Some people go bowling to bond. We apparently go for psychological warfare. We had cleared the floor of the living room, couches pushed to the perimeter, leaving the center of the room cleared. The low hum of Edison bulbs in the lamps matched the soft yellow light they threw out.

  Antun stood in front of Syla, Michael, and I, his presence weightier than usual. He’d been out feeding all day, consuming more mana than he ever had at one time before. Standing in front of him now, the air seemed almost heavy. It was like a too-thick blanket around us, both pressing and pushing. Antun’s face was practically glowing.

  “Not going to lie,” he said, “I’m feeling pretty great right now. I can see how Nikola became obsessed with it, addicted to the feeling of raw power that it gives.” At Syla’s concerned look, he assured, “Don’t worry, I’m not headed in that direction. I’m only ever planning on gorging like this when we’re doing tests like tonight. That said though; man, I feel good.” His arms went limp as if his whole body wanted to relax, like a food coma but with mana instead.

  The incident at the Sirens of Spring had only happened yesterday morning, and I was almost all healed thanks to vampires’ advanced healing. I’d need more mana soon to replenish what my body had used to heal me, but that made me even more perfect for Antun’s test.

  “We’ll start simple,” Antun said, as if he were describing a dinner menu. “Syla, would you mind being the recorder for testing tonight? We’ll focus on Michael and Drew since they’re both younger vampires, closer in ‘age’ to Nikola’s brood. Just in case that has any bearing on how this goes.” Syla nodded, grabbing a notebook and pencil, holding them at the ready.

  “I’m going to give you a command. Your task is to fight the compulsion when it hits.” He gave both Michael and I a serious look. “We’ve all experienced Nikola’s compulsion, and I know it’s left scars. But we need to conduct this test to see if there’s any chance of contacting the other vampires this way.”

  His head dipping slightly, voice dropping to a commanding tone, Antun ordered, “Bow.”

  It was as if someone had tried to fold me in half. Like a hand was on the back of my head, forcing it lower. My abdominals flexed as I fought the compulsion, stuck at a forty-five degree angle. In my periphery, I could see Michael straining just as hard, yet standing closer to upright than me. The tendons and veins in his neck had popped out like ropes under his skin, sweat beading on his brow. In my mind, his order repeated, scraping like static, like Antun had said it again and again.

  Suddenly, the compulsion let go, and I snapped my back upright, nearly falling backwards from the momentum. I knew that it would be difficult, but it was way more so than I’d thought it’d be. I panted, the effort of fighting as strenuous as a workout. And I knew I could make it through a workout. I could make it through this too.

  Syla’s pencil scratched her observations, eyes intently focused. I could imagine her in a lab coat and goggles just then, a scientist trying to understand the undead condition. It fit her, and I couldn’t help the smile that ticked the corner of my mouth.

  “That wasn’t bad, “Antun commented. “But it wasn’t good either. At least now we can confirm that a huge increase in mana makes one powerful enough to compel. Now, to see if there’s any way to use this to communicate instead of just force action. And to train against it.”

  “I want to try again,” Michael panted. “But this time, you should try to talk mind to mind like Nikola did. See if you can project your voice through the same power.”

  Antun nodded, shuffling his feet into a wider stance. “Ready?” he asked us. With our nods, he closed his eyes, brows furrowed in concentration. I kept my mental ears open, but I heard nothing.

  “Maybe it needs to have a command attached to it. Nikola was calling all those vampires to the Sirens of Spring with an order. Maybe try mentally projecting an order,” I suggested.

  I wondered if he didn’t hear me at first, but then my feet began to shuffle without me. They wanted to walk, to move somewhere… the kitchen. No, body. Stay. Don’t listen. But like a marionette, my foot lifted and stepped. My entire body trembled with the effort of staying still.

  In my mind, I heard Antun’s voice in bits and pieces, like it was a broken up radio signal. “Walk… kitchen…” The main point got across even if all the words didn’t. And my body strained to obey. I was already tired from healing all day, and my strength began to fail. I yielded another step.

  “Fight it, Drew,” Syla urged under her breath, clutching her notebook, pencil gripped so tight the wood began to crack.

