With stake in hand, I headed in his direction. My boots thudded heavily against the cobblestone and determination tightened my jaw. The street seemed empty except for he and I, but that wasn’t a guarantee that we were alone. My steady march toward him turned into a sudden sprint. I wanted to reach him before he decided to bolt again. But with my handicap of being awkward and clumsy, I had yet to develop accurate speed for my height and weight. I was getting better at running, but I’d never possess the agility and gracefulness that Jacques had whenever he ran.
His smile widened as I approached. I was about ten feet from the lamppost when he disappeared again. A growl of frustration escaped my mouth. I skidded to a stop, using the lamppost for leverage to keep from toppling forward. I glanced around, and he stood in the center of the street.
“You’re a Hunter?” he asked, staring at the stake in my hand.
“I am.”
“The vampire you seek isn’t me.”
“I’m not partial when it comes to slaying vampires,” I replied.
He frowned, taking the pipe from his mouth. He tapped it against the bottom of his shoe before tucking it inside his vest pocket. “You regard me as your enemy? Even though he’s the intruder murdering innocent people in our streets?”
“You are undead, which makes you an enemy to all mankind. You are what I was chosen to eliminate from this world.”
“So we cannot work together to kill this intruder?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll deal with him afterwards.”
He laughed.
“I’m glad to see you can have humor minutes before your final death.”
“So regardless of my contributions to rid this community of their stalker, you’d ignore that simply because I’m undead?” he asked.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t make you any less undead, does it?”
His eyes looked at my stake and then flicked to my cold hard gaze. “That makes you a monster, too.”
“With the tasks I have been burdened to fulfill, becoming a monster is inevitable.”
“Everything is black and white with you?”
“There is no gray area when it comes to protecting humanity.”
“Humanity is filled with as many evil people as good. Perhaps even more.”
“Perhaps, but it isn’t my duty to eradicate them. I am not their judge, but I am your executioner.”
Frustration set in his gaze. “I’ve performed no grievances against you, Hunter. Becoming what I am was not my choosing. I didn’t seek this. So, why must I be slain?”
His energy crept slowly toward me. Even though it was invisible, I sensed its movement like thin tendrils meandering in my direction, reaching, trying to seek any weakness I had.
“Why? Because of your power and what you’re attempting right now. While your glamour and control won’t work on me, you’re capable of seducing weaker people into becoming what you are. It’s an urge you cannot control. No vampire can. Left unchecked you’ll do to others what has been done to you. That’s why you must be removed.”
“I’ve never killed a Hunter before,” he said. His fangs suddenly became visible. His eyes turned black. “But I understand the thrill of the fight is greater than the fulfilled bloodlust of feasting on the blood of virgins.”
“Few vampires have ever experienced killing a Hunter.”
He hissed. “Arrogance and misjudgment have allowed the deaths of many Hunters, fool. Yours shall be a painfully slow one.”
I had been foolish, considering how swift he could move. I didn’t know how old he was, but I suspected he was strong.
He moved, as I feared, without me noticing that he had. The palm of his hand struck the center of my chest with such force I was lofted into the air. I crashed on the other side of the lamppost, flattening a thorny bush. Sharp thorns dug into my thick overcoat but luckily didn’t penetrate through the material. But the broken branches still stabbed at my flesh.
I rolled, tightening my hand around the stake, and pushed myself to my feet. I turned slightly, glancing in each direction, hoping to find him. I didn’t see him.
“Come now, Hunter. I expected a greater challenge than this.”
I glanced in the direction of the voice but was struck across my back from behind. The impact jarred me, knocking the air from my lungs, and I toppled face first, catching myself inches above the cobblestone. My stake bounced across the street.
“And to think you believe you have the necessary skill and strength to kill the intruding vampire? I’m at least a hundred years younger than he, and you can’t hold your ground against me.”
He stood a few feet in front of me, barely outside my reach. I prepared to push myself forward to grab his leg, but he stepped to the side and spun. His hard shoe caught my jaw and slung my head to the side. Had I been a smaller man, he’d have snapped my neck. I rolled onto my back and groaned.
Pain radiated through my head. When I opened my eyes and looked around, everything spun and blurred. He peered down at me with a condescending smile. For a few seconds, it was a rotating set of smiles.
“You disappoint me, Hunter. I truly expected more of a challenge.” He grabbed the lapels of my overcoat, yanked, and held me overtop his head. With little effort he tossed me toward the thorny shrub again.
I landed on my back with a hard thud. My entire body pulsed with pain. It hurt too badly to even attempt to get up. An instant later he stood over me. I groaned and shook my head.
He leaned down and struck my face with his fist. Blood leaked from my nose. He hit me again. He noticed the blood running down the side of my face, ran his finger through it, and sucked the blood off his finger. His eyes closed, and he took a deep breath as his body shuddered. “Ah, a Hunter’s blood. Yes. There is definitely a difference. The rumors were truth, not old wives’ tales. I need more.”
After running his fingers across the trail of blood, he quickly stuck them into his mouth. His eyes darkened.
I reached into my coat pocket until my fingers touched a stake. I slid it from my pockets. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your food?”
He craned his neck, looking at me with curiosity. I drove the stake through his left foot. A high-pitched wail escaped his mouth. In his attempt to yank out the stake, he toppled to the side, placing his weight on his right foot. I shoved him, knocking him off balance. He fell to the cobblestone.
