One In A Billion [Kalil's Coven 3]

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

“That was better, but you’re still focusing on my hands. I keep telling you, don’t look at my hands or my eyes. When someone is coming at you, the best way to defend yourself is to unfocus but keep your eye on my chest.” Cantal said as he held his hand out for Cory to take.

Cory panted, “Nothing you said makes any sense right now. I’m still trying to get air into my lungs.”

Cantal laughed, “Come on, I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Holding out his hand, Cantal waited for Cory to take it and get back on his feet.

“You do know I’m your leader’s mate, right?” Cory muttered as he stood back up.

“Which is exactly why you need to learn how to protect yourself.” Cantal stated.

Sighing, Cory replied, “I know. I just hate this crap. I don’t want to fight. I want to shift and chase moths, or run through the tunnels, scratch up Joth’s favorite shoes when he pisses me off…

and write. I haven’t written anything since I got to this place, Cantal, and I miss it. I used to write all the time and now… I practice, do coven crap with Joth, and fuck.”

“You do f**k a lot. I don’t understand how you two can go at it so often.” Cantal said with a snicker.

Wiggling his finger at Cantal, Cory said, “Just wait until you find your mate and then talk to me about how your d**k hasn’t fallen off yet.”

“That will never happen, because I doubt if I will ever find a mate.” Cantal replied, picking up the double blades.

“What’s that supposed to mean. We all have mates out there, Cantal. Yours is just waiting to be found.” Cory insisted.

Cantal snorted, “After what Demitri did? I have no doubt the gods have long forgotten me.”

Cory walked to Cantal, taking the blades from his hand, “Cantal, your brother trying to kill Billy has nothing to do with you. Anyone that can call you mate will be the luckiest son of a b***h around. You’re kind, caring, and can make sure they are safe and well loved. Stop beating yourself up over something that should have stayed a stain on the mattress.”

“You say that, but my own coven house doesn’t even want me around, so why would a god even consider gifting me with a mate?” Cantal asked.

Cory gently laid his hand on Cantal’s arm. “The people here are coming around, Cantal. I know that they were untrusting of you because of Demitri. Hell, even my mate was an ass to you, but they’ve started greeting you as you walk by.”

Cantal thought about when Cory had asked for Cantal to be his guardian. The Rei as well as his inner circle were shocked by Cory’s choice and Cantal was forced to prove he could do the job.

It hadn’t been hard considering Cantal had been trained by some of the best from all over the world. His parents might not have been nurturing when he was a child, but they made damn sure their sons could take care of themselves. Cantal was trained in many forms of martial arts as well as swordsmanship and knife work. He wanted to make sure that just because Cantal was smaller than most of the guards in the coven, it didn’t mean he was weak. Cantal tried to understand, but he was six feet tall, and that wasn’t really short… was it?

When Jotham had ordered him and his opponent, Evion to fight to the death, Cory became furious. After the battle was done and Cantal stood victorious, without having to kill anyone, Cory had been arguing about not allowing Cantal to kill Evion, or any of the other men that involved themselves in the fight. Another warrior, Morium, had threated Cory, and Cantal had immediately reacted by grabbing the prick by the throat. Cory once again begged for the man’s life and when Jotham told Cory to mind his place, Cory became enraged and told Jotham none to nicely to f**k off, and stormed away.

Cantal and Cory had spent many days and nights in a cottage not far from the coven house.

Cantal had tried to talk to Cory, but the little s**t had shifted into his Maine Coon cat and refused to speak with anyone. Finally, Cantal had gone to Billy and they agreed it was time to call in the big guns… their mothers. Those two ladies had Cory and Jotham pulling their heads out of their asses quickly. Thank goodness, because that was when they discovered a plan to kill the Rei and take over this coven and all other vampires around the world.

When Jotham was taken by one of the members… a young vampire being forced to kill the Rei in order to save his baby sister, Jotham had talked with the kid and got him to trust him enough to let him go. Now Cory and Jotham had two adopted kids. One was an eighteen-year-old boy named Novac and his five-year-old sister Katrina.

With Novac’s help they were able to learn about the group called “The Faction”. Jotham, Andre, and Erik pulled a plan together and stopped the attack on Jotham and the coven house, however, the head of the faction was able to get away when the cottage was set on fire.

