Page 46 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

"When Cal says it's safe, then yes, please."

"Do you think this is the longest we've ever gone alone together without fighting or fucking?"

I snorted. "There's still time."

ChapterTwenty-Two

"I knowthis will be hard for a vampire," Cal said with a sneer, "but in order to control your magick, you must control your emotions. For a new undead, this will be harder than it would for someone with experience."

"So you're telling me it's pointless?" We stood in the turret I'd found on my second day at Ashvale—it was large enough that we could move around if we needed to, and it was out of the way enough that we likely wouldn't bump into anyone else. I was getting better at focusing my senses even while I was distracted, so it was possible I'd actually hear someone coming up the stairs towards us if it happened.

"I'm telling you it's going to be hard and I'm telling you in advance because I don't want to listen to you whine."

I sniffed. "I don't whine."

Cal raised an eyebrow but didn't reply, instead he lifted his arms out to his side and clapped them together, conjuring a ball of blue fire that made me eye him appreciatively. Maybe he was useful after all. He whipped his hand like he held a lasso and I swore as the fire whipped out towards me. I darted to one side just in time and the mage smirked.

"Arsehole."

"Now, now, don't be jealous," he taunted and I scowled harder.

"What even is my power anyway?"

Cal let the fire dissipate and approached me. "Each time you've wielded it, you've conjured a storm. So it seems like it's based in the elements, aside from your resistance to compulsion."

“Are there any sire lines that specialise in that?”

He stilled, his eyes staying on mine when he answered. “Not as far as I can remember.”

"Okay," I said slowly, weirded out by his hyper-focused response. "So what am I doing first? Rain? Lightning?"

"You," Cal said with a large amount of satisfaction that immediately had me on edge, "are going to stay calm."

That was all the warning he gave me before I was pelted with torrential rain. I couldn't hear anything over the banging of raindrops on the floorboards and my hair was quickly plastered to my head.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I roared and through the water streaming in my eyes I could see Cal laughing.

The rain turned to ice, small shards that sliced wounds in my skin that healed over just as fast, leaving smudges of dried blood on my exposed arms. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the sting. Stay calm.Bastard.He just wanted to score some free hits.

The ice eased and then stopped, leaving me glaring through my dripping hair at the mage, whose smile dimmed, an almost haunted expression taking root on his face.

"Good," he said gruffly and my anger faded, replaced by curiosity. "Again."

"Wait—" My frustrated shout was lost in the wind storm Cal conjured next. It whipped around me, lifting me off of my feet and I fought against it, not at all convinced that the mage wouldn't throw me off of the tower if he had the chance.

"Enough!" Power burst from me in an uncontrolled wave of chaos and I paused, stupefied as it flew at Cal. He dug his feet in and crouched slightly, raising his hands and wrapping my power in a bubble of his own design, forcing it smaller until it winked out of existence with a clap like thunder.

Cal panted and I stayed perfectly still. "It's enough when I say it is. You might be powerful, little vamp, but you've got nothing on me."

I looked him up and down, warily. It was true that he'd handled that wave just fine, but he looked to be in his late thirties. Hardly an ancient wizard.

He smirked like he could see what I was thinking. "I'm older than I look. " At my doubt he turned away and walked so that there was more space between us. "Give it your best shot."

I didn't really know how to trigger my magick, so instead, I went for the throat. I choked, held in place by an invisible hand about a metre away from Cal.

"I'm one-hundred-and-twenty-seven. I can do things with magick you couldn't even dream about. If you pay attention, maybe you'll learn how to master some of them too."

I backed away as soon as the magickal grip let up. "Fine."

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