After taking a long, revitalizing shower to let the hot water wash away the dust and fatigue of work, Ethan changed his clothes and headed down the stairs of the main building.
Right at the landing of the steps, he spotted Kaleb chatting with a small group of vampire guys. The exact moment Ethan set foot on the bottom step, the guys noticed his presence and instinctively stepped back a few paces, keeping a respectful—and tense—distance from him.
"What's up, man," Ethan greeted, keeping his hands in his pants pockets and that calm expression of his as always.
"Hey, Ethan," Kaleb replied, scratching the back of his head with a somewhat bashful smile.
"What was that about?" Ethan asked, gesturing with a slight nod of his chin toward the guys who had backed away.
"Ah, it's kind of complicated, man..." Kaleb let out a faint laugh. "You know tomorrow is a full moon night, right? So the sharp-tooth crowd is kind of avoiding starting a fight with the new guy who picks up other werewolves by the neck like they're punching bags."
"Hahaha, is that it? How weird, man," Ethan replied, playing along and letting out a casual, easygoing chuckle.
Ethan tilted his head slightly, his green eyes fixing on Kaleb a second longer than usual.
"And you? Aren't you scared?" Ethan asked.
"Nah... From the little I know of you, I don't think you're going around killing vampires for nothing," Kaleb retorted, shrugging with confidence.
"Yeah... you might be right. See you around, man," Ethan replied, giving Kaleb a friendly pat on the shoulder before walking past him.
However, as he walked away, Ethan cast one last sidelong glance at Kaleb—a dense, unreadable look charged with an ancient coldness. Kaleb furrowed his brow, swallowing hard as he watched him leave. A strange chill ran down the vampire's spine, making him wonder in silence: He doesn't have anything against me... right?
As he walked down the more secluded and quiet corridors of the school, Ethan began to follow an unmistakable scent trail. Hope's sweet and striking scent—mixed with the sweat of training and the raw energy of her magic—guided him all the way to the training room.
As he neared the ajar door, the muffled sound of violent punches and well-aimed kicks echoed through the space.
Ethan pushed the door open without making a fuss. Inside, under the dim light of the room, Hope was attacking a leather punching bag with an almost desperate intensity. Every single strike was delivered with the full force of her body, unloading the frustration, guilt, and storm of feelings that had been consuming her since the previous night. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice his approach.
Ethan advanced with silent steps across the synthetic turf floor. Positioning himself directly behind her, he reached out and firmly grabbed one of Hope's arms in the middle of a movement, adjusting her elbow angle and shoulder posture.
"Your guard is open. And if you put your weight on your heel like that, you lose your balance on impact," he murmured right in her ear, his voice low and husky.
Hope jumped to the side, her heart pounding against her chest as she spun around abruptly with her fists raised! Her blue eyes were wide with pure shock. How on earth had she not heard him enter? She was a hybrid with heightened supernatural hearing, but Ethan had moved like a shadow, without making the slightest sound.
"What the hell, Ethan!" she gasped, bringing a hand to her chest as she tried to slow her breathing, staring at him with parted lips.
"So you're blowing off steam on a punching bag?" Ethan asked with an amused half-smile as he took slow steps across the room.
"Yeah. Actually, I'm waiting for Mr. Saltzman; he arranged to come train with me," Hope replied, adjusting the wrap on her hands and trying to shake off the fright.
"Hnn... Well, since I'm here, why not?" Ethan said, opening his arms slowly before bending his knees and settling into a relaxed yet ruthless combat stance.
Hope raised an eyebrow, eyeing him with a certain distrust.
"Do you know how to fight?"
"What? You're hurting my feelings like that, my dear Hope..." Ethan let out a low laugh, his green eyes flashing with a mischievous air. "I spent twenty years fighting monsters every single day in that hellhole. Of course I picked up a thing or two about blowing off steam. Besides, did you already forget our fight a few days ago?"
Hope clicked her tongue, crossing her arms for a second.
"Tch... Of course I remember you dodging my hits."