Even though Novac assisted them with his information, he still had to be punished for taking the Rei in the first place, but his situation was taken into consideration before being sentenced. Then, out of the f*****g blue, Andre, the captain of the vampire guard, agreed to take Novac in as his apprentice. This meant Novac had to live with Andre and could do nothing without the man’s permission. Andre was responsible for Novac’s guard training as well as Novac’s actions. If Novac tried to do anything, Andre would be held just as accountable as Novac himself.

Novac still had plenty of contact with his baby sister, Katrina. They spent a lot of time together and she would even spend the weekend with Novac and Andre. It was those times that Cory was batshit crazy. He hated having the little girl away from his care, but he also knew she needed time with her brother. Besides, Andre would keep them safe from anyone that might try something.

Thinking about this made Cantal shake his mind clear and focus on what needed to be done—

Train Cory in case Alis came back to finish what the faction started.

“We need to continue your training, Cory.” Cantal stated getting into fight position.

“Cantal…”

“Please, Cory. I don’t want to talk about a fantasy mate. You are the only friend I have and I don’t want you to die. If Gruder or the others come back, I want you to be able to protect yourself.” Cantal stated anxiously.

Sighing heavily, Cory replied, “Fine, but I only have another thirty minutes. I want to make sure Katrina makes it to Novac’s place before Jotham and I go into town.”

“I still don’t like you two going without me.” Cantal insisted.

“I know, but we have our reasons. Besides, if the Rei of all vampires can’t keep me safe, then no one can.” Cory stated.

Cantal nodded, still not happy. “Okay, your biggest problem is that you still don’t see when your attacker is going to come at you with a punch.”

“That has been proven many times.” Cory muttered.

“Remember, when someone is going to come at you they are either going to go straight for you, or at an angle. The straight on is hardest to see. That’s because your eyes have a harder time seeing the movement, so your reaction is slower.” Cantal explains.

Cory’s eyes crunched as he said, “That makes no sense at all. You would think something coming straight on would be easier to notice.”

“Peripheral vision.” Cantal said with a look.

“Huh?” Cory said in confusion.

“Your eyes have things in them call cones and rods. The rods are what pick up movement and they are located on the sides of your eyes. Therefore when someone comes from the side you see it much clearer and quicker.” Cantal explained.

“So, you’re saying I need to rely more on my peripheral?” Cory asked.

Cantal tried to think of the best way to answer that question. Then replied, “You shouldn’t be focusing on anything on your opponent. You’ll find you see more that way, because if you’re looking only at their hands, you’re going to miss their feet and they can take you down with one sweep of their foot if they know what they’re doing.”

“Okay, that kind of makes sense.” Cory answered, sounding a little uncertain.

“That’s why we train so much, Cory. It allows your instincts to take over. When you spar enough, it brings in your subconscious and you’ll find you can punch and grab, because your instincts will just take over.” Cantal stated.

“So, in other words, it will become second nature.” Cory replied, sounding a bit more confident.

Nodding, Cantal replied, “Exactly.”

Taking his fist, Cantal thumped his chest. “If you find you have to look at something, then focus on the chest. No movements can be made without your chest involved. Watch what I mean.”

Cantal slowly brought his right fist out, then touched where his chest twisted, “See how my chest moved? No matter what I did there was no way for me to stop the muscles from moving with me.”

“Very cool.” Cory said with a smile.

“Come at me with your best shot.” Cantal stated.

Cory raised his hand, thinking he could fake Cantal out. He should have known better. Cory faked a right uppercut, but swung his leg towards Cantal’s knees. Cantal grabbed Cory’s leg pushed it high in the air, causing Cory to flip back onto the mat and a loud grunt to escape once again with his air from his lungs. Cantal then came down with his body, breaking most of his weight from Cory’s chest with an elbow just at his face.

“I sure hope you didn’t break anything important, Cantal. I have plans for my kitten later.”

Jotham said with a raised brow.

Cantal quickly got to his feet, helping Cory up, “No sir. I would never purposefully hurt Cory.”

“But, hurting my pride is just fine.” Cory muttered, wiping himself off.

Jotham laughed, switching Katrina from his right side to his left. “Relax Cantal. I was joking.”

“I wasn’t.” Cory murmured.

“Don’t worry, I’ll kiss you all better later.” Jotham said, wiggling his brows.

Katrina struggled to get down, saying, “I can kiss it now if you need me to papa?”

Cory opened his arms wide, “I would love for you to kiss me all better, pumpkin pie.”

“I’m not a pie, papa, I’m a girl.” Katrina argued as she climbed into the ring, running to Cory.

