Building the Tension | ✔ | 18+

Chapter 7b

I was almost on time for breakfast the next morning, getting there while they still had all of the food lines open. On the way into the building, I was told by one of the guardians that there was going to be an announcement at the end of breakfast. I crammed my plate full of bacon and grabbed a handful of chocolate-covered donuts, then headed for Lissa. Searching her through the bond, I realized that she was in with the feeders and took a seat across from Christian.

"Did you forget to eat yesterday or something? Was there any bacon left in the whole cafeteria?" he asked in his usual snarky mood, eyeing my plate.

"Hey!" I replied, biting into a donut and laughing, "I left a little bit for other people!"

"I'll believe it when I see it," he said, laughing, "After the attacks, I've been giving some thought to some stuff. How would you feel about training a few of us to fight?" My mind reeled at the possibilities, but I knew that we could all get in trouble.

I shushed him. "Everyone knows using defensive magic is forbidden," I whispered back.

"And after the campus attack, everyone here knows that I don't need training for that," he replied, smugness firmly in place, "I want you to teach us to throw a punch, kick, stuff like that. I already know a little about that from Aunt Tasha, but there are others who could use to learn, too. And I could always use to learn more. Once you're back on field experience, you'll already be with me during that, anyways, so it should work out with your schedule."

"I will be with you," I admitted, "maybe more than you know. It sounded like they might put me back on field experience full-time."

"So, why not?" he asked.

Lissa walked up and sat beside Christian, setting her tray down beside his. "Why not what?" she asked.

"Christian wants me to teach some Moroi how to fight."

"I think you should," she replied, biting into the lone apple she got.

Christian added, "Liss could learn a thing or two about it, too."

"I'm not sure I should," she replied, more timid than I would expect.

"I probably could train some people on some basic defensive combat. It'd be kinda cool for Lissa to learn how to throw a punch. You'd better clear it with some of the guardians, though," I said, "Maybe it'd be better to have Alberta or someone come with me to train you - or Dimitri could come and help us." I shoved another handful of bacon in my mouth.

Up until that moment, I hadn't realized that Adrian had walked up and was in the process of sitting next to me at the table. "Do you think that it's wise to get Belikov involved, little dhampir?" he asked.

Lissa and I exchanged a meaningful look across the table. I took my time finishing my mouthful of bacon, mentally searching out the words, especially with Christian - who didn't know anything about Dimitri and me - there. I finally replied, "Dimitri is one of the best combat instructors we have. I have been working with him all year long and he's taught me most of what I know. I'm sure he could do great."

"Besides," Lissa added, "no matter who does it, after the Moroi help with the attack this week being so successful, I'd be surprised if there hadn't been talk about training."

"Well," laughed Adrian, "I can try, but I'm not sure how far I'll get. These hands weren't meant for manual labor."

Christian scoffed, "And who said anything about training you, anyways, Ivashkov? You're not even a student here!"

Lissa was going to try to be diplomatic again. "Why don't we just leave the training up to the guardians in charge and let them know who's expressed an interest? Maybe Christian could go talk to Guardian Petrov about it at the end of breakfast?"