Before I could get on to it, I had to chaperone a training session with Eddie and Angeline. Even though he might want to avoid her, he wouldn’t—not with Jill’s safety on the line. Angeline was part of Jill’s defense. I settled down in the grass with a cup of coffee, still wondering if he wasn’t just imagining Angeline’s interest. I’d recently acquired a one-cup coffee maker for my dorm room, and while it couldn’t compare to a coffee shop, it had gotten me through a number of rough mornings. A yawn smothered my greeting as Jill sat down beside me.

“Eddie never trains me anymore,” she said wistfully, as we watched the spectacle. Eddie was trying to patiently explain to Angeline that headbutting, while suitable in a bar brawl, was not always the best tactic with Strigoi.

“I’m sure he will if he gets more time,” I said, though I wasn’t sure at all. Now that he could admit his feelings for Jill to himself, he was nervous about touching her too much. That, and a chivalrous part of him didn’t want Jill risking herself anyway. It was ironic because Jill’s fierceness in wanting to learn self-defense (rare in a Moroi) was what had attracted him to her. “Angeline was recruited as protection. He’s got to make sure she can handle it.”

“I know. I just feel like everyone’s trying to coddle me.” She frowned. “In PE, Micah won’t let me do anything. After I had all that trouble starting out, he’s now paranoid I’ll hurt myself. I keep telling him I’m fine, that it was just the sun… but well, he keeps jumping in. It’s sweet… but it drives me crazy sometimes.”

“I’ve noticed it,” I admitted. I was in the same PE class. “I don’t think that’s why Eddie won’t train you, though. He knows you can do it. He’s proud that you can… he just thinks that if he’s doing his job, you shouldn’t have to learn. Kind of weird logic.”

“No, I get it.” Her earlier dismay shifted to approval as she turned back to the training session. “He’s so dedicated… and, well, good at what he does.”

“The knee’s an easy way to disable someone,” Eddie told Angeline. “Especially if you’re caught without a weapon and have to—”

“When are you going to teach me to stake or decapitate?” she interrupted, hands on her hips. “All the time, it’s hit here, dodge this, blah, blah, blah. I need to practice killing Strigoi.”

“No, you don’t.” Eddie was the picture of patience and back in the determined, ready mode I knew so well. “You’re not here to kill Strigoi. Maybe we can practice that at a later time, but right now, your priority is keeping mortal assassins away from Jill. That takes precedence over anything else, even our lives.” He glanced over at Jill for emphasis, and there was a flash of admiration in his eyes as he looked at her.

“Seems like decapitation would kill Moroi just the same,” Angeline grumbled. “And besides, you did have a Strigoi problem last month.”