I couldn’t see the street but I heard something big run into the alley. Eli let out a screech unlike anything I’d ever heard and lunged for the fire escape, pulling me with him like I weighed nothing. When he reached for the metal ladder, my gut twisted because I knew if he made it up the fire escape I was dead. Once he reached the roof he could easily jump to the next building and there was no way Nikolas would catch him. I’d rather die here in this alley than be tortured at the hands of a vampire.
Behind us, I heard snarls and the sounds of a battle as Nikolas engaged the other vampire. There was no time to wonder who was winning that fight because I was fighting for my own life. I scratched and kicked and struggled futilely to break free from the vise-like arm around my waist. Eli’s other hand snared the ladder and pulled it toward us.
He made it almost to the first landing before he shrieked in pain and jerked backward violently. Hanging from the ladder with one hand, he lashed out with his feet at whatever was coming at him from below. He could have thrown me at his attacker to save himself, but he held on, determined to keep me while I screamed and clawed like a wild cat. The ladder groaned as the thing below tried to pull the vampire to the ground. Eli kicked at it with a force that would have killed a human but it held on. Whatever it was, it was as strong as a vampire. The thought of something that powerful, terrified and thrilled me at the same time and I twisted my body to see what it was.
The creature had to be almost seven feet tall, even while slightly hunched over. It stood on two legs and it was covered in dark bristled hair with broad shoulders and clawed hands and feet. My eyes lifted to its face and I sucked in a sharp breath at the yellow eyes, short pointed ears and long snarling snout that revealed the biggest teeth I’d ever seen.
Werewolf!
My mind struggled to come to grips with what my eyes were telling it. I was face to face with a real live werewolf. I knew vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies but what were the chances of me ending up in the middle of a battle between the two in an alley in downtown Portland?
The werewolf’s terrifying gaze met mine and I saw savage intelligence in his amber eyes as his powerful jaws clamped down on Eli’s calf. As the deadly fangs tore through his flesh and bone, Eli screamed in pain and his arm around me tightened until I gasped for air. With a bloodcurdling roar, he kicked at the werewolf with his other foot and the force of the blow sent the wolf staggering backwards. It was all Eli needed to pull us both up to the metal landing.
He lay there panting for several seconds before he struggled to stand on his ravaged leg. Through the grate I saw the werewolf recover and jump at the ladder again. Elli saw it too and pulled me toward the stairs. I looked at the distance between us and the wolf and my heart plummeted because I knew it would never reach us in time. Werewolves are powerful creatures but their bodies are not designed well for climbing. And once we got to the roof, Eli would have healed enough from his leg wound to carry us both away from here.
Eli sped up the stairs and I grabbed for the rail to slow our ascent but he was too strong. At the last landing he paused to adjust his grip on me. “Now it is just you and me,” he said with a triumphant leer as he started up the narrow ladder to the roof.
We were almost to the top when Eli let out a pained screech and stopped climbing. I looked down, hoping to see the werewolf latched onto Eli’s leg again but the creature was two landings below us. Eli gasped and struggled to hold onto me and the ladder with one hand while his other hand tried to reach something behind him. My eyes followed his movements until I saw the silver hilt protruding from a smoking hole in his side. I watched him grasp the handle of the knife, then yank his hand away, screaming as the pure silver scorched his skin.
The fire escape shook below us as the werewolf drew closer.
Please hurry,
I begged him silently and I could have sworn he looked right into my eyes and sped up.
Eli saw him coming and abandoned his attempts to remove the knife. He reached for the roof two feet away. I did the only thing I could think of to stop him. I stretched out my hand and grasped the hilt of the knife. Pulling it free, I twisted and swung at the vampire. I didn’t aim, I just tried to make contact, anything to slow him down, and I felt a bolt of satisfaction when the knife sank into the soft flesh of his shoulder.
His scream of rage and pain was like a thousand nails on a chalkboard. He shook me violently and I dangled away from the fire escape, three stories above the ground. Far below, I saw Nikolas’s furious face as he reached for another knife. At his feet lay the decapitated body of the other vampire.
