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Angela cried out, and Corin leaped in front of her, unsheathing his sword cane and brandishing it toward Ezekiel. “Stay back!” he shouted.

Ezekiel froze, eyes widening in shock, and his face melted back to its human visage. He lifted his hands in an acquiescent gesture. “Heavens, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to react like that. You just startled me.”

“We startled you?” Angela scoffed, breathing hard and holding a hand against her chest.

Corin slid his sword back inside his cane and muttered a few choice curses in French. “What in Gana’s name has gotten into you?”

Ezekiel pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, seeming to collect himself. “Nothing’s gotten into me. I was … lost in thought, and I didn’t hear you approach. That’s all.” He pressed his palms together. “I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

Lost in thought? That was his excuse for such an excessive reaction? Corin adjusted the brim of his hat with a grumble. “Mes dieux, Ezekiel, you could have given me a heart attack if I were still alive.”

“I know. Again, I do apologize.” Ezekiel adjusted his trenchcoat and cleared his throat. “Anyhow, thank you both for joining me out here this evening. I’ve already scouted the area to make sure no one else is about, and the cars on the highway won’t be able to see us through those trees there. So we can train unobserved.”

Angela rubbed her arms. “What kind of training are you suggesting?”

“We’re going to measure how far your magic can reach.” Ezekiel stepped up to the edge of the lake, dropped to one knee, and placed his hand on the bank. “This is how far I can extend my ice magic.” He furrowed his brow in concentration, and frost coated the ground around his hand and spread to the water, the surface freezing into a sheet of solid ice that stretched farther and farther out until it almost reached the middle of the lake, roughly fifty yards from where they stood.

“Your ice magic can reach that far?” Angela marveled.

“Indeed.” Ezekiel stood up and wiped his fingers on the lapel of his trenchcoat to remove some frost clinging to his glove. “We vampires with weather-based abilities can project our magic in one direction up to fifty yards away, give or take, or we can project our magic out in all directions to cover a circular area with a hundred-yard diameter.” He touched his temple. “Our telepathic abilities, on the other hand, can only reach those who are within ten yards of us.”

“Ten yards. That’s roughly how far my empathy can reach. Does that mean my fire magic might cover the same distance as your ice magic?”

“It’s possible.”

“Meaning I could burn everything within a fifty-yard radius.” Angela took a deep, shaky breath, a look of dread in her eyes. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

Ezekiel moved closer and touched Angela’s hand. “Your control has improved.”

“Only a little,” Angela murmured. “My powers scare me enough as it is. I’m not sure I want to know how far my fire can reach.”

Corin rubbed Angela’s shoulders. “How exactly would we determine the range of Angela’s powers?”

“The same way I just demonstrated.” Ezekiel gestured to the frozen lake. “Angela is going to use her magic to melt the ice I created.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Angela groaned. “Look, I understand the logic behind this test. You want me to use my power on the lake because I can’t set water on fire, but we’re still out in the middle of the woods surrounded by trees. What if I can’t direct my power in a straight line and I burn the woods around us? Or what if my power reaches farther than yours and I accidentally set the trees across the lake on fire?”

“I have considered those possibilities, which is why I wouldn’t dream of suggesting a test like this if the weather were warmer and dryer, but as you can see”—Ezekiel stepped over to the snow-covered grass and collected a snowball—“this is not a warm day. It’s more difficult for me to use my ice magic on hot summer evenings, and I theorize a cold snowy evening like this should hamper your fire magic in a similar manner.” He tossed the snowball to Corin.

Corin caught the snowball and scrutinized it for a moment. “You theorize the cold weather will hamper her powers?”

“Well, obviously we don’t know the full strength of Angela’s magic, so I can’t be a hundred percent sure—” Corin threw the snowball at Ezekiel’s face. “Ack!” Ezekiel wiped the snow from his cheeks. “Ptew, ptew!”

“Uncle Corin!” Angela scolded.

“My hand slipped,” Corin replied with a deadpan expression.

Ezekiel brushed the last of the snow from his beard. “I understand your trepidation, my friends, but I promise to take the utmost precaution. As an additional safety measure, I’ll take another stroll around the area and coat everything in thick ice, and if Angela wishes to proceed with this test, I’ll use my powers alongside hers to keep her fire contained to the lake.”

Angela wrung her hands and looked out over the partially frozen lake. “Can I think about this for a minute?”

“Certainly.” Ezekiel took Angela’s hands and gave them a comforting squeeze. “While you think it over, I’ll go out and spread as much ice over the lake and throughout the woods as I can. But when I come back, if you decide you don’t feel comfortable doing this, then we won’t. You never have to do anything you don’t wish to.”

Angela’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave Ezekiel a wan smile. “Thanks.”

Corin stared at their clasped hands with a twinge of unease, but he held his tongue. Angela was already nervous over Ezekiel’s proposed test, and Corin didn’t wish to distress her further by letting his overprotective instincts get the better of him.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Ezekiel turned on his heel and marched out onto the partially frozen lake, casting a freezing gust from his outstretched hands, thickening the ice and spreading it farther out as he made for the other side of the lake.

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