In the Forests of the Night

children, but what would happen if someone fought you who knew what they were doing?'

'Get out, Risika. I don't want to fight you again. We've done this before.' His voice is cold, meant to frighten, but I do not heed it.

'We've done this before, have we? Where is your fancy blade then, Aubrey? You offered it to me and asked me to kill you if I could. I think I deserve a second chance.'

'Why do you feel compelled to challenge me again, Risika? You still wear the scar I gave you last time. Are you so determined to bear another? '

'I wear this scar as a sign that I will one day repay it. 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' Aubrey. I will avenge this scar and every scar you have put into my heart.'

'Really? How, Risika?' he asks me, leaning against the table casually. 'I am far older than you — '

'Does it matter, Aubrey?' I respond, slowly circling him. He does not turn to keep me in sight until I am completely behind him, but he does turn. He does not like having me at his back.

'Perhaps not, but I am meaner, Risika, and I am deadlier. A viper, hidden in the grass.'

A viper—how apt. Does he know how often I have compared him to that exact creature?

'A garden snake, Aubrey, hiding in the grass. I am not weak anymore, but I think you are.' I lean forward, my hands on the table between us.

I am lying, of course. I know he is stronger than I, but I am not about to admit that to him.

'That remains to be seen, does it not?' he answers, turning away from me as if he doesn't care where I am.

Another deadly game. We circle each other. I am not afraid to have you behind me —I do not fear you that much, we say to each other. Yet we watch our backs, because we are both vipers, willing to kill and simply waiting for a chance.

'Shall we find out?' I suggest coolly. I am not bothering to hide my aura, and I can feel it stretch out, strike Aubrey's aura, and crackle around it. I search his aura, looking for weaknesses, as I know he searches mine.

'Why are you so eager to lose, Risika? '

He is afraid of me, I realize. He is playing for time—trying to make me lose my nerve. Why? Because he is afraid he might lose? It does not seem possible that Aubrey thinks I could win.

I walk around the table toward him until I am close enough that he turns, not trusting me.

'Why are you stalling, Aubrey?' My power snaps out and hits his like a whip. He staggers a bit—I am strong, and I am reckless, and I really do not like him.

His own power lashes out, and I feel a burning in my veins. My vision mists over for a moment, a moment in which Aubrey draws his knife.

'You always need your blade, don't you, Aubrey? Because without it you'd lose, wouldn't you?' I circle behind him, and he turns to keep me in sight. Like the game of insults, this is one I can win: Follow me, watch me, but do not let me get behind you, because you know I hate you and will kill you if given a chance. It is only in the actual fight that I fear I might lose.

'Come now, Aubrey—just like old times. You threw your blade down then and dared me to pick it up; are you too afraid to do so now?'

I lash my power around his wrist. His muscles spasm, but he holds on to the knife.

'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' I have nothing to fear, Aubrey—what about you?'

His power flares out with his anger, and I hear wood crack. One of the tables splits down the middle, and a human jumps out of the way barely in time.

'Impressive,' I say scornfully, and lash out with my own power. The mirrored walls fracture into spiderweb patterns with no single inch left whole. Hairline cracks run through every surface, but not one piece falls out. Aubrey backs up a step, away from me.

'Coward,' I say. 'Do you back away from me? ' I take a step forward, ever aware of the knife in his hand, and he steps back again, almost running into one of the humans, who jumps away quickly.

Aubrey glances behind him and notices the crowd for the first time. It is mostly human, but there are some of our kind. I see Jager lounging against the wall and Fala, Jager's fledgling, sitting cross-legged on a table.

'Are you all talk, Aubrey? Are you too afraid to fight?' I circle to the left as he moves to get behind me, so that I end up behind him. Once again he has to turn to keep me in his sight.

'Why would I be afraid?' he asks, his tone mocking. 'It would not hurt me to destroy you, Risika.'

'I'm sure it wouldn't, Aubrey, but we will never have a chance to test the theory,' I answer.

'Test it again, you mean,' he says. 'We have tested it once before.'

I ignore his words and reach out, my aura striking his in its center and latching on. The average human sees nothing, and the vampires see only a shimmering space between us, but Aubrey feels it, and I feel it.

He stumbles again, bringing his shields up and throwing my power back at me. I hold on with my mind, though I fall into a table, and feel his power crackling around my own.

Humans have one thing to use in a fight: their bodies. Among my kind, opponents fight with their bodies, but also with their minds. I can feel Aubrey's power beating against my shields, trying to get into my mind, trying to latch on to my own power. I push him away from my mind, trying to get into his, all the while circling, moving closer, dodging the knife, circling away.

My eyes mist over for a moment, and my veins burn as Aubrey lashes out again. I stumble, and he strikes out with his blade. I narrowly dodge, falling back, barely catching myself before I fall to the floor. Aubrey is there in a moment, but I am not.

His power, which has attached itself to my aura, keeps me from using my mind to move. But I push him back long enough to change to hawk form and fly away. Fighting his mind and holding hawk form is nearly impossible, and I return to human form. Aubrey's mind is stronger than my own, but for the first time I realize that the difference is small. Were he as strong as I thought, he could have stopped me from changing at all.

I came here expecting to lose but refusing to run. For the first time I realize I might be able to win.

Aubrey's power wavers for a moment as my fear drops, and I strike out again with all my strength. Aubrey falls back a few feet, and I advance and strike again. He disappears for a moment, and suddenly the knife is at my throat.

I know that if I use the small strength I have left to move, I will not be able to hold up the walls keeping him out of my mind.

CHAPTER 20 NOW

I FREEZE, feeling the faintest burning where the blade presses against the skin of my throat. With that blade, it will be fatal if my throat is slit.

'I told you long ago that you cannot win against me, Risika.' Aubrey thinks he has won, and he is not paying as much attention to his shields. I do not feel him pushing as strongly against my mind. Why fight when you think you have won? 'I do not kill my own unless forced to, Risika, and you are not enough of a threat to force me. So go.'

He moves the knife away for a moment, and I hit his wrist, breaking it. The knife falls to the ground, and I shove him into the fractured mirrors that make up the walls.

I laugh.

I pick up the knife before he can recover, striking him with my mind, keeping his shields down. I lock on to his mind with my own, forcing him down.

'Aubrey, I've learned. In fact, you taught me this little trick. You think that once you turn your back I will stay away, afraid. Well, know this, Aubrey,' I say, feeding his words back to him. 'That isn't how the world works.'

Now he begins to fight again. He was taken by surprise for a moment, but he grows desperate. He lashes out along the line of power I am using to strike him, and as I stumble for a moment, losing my hold, his walls return.

We both now know that this fight is serious. But he is weak, and I can feel that he is afraid. He has forgotten his knife, which I now hold; his every instinct is focused on survival.