Page 68 of The Firebrand
Sabine gave Braelyn a look. “Try these.”
She bobbed them up and down in her hands for a bit. “Better, thanks.”
Sabine exchanged strange glances with her friends. “Do you always work out with twenty-pounders?”
Braelyn laughed. “God, no. Is that what these are?” She stopped to examine each dumbbell. “Damn.” Something was odd.
Of course, the last few days blew the top off odd.
“Keep going. Let’s see how many reps you can do,” said Galena.
“Four. Five. Six.” Braelyn flexed one arm followed by the other.
The three Firebrands counted along with her.
“Forty,” said Sabine. “Stop.”
“I can do a few more.”
“No. Just return the dumbbells to the rack. We’ll take up defensive maneuvers. Galena, you go first. Show her how to leverage her weight.”
Braelyn rolled her shoulders, her thoughts on Rein. She had no intention of adding another notch to his ego’s bedpost. But wasn’t she also looking for a casual, brief fling? After all, nothing said short term like a brain tumor.
Yes.
Galena was already on the mat, talking. “When you’re smaller and weaker than your opponent, technique is your trump card.”
****
Reincame foot-first through the door, sinking into a crouched fighting position. Chay sprinted in behind him, blade drawn. Both Firebrands tensed. They were not alone at Stefan’s.
The good news? The incubus and succubus court advisor was home. The bad news? He was compromised. Two vampires kneeled on a thick, blue-patterned rug beside him, one sucking on his neck and the other on his femoral artery. The diners whipped their heads around, blood dripping from their fangs. They prepped to shadowflash.
Before they could dematerialize, Rein latched onto the older guy. Since vampires couldn’t flash with a passenger, just touching them was enough to halt the action.
Chay lunged for the younger assailant, catching him before he boogied out.
Rein executed a chokehold. But one sec his arm was around the guy’s throat, and the next he was sailing overhead to splat on the ground.
Oomph.
Rein popped to his feet, squaring off against his challenger.
Damn.
He was boot-to-boot with Silas, a disgraced Aeternal, ancient and powerful. Since his fall to the frenzy, the male’s gifts had increased, fed by the excessive blood he took as he drained his victims.
Rein’s fangs elongated. As a mix, he could use only one breed power at a time. He opted formano-a-manovamp-style. At Silas’s age, he might be fast enough to dodge a warlock spell.
The disgraced bloodsucker dropped into a crouch, mimicking the Firebrand’s action. They circled each other.
A tendril of energy grabbed for Rein’s brain like an octopus’s arm. Using his own mind control, he locked onto it, squeezing it tight until it retreated in pain.
Nice.I always win with that one.Silas communicated with Rein through telepathy. He was that old.
Rein grinned, no slouch in the vamp department himself.
Sorry to disappoint.Rein sniffed the air, recognizing the disgraced Aeternal’s scent.You’re one of the assholes who killed Melia.
