Rose turned as much as she could in his hold to glance deeper into the alley, into the part furthest from the streetlight, her heart racing as she wondered who Kallias was. She watched as a tall, dark silhouette stepped out of the shadows.
“Is this what you have to do to get women now?” Kallias taunted. “But then, I guess I do understand why they wouldn’t want to sleep with you willingly.”
Even before she could see him, Rose recognized the voice, that same deep, slightly accented voice that had growled into her ear only a few minutes earlier. Kallias was his name, she realized. It was a strange name. A Greek name, she thought. She stared at him warily as he moved out of the shadows and into the dimly lit part of the alley. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or afraid.
It all depended on whether he’d come to help her or to help Theron.
A malicious smile curved at Theron’s lips. “I seem to remember that Phoebe never required much persuasion before crawling into bed with me.”
Kallias said nothing, but Rose noticed that his jaw seemed to tighten.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Was that a sensitive topic?” Theron mocked.
Rose narrowed her eyes at the two men, not sure why they were choosing now to do this—whatever it was that they were doing. If Kallias planned to save her somehow, she would be grateful, of course, but she wished he would hurry, preferably before Theron broke her arm with his tight grip. She needed her arm.
And if he planned to kill her, well, that would just irritate her more.
She froze as she noticed his light brown eyes shift toward hers. His lips lifted into that amused smirk that irritated her so much, almost as if he knew that she was chewing him out in her mind. He took a step closer, still watching her.
“Release the woman so that you and I can talk,” Kallias said to Theron.
Theron glanced down at her. “Why would I need to release her?”
“She should not hear our discussion,” Kallias answered.
Theron shrugged. “Why not? If she is dead, she can’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah, the dead part doesn’t sound too appealing to me,” Rose said.
“Shut up, human,” Theron snapped as he twisted her arm again.
Rose whimpered involuntarily as her body buckled from the pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kallias glance at her, and if she didn’t know any better, she would think that was sympathy that she saw flash in his brown eyes.
“My name is Rose, not human,” she said in a strained voice.
Kallias turned toward Theron. “What do you want with her?”
“Why does it matter to you?” Theron asked. “Are you interested in her?”
“No,” Kallias said. “I just find it strange that you would be.”
Rose glared at Kallias. “Wow. Thanks a lot,” she snarled sarcastically. “You know what? I’d find it strange if anyone were interested in you, too, jerk.”
His lips twitched as he suppressed a laugh, and he gestured toward her, as if she had just illustrated his point. “We both know spunky is not your type.”
“Ah, I guess that would mean she’s not your type either,” Theron said, flashing a mocking smile. “I seem to remember we have similar taste in women.”
“No, we really don’t,” Kallias said darkly. He took a slow, measured step toward them. “Just answer the question. Why were you hunting this woman?”
“Hunting?” Rose repeated, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not a deer!”
“No,” Theron agreed, leaning close to her neck. “You’re much tastier.”
“Get away from me,” she snarled, kicking his leg again.
Theron growled and pulled back. “Do you want free, little girl?”
She frowned, not sure if that was a trick question. She nodded hesitantly.
Rose realized that she’d answered too soon as Theron threw her against the wall with so much force that she felt her feet leave the ground before she collided with the wall. Pain shot through her skull as the side of her head hit the wall. Her mind swirled with dizziness from the impact, and she vaguely realized that a warm liquid was pouring down the side of her face and sliding down her neck. She touched the thick, sticky liquid and pulled her hand back to find it covered in blood. She groaned as her body ached and her eyesight blurred.
Theron snatched her up, clutching the front of her white button-down shirt that was now stained with large droplets of blood. Her eyes fluttered closed, even as she fought to stay conscious. She felt his fangs dig into her neck.
