The concrete crumbled in her hands like chalk, breaking apart into powder and chunks that spilled onto the padded floor. She stared at her dust-covered palms, her mouth falling open in shock.
"Holy shit," she breathed.
"Excellent," Adrian said, and to her surprise he sounded pleased rather than concerned. "That's significantly stronger than a typical newborn vampire. Most of them can crack a block with effort. You just pulverized it."
He handed her another block that looked denser and heavier. "Try this one. It's reinforced one, three times stronger than the first."
Lilian took the block and squeezed again. It held maybe two seconds longer than the first one before it too crumbled to dust in her grip.
"How strong am I?" she asked, brushing the concrete powder off her hands.
"Strong enough to accidentally hurt someone if you're not careful," Adrian said seriously, his tone turning sober. His blue eyes held hers with an intensity that made her breath caught without her meaning it to. "That's why we're here. You have to learn to regulate this before you're around humans again. The last thing we want is for you to break someone's hand with a handshake and creating a chaos."
The mention of humans brought the reality crash back into her. Nancy. Her parents. Her coworkers at the restaurant. All the people from her old life who had no idea what had happened to her, who probably thought she was missing or dead.
"Can I…" Lilian closed her mouth again, unsure how to ask what she wanted to know. "Will I be able to see my family, my friends again?"
Adrian's expression softened instantly, stepping closer and reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His gesture was gentle, felt intimate and somehow comforting her.
"Yes," he said gently. "But not right away. You need time to adjust first, to learn control. The transition is the most dangerous time for newborns. Your instincts are sharp, your bloodlust is high, and you don't yet have the experience to manage it all."
His thumb brushed against her cheek, and Lilian felt the sensation all the way down to her toes.
"We'll help you as fast as we safely can. I promise you won't lose the people you love. We'll find a way to fit your old life into this new one," Adrian promised with a soft and reassuring voice.
"What if they find out what I am? And terrified of me?" Lilian whispered, her fear finally coming to the surface.
"Then we'll deal with it," Adrian said firmly. "But honestly, I don't think the people who love you will stop loving you just because you've changed. Love doesn't work that way."
There was something in his eyes when he said it, something that made Lilian think he wasn't just talking about her family and friends. The air between them felt charged suddenly with unspoken words and feelings neither of them were saying.
Lilian's heart rate started to spike, and she knew he could heart it. He could probably smell the desire that rolling off her, sensing how her body was reacting to him being so close.
"Adrian," she called out, but he stepped back, putting distance between them again before the tension could go any further.
"Let's continue with the testing," he said, and his voice sounded slightly strained. "The sooner we understand your limits, the sooner we can start working on control."
He was right, training. That was why she was here for. She needed to stop thinking about how much she wanted to close the distance between them and see what his mouth tasted like.
"What's next?" she asked, forcing her focus back on the task at hand instead of the way her body was begging to be touched.
"Speed test," Adrian said as he walked toward the far end of the room. "I want you to run from here to the other wall as fast as you can. Don't hold back. Just let your instincts take over."
Lilian took her position at one end of the training room, lowering herself slightly like a runner at the starting line. She could feel the power coiling in her thighs and calves, ready to be unleashed.
"On three," Adrian called out. "One… two… three!"
She ran.
The world blurred around her, and she covered the distance less than a heartbeat, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground. The sensation was intoxicating, like she had finally shed the weight of being human and was actually flying.
She reached the far wall so fast she had to throw her hands up to stop herself from crashing into it. Her palms hit the reinforced concrete with a loud crack. When she pulled back, spiderweb cracks branched out from where she had made impact.
"Shit," she gasped, staring at the damage she had caused. "Sorry, I didn't mean to~"
"Don't apologize," Adrian said from right behind her.
She spun around, startled. He had moved so fast she hadn't even seen him crossing the room.
"That was perfect," he said, looking at the cracked concrete with a grin. "Your speed is excellent for a newborn. Not quite as fast as us yet, but you'll get there with enough practice."
He was close again, close enough that she could feel the coolness radiating from his body, could smell that distinctive vanilla and water scent that made her want to bury her face in his neck and just breathe him in.
"Your reflexes are sharp too," Adrian went on, seemingly had better control than she did. "You stopped yourself before causing serious damage. That's instinct, and you can't teach that."
His hand lifted and braced against the wall beside her head, caging her in without touching her. Lilian's breath caught in her throat as she looked up at him, finding his blue eyes darker than usual and how wide his pupils were.
"I can hear your heart racing," he said with a voice low enough to slide across her senses. "I can smell your arousal, on how much you want this. I can also feel the heat coming off your skin."
"Then you already know what I'm feeling," Lilian whispered, unable to look away from him.
"I do," Adrian admitted honestly. "And I'm feeling it too, since you walked down those stairs, looking like every dangerous thought I've tried not to have since we met."
He leaned closer until his lips were hovering just an inch from her ear, his presence overwhelming without ever crossing into touch. "But I meant what I said earlier. I won't take advantage of you while you're still learning who you are. When we finally cross that line, it needs to be because you're sure. Not because your hybrid hormones are driving you crazy to find a mate."
"What if I am already sure?" Lilian challenged, shifting her head until their faces only inches apart.
"Then prove it," Adrian murmured, his breath brushing softly against her lips. "Show me you can stand this closeness without giving in to every urge. Show me you can spend hours with us, touching us, without just acting on every impulse. Prove that when you finally choose us, it's a conscious move made with a clear head."
It was a challenge. And there was something about the way he said it made her want to prove him wrong, to show him she wasn't some hormone-addled newborn who couldn't think past her own desires.
"Fine," she said, lifting her chin stubbornly. "I'll prove it."
"Good girl," Adrian said, and the praise sent a sharp shiver down her spine. He lingered for a long second, his eyes tracing her lips one last time, before finally pushing off the wall and stepping back to put space between them once more.
Lilian felt the sudden loss of his warmth, and it was jarring on how much her body already craved his closeness.
"Now," Adrian said, his voice shifting back into normal teaching tones, "let's see how well you can control your strength in an actual fight. Knowing you're powerful is one thing. Knowing how to use that power without killing someone is something else entirely."