IM02 - Hunters & Prey (16 page)

The crazed man recovered quickly and lunged at Santino.

“Run,” Santino barked.

Loud cries erupted from the man—the thing—locked in battle with Santino. The two creatures were a blur of motion, wrestling in the empty hall. I could barely make out their motions as they clawed and bit into each other’s flesh.

Turning on my heel, I sprinted after Fallon.

“Let’s go.” I pulled her along with me.

We made it outside. I scanned the area, quickly taking in the surroundings. Thankfully, there were no other members of the Acta Sanctorum waiting for us.

Santino was only moments behind. He jingled a set of keys and pointed to a dark Jeep Liberty parked on the side of the road.

“We need a safe spot. A place where they won’t come looking for us.” He was almost breathless as he spoke. A line of blood trailed out of the corner of his mouth. “I need to sort this out and come up with a plan.”

“What the hell was that thing?” I asked.

“That was your blood in action.”

“What the fuck?
My
blood? What the hell is that supposed to mean? I need some answers here. That thing …” I pointed back toward the building. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t human or vampire.”

Santino’s hand moved faster than expected. He smacked me hard, leaving a stinging welt on my cheek.

“Listen to me,” he said. “We need to get out of here. That is not the only one of those things out there. I’ll explain when we are safe.”

“I don’t think so. You tell me what the fuck is going on now.”

“Do you wish to stay here and have another one of those things come after us?”

“Well, —”

“And while we are on that subject… you’re welcome. I could have let you die back there.”

“I’m not thanking you. You brought me here to die.”

“I could just kill you now. Take my blood back and then some. Lord knows I need it.”

“Stop it! Stop it! Both of you,” Fallon shrieked. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

“Your friend is right,” Santino said. “Let’s go. We will continue our fight later.”

“Fine,” I groaned.

We all jumped into the car and Santino tore out of the parking area.

“Where are we going?” Fallon asked.

“We need to go somewhere populated,” I said.
Somewhere with reinforcements, the hotel maybe
.

“Why don’t we go back to the café?” Fallon suggested. “It’s dark, it’s populated, and it’s friendly territory.”

“Friendly to whom?” Santino asked.

“To us, obviously. We aren’t going somewhere friendly to the Acta Sanctorum,” I said, not bothering to hide my disgust for his organization.

Santino fell silent, probably weighing out his options. I wished I could have read his mind.

I had no doubt he knew my intentions. Lysander knew of the café, and if Lysander—mad at me or not—was looking for me, that was one of the first places he would go. Lysander could handle Santino better than I could. He was much older and very strong.

“We will go to your café,” he said, not sounding very pleased at the idea. “I need to think of what my next move will be.”

CHAPTER 11

*****

F
or the second time that week, I walked through the doors of Café Copioh, my old hang-out, only this time I wasn’t alone. Santino and Fallon trailed behind me, moving more slowly now that the immediate danger had passed.

The smells of chocolate and coffee greeted me. They were enticing, but not as much as the multitude of human smells all around. I sucked in the sweet air, enjoying the tempting aroma before changing to breathing through my mouth. Keeping company with a mortal, I wasn’t about to show any signs of bloodlust. Fallon had already shown her unease at my dietary needs.

Even though we had stopped off at a gas station to clean up, we looked a mess. I hoped we wouldn’t draw too much attention. Santino let me borrow his large duster jacket to help cover my shredded and blood-stained clothes. It was so long it fell almost to my ankles, but at least buttoned, it covered the gaping hole in the center of my shirt.

Fallon didn’t look much better: dried blood caked the edges of her short blonde hair, frosting the tips in reddish brown. Her jeans would have to be tossed after tonight—there would be no way to wash the blood out of them.

We took seats in a dark corner, by the makeshift stage. Thankfully, poetry readings were over for the night, so we would not be subjected to the barrage of nonsensical ramblings of the local Goths.

Even though I didn’t feel another immortal’s presence, I looked around, wishing I could see Lysander. I wondered what he must be thinking, if he was worried or happy to be rid of me. After our last fight, I wasn’t too sure what to expect if or when I saw him again. A pang of guilt struck me, remembering the harsh words I’d spoken. I should have never compared him to Kallisto. I knew there was a good chance that he and the rest of the Peregrinus had left as planned. They could be halfway to Phoenix by now.

“I’m going to go make a phone call,” Santino said, a rough edge to his voice. “You two stay here. I’ll have my eye on you.”

We both nodded. There was nowhere for us to go at that moment anyway. Our gritty and beaten appearance was already getting us strange looks from some of the café regulars. Thankfully, none of them chanced the opportunity to come talk with us. Santino’s presence might have had something to do with that. His grizzly appearance carried a menacing air that said plainly, “Stay away.”

The effect wasn’t lost on Mike, the thirty-something beatnik café manager. He had a frightened look in his eyes as Santino approached him. After a few quick words, he nodded and shakily nudged a cordless phone across the bar to Santino. I could only imagine what he must be thinking. Santino didn’t look as bad as me or Fallon, but he still looked pretty rough after the run-in with the zombie-like creature back at the warehouse.

Fallon’s eyes darted from my face to Santino and back.

“You okay, Fallon?” I asked cautiously.

“No. Not really.” she mumbled, chewing her bottom lip.

I reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand. “It’s okay. We’ll get through this.”

Thankfully, she didn’t recoil. Fallon turned to me and let out a sigh. I smiled and gave her hand a small squeeze before releasing it.

