Tommy started laughing and then stopped when he saw that Teren was not even remotely joking. Looking between him and Halina he sullenly said, “I’m hungry, I need to eat. What are a few cattle, in a city this size?”
I cringed at his word choice as Ben and I finally backed into Teren’s car. I tried the latch of the door behind me, but the stupid thing was, of course, locked. I cursed under my breath as Teren laid down the law for the vampire. Even terrified, I had to admit that his authority was sort of a turn on.
“You are in my territory and you do not have my permission to hunt here. You will leave every…cattle, in my city, alone.”
Tommy scoffed at that and gave Teren a once over. “Permission? I don’t need your permission, boy. And why should I deprive myself from the best meal in town? It’s not like they’re endangered. They breed like rabbits. They spread over this world like cockroaches. I’m simply doing my part, to thin the herd.” I really hated this guy referring to us as much lower life forms.
Teren took a step towards him menacingly, having a good half foot over the short, plain vampire. I knew that was misleading though, the vampire’s strength didn’t come from his size.
Halina stepped forward as well though, her strength equal, if not greater than Tommy’s. I jiggled the handle of the door uselessly as she calmly told him, “This is my city too and since I’ve been vampire longer than you, that makes me your elder. And you will listen to me when I say, back off. Why don’t you try farther south? There are some wonderful specimens in Brazil.”
Surprise flitted through me, mixing oddly with my fear, that Halina would care if he hunted here. A part of me wondered if he simply irritated her and she sided with Teren just to piss him off. Or maybe it was just a show of family unity. Either way, she was more imposing than Teren at the moment and the man paused, considering the threat of her before him.
“Well…” he sniffed and brought his hands out of his pockets, flexing them, “maybe you and I could hunt together, little minx?” He eyed her up and down, a little more seductively than he had Teren. “You could…approve my meal choice and then perhaps we could find a hole to hide up in until dusk?” He leaned toward her, running a hand up her thigh. “I’m sure you have one, somewhere.”
She scoffed and batted his hand away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I got a more appealing offer from a junky down at the wharf earlier.”
He bristled at that, anger clouding his face. “I think I will go.” He glared at Teren and then Halina. “The hospitality here is not what I expected.”
Teren stepped back, bringing an arm out to his side in a gesture of dismissal. “We’re sorry for the rudeness, but this is our home, and we do have rules here.”
The man made no move to leave, only frowned at Teren further. “You disappoint me half-breed. I was so hoping we could be friends.”
Teren raised his chin, shaking his head. “I have enough friends.”
Tommy’s lip twitched at that, and although I couldn’t see it, I thought his fangs had dropped down again. I quietly asked Ben if his car was open, desperately wanting to be behind a sheet of metal instead of standing out here in the open. Ben didn’t answer me, too caught up in the showdown going on in front of his face. I jabbed him in the ribs, but he still paid me no attention, only grasped my hand like I was his lifeline.
Tommy heard me whisper to Ben and shot me a glance. I met his eye and froze. His lips curved up in a cruel smile. It made me think about how a cat about to pounce on a mouse would look, if their faces could show emotion. His eyes gleamed in the orange lights and his body sank down just a fraction of an inch. Halina and Teren looked at each other briefly while Tommy held my gaze. Not looking away from me, he told them, “Fine, I’ll be on my way.” He tilted his head, his mouth opening enough so that I could indeed see his fangs. “But first…maybe a snack.”
That line brought Teren’s attention back to him, but he was too late. That plain looking vampire was fast, faster than I’d ever seen a vamp move, and that was saying a lot. I saw nothing at first. In fact, I was only aware something had changed, because I felt it. My brain couldn’t track him, and I still saw him standing by Teren. But he wasn’t. Before anyone else could do anything, I was suddenly shoved against Teren’s car, my bulging body trapped by one as hard and commanding as stone. By the time my brain could comprehend that he had moved, that he was pinning me to the car, my head was tilted so hard to the side, I thought it might break.
Before I could scream at that pain, a searing pain burst open on my neck. Then all I felt was pain; my entire body burned with it. My vision swam and faded, the orange glow of the parking lot warping and distorting, and I never did actually see him standing in front of me. The pain intensified to a level that made speech impossible and I’m pretty sure no sounds ever even left my body. I felt warmth being pulled from me, as fire burned through my head, neck, shoulder – everywhere. I heard muffled shouts, but they were distant, like everyone was suddenly miles away from me, or I was underwater. Then the pain started to fade and my vision dulled, started shifting to a sheet of black, like someone had turned off every light in the city and pulled a blanket over the stars.
As every muscle in my tense body started relaxing, and one long, raspy breath left my body, “7 seconds” kept replaying itself in my head. That’s how long an experienced killer took to drain a person dry. It felt like the pain had lasted an eternity to me, but I wondered if really, only a few seconds had ticked by. As thoughts started getting harder to keep, harder to hold onto, my very last one was, ‘I love you, Teren’.
Then I felt nothing.
To Be Continued on Next Chapter ... ... ...