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“Evening, Lily.” I spin my sai as I talk in an attempt to remind her I’m not to be messed with. She knows how highly trained I am. Though I know it won’t work. She’s got the same level of training I do. And hunters don’t back down. It’s a point of pride.
She sneers at me rather than responding. How charming. And quickly follows that with a lunge in my direction.
I guess we’re starting then. I raise my right sai, blocking her attack and turning it away from me. I steady my breathing. Half the success in a knife fight comes from being able to keep calm. She uses the momentum to spin around and slash at me with her left knife. Hers are thicker than mine, and far less elegant. It’d still hurt if I get cut by one, but they have nowhere near the amount of grace my sai have, and that will give me the advantage.
She stabs this time, trying to take me off guard, but I use the cross guard to block it. This is what I like about sai. They’re attack and defence all in one. Plus, everyone seems to underestimate the side prongs. And those things can do some serious damage.
A loud grunt from behind me catches my attention, and I look behind me, concern for Bram the main thought in my head. And my main downfall. The moment I turn, I see him fall to the floor in a crumpled heap. But that can’t be right. Ravi is nowhere near, and he can’t be doing anything like that from this distance. Or so I think, until I see the small dart sticking out of his neck. Anything that can knock out a vampire is a bad sign. A very bad one.
“Rookie error, Ashryn,” Lily says from behind me, a sadistic chuckle coming from her. But I don’t turn around. I already know what’s coming, so what’s the point? At least knowing explains why she hasn’t bothered attacking me while my back is turned. She’s nothing more than a distraction. As always. Must get boring for her.
A small sting at my neck tells me what I need to know, and whatever it is they’ve drugged us with courses through me. Blackness descends in a mere instant. Eurgh, this doesn’t feel good in the slightest.
Epilogue
My eyes sting as I blink furiously. Which is good. I think. They can’t sting if I’m dead. Well, dead, dead. Wait...can I die more than once? Die and come back I mean. Which admittedly, makes no sense, even in my drug addled brain.
Oh yes, drugs. I can just blame those. Yay for drugs!
No, not yay. What is wrong with me?
My vision comes into focus, and all I can see is metal. It’s almost like a box. Actually, I’m pretty sure it is a box. A box, me and Bram. He’s glaring at me slightly, but that’s nothing new. Though it’s not as serious as before. Maybe I’m growing on him.
“Where are we?” My voice is raspy. I’m going to blame the chemicals in my system again. It seems like the logical explanation.
“How the fuck should I know?” he snaps.
“Alright, sorry,” I reply, clutching at my head. It’s a stupid question, even I can admit that.
We lapse back into silence, which is uncomfortable to say the least. It’s stuffy in here, and there’s tension beyond what I can imagine.
A crackling fills the room and we both jump. But I’ll be denying that if I ever actually have to tell anyone what happened here.
“Good morning, Ashryn and...friend.”
The familiar voice sends a shiver down my spine. I very much doubt this is going to end well for the two of us. I’m glad I’m not alone though. Even if it is Bram that’s with me, he’s still a lot better than a lot of options.
We say nothing. Mostly because there isn’t anything to say, but also partly because I think we both know the other person can’t hear us anyway.
“It’s time to play a little game. There’s an hour until dawn. Which is going to get you first, my hunters, or the sun? My bet is on the sun, but Ravi seems to want to prove me wrong.” The voice sounds amused, which only increases my uneasy feeling.
I exchange looks with Bram, whose expression clearly mirrors how I’m feeling.
There’s a loud clunk, and I jump, before pushing to my feet so I’m standing. I’m not sure why that makes me feel better, but it does. Stronger, and more confident, both of which can only be a good thing at the moment.
We both turn in the direction of the sound, to find a wide opening in the side of our box. We exchange glances again, and Bram nods at me. I pat myself down, more from habit than anything else, and I’m surprised to discover I still have all my weapons. They must be really confident they can take us.
More fool them.
“Oh, and
Ashryn?” the voice asks, and despite myself, I move towards where I think it’s coming from. “I think running turns you into the prey.”
