The Vampire & the Rebel (Completed)

Part 1: Chapter 14

"Now that is a lie and I know, because I am a master of the art."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm curious about the pedigree of my human."

"Or because you want to run me back to the council for punishment?" I slammed the punching bag harder with each syllable.

"I would never do that. I don't like to share my toys. Why do you think I live alone amongst my humans?"

Ignoring her question, I pounded the bag with several hits from my right hand. It annoyed me how much resistance she offered on the other side.

"Because that is how I prefer it. I could make my own fledglings, I could hire young vampires as guards, but instead I have my humans trained and armed to keep out the rest of the world. I do things my own way. And, I remain curious about how many you've killed."

"Twelve."

She seemed completely unconcerned with my response, her smile unwavering. "When was your first?"

I slammed the bag harder. My fists would likely be bleeding if it were not for the protective gloves. "When I was almost seventeen, my home and family were destroyed by leeches without warning. My parents were killed, my sisters and I dragged away. The one who took me was careless. I got my hands on a branch when we stopped. I snapped it and shoved the sharp end through its ribcage and it crumbled to dust."

I must have imagined a hint of sympathy which was swallowed up in her nonchalance. "Must have been a young one then, if you finished it off so easily. Still, I am impressed."

Why had I told her that? There was no taking back the bitter words so I changed the topic. "I want to see your database."

"Very well."

That was suspiciously easy. Too easy.

"You're not going to argue?"

"No."

"Really?"

She looked at me with wide brown eyes. "Do you want me to make it more difficult? I could force you to grovel for the privilege. I could give you a quest to complete first, if you wish?" She looked amused by her own words yet again, although I had no idea what was going through that mind.

"No."

"Then, I said I would allow it. I must caution, though, that even if you do find whoever you're looking for, I'm not letting you leave.

Not surprising, but I would deal with that bridge when I came to it.

"But, if some day, you're very, very good, and I believe I can trust you not to get yourself killed, I might just turn a blind eye to matters of this other vampire you have a vendetta against," she said and she smiled wickedly at me.

I stopped slamming the punching bag. The room sounded quiet without the rhythmic sound of strikes against it. "Why would you let me kill a vampire?"

She shrugged and let go of the punching bag and walked around me, like a predator circling prey. "There are only a select few vampires I actually care about, the rest are competition. We're meant to be mostly solitary predators. What allegiance do I owe the others?"

I had no response.

"I'll tell you something about vampires, Jamie, since you're apparently so determined to risk your fragile human life. This might actually help you out in the future, so heed my words. We aren't that much different than you humans, just a bit more of whatever we once were. Many of us are terribly shallow and vain, and most of us tend to pick our fledglings based largely on their beauty. After all, who wants to look at an unattractive face essentially forever?"