"That could mean anything though, right?" Layla asks hopefully.
Jae snorts. "Come on, Layls. Don't be naïve. We know that visions of pools of blood are never a good sign."
"Seas," Gabe corrects quietly. "She said seas of blood."
All of the wolves in the circulus turn to me.
"What does it mean, Katrina?" Maryn asks, tilting her head.
I shake my head slightly. "I... Don't know. Not all of my visions have clear meanings. Someone could also be tampering with them..."
"Tampering?" Killian frowns. "How is that possible?"
I shrug. "It's always a possibility. Finding blind spots in my Sight. It doesn't help that I probably haven't met the person responsible, which will obscure my visions even more."
"So, if you meet them, you would know?" Maryn asks, looking hopeful at this.
I shrug. "Maybe. Maybe not. Hard to say. My Sight isn't very consistent."
"That's helpful," Knox mutters, and Maryn smacks him in the head.
"Knox meant to say: Thank you for your help, we'll take what we can get," She corrects, glaring at Knox.
Again, I shrug. Knox doesn't trust Seers. Most people don't, and for good reasons.
"How can we improve your Sight?" Kage asks quietly, and I almost forgot he was there, he's so quiet.
I sigh. "Maybe we can go to the location that Jason was taken from? I might see something related to that."
"Tomorrow," Killian says, his voice firm. "It's late, and you've already strained your Sight enough for tonight. After you rest, we can go."
I roll my eyes. I know my limits better than he does, but it is his pack, so I listen to him. Pulling back on my gloves, I bid the circulus goodnight, and Layla pulls me in for a hug, surprising me. Physical contact isn't something I'm familiar with, and don't particularly like.
As she hugs me, I get a vision of her crying, and collecting her tears in a small vial. I jump back in surprise from the vision, and cough slightly, and I taste blood. Perhaps Killian is right, and my Sight has been strained enough for tonight.
I quickly excuse myself and go into my bedroom, collapsing on the bed. My energy is completely depleted. Then I hear a knock at the door.
"Yes?" I call out.
Killian walks in, and I raise my eyebrows. "Since when do you knock?" I ask in amusement.
Killian gives a wicked grin. "I've given you enough scares today, we'll resume tomorrow."
"Great," I scowl. Should have known this was too good to last.
He sits on the edge of my bed, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly. "What did you see when Layla touched you?" He asks.
I frown. It won't make sense, almost none of my visions do, but I tell him anyways. "She... Was crying. Put her tears in a small vial."
Recognition flashes across his face. "I see."
"Does that mean something to you?"
Killian smiles slightly. "Layla has a... unique Gift."
I wait a few moments for him to tell me, and when he doesn't, I scowl. "Share with the class, Killian, we're dying to know."
"She has poisonous tears," He says simply. "Sometimes if we need to, uh, take care of someone, Layla provides the, uh, equipment."
I laugh. "Layla? No way. She seems so... um..." I struggle to not sound rude. Truth is, Layla seemed kind of ditzy, but in a sweet, endearing way.
Killian joins my laughter. "Trust me, darling. Layla is far more dangerous than she appears. She's one of my best assets on my circulus. Nobody expects sweet little Layla to slip poison in their drink, but that's how she gets them."
"Fascinating," I murmur. Dangerous indeed. I had a feeling that most people in his circulus were, not just Jae with her enhanced weapons skill.
"Your brother seems nice," I tell him.
His eyebrows raise. "You picked up on that?"
I shrug. "How could I not? You practically look identical. Though I think I prefer him much more."
Killian rolls his eyes. "I assume you're wondering about the shadows around him."
I grin in response. Of course, I'm trying to glean information off of him, that's the only reason I haven't kicked him out.
"He can manipulate light matter," Killian explains. "Though he typically uses it to conceal himself in the shadows instead of lighting things up."
Very different from Killian, who seems to relish in the spotlight.
"Seems like you have yourself the perfect little band of killers," I tell him. I could sense the power from all of the wolves, and with their powers combined, they would be able to accomplish much. I wondered why he put together such an elite group. It's not like there was any kind of war on the horizon.
Killian grins. "So I do. Speaking of, you have training tomorrow with us."
"Training?" I frown.
"Of course, darling. Everyone in my circulus has additional and more intense training," Killian says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
"I'm not in your circulus," I point out.
Killian gives a slight smile. "Yet," He says softly, and disappears.
I scowl long after he's gone. I have no desire to join his ragtag group of misfits. My home is in Iron Claw, and after the three months are up, I will leave and never look back, finally ridding myself of the obnoxious Alpha. Perhaps if I find out who's stealing the wolves, he'll let me go early.
But for some reason, I doubted that.
***
When I wake up, Killian is thankfully not in my bed, and I hate that's something I now have to worry about.
I get dressed, pulling on a pair of black skinny jeans, a dark red tank top, and, of course, my heeled black boots and gloves. Giving myself a few extra inches of height at least gave me some amount of extra confidence, no matter how small.
