Awakening by Ella Price

to warm up a little
bit before I fought Luca. I left my room, and walked toward the training hall.
I encountered a few familiar faces. As expected, they looked at me like I was
something terrifying. I didn’t recall getting as many curious and fearful looks
when I was a vampire.
    To
my surprise, and relief, Luca was already in the training room. He was bouncing
around one of the bags punching it. He smiled when he saw me. I doubted he
expected me to show my face so soon.
    “I
didn’t think you would come out tonight,” he said as he approached me.
    I
shrugged. “I need to do something. I can stay in bed forever.”
    “I
agree. Your time is better spent training, and helping me with the hunters,” he
said smiling.
    I
nodded. “It has been a while for me. I want to get back to my old self. Being a
vampire made things too easy,” I said dryly.
    He
laughed. “I could see that.” He raised his hands ready to fight. “Let’s see
what you got,” he said playfully.
    I
smiled and got in position to take him on. His good mood was infectious. I
liked feeling like I used to around him. It felt like old times.

 
    After
several rounds we were both panting. Luca had improved from the last time I
fought him. I was still slightly quicker than him, but there wasn’t as much of
a gap as there had been before. I was pretty evenly matched with him, and that
annoyed me a little. I was beginning to see how much I had let go of my
training. I had every intention of training until I was back to my old self. I
refused to be weak. I wanted to be one of the strongest again. I didn’t need
vampire strength to be that way either. As a hunter I was a match for most
vampires. Training would be a distraction like it had been before.
    Luca
sat down to take a break, while I went to the bags. “You know you can take a
break,” he suggested.
    I
smiled and shook my head. “I don’t need one. I didn’t need one then, I don’t
need one now,” I said firmly.
    “You
know it is ok to be a little rusty. I think everyone will understand that the
great Lillian Rayne has been through a lot,” he said amused.
    I
rolled my eyes. “I never said I was great. I just wasn’t the worst, and I
refuse to be the worst.”
    “You
are still not Tanner level, so you are ok,” he said playfully. His comment made
me smile. I would agree with him. Out of all the hunters, Tanner was the worst
fighter. He didn’t want to hurt a bug.
    “What
ever happened to Julian and Damon?” I asked changing the subject.
    “They
high tailed it out of here when power shifted. They didn’t want to stick around
and face Cornelius’s wrath,” he said as he got back to his feet.
    I
laughed harshly. “I wouldn’t either. Cornelius can be a real ass,” I muttered.
    Luca
stopped not far from me, and watched me. “He will come around. He is just in shock.
I think everyone went through it after you magically came back to life.”
    “How’s
Kate?” I asked changing the subject to his life.
    He
shrugged. “She’s Kate. Why do you ask?”
    “I
ask because I thought you were seeing her.” I was curious now. He seemed like
he was being nonchalant about the whole thing. I kind of wondered if they broke
up, or had a falling out.
    “I
am seeing her. Kai is a pretty good fighter. You should train with him
sometime,” he suggested changing the subject.
    Obviously
Kate wasn’t a subject he wanted to discuss. “I will do that. Does he seem like
a reliable guy?”
    Luca
nodded. “He has always had my back. I think he is a valuable asset to the
hunters, plus he has a decent relationship with most of the younger vampires.”
    “So,
what purpose do the hunters serve if there are no vampires to hunt?” I asked
wondering why I even trained. Last I remembered there was a no-kill truce
between the vampires and hunters. Of course that was prior to my uncle’s
attempt at power.
    He
squared with me, and we started circling one another. “There are plenty of
rogues to hunt. We keep