Nikolas drew back his hand to throw the knife but he stopped when he saw me hanging above the ground. He was afraid Eli would drop me if he wounded him again.
“Do it!” I screamed. I didn’t want to die. But I would rather fall to my death now than to let this monster carry me away to rape and torture. My voice turned pleading. “Nikolas… please.”
His arm moved so fast I barely realized the knife had left his hand before it whistled past me to embed itself in Eli’s other shoulder. The vampire moaned in pain and scrabbled to maintain his grip on the ladder. He looked up at the roof then stared fearfully down at the werewolf who was now at the bottom of the ladder directly below us. He was out of time.
The fury and hunger in his eyes when he glared at me sucked the air from my lungs. “I will have you,” he rasped right before he let me go.
Time seemed to stand still. In one suspended moment I was dimly aware of the werewolf’s roar, of shouts below me and the smoking dagger in my hand before time sped up again.
“Sara! Sara, can
you hear me?”
“Is she –?”
“She’s breathing.”
“Christ! Did you see what he did?”
“I-I couldn’t reach her, Pete.”
“Forget that now. Let’s get her out of here.”
Strong arms picked me up and cradled me against a warm chest. I opened my eyes to see a familiar face above me.
“Roland?”
“She’s awake,” Roland said hoarsely and I heard Peter whisper “Thank God.”
Roland sat me on a bench at the bus stop near the building and knelt in front of me. Peter sat next to me and I let myself lean against him. The world was coming back into focus and along with it, my memory. I pulled my knees up against my chest as my whole body shook and I began to sob uncontrollably. I hadn’t cried in front of another person in years but it now felt like a long-sealed dam had burst open.
Roland rose and sat on my other side. He put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his warmth. “You’re safe now.”
I let him comfort me for a minute before I pulled away from him. My dad used to hug me all the time but since his death I shied away from most physical contact. It provided comfort but it also gave you a false sense of security. I used to feel safe when my dad held me, like nothing could ever hurt either of us. Letting someone get that close to you only opens you up to more pain when they are gone.
“No one is safe,” I croaked between hiccups. I was such a fool. I knew what was out there, I knew there had been vampire sightings in Portland and still I came and nearly got all of us killed. I shuddered and buried my face in my hands, wondering if I’d never feel safe again.
“Shit, Sara, I’m so sorry,” Roland moaned. “If I had any idea something like that would happen, I never would have brought you here.”
“It’s my fault.” Peter’s voice was full of regret. “If I had stayed with her…”
Roland glared at Peter. “I was gone for five minutes. What the hell happened, dude?”
“It–it’s not his fault.” What could a teenage boy have done against a vampire? Then I remembered Nikolas fearlessly facing down two vampires, armed with nothing more than a sword and a bunch of knives.
“Where is Nikolas?” At Roland’s confused look I said, “In–in the alley. He saved my life.”
“I’d say. He ran over and fucking caught you!” Peter exclaimed. “You fell thirty feet and the guy caught you.”
“I remember falling but that’s it.” How was it possible to catch a person falling from that height? How was I still alive after that?
“Probably better if you don’t remember.” Roland eyes took on a haunted look. “Seeing you fall like that… I never want to feel like that again.”
“So he caught me and left?” I could not keep the tremble from my voice. He saved me from a fate worse than death then just… disappeared?
“Yeah, he went after the um…”
“Vampire. You can say it, Peter.”
Roland and Peter exchanged looks and Roland’s tone gentled like he was speaking to a child. “You’ve been through a lot and you’re in shock right now. We should talk about this later.”
“I know about vampires, Roland,” I said wearily. I heard Peter’s sharp intake of breath as Roland’s mouth fell open. Another time I might have found their reactions comical. “Of course I know more about them now than I ever wanted to.”
“How do you –” Roland broke off as a group of people left the club and came down the stairs. It felt surreal to see people laughing and carrying on after what I’d just experienced and I had to force down another wave of tears.
Roland jumped to his feet. “We should leave. We can talk in the car.”
“Okay.” I stood with him but I pulled back when I remembered there hadn’t only been vampires in the alley. “Wait! What happened to the werewolves?”
