The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 3: Chapter 7

It made sense in a way. Along with the risks and costs, that baby gave him higher stakes in the future.

I focused on making things more difficult for Lucas in our sparring. I wanted him to survive, along with the others. There were a lot of people whose futures I had become entangled with, greater stakes of my own in this fight.

The feeling did not entirely leave me as I worked with the youth, the new fighters for the next generation.

"We've got a few more kids for you, Jamie," Belle announced with her usual pleasant smile as she walked forward with four youth trailing behind her.

I was not surprised. There had been an influx of new arrivals since Vienne had started moving humans around. The three boys behind her wore expressions of wary excitement, and the skinny girl's was no different.

"Names?" I listened and committed them to memory as they rattled them off. Lance, Peter, Alex, Darcy.

I set them into pairs with some of my more experienced students and had them begin training exercises. In spite of their uneasiness, their tentative enthusiasm demonstrated that they were all willing participants.

Belle had paused and watched the training, standing next to me. "I don't really know anything about this," she admitted, "But they look like they're doing well."

I nodded. "I've been seeing improvements. The new ones will get up to speed soon enough. What brought these four to New Haven?"

She smiled a bit. "They're all unbranded recent strays we've found. For whatever reason, Vienne decided these ones were better off here. They'll probably end up on the recruitment teams once they're better able to handle themselves."

"I see," I agreed. It had been surprising when I had first learned just how many humans were brought in by irregular means, either convinced by the other humans or drawn in voluntarily by the promise of food and relative safety.

I had always disregarded the other humans who had wanted to find safety under a bloodsucker as insane fools, but their side was much clearer now, even without knowing everything I now did.

Most of the unaware humans ended up working at one of her factories, while the best of them were usually quickly drawn into the deeper plots through the network of co-conspirators, and that was where these children came in. Once they were trained and grown, their skills would be utilized.

With the exception of New Haven, every part of the leech's holdings had two sides, the one that was shown to the council, and the side that was working against it. I was glad to be in the hidden part where no pretense was needed.

Belle smiled at me and I tried to return the expression, although my mind was elsewhere. "You're doing a great job with them. I can see how much they look up to you."

"Oh. Maybe they do." I didn't really like it, but I could not seem to be able to shake it. "They've got an unrealistic view of what I did, that's all."

"I don't know if that's true," she said with an indulgent smile.

"It is. I was there."

"I look up to you, too," she commented.

"Oh. Thanks." I had no idea what to say, but I probably answered correctly because her face broke out into a wide smile at my response. "Well, I should get back to paying attention to the kids."

She nodded, her smile faltering just slightly before she beamed at me again. "I should get back to Connor, anyway. Talk to you later, Jamie."

I nodded and began to walk between the groups.

"I think she likes you, Jamie." I kept my face blank at the boisterous comment from the class clown of the group, Jeremy. A few oohs followed his words.

I turned to him. "Did I just hear you say that you were too busy watching me to pay attention to your own training? Go run thirty laps. The rest of you, twenty."

"What?" Jeremy protested and I just grinned at him. "Get going."

Jeremy groaned as he began running towards the edge of the field, followed by the others who began trickling after him in twos and threes. The newest kids followed near the end.

All of the kids did well. Jeremy wasn't able to make up the ten lap deficit and was the last one running. While the others stretched themselves out and stopped to relax and watch, he finished circling the field.

He gave me a dirty look. "Next time, keep your eyes on what you're doing."

"Doesn't change what I said." If Jeremy kept his rebelliousness up, Vienne would probably hand select him to be one of her personal guards. And the kid, for all his faults, was not entirely wrong. I too had wondered if Belle seemed more interested in me than was strictly necessary.

But, it was still none of his business. So far it seemed rumours of my strange relationship with Vienne had not made it to New Haven, and I didn't need other complications cropping up. "Rein in that overactive imagination, Jeremy. You need to focus on what is directly in front of you, because that's where the danger lies."

He rolled his eyes at me. I ignored the reaction.

"All right, that's enough for today. Be back here tomorrow, same time, same place."

The kids scurried off, mostly towards the main residential building, but a few in other directions. I headed off to the administrative building to see if Connor needed anything before I went to eat supper.