What's at Stake

Chapter Fifteen

The crunch of metal made me look over my shoulder just before I reached the mouth of the alley and as I did, a weight from above caused me to crumple to the ground. A car alarm sounded, high-pitched and deafening as the Leecher straddled my waist, the force from him jumping from the roof of the car causing me to lose my breath. I bucked my hips, trying to knock him off. He tried to grab my neck, but I went for his eyes, almost getting my nails into the sockets before he pulled himself back and out of my reach.

His eyebrows shot up. "Going for the eyes? You don't mess around."

"You just said you were going to kill me."

"I heard you didn't know how to fight though."

Why was he talking so casually as if hadn't just been about to choke me out? He didn't make any moves to go after my neck again. "How do you know about me?" I asked, taking advantage of whatever respite he was giving me. If I could drag this out with conversation, the better chance I had at finding help. Someone would come to investigate the alarm. Hopefully Kaz.

"Everyone knows about the peace treaty," he sneered in response to my question. "You're just as stupid as they say then, aren't you? Trying to convince everyone the peace treaty is really for peace. I am so tired of you human lovers."

I didn't respond, the cold from the pavement creeping into my back.

            "Just like our so-called prince. What are the odds that I get to kill both of you tonight? Luck is favoring me. I never thought I'd catch him."

            Prince? Was he talking about Claude? Had this vampire already gotten to him? But Claude could protect himself. He had the Sway. What did the Leecher mean by catching Claude? I kept my face impassive, but anxiety gnawed at me. Claude had been missing for most of the night.

            "No matter. Things will be more fun this way." The vampire climbed off me, stepping back to give me space. "Get up."

            I did as he said, subtly mapping out my best escape. Running around cars meant nothing if he simply went over them.

            "It would be too boring just to kill you outright. Let's play a little. The least you can do is scream for me."

            My hands clenched into fists. I needed a weapon. If I had a weapon, I could win. I'd trained for this. Whatever game he wanted to play, I could use it to my advantage.

            "I'll give you a two-minute head start," he said. "If you try to hide with the other humans, I'll take whoever I need to out to find you, but if you stay away from them, then I'll leave them alone."

            "How kind of you."

            "The reward itself is killing you. Then your death will cause the next war and we will bring an end to hunters and then all humans. We'll repay you fifty times the pain inflicted on us."

            The rage in his voice caused prickles to go down my spine. But his logic was flawed. Him killing me would not affect the peace treaty. Leechers were criminals in the eyes of both hunters and vampires. My death would be written off as a tragic accident. If that was his goal for killing me, it was meaningless.

            And even more reason for me to live.

            "Oh, and one more thing."

            I didn't have time to react as his hand shot toward me, nails digging into the flesh of my neck, dragging down toward my collarbone. The skin split, burning in the wake of his movement. I lurched back as he brought his fingers to his lips, licking the blood off them.