Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

the entrance to the room. I wondered how long she’d been watching.
    With a shrug, I explained. ‘In my experience, exiles aren’t so much concerned with honour as they are with ripping off my head. If it’s them or me, or if I’m trying to defend a human I’ll make any move I can to put them down and contemplate what kind of person that makes me afterwards.’
    ‘That’s one view. The other is that if you walk too close to the edge the lines between the monsters and yourself can start to blur. You risk waking up one day to discover you’ve become just the same as them.’
    I stared in disbelief at Valerie as she waved a hand at the class.
    ‘We’veseen enough today. Dismissed.’
    As Morgan walked out with me I started to apologise.
    ‘Don’t,’ she said, putting her hand on my arm. ‘I learned more today, fighting you, than I have since Nyla was taking this class.’
    I nodded, accepting the compliment with a sense of pride.
    ‘Did Valerie just call me a monster?’ I asked.
    Morgan cringed. ‘She’s not as bad as she comes across. I think she was just surprised you were so strong.’
    ‘Isn’t that what you said about Josephine?’
    She cringed again. ‘What can I say? I like to see the best in people.’
    I guess I couldn’t complain about that, since I was more than happy with her seeing the best in me. I needed all the friends I could get.
    ‘Violet, do you have a minute?’ Rainer asked as we passed.
    I stopped as Morgan continued on with an apologetic wave. She thought I was about to be told off.
    Probably right.
    I threw my training bag over my shoulder and followed Rainer into a side room. The space was dimly lit with several golden artefacts dotted along the dark wooden shelves. In fact, the room was at odds with the bright and modern fit-out of the rest of the Academy buildings. Rainer sat down behind a large mahogany desk.
    She motioned for me to take a seat.
    ‘I live here full-time at the moment. I needed at least one place where I felt myself,’ she said, as if reading my mind.
    I put my bag on my lap and leaned on it. I’d been training for hours. My body was in a world of hurt.
    ‘Didyou get my note?’ she asked.
    ‘Yes, thank you. I … Um …’ I didn’t know how to talk about Nyla with her, with anyone, really.
    She shook her head again, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking. ‘Take your time. She’s not going anywhere in a hurry, but I believe there is still hope. If I didn’t,’ she flashed me another glimpse at her warrior eyes, ‘I’d finish things myself.’
    I admired her optimism but … I was there when Nyla’s soul shattered. She wasn’t coming back.
    Rainer kept going. ‘I wanted to ask you if you have considered my offer to be your mentor?’
    I had discussed it with Griffin last night and we had agreed it was very generous of Rainer and something I should jump at, but after the class I’d just been through …
    ‘I don’t seem to fight to the Academy standards. And I don’t intend to change, either.’
    She lifted one eyebrow.
    Nifty.
    ‘Did you see Seth adhering to Academy protocol when he took down your partner yesterday?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I believe Nyla and Rudyard included you in some training when they were staying with you, too?’
    I nodded, remembering how fierce a fighter Nyla had been.
    ‘Precisely. Valerie is all about rules and regulations. She has to be in order to run the Academy effectively, but make no mistake, when you stand in front of a roomful of Grigori seniors and the Assembly for your final testing, only one thing is going to matter.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Winning.’
    I shifted in my seat. ‘And you can help me do that?’
    ‘Yes.’
    I had to respect her confidence, given that we both knew there would be a number of Grigori, including Drenson and Josephine, who would like nothing more than to boot me out of the Academy for good.
    ‘Okay, then. When do we start?’
    ‘Tomorrow. We train before your classes and directly after every day. Be prepared – I plan on working you hard.’

    I’d been so glad to have an ally as my mentor I don’t think I’d been listening when Rainer had explained the working-me-hard part.
    Two weeks after signing on with her I felt like the walking dead. From the first day of our training she’d been collecting me at 5 a.m. and not dropping me back at my room until 8 p.m. after our evening session.
    My heavy schedule meant that I’d only seen Spence and Zoe in classes and due to