Chapter 6 #2
A growl erupts from the back of her throat, and I push Tori out of the way, sending her flying in the opposite direction.
The move costs me time, and the vampire collides with me, sending us both crashing to the floor.
The dagger falls from my hand and flies across the room.
Her scream sends a pounding sensation through my head as she rips the mask from my face.
My head and back throb from the impact, and little time passes before she slams a fist into my face.
The familiar taste of copper floods my mouth, and the ringing in my head drowns out Athriel’s voice.
Another blow lands, and through the haze I catch Tori’s scream.
I try to lift my head, but my body rebels—it takes everything just to keep from blacking out.
My head tilts to the side, and I just about make out Tori being held back by one of the vampires, her face filled with so much fear as she fights against his hold.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” I whisper, not even sure if she can hear me. Before I can even think of a plan, the female vampire vanishes. I blink, once, twice—and then her body slams into the far wall with a sickening crack before crumpling to the floor.
“Get up.” A voice commands. I look up and find a man in a hooded cloak standing over me, his hand outstretched for mine. Despite myself, I take it, letting the adrenaline replace the pain. The man scans my body as though looking for injuries, and I gasp.
“It’s you.” The words fall out before I can stop them.
It’s the man from Finn’s apothecary. His mouth tilts up for a second before the harsh line of it returns as he swirls into the path of a vampire readying to attack us, slicing him in half with a sword he reveals from beneath the folds of his cloak.
The vampire doesn’t have time to make a sound, and I watch in horror as his body slides in half, his torso hitting the ground with a thud. Time seems to freeze, and my body doesn’t move.
“Are you going to continue to stand there and stare, or do you intend to help?” he says, throwing my dagger toward me.
I catch the hilt and pin him with a look before nodding.
I turn from him and run over to two vamps fighting a woman dressed in the same dark cloak as him.
She stands protectively in front of Tori, blocking her from the onslaught of the vampires’ attack. Thank the Gods, she’s ok.
I bound across the room, twisting my wrist at the last minute and sinking my blade deep into the neck of the vampire nearest to me.
So, you do pay attention in training. I hear the cockiness in Athriel’s voice.
Sometimes.
He laughs at this.
I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the room. The woman has taken down the other vampire, and Tori races past her, surprising me when her body slams into mine and her arms engulf me.
“I thought you were dead.” She sobs.
I relax for a second, letting my arms tighten around her. “I’m glad you’re ok, too.”
She catches herself and steps back, her eyes glassy from tears that threaten to spill.
But my attention sways as her eyes focus on something over my shoulder.
I turn. Corpses of vampires and humans litter the floor, while seven cloaked figures stand unnaturally still, their leader forcing the female vampire who nearly killed me down to her knees.
“Such a wild thing, aren’t you?” he teases.
She spits blood onto the floor before hissing at him. My nose wrinkles at the display.
“I thought you may wish to have the honor of killing this one, slayer.”
I grit my teeth. “Don’t call me that.”
He laughs as he holds the female in place with an ease that makes no sense. He looks human. His eyes do not bear the crimson red shade of the sired nor the black of the born, so what the hell is he?
“Why deny the reputation you have worked so hard to build? The vampires have been searching for you for an entire year, and you have been right under their noses.”
His eyes fall to study the black blood coating my blade, and my grip tightens around the hilt. The move only seems to amuse him.
“Now, how about we hurry this along so we can talk business?”
I don’t hesitate, my blade slicing across the pale white flesh of her throat. I watch as her body convulses on the ground like all the others. It takes only a few seconds for her to reach her end.
The man claps his hands together, not even bothering to hide his excitement, and yet the others remain silent and still as if they only move on his command.
“So very fascinatin—”
“Who the hell are you?”
He laughs at my interruption.
“So eager is your generation. You lack the patience necessary for the task at hand.”
“How about you stop talking in riddles and answer my question?”