When there's a knock on the door, I expect it to be Killian, but when I open it, it's Layla.
"Hi, Kat!" She says with a huge grin. "Killian told me to wake you up and tell you to brush your hair. But since you're already ready, I can take you to training!"
I fake a smile. "Great, thanks Layla."
Layla's smile gets even bigger, and I can't believe that this is one of Killian's most trusted assassins. She seems so... innocent.
Layla escorts me to the training center, giving a small tour as we go there, and I don't have the heart to tell her that I already know where everything is. She seems so excited to be the one telling me.
When we arrive, Jae and Knox are brutally sparring against each other, breaking bones left and right and sending blood scattering. Knox may have enhanced strength, but Jae holds her own, using her quickness to land hits before he can. But when Knox gets a hit in, it's almost immediately game over.
Killian watches them, completely focused. I hear him muttering things to Gabe, who nods, and I know that he's committing the notes to memory.
After Knox gets Jae to submit, Killian talks to the two of them, telling them what each of them did wrong, what they did right, what they need to work on before the next training. When Killian forgets something he told Gabe while they were fighting, Gabe chimes in and repeats it. They both listen intently to him, completely respectful. For a moment, I'm almost surprised by Killian. He usually seems so casual, flippant, joking, but as he gives them his notes, he's completely serious.
It would probably do me well to remember that even though he seems to let a lot slide with me, he's still an Alpha, and one who could kill me easily.
When he's done, Killian turns to me. "Good morning, darling. Ready to get your ass kicked?" He grins.
I roll my eyes. "I'll take the Beta."
Killian's eyes narrow for a fraction of a second before his face smoothens. "Very well. Though I can't promise Knox will take it easy on you."
The bloodthirsty look on Knox's face does indeed confirm that he will not be taking it easy on me at all.
That's fine, I wouldn't be pulling any punches either.
Knox and I stand a few feet away from each other, and before he even takes the first swing, I already know where it's going to land, and move in the opposite direction. Knox looks surprised when he misses, and tries again, but once more, I already know what moves he's going to make and easily dodge them.
I toy with him a little while longer, letting him make all of the mistakes and tire himself out. With each failed punch, he gets more and more sloppy, making his moves more and more predictable, and I decide to take pity on him and take him down.
When he makes another punch, I dodge to the side and use the force from the punch to shove him to the ground. He groans as he lands on his stomach, and I put my foot on the back of his knee and press my canines to his neck. He shudders.
Layla laughs and claps. "Yay! I love Seers! Take that, Knox!"
"Oh, man," Maryn groans, walking in late. "I missed Knox getting his ass handed to him? I'm never going to be late again."
"Sure, you won't," Jae mutters, still cleaning up some blood from her mouth.
"Alright, Katrina, he submitted, you can get off him now," Killian says, his tone clipped.
I shrug and get off Knox, who immediately stands up. "Any notes, Alpha?" I taunt him, hoping it made him mad that his Beta just got defeated.
Killian narrows his eyes at me. "You cheated. You used your Gift."
I shrug. "Can't exactly turn it off, now can I?" Believe me, if I could turn off my Sight, I would have done so a long time ago.
Killian frowns but doesn't say anything else. "Maryn, Layla, you're up."
Layla gleefully skips to the training matt while Maryn takes her time. "Go easy on me, Layls," Maryn grins, and I think she's joking until they begin sparring.
Maryn is a strong wolf, no doubt. She has flawless training, quick and precise strikes, but Layla is smaller and faster, moving so fast I can hardly see her strike. She looks more like an acrobat than a warrior, and in no time, Maryn gets pinned.
Killian and Gabe give their notes, and I watch stunned as Gabe recounts every single move and strike, while Killian explains why what they did was either good or bad.
It's the most efficient training system I've ever seen.
I have a striking moment of clarity, one in which I realize that if Killian wanted them to be, Crimson Shadow could be just as large and strong as Blood Lake. Which meant, for whatever reason, he had no desire to expand his pack or take more land.
Interesting.
"Katrina, Kage, your turn," Killian nods, and I look around for Kage until I realize that he's been standing next to me the whole time, concealed by shadows.
Spooky.
But very neat.
Kage is a much harder opponent than Knox. Not only does he have Alpha blood on his side, but he uses shadows to conceal some of his hits, and even my Sight doesn't catch all of them. We both get a couple hits on each other, fairly evenly matches, until his shadows falter and I'm able to knock him down.
"Good game, Katrina," He says quietly, giving me a shy smile as I help him up.
Killian and Gabe give the run down on our fight, telling Kage that he needs to be more decisive with his strikes, and telling me that I need to be more assured in mine. It's true, when my Sight falters, so do I.
"So, do I get to fight you, or are you scared?" I taunt Killian, even though I'm fairly confident he would win.
Killian rolls his eyes. "Another time, darling. We need to save your strength for when we go to the last place Jason was seen. Last thing I need is a dead Seer on my hands."
I sigh. "Fine. Let's go."
And as we walk to the edge of the territory, I have a feeling something horrible is about to happen.
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