  Come on, body. Fight back!

  A flash. The white room. Nikola’s voice ordering me to walk back to the chair and sit like some obedient pet.

  Focus, Drew. Don’t let your legs move. Yet the memory persisted as the compulsion held.

  I managed to stay in place, barely. Michael also fought back, not even shifting his feet. I gritted my teeth until Antun let the compulsion go, and my whole body went limp. I stayed standing but my legs wobbled beneath me with the sudden freedom. Syla wrote her observations, looking up when she was done.

  “How did it feel?” Antun asked us. Syla held her pencil at the ready.

  “It was like trying to listen through water. The intent of the compulsion was there, but the actual words were difficult to hear at all,” Michael said.

  “I was going to say like static instead of water,” I replied. “I wonder if it was easier to resist because you were trying to mentally communicate to both of us at the same time. The compulsion – the intent – came through, but the words were in and out.”

  “So, it sounds like more than willpower, you were able to resist because of the cost on my end,” Antun said. He walked over to the couch at the far side of the room and sat down, as if the act of compelling had worn him out.

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  “Antun, are you alright?” I asked with concern.

  He glanced at me. “It took more mental energy than I was expecting.” He rubbed at his temple like a headache was forming. “I can imagine how things felt on your end,” he nodded at Michael, “but I hadn’t expected how much energy it would require on my end. There’s no way Nikola could have done what he did as a normal vampire. His godhood, however temporary, must have given him the ability to broadcast the way he did. Trying to move just you two at the same time was hard enough, and there were well over a hundred vampires at the Sirens of Spring.”

  So, using compulsion to communicate wouldn’t work. And I definitely wasn’t immune to compulsion. I had just been lucky with Nikola since he’d been using my reincarnation energy to power it. At least, that’s what I suspected was the reason.

  All of us stood there silent for a long minute, each of us trying to figure out the next step now that compulsion was probably a no-go.

  Syla set down the notebook, asking, “Would now be a good time for a tea break?”

  Antun nodded, and she turned to go to the kitchen. I followed her, needing to move under my own power after those tests. I watched as she filled and started the kettle, and as she opened a jar of tea leaves – lavender, by the smell of it – scooping some into a steeping ball. She got out a tea pot, pouring the boiling water into it before placing the ball inside, dangling by a long chain that hung off the side of the pot.

  As the tea steeped, Syla turned to me. “Are you alright after that, darling? You may have been a willing participant but I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy.”

  “Has anyone ever bothered telling you you’re rather perceptive?” I said dubiously.

  A small smile curled the corner of her mouth before it was replaced by concern once more. “Watching it happen… it reminded me of when I’d watch Nikola compelling others, of when he ordered you.”

  I nodded, letting her know I had remembered the same thing.

  Her mouth thinned to a line. “Understanding is important, but not at the cost of your mind. If you think it’s starting to become too much, stop the test. Say… say “potato” when it’s too much if you can’t say more than a word.”

  I snorted, “Potato? My safe word is potato?”

  “Did you have something better in mind?” she asked.

  I paused, still internally laughing. “Alright, ‘potato’ it is. If I ever need help out, I’ll say ‘potato.’ Deal?”

  Syla shook my outstretched hand with a grin. “Deal.” She looked at the kettle, bobbed the steeping ball, and began filling mugs. I helped prep mine and Michael’s, taking those two to the living room while Syla carried hers and Anutn’s. We sat on the couch and chairs that were shoved off to the side. I tucked my feet under me and blew on my tea before taking a test sip. Steaming hot, floral with a hint of honey. I let the warmth seep into me as I took a deep breath, leaning against Michael, who tipped his head to rest on top of mine.

  This. This right here. This is why we fought. This is why I…

  My mind caught on a thought and my cheer guttered. Right, I had killed someone. Someone evil, but still, I had killed. I was a murderer. Did I deserve the happiness that the others were displaying? I took another drink, closing my eyes as I willed the feelings down, down until they were little more than echoes in the dark. I’d deal with this, my new reality, but not right now.

  “Ready to try again?” Antun asked.

