Awakened: Prequel GL Series

Chapter 10

10. NOSFERATU

“Kick Kim’s ass for me, okay?” Izzy said as she helped me with a chest guard, but it was obvious she spoke louder so Kim could hear her, too.

“You wish,” Kim retorted from a few feet away. “Dang it. I can’t believe I have to put on this stupid thing.” She tugged at the last strap on her guard, shot me a mean glance, and left the room.

I shook my head. Kenta-daisensei had insisted we both wear chest protection and gloves, but the way Kim carried on, one would think it was my idea. I never wore a vest when I trained with Grampa, and neither had Remy or Sykes earlier. “Is she always such a bitch?”

Izzy’s hands stilled. I regretted my question. My mouth tended to run faster than my brain when I was nervous. “Never mind,” I added.

“The answer is no, she just happens to have a lot on her mind. Maybe once she sweeps the floor with you, she’ll feel better.” Izzy grinned as though she was relishing the thought.

“Excuse me?”

Izzy hesitated as though debating how to answer me. She glanced toward the door to the practice room and sighed. “You want to know something?”

I nodded.

“You’re part of the reason Kim’s become very driven.”

I scowled. Izzy moved behind me to adjust the straps in the back. The chest guard was light and snug, but it still felt foreign. “Me? Why?”

“Did you see the Cardinal who came in with your grandfather?”

“The man or the woman?”

“Not the woman. That’s Hsia. The man, Seth, is Kim’s great uncle. He’s a renowned swordsman, started teaching her before she could walk.”

That wasn’t what I needed to hear now, but I didn’t see how he was relevant to why I was the cause of Kim’s nasty mood. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying she needs to impress him. Kim’s family puts a lot of pressure on her. In fact, every generation of Cardinals has had someone from her family, something they’ve come to accept as their right. Why? Because theirs is one of the few families who arrange marriages for their children, an attempt to wipe out human traits from their gene pool. That’s not to say Kim flaunts her lineage over us or anything like that. She’s pretty cool when her family is not pushing her hard. But learning about your powers threw her for a loop.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Because not only will her family expect her to be as good as dear old Seth, they’ll want her to be more powerful than you.”

“Me? That’s crazy. Why should they care?”

Izzy came from behind me and gave me an annoyed look. “Your grandpa is the leader of the present Cardinals.”

I shook my head, still not getting it. “So?”

“So for three consecutive generations of Guardians, someone from Kim’s family led the Cardinals. That changed when the CT chose Tariel as the leader and then your grandfather, after Tariel was taken and turned. Do the math.”

Oh brother. Even among the powerful there was hierarchical crap and battle for supremacy. How lame. I almost felt sorry for Kim. But despite what Izzy had said, Kim did act like she was better than everyone. I’d seen the way she dismissed my human friends.

“So you, Sykes, and Remy are not related to the other Cardinals?”

“No-oo. We’re all first generation, which is pretty cool. No pressure.”