with nothing but a stake and your cleavage? Makes me ashamed of my kind, it does.”
“And I would have killed more if I hadn’t been too young to get into bars, since they’re vampire trolling ground, not to mention all the time I had to take off when my grandfather got sick,” I flared. So much for trying not to make him angrier.
In a flash he was gone, leaving me staring at the spot where he’d just been. He certainly moved fast. Faster than any vampire I’d seen. I cursed my earlier impatience. If only I’d waited until the next weekend to hunt again. If only.
Left alone, I craned my neck to see where I was. With a start, I realized I must be in a cave. There was the sound of dripping water in the background, and it was dark even for my eyes. The single bald lamp only shone light in the immediate vicinity. The rest was blackness as complete as my nightmares. I heard slight echoes of him in the distance, how far away I had no idea. Seizing my chance, I wrapped my fingers around the braces holding me and pulled downward with all of my strength. Sweat popped out on my brow, my legs clenched with effort, and I channeled every muscle toward that singular goal.
There was a creak of metal in stone, a rasp of chains clanging together, and then the only light was suddenly switched off. Laughter from the darkness made me sag in defeat.
“Oh, sorry about that. Those won’t budge. They’re not going anywhere-and neither are you. Good of you to try, though. Hate to think your spirit’s broken already. Not much fun in that.”
“I hate you.” To avoid sobbing, I turned my face away from his direction and closed my eyes. Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name…
“Time’s up, luv.”
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…
My eyes were closed, but I felt him move closer until he pressed lengthwise next to me. Unable to help it, my breath came in short hard pants. His hands moved to my hair, and he smoothed it back from my neck.
…on earth as it is in Heaven…
His mouth sealed on my throat, tongue circling my thundering pulse in a deliberate manner. My back cut into the wall as I tried to disappear into the rock, but the cold hard limestone offered no escape. I felt the pressure of pointed, sharp teeth at my exposed and vulnerable artery. He was nuzzling my neck the way a hungry lion nuzzled a gazelle.
“Last chance, Kitten. Who do you work for? Tell me the truth and I’ll let you live.”
“I told you the truth.” That high-pitched whisper couldn’t be mine. The roaring of blood in my ears was deafening. Were my eyes still closed? No, I could see a faint green glow in the darkness. Vampire eyes.
“I don’t believe you…” Softly spoken, yet falling with the weight of an ax.
Amen…
“Bloody hell, look at your eyes.”
So deeply had I fallen into the fervent prayer, I hadn’t felt him pull back. He stared at me with fanged mouth open in disbelief, his face illuminated in the new green glow of my eyes. His brown ones were now that penetrating shade as well, and matching rays of emerald connected one shocked gaze to another.
“Look at your bloody eyes!”
He gripped either side of my head as though it would spin off. Still in a fog from teetering on the brink of mortality, I mumbled my response.
“Don’t need to look at them, I’ve seen them. They change from gray to green when I’m upset. Happy now? Going to enjoy your meal more?”
As if my head were scalding, he released me. I sagged in my chains, the adrenaline abandoning me and leaving dizzying lethargy in its wake.
The sound of his pacing bounced off the stone walls.
“Bugger, you’re telling the truth. You have to be. You have a pulse, but only vampires have eyes that glow green. This is unbelievable!”
“Glad you’re excited.” I peeked at him through my hair, which had tumbled back onto my shoulders. In the near-complete darkness I saw he was definitely worked up, his steps brisk and full of energy, eyes fading from feeding green to snapping brown.
“Oh, this is perfect! In fact, it could come in right handy.”
“What could come in handy? Either kill me or let me go already. I’m tired.”
He spun around, beaming, and clicked the lamp back on. It cast the same harsh light it had previously, flowing over his features like water. He looked ghostly beautiful under its blanket, like a fallen angel.
“How would you like to put your money where your mouth is?”
“What?” To say I was baffled didn’t begin to describe it. Seconds ago I was a nick away from eternity, now he wanted to play guessing games.
“I can kill you or let you live, but living comes with conditions. Your choice, your pick. Can’t let you go without conditions, you’d just try to stake me.”
“Aren’t you the smart one?” Frankly, I didn’t believe he’d let me go. This had to be a trick.
“You see,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “we’re in the same boat, luv. You hunt vampires. I hunt vampires. Both of us have our reasons, and we both have our problems. Another vampire can sense me whenever I’m close, so that makes it bleedin’ difficult to stake ’em without them expecting the try and running. You, on the other hand, put them completely at ease with that juicy artery of yours, but you aren’t strong enough to bring down the really big fish. Oh, you may have beaten some green ones, probably no older than twenty years, tops. Barely out of their nappies, as it were. But a Master vampire…like me…” His voice dropped to a scathing whisper. “You couldn’t bring me down with both stakes blazing. I’d be picking you out of my teeth in minutes. Therefore, I propose a deal. You can continue to do what you love the most-killing vampires. Yet you will only hunt the ones I’m looking for. No exceptions. You’re the bait. I’m the hook. It’s a capital idea.”
This was a dream. A very bad, bad dream, brought on by liver poisoning from too many gin and tonics. Here it was, a deal with the devil. At what price my soul? He watched me expectantly and threateningly all at the same time. If I said no, I knew what would happen. Save the glass, waitress, I’m drinking from the bottle! Happy hour, with my neck on tap. If I said yes, I’d be agreeing to a partnership with pure evil.
His foot tapped. “Don’t have all night. The longer you wait, the hungrier I get. Might change my mind in a few minutes.”
“I’ll do it.” The words flew out without thought. If I gave them thought, they’d never be spoken. “But I have a condition of my own.”
“Do you?” That made him laugh again. My, what a jolly guy. “You’re hardly in a position to demand conditions.”
My chin stuck out. Pride or peril, take your pick. “Just challenging you to put your money where your mouth is. You said I wouldn’t last minutes against you, even with both weapons. I disagree. Unchain me, give me my stuff, and let’s go. Winner takes all.”
There was a definite spark of interest in his eyes now, and that sly smile was back on his lips. “And what do you want if you win?”
“Your death,” I said bluntly. “If I can beat you, I don’t need you. As you put it, if I just let you walk, you’d come after me. You win, and I play by your rules.”
“You know, pet,” he drawled, “with you chained there, I could just have a nice long drink out of your neck and go about my business as usual. You’re pushing your luck quite a bit saying this to me.”
“You don’t seem the type that likes a boring drink out of a chained artery,” I boldly countered. “You seem like the type who likes danger. Why else would a vampire hunt vampires? Well? Are you in, or am I out?” My breath sucked in. This was the moment of truth.
Slowly he walked over, letting his eyes slide all over me. With a raised brow, he pulled out a metal key and dangled it in front of me. Then he inserted it firmly into the center of my manacles and twisted. They fell open with a clink.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” he said finally. For the second time that night.
THREE
