. She was shown a few different twists and stretches to reconnect with her tense limbs, and when they were done training, Greer also handed her a bottle of gold liquid.

"That's to soothe your muscles. External use; just rub it after your bath every night like a moisturizer."

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