A strange prickling sensation crawled up the back of my neck, accompanied by a familiar warmth. I recognized it immediately. A flame of hope ignited inside me. The bond that was created when Lysander turned me made it easy for us to sense each other. The feeling of his presence was akin to that of a nice, warm blanket in the middle of winter. I welcomed the sensation, excited that he would be able to rescue me and Fallon from Santino. Glancing around the room, I noticed Santino seemed to be doing the same. All vampires can sense another’s presence, I knew he would assume it was Lysander or another one of my clan.

Santino scowled and turned his head toward the door as he handed the phone back to the manager. He stalked over to where Fallon and I sat.

The front door opened and my heart skipped a beat.

Lysander strolled in, tall, dark, and handsome as ever. He turned toward us and a relieved smile played across his lips.

Oh thank God, he’s here.

I shot up from my seat to walk toward the door when Santino’s hand caught my wrist.

He fixed his cold eyes on me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Where do you think?” I shot back at him.

“He will come to us. Sit down.” Santino jerked my arm backward, causing me to lose my balance and fall back onto the couch.

Lysander approached Santino, a snarl curling his lips.

“Greetings, my old nemesis,” Santino said without turning around to face Lysander.

He threw his shoulder into Santino as he passed him and bent to help pick me up.

“Are you okay?” Lysander asked me.

“I’m fine.” I looked deep into his eyes, willing him to hear my thoughts.
The Acta Sanctorum stole my blood and are planning on using it for experiments for some kind of an army.

“I’ve no doubt you can glean the nature of our predicament from your fledgling’s mind,” Santino said, lowering himself into a chair. “So, let’s not play any games.”

Lysander lifted me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. “We have much to discuss about your recent behavior,” he whispered into my ear.

My stomach sank. Relieved as he may be to see me at that moment, Lysander was still mad. The calm in his voice did not mask the anger behind his words. He had made his warning clear back at the hotel. If any more trouble was to come from Fallon’s presence, he would hold me accountable. I knew if we got out of all of this alive, I would still have his anger to deal with. I wasn’t looking forward to that discussion or any potential punishments that might follow.

“Can we talk about this later?” I asked as he released me. This wasn’t the time to fight with him. He nodded, and we both took seats on the couch.

Fallon sat frozen in place; fear radiated off her in waves. The presence of Lysander seemed to be disturbing her. Not that I blamed her. She too had been given a warning about what would happen if she caused any trouble. Her hand fisted at her side and I heard the tell-tale thundering of her frantic heart. I sensed that she wanted to run and get as far away as she could.

I leaned over and whispered. “It’s okay, Fallon. Breathe.”

“I think I need a coffee,” she said. “Maybe a pack of smokes too.”

I nodded. “Yeah. You look like you need something. Just please don’t try to run. You’re in too deep for that now.”

She gulped, stood, and walked stiffly to the bar.

Running would be of no use to her. My clan wanted to turn her for the knowledge she possessed, and her knowledge of vampires made her a pawn in the Acta Sanctorum’s fight to destroy us.

“We are in an interesting situation, you and I,” Santino said.

“We?” Lysander asked. One of his eyebrows arched sharply. “I don’t see what is so interesting. There is no ‘we’ here. There is you, and there is me, Alyssa, and the mortal. You are outnumbered. I will be taking the girls with me now.”

“If you do, I’ll just hunt you down.”

“No need for that. You are alone. Your order has abandoned you for a better soldier. You are no threat to me or my clan. It would be futile to come after us.”

I smiled, feeling a little relieved at hearing Lysander’s words. He was right; Santino alone should be no match for the clan.

Santino made a noise that sounded like a hoarse laugh. “Never underestimate a lone hunter. I can get in where an army cannot.”

“I could kill you myself right now, if you like.” Lysander’s eyes narrowed. “That would put an end to this annoying posturing you are doing.”

“Temper, temper, old friend.”

“I’m no friend of yours.”

“I beg to differ. How does that saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend… right?” Santino smirked.

Lysander looked more annoyed than amused by his remark. He stood and motioned toward the door. “Come, Alyssa, grab your friend. We are leaving.”

I shot up from my seat and waved to Fallon who was staring blankly at the black-light mural of
Starry Night.

“I can’t let you leave,” Santino said. “Without me.”

“What? Why would we take you with us?” I asked.

“He needs us, it seems,” Lysander answered with a hint of boredom in his voice.

“He is right, I do need you.” Santino looked at me. “Why do you think I agreed to come here? I knew Lysander would find you. Please, sit.”

“No.” Lysander took my hand. “We are going now.”

“They are a threat to us all,” Santino shouted, his voice overcoming the din of noise in the cafe.

The room suddenly fell silent. All eyes of the café patrons were trained on Santino.

He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Stay. Hear me out. If after, you still want to leave, then I’ll let you.”

Lysander let out an exasperated sigh, and returned to the couch. After a few moments of awkward silence, the people in the café returned to their own conversations.

Santino leaned forward, focusing on Lysander. “Quentin has been working on new methods of hunting down vampires.”

“That is old news. The Acta Sanctorum has always tried to stay one step ahead of the game.”

“Yes, I know.” Santino smiled. “I would not have been turned if it weren’t for their attempts at shifting the balance. This time, though, they go too far. Quentin has been feeding humans our blood to make them stronger.”

Fallon returned and took a spot on the couch next to me. “Mike says its last call. He’s closing up shop soon.” She pulled a cigarette from a fresh pack and lit it.

Neither Lysander nor Santino seemed to acknowledge her. Their focus was on each other, staring intently as if having some silent contest of egos. Tension hung heavy in the air between them.