Cory swept her up into his arms, kissing her all over the face and then blowing a raspberry on her neck, causing her to giggle. “You are my pumpkin pie. Sweet and spicy and my favorite dessert, like you are my favorite little girl.”

“I’m supposed to be kissing you, papa.” Katrina reminded.

Cory gave a loud gasp of surprise, “Oh my, that’s right, because Uncle Cantal was being very mean to your papa today.”

Shaking her head, Katrina said, “No, he’s making you, so you can fight the bad men and come home to pop pop and me.”

Cantal laughed, “She is a very smart young lady.”

“Thank you, Uncle Cantal.” Katrina said with a beautiful bright smile.

Cantal felt something clench within him. Hearing Katrina call him uncle made him feel part of something he couldn’t remember ever feeling before, and although it made him feel special, it also brought a bit of fear to him as well. He just didn’t know why.

“Because, knowing you have a family who loves and cares about you means you open yourself up to the chance that it can be taken away. However, what you get from family far outweighs anything you might fear.” Jotham said, with a knowing look.

Cantal looked at him in confusion. Jotham stepped into the training ring, and clasped Cantal’s shoulder lightly. “I know where you came from, Cantal, and I know you never really had much of a family. Your look said it all. Just know that you do have a family now. Cory looks at you like an older brother and therefore you are mine as well.”

“That means you inherit Katrina and even Novac. So, your Christmas list just got a bit larger and I like jewelry… or a cat nip ball… they are so fun to roll around the castle.” Cory said, with a grin.

Cantal swallowed a lump in his throat, trying his best to speak, but all that he could get out was,

“Thank you.”

“Novy!” Katrina squealed in excitement as she wiggled down from Cory and rushed to leap into her brother’s arms.

“Hey there Katnip.” Novac said, swinging his baby sister around.

Katrina giggled until Novac stopped and she asked. “Are we still having princess night?”

Novac’s cheeks pinkened, but he answered, “Of course. Andre even made sure we would have plenty of popcorn.”

“Do you think he will let me brush his hair again?” Katrina asked.

Novac turned to Andre who was standing in the background. “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him.”

“Can I, Andy?” Katrina asked.

“Of course, dear princess. You do it so well, I can’t wait.” Andre replied, looking nothing like the intimidating force Cantal was so used to seeing.

“Well I hate to cut this short, but we have to go if you still want to accomplish your task today, kitten. I know we were supposed to have another couple of hours, but I have a phone meeting I must take with Nicoli from the East coast coven this evening and I thought we could have dinner in the city before that.” Jotham stated, taking Cory in his arms with a passionate kiss.

Cantal always felt a tad bit of envy seeing how the two men were so open with their affection, just as Billy and Erik were with theirs.

“Checking up on Vlad?” Andre asked.

Shaking his head, Jotham replied, “We still don’t know what was brought here from the Eastern Coven and I am planning a trip to visit there… you know, get a feel for what is going on. I don’t know who all is behind the attempted takeover of my title and coven, and I will not sit idly by while Alis and his men heal and regroup.”

“Oh, when are we going?” Cory asked.

Jotham pursed his lips, “We are not going. I am going with Vlad.”

“Oh, hell no! You are not leaving me behind. You said that we rule side by side. How can we do that if you are on one end of the world and I’m on the other?” Cory argued.

Jotham gave Cory a quick peck, “First off, we do lead side by side. Second, I am not going across the world, but just a few states over. Third, I need you to watch over our coven here and make sure everyone is taken care of and safe.”

Cory rolled his eyes, “I hate when you’re all logical and s**t, and I hate being separated even more.”

“I know, kitten, I don’t like it either, but think of all the…” Jotham stopped speaking when he remembered Katrina was just a few feet away, saying instead, “welcome home time we can have when I return.”

“Oh yeah! We can have a tea party and then a Disney marathon.” Katrina said, clapping her hand.

Jotham took Cory’s hand and walked towards his new daughter kissing her cheek. “That would be lovely and maybe I can convince the cook to make us some scones to go with the tea. As for your other suggestion…” Jotham looked at Cory wiggling his brow saying, “I can’t wait for all the marathons we can plan.”

“You are so bad.” Cory said, lightly smacking Jotham’s chest.

Jotham laughed, “And you love me anyway.”

Cory shook his head, smiling as he replied, “With all my heart. Let’s go so we can take care of business and no, I’m not just talking about what we are doing in town.”