Page 48 of Forbidden (Fallen 2)

I stretched my legs to catch up with him.

“Do I really have to fight someone?” I asked, gulping.

He laughed, “Yeah, you do. Doesn’t your vamp think you should be able to protect yourself? If you were mine I’d be sure you knew how to defend yourself against an attack from the crazy vamp. So, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Will I get hurt?” I gulped.

“Probably,” He said stone faced.

“Sounds fantastic,” I said rolling my eyes.

; “You’ll be fine. You’re a born fighter; I just know it,” Isaac smirked.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

The calm before the storm.

I followed Isaac a little ways into the woods. We didn’t walk as far as I had to get to the latrine but we looped around so that it felt like we were going in a circle. The woods thinned and cleared.

We were standing in a clearing much like the one where the camp was set up only this one was much smaller. It was the perfect size for a fighting arena. There were even logs stacked up at different heights like stadium seating.

Isaac and I walked to the logs and we sat down on the second row side by side. His leg brushed mine sending a shiver down my spine.

For a while we just sat in silence and watched the people in front of us dueling. And then recognition clicked in.

I leaned into Isaac, which wasn’t hard since we were practically in each other’s lap. “Is that your sister?” I whispered in his ear. He nodded.

I was amazed.

Isobel was wearing only a white tank top, basketball shorts, and tennis shoes. Her long dark brown hair flowed with her every movement.

Her opponent was a large burly male that appeared to be around twenty-five. He was tall and extremely muscular. His dark hair was closely shaved to his head.

He had strength on his side but Isobel had speed and she knew how to use it to her advantage.

She expertly dodged his punches and landed a few into him. She was quick and small and managed to hit him more than he hit her. He’d try and catch her around the neck and she’d duck out of the way just in time and punch him in the stomach. She was by far a much better fighter than he was. I could see her winning against a vampire. She seemed to move as fast as a vampire but I knew that wasn’t possible. She was quick but she wasn’t that quick. Her opponent tried to get his arms around her but she took a step back just in time to miss the crushing blow of his arms. She threw a kick that landed in his side. He was momentarily taken aback but then came to his senses as he tried to punch her in the kidney. He missed, hitting her arms instead, as she brought up her leg and managed to kick him in the back of his knees making him fall to the ground in a position as if to beg for mercy. He flopped onto his back, panting heavily.

“Match,” he breathed.

“Are you sure? I’m fine for another round,” she said grinning at the man that was three times bigger than her.

“Oh, I’m sure,” he said wiping sweat off his brow with his shirt showing off a well-defined stomach. She reached out a hand to haul up the burly man up. He took it graciously.

“Let’s go get you some ice,” she said rubbing at some quickly forming bruises around his face.

“Good idea,” he grunted grabbing at his side.

Isobel put her arm around him more in a friendly gesture than to hold him up but I noticed his tall figure slink onto hers for support. As she turned to escort the man back to camp she spotted me and Isaac. Her eyes narrowed at me and her black-brown hair stood on end. She looked like she wanted to hiss at me like a cat. I stared back unflinching. I had faced a sadistic vampire. I was not going to back down from the intense human gaze of Isobel Friedmont.

Isaac slowly clapped his hands, more mocking than anything.

Her gaze shifted to her brother who was sitting rather closely to my side, our legs touching. Her eyes narrowed even further to the point where I couldn’t see her bright blue eyes. It was as if she thought she could burn a hole straight through our touching legs.

“What are you doing here with her?” she ground through her teeth.

Isaac hopped down from the makeshift log bleacher to stand in front of his sister. He stood wide eyed and innocent.