Theron suddenly dropped her, and Rose collapsed onto the ground as Theron gasped and looked down at his stomach. Through her disoriented daze, Rose noticed the tip of a blade that stuck through Theron’s stomach as blood began to stain his gray sweater. Just as Theron realized what happened, the blade twisted, causing him to yell in pain and fall to his knees. She watched as Kallias, standing behind Theron, removed his blood-coated dagger from Theron’s back.
Kallias stared down at Theron as he groaned and writhed in pain. He raised his eyebrow and flashed a bitter smile at him. “It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“I wish I would’ve killed you when I had the chance,” Theron growled.
“I seem to remember that you did,” Kallias reminded him.
“I should have left you dead,” Theron amended.
“I can’t disagree with that,” Kallias muttered bitterly. He kicked Theron across the alley, causing the vampire to land in a crumpled, whining, heap.
Kallias turned back toward Rose, scowling as she continued to lie there on the pavement. Her blue eyes looked blank. He grabbed her hand and jerked her to her feet. “What are you waiting for? Run!” he snarled, glaring at her.
But she didn’t respond. Instead, her eyes fluttered closed, and she swayed unsteadily on her feet. He sighed irritably as he realized what was happening. He barely had time to loop his arm around her back before she fell limply in his arms. “Shit,” he muttered as he stared down at the unconscious, bleeding woman.
The scent of her fresh blood filled his senses, and then he felt the warm liquid coating his palm as it streamed down from her head. His breath came in harsh pants as he tried to fight the hunger. Involuntarily, he lifted her in his arms, moving his face closer to her neck. She smelled more powerful than anyone he’d ever encountered before, and his body knew that just a few drops of her blood would sate him, perhaps even make him more powerful. He pressed his mouth to her neck. As he listened to her blood course through her arteries and smelled the unusual scent of her blood, he almost bit her. His fangs dug into her skin.
But then, she murmured something unintelligible and shifted in his arms, as if falling into a comfortable sleep, and he suddenly realized what he was doing.
He dropped her, horrified by what he’d almost done. He stared at the dark crimson blood that coated his hand, unable to tear his gaze from the one substance that drew out his true nature. He still wanted to taste it.
Theron laughed derisively. “How long has it been since you fed?”
Kallias finally managed to tear his gaze away from the blood on his hand as he narrowed his eyes at Theron. No longer lying on the ground, Theron sat, leaned up against the opposite wall of the alley, watching Kallias with an amused expression, even as his stomach continued to bleed, darkening his gray sweater.
“It’s none of your business,” Kallias said, glancing again at the blood.
Theron shifted, wincing as pain tore through his body. He clutched the stomach wound. “You nearly bit her just now,” he pointed out, smiling weakly. “A twenty-five-hundred-year-old vampire would have more control over his hunger than that…unless he is starved, of course. So, tell me, Kallias. How long has it been? Days? Weeks?” He laughed. “Please tell me it hasn’t been months.”
Kallias stared hungrily at the blood, his mouth watering to taste it.
“Feed from her,” Theron urged. “She’s unconscious. She’ll never know.”
Kallias squeezed his eyes shut, breathi
ng in short, harsh gasps. “No.”
Theron frowned at him. “Why not? It’s what we are. It’s what we do.”
“It’s what you do,” Kallias snarled, opening his eyes to glare at Theron. He walked over to where Theron sat against the wall. “Now, I will ask you one more time. Why were you hunting that human? What are you up to?”
Theron shrugged. “You can smell her blood,” he said. He glanced down at the blood drying on Kallias’s hand. “As a matter of fact, it’s driving you insane with hunger at this very moment. I can see the hunger in your eyes.”
Kallias clenched his jaw in frustration. He couldn’t argue with Theron’s observation. The scent of the woman’s blood intoxicated his senses, and it was all he could do to remain focused on Theron. “What is your point?”
“She smells delicious,” Theron said. “Why wouldn’t I want her blood?”
Kallias narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Why is that, anyway?” he questioned. “Why does she smell so much more powerful than normal humans?”