He paled and looked around nervously. “Werewolves?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see them. Or hear them.” My mind was still a bit fuzzy but I’d never forget those yellow eyes or that massive jaw. “I only saw one but I think there were more. For a minute there I was sure they got you. How could you not have seen them?”
“It was pretty crazy in there. I’m not sure what I saw,” Peter replied slowly and right away I knew he was hiding something because his face grew flushed. He never could lie worth a damn.
“Oh come on, you were –”
“I really think we should get out of here,” Roland cut in and I heard the urgency in his voice. “Vampires normally travel in groups. There could be more of them around here.”
I pulled back. “Wait, how do you know that? How do you know about vampires at all?”
“We’ll explain later but right now we have to get out of here in case there are more.” Roland tugged on my arm.
The thought of encountering another Eli sent a tremor through me and I almost ran to his mother’s blue Toyota Camry parked across the street. Roland waited until I had buckled myself into the front passenger seat before he went around to the driver’s side and got behind the wheel. Through the windshield, I saw Peter pull out his cell phone and make a call. Peter’s worried eyes met mine as he spoke into his phone and I wondered who he was talking to at this hour.
Peter hung up and climbed into the back seat. He looked troubled when he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the backs of our seats. “Dad said we need to bring Sara there before we take her home. He’s pretty pissed at us.”
“Take me where?” I asked apprehensively. “Why does your father want to see me?”
Peter and Roland shared a look before Peter answered. “To the farm. Dad will explain it all to you when we get there.”
“Why don’t you guys explain it to me now?” I unbuckled my seat belt and turned in my seat to face them. Neither of them could look me in the eye and that made me nervous. “Roland, what is going on?” I demanded.
Roland gave me a pleading look. “Please Sara, let’s just get out of here and I promise we’ll tell you everything.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean…?” The question died on my lips when something brushed softly against my mind just as my eyes fell on the dark figure striding down the empty street toward us, light glinting off the knives strapped to his chest. I remembered how he had walked out of the dark and faced down the vampire without a trace of fear and a shiver went through me. I wasn’t sure if it was pleasure at seeing my savior or fear; maybe a bit of both.
“Stay here,” Roland ordered before he and Peter jumped out of the car to intercept Nikolas.
“Yeah, I don’t think so
,
” I muttered, already reaching for the door handle. After what I’d been through, I had no intention of staying put. And something told me that Nikolas had not come back to see my friends.
“… hunter doing around here?” Roland was saying to Nikolas as I approached them. “This is not Mohiri territory.”
Hunter? Mohiri?
Eli had used the word
Mohiri
too. There was obviously a whole lot more going on here than I knew about.
Nikolas looked past my friends at me. “Hello again. You seem to have recovered quickly from your adventure.” He wore a wry smile but I thought I heard admiration in his voice.
He waved a hand at Roland and Peter. “So these are the friends you spoke of earlier,” he said with less warmth. “It’s no wonder you were attacked with nothing but a pair of pups to protect you.”
Peter scowled. “Hey!”
I pushed between my friends to face Nikolas. Saving my life did not give him the right to talk to my friends that way. “It’s not their fault. How could they have known something like this would happen?”
Nikolas’s brows rose. “How indeed?”
“What do you mean? What’s going on here?” I’d have to be blind and deaf not to notice the thinly veiled animosity between my friends and Nikolas. When no one answered I turned to Roland. “Roland? Do you know this guy?”
Behind me Nikolas made a sound that told me he did not like being referred to as ‘this guy’. I ignored him and glared at Roland until he shook his head. “I’ve never seen him before.”
“But you know something about him? What does Mohiri mean?”
“I am Mohiri,” Nikolas said. All traces of mockery were gone from his expression.
I faced him again. “And you hunt vampires.” That much was kind of obvious when you figured in his attire and the headless vampire in the alley, but I wanted to hear him say it.
“Among other things.” He had the same expression he had worn on the deck like he was trying to figure me out. God, was it really only an hour ago?
“What about your friend from the club? Is he a hunter too? Why didn’t he help you?”
“Chris scouted the area for more hostiles while I handled the situation here.”
