"Please stop," Henley called out.
I kept walking as fast as I could, desperate to get away.
"I know what you're thinking."
"That's not possible," I called out, continuing to the car.
"It might be the first time ever, you know."
I heard Henley huff.
"Please stop. Look nothing on me, you're totally okay."
In the middle of the street, I stopped and turned to face Henley. He was in the full light of the street lamp, his hands wide so that I felt safer. If he knew the truth, he'd know that I lived a life that was never safe.
There was a sizable gap between us, I wasn't moving any closer and Henley was wary of scaring me off.
"This is completely bizarre and new for me, so, I just,"
He sighed, his body slumping slightly.
"I don't know. When you're raised one way, told to believe what the government says, it becomes indoctrinated into the soul. You saw the crowd in there, it's all the same. I've talked to a lot of people who have moved throughout the cities in this cage, it's the same everywhere. There will be a lot of people that don't care and those that will put their life on the line just to change the future. We didn't know, we,"
Henley paused for a moment and then looked at me with a slight frown.
"You are fully aware of the majority of the population of this place and their species?"
I nodded silently.
"And yet that didn't bother you, what we did?"
"I don't have an aversion to humans."
"But you were looking for someone, weren't you?"
I nodded warily.
"Who?"
I pointed to Henley, he frowned like he couldn't understand it.
"There's a price on your head. I'm a bounty hunter and I came here to either kill you or capture you. They want one, offering a higher price for it."
Henley's face twitched with a scowl.
"Come on," I scoffed. "You cannot seriously be surprised."
"I just wouldn't have thought that,"
"What? They'd send a woman to do the job?"
I snorted derisively and turned to walk away.
"Just so that we're clear, I've had ample opportunity. Like now."
Pulling the small blade out of my belt, I flung it at Henley. It landed exactly where I wanted it to. The blade sliced through the side of his pants, ripping a hole in them before landing on the road behind him.
"You missed."
"That was intentional and only because what you gave in the bathroom was exceptional."
Turning on my heels, I walked away. It didn't take long for Henley to catch up. I thought that he'd keep his distance but I was wrong. When he reached out to take my hand, I gasped. His hand grabbed the hook that was flying at him, the two of us locked eyes at each other.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"The rousing speech you gave says differently."
"I was wrong," He said softly.
Henley let go of my hands and pulled me in tight, refusing to let go. I struggled but there wasn't a lot of effort in it, not when I knew what he wanted.
The kiss was deep and passionate, leaving me breathless in his arms.
"Please don't do this to me," I whispered.
"Do what?" He murmured, kissing over my jaw and onto my neck.
It was the same sultry graze of his lips over the skin, pressing hard when he wanted to make me moan. Ecstasy fluttered through me, my body was alight with desperate need again.
Sensibility returned to me, I pushed Henley away.
"I can't. You're a wanted man. Even if I go back, refusing this assignment, someone else will come after you."
There was something that struck me as odd, I pulled out the picture of Henley that didn't look like him at all.
"Is this you?"
Henley huffed a laugh.
"Yeah, from like twenty years ago. I was thirteen when they took that picture."
"Do you actively hunt vampires or humans?"
He frowned at me.
"No, I don't. How would I do that in this cage? They watch everything that we do. I can guarantee that someone is watching us right now. This whole place is like a damned zoo. That's why I protest, we're trapped like animals. We have no say in our lives, not the important stuff."
"Someone on the other side of that wall is telling the king that you are the biggest slayer and the most active. I've been told that you're hunting the humans that donate blood to the vampires."
"Seriously? I've never killed a person before, human or vampire. Besides, I donate blood to the center down the road. The only thing that I don't like about vampires is how they're forcing us into this situation. If they'd let us free, I'd be okay with them. I'm okay with you."
Yeah, he was. Henley had just kissed me after he found out what I was. It was obvious that he did not have an issue with vampires.
"If what you say is true then you have a problem because someone wants you dead."
Henley raised his arms with a broad smile.
"You're in the Grove, locally known as Razor town. This place is death."
So, the bikers were right about life in the halfways now.
"Gangs run rife, no sane person ventures beyond Broadmeadow Street which is two blocks that way."
Henley pointed to the end of the street. It turned the corner, buildings hid the view of what was the dangerous part of town.
"It's relatively safe here because I keep it that way."
"Wait, you do what?"
Henley's hands dropped to his side as his head tilted slightly.
"What do you mean? I'm the mayor of this town. I applied for the job, and because I've lived here since I was a kid, they said that I could have the job. It's not an overly great job and it's just mayor of the human section but still, it's better than sitting on my ass all day. It's my job to keep this place as safe as I can. I can't rely on the cops, they don't exist in this town."
Something was wrong. The kid said that he'd seen Henley a week ago on the other side of the wall.
"Where were you a week ago?"
"Here, like always. If you're looking for verification, I've spent quite a few days at the HAVU office trying to convince them to give our town more funding."
Human and vampire unification, a government department that was filled with paperwork, and bureaucrats. What it didn't have was a lot of money.
"You're the mayor, and you just happen to work behind the bar in a pool hall."
"As I said, it's better than sitting on my ass at home." He offered. "The pool hall was my idea to keep the kids off the street. I stay out late at night to try and bring this place into line but the gangs and the drugs make that rather difficult."
"Gee, I wonder why you're a target. Your own personal war on drugs and gangs, and you just happen to be publicly vocal with your anti-vampire movement. Someone points out the obvious to the vampires with a little lie attached to it and they've got themselves a free whack job courtesy of the vampire king. You sure know how to make an enemy."
Something sharp ripped through my upper arm. I looked down at the leather jacket that had a great tear in it, blood oozed out. Henley looked around and then grabbed my arm, dragging me to the wall.
Bullets began to rain down on the street. Escape was necessary but as I looked around, I thought that it was impossible.