“I don’t know,” Theron admitted, “yet. I’d like to find out, though.”
Kallias frowned. He could see in Theron’s mind that he was at least being honest about that part. “Fine. But I still don’t believe that her blood is the reason you were hunting her. No vampire would go to the trouble of hunting a human just because her blood might make him a little more powerful for a few nights.”
“I would,” Theron said, smiling. “I enjoy the hunt.”
Kallias tried to sift through the vampire’s thoughts to find the answer to his question, but between the scent of blood distracting Kallias and the pain distracting Theron, his telepathic abilities were practically useless. He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not leaving without answers. You’re up to something. I can feel it.”
Theron frowned at him for a moment, obviously confused, but then, as recognition lightened his dark brown eyes, he began to laugh. “You’re still bound to me? It’s been twenty-five hundred years, and you haven’t broken the bond?”
Kallias clutched the grip of his dagger tightly. “Just answer the question.”
Theron pulled his hand off of his stomach to see if the wound had begun to heal yet. He smiled as he noticed Kallias’s eyes darken hungrily at the sight of the blood oozing from the wound. “I’ll answer your question if you answer mine.”
Kallias forced his gaze away from the blood. “What is your question?”
“Why do you care what I’m doing?” Theron asked. “Have you finally decided to get your revenge? No, I doubt that. It’s been twenty-five hundred years. You could have found me long before now if you wanted. So, what is it? Did you suddenly decide you want to hang out and become my new best friend?” Theron laughed as he noticed at Kallias’s disgusted expression and continued, “I didn’t think so. Just please tell me that it does not involve the woman. You have already died because of a woman once. I would hate to see it happen again.”
Kallias’s jaw clenched. “I don’t care what happens to the woman.”
“Then, feed from her,” Theron demanded. “Kill her.”
Kallias glanced back at the woman who lay unconscious on the ground, blood sticking to her forehead and her long, red hair. “Why would I do that?”
“To prove you don’t care, of course,” Theron answered.
Kallias turned back toward him. “I don’t need to prove anything.”
“If you say so,” Theron said in a patronizing tone. He winced as his hand brushed the wound in his stomach. He looked at Kallias and smiled. “You are also starved, which means you can probably barely even concentrate right now. It also means that you’re much weaker than usual. And that means that I’m much stronger than you. The only thing keeping you alive right now is the fact that I am injured, and in case you haven’t noticed, that injury is healing as we speak.”
Kallias shrugged. “Let it heal. I’ll just stab you again.”
“Are you sure about that?” Theron asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kallias heard the whistle of movement a moment before the approaching vampire would have reached him. He spun around and shoved his dagger into the vampire’s stomach before the vampire could get his hands on him.
Kallias kicked him to the ground just in time to catch the blade that a second vampire held near his neck. He grasped the vampire’s wrist, knocked the knife out of his grasp, and flipped the vampire over him.
By this point, the first vampire was on his feet again with the other vampire’s knife in his hand. As the vampire tried to stab him, Kallias swung his own dagger swiftly through the vampire’s neck, decapitating him in one blow.
As the headless corpse of the vampire collapsed on the pavement, Kallias noticed the second vampire approaching him from the side. He waited until the vampire reached him, and then, without turning around, he shoved his hand into the vampire’s chest and ripped out his heart. Blood seemed suspended in the air as Kallias killed the vampires with a speed that a human wouldn’t have been able to see. Kallias froze as he suddenly felt a cold, sharp blade against his throat.
“I should slice through your throat right now,” Theron growled into Kallias’s ear, digging the blade into his skin. “But I enjoy watching you suffer.”
And in the blink of an eye, Theron had disappeared down the alley, leaving Kallias in the blood-covered alley with the dead vampires.
“Freeze!” a man yelled as he stepped into the alley with his gun drawn.