The
situation
. That’s what he called battling two bloodthirsty vampires in a dark alley? I shook my head. “So what happened? Did you get the short straw or something?”
“Or something,” he drawled as his gaze burned into mine. Warmth curled in my stomach and I dropped my eyes in confusion.
“What about the other vampire. Did you get him?” Peter asked.
“Chris is tracking him.”
“He got away?” Roland’s voice echoed my alarm. Eli had vowed to have me. Was he going to come after me again?
“He’s injured so he won’t get too far. Don’t worry. He won’t stick around here now that he’s being hunted.”
“We should put some distance between us and this place all the same,” Roland said and I silently agreed with him.
“You live in Portland?” Nikolas asked and we shook our heads. “Good. The farther you get from the city the better. It’s not safe here right now.”
“No shit.” Roland took my arm. “We need to get out of here.”
We made it ten feet before it hit me.
I haven’t even thanked him.
I spun back to face Nikolas and found him watching me with that same impassive expression. “Thank you… for what you did. If you hadn’t come when you did…” My voice cracked. After the night I’d had, the last thing I needed was to start blubbering in front of a complete stranger.
Nikolas’s expression softened for a moment and I saw a flicker of something raw and turbulent in his eyes. It pulled at me like it was an invisible cord attached to my chest and I almost started walking toward him. But in the next moment it was gone and I was left wondering if I had imagined it.
“Just doing my job.”
“Oh…okay, well thanks anyway.” His clipped words stung after what we’d just been through. It was the second time tonight he had suddenly gone cold toward me for no apparent reason. It shouldn’t have bothered me because it wasn’t like I’d ever see him again. But for some reason it did.
I didn’t look back this time as I walked to the car. I got into the front seat again and laid my head wearily against the headrest while I waited for Roland to get in and start the engine. When I felt the car move I looked up but the street was empty.
“Oh God, I need to call Nate.” Eli had shown up before I could call Nate when we left the club. “What am I going to tell him?”
“Well I don’t think you want to tell him the truth,” Roland said and I shook my head. He thought for a minute. “Just tell him we are going to hang at my house for a while. It’s what we would have done anyway.”
Nate, not surprisingly, was still up working on his book. I told him I was going to Roland’s and he just said to not stay out too late. It weighed on me after I hung up how easily the lie had flowed from my lips. Nate was good to me and all I did was deceive him. But I honestly could not see any way to tell him the truth.
No one spoke as Roland drove us through downtown Portland. We passed a few bars with people lined up to get in, as taxis of more people arrived for a night of partying. It was Friday night and the night life was in full swing. At one stop light I watched a group of laughing young women crossing in front of us and I couldn’t help but think how that had been me a few hours ago. Was there another Eli watching them right now, selecting one to meet the fate that could have been mine tonight?
God, I’m nothing more than a statistic now
. I read stories online all the time about vampire sightings and people disappearing. I’d always felt bad for the unsuspecting victims who had no idea what was out there. Until tonight I believed I was smarter than them, more prepared because of what I knew. It was scary and humbling to know that I was just as vulnerable as everyone else.
As soon as we hit the interstate I heard Roland let out a sigh of relief. None of us were sorry to put Portland behind us. Roland fiddled with the radio until he found a classic rock station and an Eagles song filled the car. We all relaxed a little after that, but none of us seemed inclined to speak. I knew they were keeping something from me but my brain was too tired to process anything else right now.
A little more than an hour later, Roland took the exit ramp to New Hastings but instead of heading into town, he drove toward the rolling farmland on the outskirts called the Knolls. He and Peter lived in the Knolls and when we were kids I used to come out here all the time. I couldn’t count the hours I’d spent on their Uncle Brendan’s farm. As we passed the sign for the Knolls, it hit me that I hadn’t been out here in almost a year. Had it really been that long? Up until two years ago, not a weekend passed when I wasn’t with Roland and Peter. It was around that time that they began doing some ‘male bonding’ thing with their cousins, going off on their outdoor excursions. I was hurt at first that they excluded me from their fun until I started spending more time with Remy. Eventually, I stopped coming out here at all.