2. Amber

Despite my exhaustion,my dreams are a terrifying whirlwind of fear and confusion.

In them, the Shadow Lord looms over me, reaching for me. His eyes are dark, captivating vortexes that threaten to pull me in and drown me in their unyielding depths.

I should run away, but my feet are glued to the floor.

“What do you want?” I ask him.

He doesn’t reply. He just gives me that frustratingly arrogant smirk of his and vanishes into the air.

He’s replaced by Viktor, who smiles at me, raises his arms, and pushes me off the end of a cliff.

Ice-cold fear sears through me.

The light of the oncoming train blinds me. And before I can jump out of the way, it crashes into me, the bone-shattering pain waking me up with a long, shrill scream.

My heart races, my skin covered in sweat.

I take a few seconds to orient myself and catch my breath.

It was a dream. I’m here, in my room at the Fairmont. Safe. The Shadow Lord can’t touch me. Viktor failed at killing me.

But the fear, the pain… it was so real.

My mind flashes to the potion. Is it poisoning me, like Damien said? Eating at my soul? Corrupting my dreams?

What have I done?

On instinct, I reach inside myself to feel the comforting warmth of my sun magic.

Much to my relief, it’s there. Not as strong as it was before the events of last night, but that’s normal. Totally normal. It just needs time to fully recharge. Then it’ll be back, and I’ll train and strengthen it so I’m as ready to fight the shadow souls as physically possible.

Orienting myself, I glance out my window that overlooks Central Park.

The sun’s already high in the sky.

Somehow, despite the nightmares, I slept in. And even though my body feels like a lead weight, I drag myself out of bed, shower, and change into fresh training gear. I ordered food before getting into the shower, so I scarf it down, then head to the gym and make my way inside.

The vampires stop their activities to stare. About half of them are giving me various expressions of respect. The other half… not so much.

Luckily, there are a few friendly faces. Mainly Abigail, and her husband, Xavier. Of course, I don’t find Morgan amongst them. She’s off to who knows where, for who knows how long, trying to figure out how to fix me after what I impulsively did to myself.

Damien’s at the far end of the gym, deep in conversation with a small group. But the moment I step inside, he turns around, as if he physically felt me enter.

His eyes are cold glass, and he gives me a tiny nod of acknowledgment. “Amber. You made it,” he says simply. “I’ve gotten everyone up to speed on the events of last night.”

Well, that explains the looks they’re all giving me.

They already thought I was a circus freak when I got here, since I’m star touched and not a vampire.

Now, with the potion inside me?

I’m a caged animal, capable of destroying them all if they risk letting me loose.

“Given Viktor’s… departure, you obviously need a new trainer,” Damien continues. “I’ve assigned Cassandra to the task.”

Cassandra.

My stomach flips at her name.

The female vampire who was part of the group that came after me in the elevator when I was new to the Fairmont and tried to escape. The vampire who I then went on to attack with a tiny bit of sun magic on my first day of training.

Cassandra steps forward, determination flashing in her beady eyes, her black training gear hugging her lithe frame. She doesn’t smile, but there’s an eagerness in her posture that speaks volumes about what she intends to put me through.

Her gaze locks onto mine, challenging and predatory.

I swivel my focus back to Damien.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say to him.

“I assure you that I’m far from kidding you,” he says, and heat rushes through me at the fact that he sounds amused.

Cassandra steps forward, watching me with anticipation.

“I hope you’re ready, Amber,” she says, and then she lunges at me, her movements a blur of speed and precision.

It’s basically a repeat of what Viktor tried when he was first assigned to be my trainer.

Good thing I’m a fast learner.

I dodge her strike, rolling to the side and feeling the rush of air as her fist passes where my head was just moments ago.

The other vampires quickly form a circle around us. Some of them hoot, others murmur amongst themselves, and others are quiet.

But I don’t have time to give them any attention.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Cassandra taunts, spinning around for another attack.

“Not even close,” I growl, and I reach for my magic, calling the warmth of the sun through my veins and shooting it out of my palms before she can blink.

She recoils, hissing, blinded by the sudden brightness.

But as the light dims, her smirk returns, and she circles me, a predator sizing up its prey. “Nice trick, but you’ll have to do better than that,” she says.

“Challenge accepted.”

I reach for my magic again, but there’s a film on top of it, slowing me down for a split second too long.

Cassandra launches herself at me again with an unnatural speed that slices through the air.

I dodge again, but this time she anticipates my movement, her air magic propelling her forward. She grabs my arm, pulling me to her, and then she’s behind me, her grip iron tight as she forces my arms back into a hold that’s both immobilizing and painfully tight.

Wind swirls around us. It pulls at my lungs, making it hard to breathe. My eyes water so much that I can barely see the other vampires watching us spar.

Cassandra might be even better at using her air magic than Viktor.

Determined to not let her win, I try to break free, but it’s like fighting against a gale.

“Struggling, are we?” Her voice is a whisper in my ear, cold and mocking.

“No.” I pull at my magic again, using it not to attack, but to heat up my body where her hands are wrapped around my skin.

Burn, I think, and I release my magic to scorch her where she’s touching me. It rises, meeting her skin, heating it in seconds.

The wind around us intensifies the distinct smell of burning flesh.

I prepare for her to let me go and to take advantage of the few seconds I’ll have to turn this fight around and attack.

She doesn’t.

Instead, she tightens her grip, grunting as she creates a sudden, cold gust of wind that sends me crashing to the ground.

The impact knocks all the air out at me at once. For a moment, all I can do is lie there, staring at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath.

Cassandra stands over me, not bothering to reach down to help me up.

“The events of last night seem to have worn you out,” she says. “But I’ve seen you fight. I know your style. And I can assure you that in the next few weeks, we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”