Venom: The Hunter (Book #1)

Stake Training

He'd left the Training Facility early, with a significant aptitude for hunting, so he was transferred to instruct instead.
He walked into a room where a group preteens were waiting patiently.
"I am Caius, and your proctor for today," he introduced. He unlatched a cabinet adjacent to him, presenting a stash of stakes make of lithium nitrate.
The junior Vampyres and Vampyresses gasped.
"Now, considering that you all are only half human, you will be developing uncontrollable urges to 'eat.' Hard to suppress, but possible. Due to your vampiric blood, you'll also be adopted by the Coven and kinship that takes you in," he took a stake in hand, "Either way, this could end your existence with a single thrust to the heart," he threw it, and none of them breathed. The lethal weapon narrowly grazed one of the juniors, causing him to exhale sharply. "Thus, we'll be training with these. As long as you know how to avoid, counter, and use them while avoiding the point, you'll be fine," he concluded.
There was an odd number, so Eris would spar with him, while Athan and Akantha, Braeden and Johanna, and Dannielynn and Ezra were paired together.
All of them faced their partner and assumed the beginning stance.
"We stop when one of you is cut!" Caius signaled, "Begin!"
Eris and he clashed. They parried blows with their stakes. Each of them looked for an opening, while also defending themselves.
"On your left!" Caius nearly struck with the stake, causing Eris to flinch, fall and trip.
"I almost had it!" She groaned as she got up.
"Uh huh," he rolled his eyes, "You should work on that."
The Dhampir had her eyes narrowed at him, and the rest of them stopped when a Vampyre interrupted.
"Caius!" Warren LaRue panted, "It's Dante! He's hurt!"
The male dropped the training stake, and so did the trainees.
"I'll be back, so work on honing your powers," he said before leaving with Warren.
They rushed to where the injured brother was.
"What happened?" One of the crimson-eyed Sanguines asked.
"It's just like I told them," The visibly burned Vampyre gestured to the other three who were fine. He winced when he sat up, "After Warren, Ursula, Kieran, Desirée, you and I split up, we were looking for unsuspecting mortals. Then, there was this one who seemed..prepared for an encounter with one of our kind...," he trailed off.
"She was armed with a gun!" The original informant and Kieran cut in, "It was odd that she knew that he was going to bite her in the first place."
"It must've been blessed," Caius sniffed, "It smells like Holy Water where your burns are, and your regeneration capabilities seem slower."
While brainstorming solutions, Ursula reminded them that she was a Kitra, then rolled up her sleeve. Reluctantly, Dante sank his fangs into the flesh of her forearm and fed. Once Caius was satisfied with the efforts made, he left to the Athenaeum.