Page 4 of Lucas
She was a tough nut, but I was far from intimidated.
“I’m not an expert by a long shot, but I’ve got some pretty impressive defensive skills I didn’t have a month ago. And it appears my training in that area is going to be continuing. What I don’t have is education on vamp society, the history of the House, the squabbles with House Venizi, and what all this war stuff is about. I can’t even imagine what form it would take. And all this business with the shifters and their place in vampire history. This is stuff you know in your sleep.”
Her brows relaxed, but she still appeared dubious. “Go on.”
She was hooked. She might not know it yet, but I was pretty good at baiting a line. All those years living on the edge of the Hollows taught a woman something.
“I was thinking of a trade of sorts. You spend an hour with me in the training room every day. It gives me extra practice. And you get me up to speed on the subjects you know the best.” I held up my hand when her eyes began to twinkle. “This has to be like a speed-reading education. I’m not saying it doesn’t have to be deep, but it has to be spot on for what the House will be facing over the next who knows how long.”
“What about your training with Cressa and the cadre?”
“That will continue. I don’t have a choice in that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do my own training. We might have to rearrange our schedule to accommodate the cadre, but I think we can make it work. What do you say?”
Anna leaned back and sipped her tea as she studied me. Judging my ability? Sizing me up? Wondering if there was some hidden agenda? She set her teacup down. “We start this afternoon.”
Wow. I should have known once she committed, she’d be all in.
“I have a late lunch planned with Lucas. How about meeting at three for the education session, then we’ll finish up in the gym? I can check with Cressa for a more specific schedule.”
She brightened. “Agreed. I’ll find us a suitable classroom.”
I cringed at the term, but this had been my idea. Suddenly, I was excited. I stuck my arm out for a fist bump, and Anna just stared at it.
“Okay, this isn’t a defensive move, but it will be important when we end a session. Fist bumps are critical.”
Her brows wrinkled again with a dubious look.
“You have to trust me on this. Once your endorphins kick in from the exercise, it’s a way to release them. Here, just try it.” I repeated the gesture, and she stretched across the table to bump her fist against mine. It was weak, but it was a start.
“Don’t worry. You won’t be able to help yourself after the first session.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” She stood and brushed off her linen pants. Before she reached the door, she turned back. “Oh, and one more thing. In exchange for the fist bump, you’ll have fifteen minutes of etiquette training with each session.” Then she all but raced from the room.
She was a sly one. But I couldn’t help grinning as I poured another cup of coffee.
Chapter Three
Lucas staredat the display screens on the wall of the conference room. They’d been through the security updates, shift changes, and convoy procedures several times over. He should stay focused on it, but the minor tweaks Sergi and Simone continued to review weren’t of interest. They could spend hours on the finer details, as was their job, and while he retained the pertinent information, he let his mind wander.
Only two things held his attention that morning—Ginger and the book. He smiled. He supposed the book should be his priority, but as important as theDe første dagewas to their success over Lorenzo, and he believed that with his entire being, Ginger had somehow become an integral part of his life.
At first, it had been an instant attraction to the fiery human, who daringly lived life by her own rules and had an insatiable curiosity. From the first day he’d seen her, huddled in her closet, holding a stuffed teddy bear as tears streamed down her face, leaving black smears from her mascara, he’d thought her brave. The apartment that she and Cressa shared had been ransacked, and she’d been interrogated by men who turned out to be thugs working for Underwood, Cressa’s estranged stepfather. WhenCressa pulled her out of the closet, he expected Ginger to have a cup of tea and curl up in bed for a day or two.
She did have a cup of tea. Then she wanted to go out and hit the bars. And once her gaze caught his, her demeanor changed, getting that look he’d come to recognize as curiosity. More than that. She wanted to push boundaries, and discovering he was vampire hadn’t fazed her.
In those early days, she might have run from danger, but not before ensuring Cressa or anyone around her got to safety as well. It was one of her stubborn streaks. Once she began defensive training, she blossomed into a fighter. He should have expected it, considering where she and Cressa had lived. The Hollows was one of the poorest and roughest sections of Santiga Bay. Druglords and other hoodlums ran their neighborhood, and for as rough and tough as those men were, they all had a soft spot for Ginger and Cressa. As it turned out, so did most of Devon’s Family.
Lucas worried about Ginger with the coming war. They hadn’t discussed what it meant to the House or vampire society at large. He wasn’t sure himself. Most of it depended on how many allies Devon could bring to his side. The shifters were a huge boon to their efforts. A relationship that had begun with Devon’s father, Guildford, and was cemented with Devon’s friendship with The Wolf, the current alpha of all wolves. But Devon required alliances from strong Houses. Seen from a battlefield perspective, House Trelane had to build an army so large, Lorenzo’s best option was surrender. And that would be a challenging task.
The strategizing required to accomplish something that massive piqued Lucas’s interest. More than that, he wanted to understand what motivated a person to make one choice over another. He chuckled to himself. It would take many decades inDevon’s cadre to learn from a master. And perhaps one day it would make his own decisions easier to make.
His thoughts shifted to the picnic lunch he’d promised Ginger. He’d asked Lucia to pack several of Ginger’s favorite items along with Lucia’s famous raspberry iced tea. He’d gotten up early to prepare their spot by the lake, complete with blankets, a fresh bouquet of jasmine—her favorite, and a cup of duck food. She loved to feed the wildlife.
“Lucas.”
He snapped his head around to find Simone frowning at him. “Sorry. My mind drifted.”
Devon smiled as he slid a pen into his pocket and closed his laptop. “I think we’ve focused on security enough for one morning since it isn’t just Bella drifting off.”