Kallias rolled his eyes. He turned toward the human man, sighing as he noticed the middle-aged man’s black police uniform. He watched as the police officer registered the sight before him, his hazel eyes widening as he saw the blood that coated the pavement and the headless corpse lying near his feet.
“Drop whatever you have in your hand,” he said, his voice trembling.
Kallias opened his hand. “What? You mean this? It’s just a heart.”
The police officer gulped audibly as his eyes darted toward the crushed organ lying on Kallias’s open palm and the dark, sticky blood that coated his arm from his elbow to his fingertips. “What the hell?” he gasped. “Drop that! Now!”
Kallias grinned. “What? Are you afraid I’ll use a heart as a weapon?”
The man looked ghostly pale. “How did you kill these people?”
“Well, first, they’re not people,” Kallias corrected as he tossed the heart on the ground beside the corpse. He wiped his bloodied hands on his black jeans and frowned at the unconscious woman lying on the pavement a few feet in front of him. “Well, okay, she is a person, but she’s also not dead. And as for how I killed them,” he paused as he held up his hands, “With my hands, of course.”
“If they’re not people, what are they?” the police officer asked nervously.
He screamed and fell back as Kallias suddenly appeared directly in front of him. Scrambling back to his feet, he stared at Kallias, his eyes wide with horror.
“They’re the monsters that hide in the darkness, waiting to prey on unsuspecting humans,” Kallias answered, narrowing his eyes at the human man.
“How did you move so fast?” he gasped, the gun shaking in his hand.
“Because I’m just like them,” Kallias answered. “A monster.”
The man tried to pull the trigger, but Kallias moved too quickly, ripping the gun out of his hand and tossing it aside. He reached for another weapon, but Kallias caught his wrist before he could get his hand around anything.
“If I wanted to kill you, those weapons wouldn’t save you,” Kallias said.
The man’s heart raced rapidly, so fast that Kallias worried he might have a heart attack. Kallias sighed and stepped closer, his hand still holding the man’s wrist. He met the man’s gaze and took control of his mind. “Whatever you thought you saw or heard on this alley was not here. You checked, but you found nothing out of the ordinary. As a matter of fact, you are certain that there will be no need to check this part of town for the rest of the night. Do you understand?”
Kallias nodded and let go of the police officer’s hand. He knelt and picked up the gun from the ground. He held it out toward the man, nodding at the man to take it. “Go on. Take it. You can have it back now.”
The man took the gun from his hand and returned it to its place on his belt. Then, without another word, he turned and left the alley, rubbing his eyes and mumbling to himself about needing sleep as he walked back to his car.
Kallias turned back toward the darker end of the alley, sighing as he glanced at the dismembered bodies of the vampires that attacked him. “If you were going to send your friends to their deaths, Theron, you could have at least cleaned up the mess,” he muttered as he kicked a knife across the pavement.
He closed his eyes and listened closely to the sounds around him. After the officer left, a silence settled in the air. Only the sound of two heartbeats echoed in his ears…his own and hers. He glanced at the young woman who still lay unconscious on the ground. Sticky blood coated the gash on her forehead, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding for the moment. Her red hair fanned around her head, matted with blood. A few drops of blood stained her wrinkled, white button-down shirt. Her skin seemed softer and fairer than it had before, and her soft, pink lips were parted. Although less strong than it had been a few minutes ago, the scent of her dried blood still filled his senses, along with all of the blood from the two dead vampires, and Kallias felt his throat burn with potent hunger.
Kallias ignored the painful hunger and returned to the task at hand. He threw the headless body over his shoulder and carried it to the dumpster. He tossed it on top of the trash and grabbed the head that had already rolled over to the dumpster and tossed it inside as well. Then, he grabbed the other body and the heart and threw them inside. He pulled a bottle of lighter fluid from his pocket and poured it over the bodies, and then he lit a match and tossed it inside. He listened to the sounds around him again as flames consumed the trash and bodies in the dumpster, but he heard nothing. That part of the city was still desolate.
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 10