  I nodded, then a thought came to me. “I have an idea. What if the action you pick to compel is more passive? Like, “Stop and listen to me,” or something?”

  Antun put a hand on his chin, “Good idea. I’m also thinking I should do one at a time to avoid that monstrous headache induced from trying to communicate to and compel multiple people. Who wants to go first?”

  Michael hurried to put a finger to his nose in a “Not it” gesture.

  “Turd,” I grumbled, setting my tea down and walking back to the center of the room.

  Michael chuckled behind me at my choice of word and merely sipped his tea.

  Standing in front of me, Antun looked into my eyes. “Ready?”

  I nodded and took a steadying breath.

  At first, there was nothing. Then, like a crappy radio signal, I heard Antun in my head say, “Stop, listen, then itch your nose.” I didn’t realize I had itched my nose until the words rang through.

  “Well, that was a little more successful, but I still think what I thought before. If we’re only able to reach one vampire at a time with this method, there’s no way we’ll be able to find them all like that.” Antun exhaled slowly, brows drawn in. “I hate to say it, but I think communication is out. We’d have to find them the old-fashioned way, but in a city as big and busy as Seattle, that’d be next to impossible.”

  “What’s the old-fashioned way?” I asked.

  Antun pointed at his chest. “Listening for missing heartbeats. But there are thousands of citizens. I think…” He screwed his mouth to the side, grinding his teeth. “I think we’re going to have to accept that Seattle has a lot more vampires now. Some things are going to have to change, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

  He looked at Syla, “Have you ever hunted animals before in your 300 years?”

  Her eyes lit up. “I haven’t been hunting since before Nikola. I used to love it. Are you suggesting we go?” She was practically vibrating with excitement.

  “Not tonight,” Antun said, “but soon. With more vampires, we need more sources of mana. I don’t know how many of them will be using animals instead of humans. Hell, if any of them even know they can do that, or to go to the slaughterhouse for blood.”

  He turned to me. “I don’t typically kill when I hunt animals, not unless I’ve gone and gotten the hunting license to do it properly, but I really hate field-dressing. It’s all humane, catch and release if you think about it. So, get that worried look off your face, Drew.”

  I sat back at the order, not realizing that my thoughts were again on my face. Yes, I had been worried about killing so many animals, and I felt much better now that I knew we wouldn’t be. I didn’t want any more death, especially not by my own hands.

  “Before we do that, Antun,” Michael said, “I’m wondering if we’d benefit from some normalcy first?” He hadn’t implied me at all, but I still felt like he said it for my sake. I was about to tell him I was fine, when he got a silly grin on his face. “This coming weekend is the Ren Faire – perfect opportunity for normalcy for us strange folk. How about we try hunting after that? Maybe the next night? Or whatever time of day hunting happens, I don’t know. Is it like fishing, where people wake up at all hours of the night to go to the supposed perfect spot?”

  “A bit, but in a lot of ways not at all. It’ll make more sense when we go. Alright, after Ren Faire then. I can tell Michael’s excited for it,” Antun began before Michael’s grin split wide. “How about you, ladies? Do you think a trip to the Faire will help?”

  Syla tried to hide the tenseness in her body, but I saw the way her shoulders locked. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in crowds. Nikola kept me confined to wherever his latest victim was for the most part, except when he’d occasionally let me out to go feed, but I’d always stay to the back streets…”

  She seemed to be going into her thoughts when she shook her head and sighed. “I think it’s just what I need to get Nikola out of my head,” she said.

  I smiled at her. I knew that decision couldn’t have been easy for her to make, but she did it. God, I couldn’t wait until Syla was fully unlocked and herself again. She was already a blast, but she’d be amazing as her full, authentic self.

  Then a thought dumped on me like a bucket of ice water.

  Michael noticed the change in me. “What’s the matter?” he asked, concern and curiosity in equal measure.

  “We have Ravena’s training tomorrow.” My body seemed to ache more as the thought settled in. God, I hope I’m feeling better by tomorrow.

  Michael surveyed my body. “At least you don’t look like you’ve been in a fight to the death,” he quipped.

  “No, just feel like pulp mushed into a person suit is all,” I responded somewhat flat. “This is gonna suck.”

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