He watches me for a moment as though I am a rare jewel he has been searching for. A cold ripple travels up my spine, and I can’t shake the feeling of familiarity again. Why the hell does it feel like I know him?
“My name is Julian, and I have been searching for you for a very long time, Adina.”
My name slithers off his tongue like the prayers the acolytes send up to the lost Gods. His hands are clasped together, but his eyes are firmly on me. Tori shifts beside me, a small reminder that I’m not the only life I need to get out of here alive.
“How do you know my name?”
He tsks at me.
“You are asking the wrong questions.”
He vexes me, Athriel says.
Me too.
“Sometimes I vex myself.”
My eyes snap to his, and a wicked grin fills his face. A strange emotion fills every inch of me, and I know whatever it is, it belongs to Athriel.
“That’s not possible.”
No, it is not, Athriel says.
Julian steps forward, and I lift my dagger in warning. A soft laugh falls from his lips.
“Much more is possible than you know—you just have to know where to look.” He pauses for a moment, looking down at my dagger. “You do not need that in my presence. I mean you no harm.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”
He shrugs, turning his back on me as if to make a point.
I don’t take my eyes off him as he crosses the room, his steps slow and measured, before he bends to pick up one of the fangs I dropped earlier.
When he stands, he has it held between his index finger and thumb.
He analyzes it as though he sees something the rest of us don’t.
“Who taught you about the venom?”
I train my face, stopping the surprise from slipping into place. That’s a secret I will take to my grave. I don’t even think the name, just in case he can hear that too.
“Who taught you?” I throw back at him.
He beams at this as if impressed by my answer.
“I like you, Adina. You remind me of someone I once knew a very long time ago. I can see why h—”
He cuts himself off, and for the first time, I see his controlled expression slip for just a second. “I can see why things turned out the way they did.”
“One more riddle and you’ll join the rest of them,” I say, pointing to the bodies on the floor.
“You only think it a riddle because you choose not to see it for what it truly is. Why don’t you start asking the important questions?”
I watch him in silence, my head pounding now that the adrenaline is wearing off.
“Why did you help us?”
This time, his smile reveals a set of perfectly straight white teeth.
“Because I have a job for you.”
I snort.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. I never asked you to help me. We would have been fine without you.”
“Lies do not become you, slayer.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
Our eyes lock in a silent challenge. Finally, he looks away, his features alight with amusement.
My gaze locks on the door as I rack my brain for an escape, but every path means getting past his people—and I just watched them butcher a room full of vampires without breaking a sweat.
We wouldn’t stand a chance. I finally relent.
“What is the job?”
His mouth twists as though he is proud I made the right decision, but little does he know I’m simply buying time.
“I wish for you to use your gift to kill the Crown Prince.”
I tip my head back and laugh.
“This has to be a joke because I refuse to believe anyone is this stupid.”
“I promise you that I do not jest. I would like for you to use the…your blood to put him down.”
“You must be completely insane to even be saying that out loud. Nobody just kills the Crown Prince; he’s the most powerful vampire in this entire kingdom.”
“Even the most powerful of creatures can be killed.”
“Then you kill him.”
“If only it were so simple.”
I step forward, and for the first time, his minions come alive, their eyes watching me from within the shadows of their hoods.
“Only an idiot would attempt something so stupid. Killing the prince is a suicide mission I am not prepared to go on, so either kill me now or let us go.”
He considers my words in silence before pointing toward the door, stepping aside to drive the message home. At once, the still figures shift like puppets on strings, parting to carve a clear path for us.
“As you wish. I told you, I mean you no harm.”
I watch him carefully, and I know I’m missing something, but I don’t have time to ponder it.
I grab Tori’s arm, yanking her beside me as I move in the direction of the door, bending briefly to retrieve the fallen fang.
I keep my eyes on them as I go, preparing for an attack, but to my surprise, it never comes.
They let us go, but there’s a part of me that knows that this is far from over.