"Right then. So come on. I want to see how strong you are today... Only this time, I'm not just going to dodge."
The provocation was enough. Without saying another word, Hope lunged forward. She rushed in with the speed and fury characteristic of a tribrid, firing a right cross aimed at his chin.
Ethan didn't even flinch. He merely tilted his head to the side by a mere millimeter, feeling the wind of her punch pass right by, and used Hope's own momentum to grab her wrist and execute a clean sweep. Hope spun in midair, but used her agility to plant her hands on the floor and deliver a double-legged spinning kick toward his chest.
This time, Ethan didn't evade. He blocked the impact by crossing his forearms. The sound of physical collision echoed heavily through the room. The wooden floor creaked, but Ethan didn't even budge. With a fluid motion, he grabbed her ankle and pulled, throwing her off balance and shoving her palm-first against the mat.
Hope growled, her blood boiling. She got back up in a second and unleashed a devastating sequence of punches and elbows. Straight, cross, knee to the stomach. She was giving it her absolute all, pouring out every ounce of pure physical strength she possessed.
However, to Ethan, it looked like a slow-motion dance. He was playing with the situation. He dodged with irritating ease, swaying his head out of the way by millimeters, stopping her strongest punches with an open palm as if he were intercepting blows from a child. With every attempt Hope made, he countered with calculated touches—a shove to the shoulders, a firm slap to her guard to destabilize her, a quick jab that stopped millimeters short of hitting her nose.
"Come on, Hope. You're faster than that," he teased with a side smile, not even breathing hard.
Frustrated and out of patience, Hope tried a desperate attack: she feinted a high punch to make him raise his guard and went for a low sweep to knock him down. But Ethan predicted the move before she could even complete her intent. He simply leaped over the strike, grabbed both of her shoulders in midair, and pinned her firmly against the padded wall of the training room, trapping both of her wrists above her head with just one hand.
Hope's breathing was erratic, her chest rising and falling heavily, sweat dripping down her forehead. She stared at Ethan with wide eyes, her mind overcome by overwhelming frustration.
She had barely managed to land a single clean hit. Every single one of her onslaughts was neutralized without the slightest effort on his part. Inside, Hope wondered in shock: How on earth was Ethan so much stronger and faster than her? She was the legendary Tribrid—sure, right now she was just a hybrid, but even so, against him, it felt like all her raw physical strength was nothing more than a toy.
Ethan maintained the pressure for a few seconds, his body pressed against hers, watching the storm in Hope's blue eyes with that calm, victorious smile.
With anger boiling in her blood and frustration reaching its limit at being dominated so easily, Hope's eyes flashed a golden hue in the room's dim light. She gave up on physical strength and resorted to magical instinct.
"Motus!" she yelled, expelling a devastating wave of kinetic force.
The magical blast hit Ethan square in the chest. The impact threw him to the other side of the training room, sending his body flying several meters until it crashed violently against the wooden wall and collapsed heavily onto the floor, producing a loud thud that echoed up to the high ceiling.
The dry noise made Hope's anger evaporate instantly, replaced by sheer shock.
"Oh my god! Ethan, are you okay?!" she screamed, her voice laden with panic.
Hope ran to him desperately, dropping to her knees beside his body. Ethan was sprawled face down, motionless, with his eyes closed and his head limp, giving not the slightest sign of life.
"Ethan... answer me, please!" Hope muttered, her voice trembling. She reached out with a frightened hand, touching his shoulder to try to roll him over.
The exact second her hand brushed against him, Ethan's eyes snapped open in a playful flash.
Before Hope could react, he used his supernatural speed to pull her by the waist, spinning them both onto the floor and reversing their positions in the blink of an eye. She let out a short gasp of surprise as she found herself pinned underneath him. Ethan sealed his lips to hers in a deep, stolen, and provocative kiss that robbed every last bit of air from Hope's lungs.
He slowly broke the kiss, inches from her face, flashing that smug grin as he stared into the tribrid's wide, stunned blue eyes.
"Cheating with magic isn't fair, little wolf..." he murmured, his voice low and amused.