The Children of the Sun by Christopher Buecheler Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t care what they were saying. The fight would be won or lost here, and if she was making a mistake, then so be it.
    Mike executed a pretty spin away from her blade and swung his own outward toward Two’s exposed right flank. A slower vampire would have been hit, and even for Two it was close, but at the last moment she pulled her knee all the way up to her stomach and the sword passed by her flesh and hit the canvas. Two brought her own blade back up in a backhand slash, and to save his neck Mike had no choice but to pull his shoulder up and take the hit. Two’s blade cut into his upper bicep and he shouted in pain. Two took the opportunity to shove him hard in the direction he was already leaning, and, as she had hoped, Mike went crashing to the floor. Two pressed the point of her blade against his chest.
    “Yield?” she asked. Mike glared up at her, clearly pissed off but also impressed.
    “You doing anything later?” he asked.
    “Hanging out with my boyfriend,” Two told him.
    “Yeah, that’s my luck. I yield.”
    He let go of his sword, holding his open hands up, and Two took the point of her weapon away. She reached out, took his left hand in hers, and helped him to his feet. Behind her, she could hear people approaching.
    “Good fight,” she said, and Mike nodded.
    “Yeah. You’re really fast.”
    “That’s what they tell me.”
    “I’m gonna want a rematch next time. Still pretty sure I can beat you.”
    Two grinned, stepping aside as Mike’s patron arrived to tend to his wound.
    “I look forward to proving you wrong.”
     
    * * *
     
    “Other than completely ignoring my advice, I thought you did very well,” Jakob said. They were sitting on the bleachers again. Two was freshly showered and back in her street clothes. She laughed.
    “I didn’t ignore it … I just didn’t think I was going to beat him with technique. He had a counter for every move I made!”
    “Yes, but he executed several of them poorly. We’ll have to teach you to look for that.”
    “I know I have a lot to learn, Jakob. I’m not giving up on my lessons just because I won a rookie fight.”
    Jakob nodded. He glanced at Theroen, who was sitting on Two’s other side, half listening to them and half watching the fight.
    “What did you think?” Jakob asked him, and Theroen turned to give them his full attention.
    “Yeah, did I look OK up there?” Two asked.
    Theroen considered this for a moment and then smiled. “I enjoyed the part where you retained all of your blood.”
    “Me too!”
    “I was proud of you,” Theroen continued. “Proud because you are talented, but also because of the efforts you have made. When I first encountered you, you were spending most of your energy and willpower just keeping yourself from being swallowed by despair. As I watched, I saw in you the person you could be if you could harness your strength. You are doing so now, and it is … well, quite nerve wracking at times, but also very enjoyable.”
    Two felt herself blushing, unaccustomed to such naked praise. “I guess. I mean … it’s just some sword fighting.”
    Jakob spoke up. “Sword fighting and karate, and intense physical training that most people would have given up after a week, and dealing with Stephen and then me for more than three years, and keeping yourself in peak shape, and—”
    “All right, I get it!” Two exclaimed. “I’m awesome. Message received. Thanks, you guys.”
    “You’ve become the person you were supposed to be,” Theroen said.
    “Long as you still like that person,” Two replied.
    “Very much.”
    Two glanced at Jakob. “You should totally look away now so we can make out.”
    “This is possibly the least appropriate place in the world for that activity,” Jakob replied, his voice dry, and Two grinned.
    “Oh, fine. Hey, what happened to Sasha? Did she leave?”
    “No, she watched and told me to congratulate you. She’s in the locker room now, changing.”
    “She still