Eternal Night

(II) Chapter 28: Protective Older Brother

Several Weeks Later

The darkening sky was streaked with hues of crimson and violet as the sun fell behind the towering Alp peaks that cradled the hidden valley. The mild summer air gradually began to cool as the shadows of evening slinked across the earth like serpents, swallowing up the light until everything had been nearly devoured in darkness. Frankie pressed her back against the tree behind her, head turned to one side as she quickly checked her surroundings, ears tuned to the deafening silence of the woods on her uncle's estate.

It was quiet – almost too quiet, but she knew better than to trust the noted lack of noise. Just because there was no sign of the predator stalking her path did not mean that the coast was clear.

She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. She could still see his face in her mind – the shock, the insulted look as she had bested him in a way that could only be described as below the belt. Frankie desperately suppressed the snicker in her throat at the thought.

Poor Dracula, she mused silently to herself. Poor horny, sexually frustrated, too distracted for his own good Dracula.

That laughter she had been struggling to quash bubbled up suddenly into a kind of barely-there snort and she felt the air shift around her, realizing that he must have heard that.

Had her heart still been beating in her chest, surely it would have been racing by this point. Yet even with the anticipation and healthy dose of anxiety coursing through her veins, Frankie remained the picture of utter composure. She listened hard for the sound of his footfall, but she also began to reach with her mind, struggling to get a sense of his presence. Of course that blasted concealment charm he continued to wear made the task all the more difficult, but she managed.

He was near – that much she could discern; and yet his presence felt faint, distant.

But should she trust that?

She suspected not and turned her head to the other side to see if she could catch glimpse of him beyond the tree.

Instead, what she found was the face of the man himself, his expression smug as she yelped a little in surprise before quickly dodging his attack and stepping out of the way.

They were sparring with knives this afternoon – the addition of the smaller, seemingly innocuous blades something she had requested. Frankie had always preferred closer, one-on-one physical combat in comparison to the use of more detached weapons like guns. Knives were personal, intimate...

And while she'd never admit it, she was suddenly grateful for the hours Vlad had dedicated these last weeks to training with her. Not only had his lessons proved most beneficial to her state of being, but the practice and opportunity to hone her skills – and with one of the greatest warriors in existence – was arguably the only thing keeping him from besting her right now. Dracula was completely focused, each movement and attack swift, strategically executed.

Thanks to her recently acquired experience in dueling with the man, she was better equipped to anticipate his every move.

Well, almost every move.

With a sudden maneuver too quick to be detected by the naked eye, he had sliced his blade across her cheek, drawing blood and ending this particular round, but a quick disengage tactic then had her without a weapon. Before she knew it, she was air-born for just an instant and then her back came down hard on the ground. She thought about getting up or even rolling out of the way, but he was fast, anticipating her retreat. He pinned her to the earth with the weight of his body, the tip of his weapon right over her heart.