A discreet knock knock woke Mia from her dreamless nap. When she turned to the Vila, she saw unsurprisingly that he hadn't been able to rest. Closing your eyes and losing yourself in a torment of wild thoughts wasn't the best way to relax. He had managed to snatch a few hours of sleep that night, but that hadn't been enough to dissipate the purplish dark circles that had been covering his face for several days now. And finding Impervia's warning probably wouldn't do anything to fix things tonight.

"Lunch is ready," Irina announced through the door.

Mia lazily stood up after a few seconds, stretching and rubbing her eyes as Ethan, already standing, smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes. The young human's mind was spaced out, still lost in the meanders of sleep. She slid her fingers along her hair to try to discipline her a little, then ended up following her soulmate and leaving the peace of their room.

Dead silence reigned in the dining room. Adam and Irina were already seated, just waiting for their guests to eat. Liam was still at the neighbor's since the couple had preferred to leave him there for a few extra hours to quietly discuss what they had just learned. Adam was impassive, although more closed than usual, but the change in mood was especially obvious in Irina whose tortured pout reflected her pain. The gleam of life and spirit that shone in her eyes a few hours ago was gone, replaced by a hint of despair and sadness.

"I did not make too much to eat, I figured that no one would really be hungry," she explained, grimacing.

Indeed, their meal was mainly composed of cold dishes such as vegetables and dried meat. It was more than enough to fill the little appetite of the group. The couple, therefore, busied themselves with joining them, taking their places, and serving each other, still in an almost painful silence. No one was in the mood for small talk.

"Mia," Irina finally said hesitantly to break the silence. "We will be going to present our condolences to Shaun and his family at the end of the afternoon. If you want to accompany us... I know you don't know him very well, but it will surely please him to see that other people are interested in their fate."

"Sure! Although I don't think I will be of much use in consoling him..."

"Your presence will already be enough."

Mia wasn't entirely convinced the family would appreciate having a stranger intrude on their grief, but she assumed Irina knew them well enough not to suggest this in vain. What had happened to the teenager pained her greatly, especially with the first image of a young man overjoyed that he had left her the day before. If going with them could ease his pain a little, she would come, of course, even if it broke her heart to witness their sadness.

Does he still think freedom is worth it after it cost his parents their lives?

"I think I'm going to go shoot a few bullets after eating, I need to get rid of all these negative emotions," said Irina, emptying her plate. "Anyway, Liam is going to stay at the neighbor's until we get back from Shaun's. Do you want to join me, Mia?"

"Why not, I still have the revolver to test..."

The two young women, therefore, met in the garden half an hour later, while the two Vilas had settled into the armchairs of the living room to discuss. Ethan had initially protested at the thought of not being by his soul mate's side while she wielded such dangerous weapons, but he had finally relented after she kept telling him that she would be fine. Besides, it wasn't as if he was very far from her. Only the glass of the terrace separated them.

All the more reason to learn how to protect me, if he starts stalking me all the time... It's not going to be livable in the long term.

Appreciating her reassuring presence was one thing, having an overseer who never took his eyes off her was another. Especially since they weren't risking much to Callis right now.

For the moment.

"For the revolver, it's quite simple," Irina began to explain, showing her the gestures. "You place the ammunition one by one in the cylinder, put it back in position, remove the safety catch, and it's ready to fire. You can also load it with explosive or armor-piercing ammunition, but it's not really useful since you mainly use the revolver while being close to your target, so the bullet generally does enough damage. At the price that these ammunition costs, we prefer to avoid using them for nothing..."

Irina slipped the weapon into her hands after raising the safety catch. It looked like the ones Mia had seen in western movies. It was light compared to the rifle and held perfectly between her fingers. She lifted the gun to eye level with one hand, then quickly wrapped her second hand around it for stability. Irina's satisfied face told her she had the right reflex. Like last time, they were about twenty yards from the magic target, but aiming was a little more complex with the revolver than with the bolt-action rifle.

"It's a good weapon to have on you when you know how to use it. It is not necessarily needed to carry it permanently in Callis since we risk nothing here, but, if one day you are led to walk outside the walls of the city again, I advise you not to leave without. I'm sure Ellana or Zerkan won't mind giving you one."

Mia nodded before concentrating on the ball she was about to shoot. Finding that her eyesight was as sharp as an eagle now still amazed her, but it was an extremely satisfying feeling, and her heightened senses allowed her to hit the target head-on without any real difficulty. Another casing soon joined the first already on the ground, its next bullet ricocheting off the location of the fake figure's heart. Her vision was so detailed that she had no trouble concentrating on a particular point, the brain doing the rest of the work for her to aim correctly.

"We may not have beast claws and strength like Vilas, but we can match their combat skills with these weapons when we master them," Irina revealed proudly.

I wanted to launch the Kickstarter campaign later but I failed haha. So here it is : 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/31648811/arena-book-one-soulmates

If you want to help, you can just donate whatever, or you can get the ebook or the paperback when they'll be available!