Despite my pain, I pushed myself to my hands and knees. His attention remained focused on the stake. It was causing him more pain than it should have, and it was then when I realized that one of my bottles of garlic juice had broken in my pocket and coated the stake.
I slowly rose to my feet and reached into my pocket. While the stake might not kill him, I didn’t expect he’d have the speed he had had earlier. A large hole through the foot should slow anyone down, mortal or vampire.
“What was that you said about being overconfident?” I asked, taking a bottle of holy water from my pocket and uncorking it.
He snarled and yanked the stake from his foot. Before he could stand I flung the holy water into his face. Steam rose from his skin. The water melted his flesh like acid. He bolted at me, striking my face with left and right hooks, so fast I was unable to block them. He struck again and again. I was losing consciousness and knew if I did, he’d drain my blood. Feasting on me would be the quickest way for him to heal.
I brought up my arms and crossed them in front of my face, preventing him from getting any more headshots. But his pain had turned into heated aggression. He intended to keep his promise about making me suffer before he killed me.
My face, especially around my eyes, swelled. Seeing became difficult. He punched my gut hard, expelling the air from my lungs. I dropped and rolled to my side, trying to breathe, and trying to avoid further pain.
“It’s time you die,” he hissed. He grabbed my coat and yanked. Instead of pulling me up, he ripped my pocket open.
My silver cross clanged on the cobbleston
e and bounced. He stepped back. I wanted to grab the cross, but I was too weak and too slow to reach it. My eyes barely had slits wide enough to see through. Next to the cross were two stakes and a couple of vials. But in my battered condition, I didn’t have any hope of retrieving them.
The vampire touched his blistered face and winced. “It’s a shame you never took my offer, Hunter. You would have made a great distraction for the other vampire, making it easier for me to kill him. You didn’t need to die today. Perhaps you’d have fared better by aligning yourself with me, instead of classifying me as your enemy.”
I laughed and tasted blood. “To the contrary, you’re every bit as evil as any other vampire. My injuries testify to that.”
“That was to your choosing.” He took a step closer, avoiding the cross.
I tried to widen my eyes to see. A watery film coated my vision and blurred the images around me. I reached toward the stakes, but even stretched all the way out, they were too far away. He laughed softly, taking another step. One of the stakes quivered on the ground.
He glanced down, noticing the movement at the same time I had. The stake pivoted back and forth, building momentum.
“Is this your doing, Hunter?” he asked.
I shook my head slightly and gritted my teeth. “No.”
His curiosity drew him closer to the quivering stake. Like a magnet drawn to steel, the stake hurled itself through the air and struck the vampire directly through the heart. His eyes widened, glancing toward me. “How?”
Before I could reply, he collapsed to the street in a pile of ash. I stared in disbelief. I lowered my head, panting. My head ached. So did my chest and face. He had battered me quite severely. I crawled until I reached the cross and slid it inside my massive hand. I rested my head against the cold wet cobblestones and closed my eyes. Blood leaked from my nose and mouth, forming a small pool. Even though I lay still, the world seemed to be spinning. The coolness of the cobblestone felt good against my cheek. I hurt too much to even open my eyes. But I couldn’t stay exposed on the street. If the duke happened upon me, I stood no hope of seeing the morning.
I forced myself to crawl. I got my vials and the stake that had spilled from my ripped pocket. As I crawled to the vampire ash, I wondered who had come to my aid, firing the stake into the vampire’s heart. A witch?
I pulled the stake from the ash and realized it wasn’t one of my stakes. It was the cutting I had taken from the enchanted hedge. Even separated from the hedgerow, the branch sought to kill any vampire that came close enough to it.
That was indeed a powerful spell.
I examined the pointy branch beneath the streetlamp. The first thing that came to my mind was Dominus and his crossbow. I thought about how essential a quiver of arrows carved from those enchanted limbs could be for a Hunter. No greater accuracy could ever be achieved, especially since the cutting had turned itself into a projectile and killed a vampire that would have certainly killed me. I had not willed it. It had acted upon the spell cast upon it.
Wincing, I pushed myself into a seated position. Pain pulsed throughout my body. I slowly stood and staggered to a bench. I sat down with an exhausted sigh. I wiped blood from my face. My lips were cut and swollen.
I stared at the vampire’s pile of ash and felt cheated. While I was thankful he was dead, he had inflicted an incredible beating on me. I had done little damage in return. He had vigorously set out to keep his promise of hurting me before he killed me. The stake had intervened, and had it not I’d be dead. The stake had won the battle. The vampire had lost, but in a way, so had I, at least physically. I fully understood Jacques’ resentment toward the duke now.
I couldn’t believe the vampire’s impudence in asking my help to kill the duke. I could never see myself becoming the ally of a vampire, regardless of the stakes, no pun intended. The duke was a master, much stronger than the unknown vampire that had just died. Not knowing his name troubled me. I didn’t know his history, other than the few tidbits he had offered, nor did I know his true status and what vampires he was in league with.
Although he had incredible speed and strength, I didn’t believe he was a master. But I did fear that he might not be alone. That troubled me because I wasn’t in any condition to fight. I was halfway certain that he was alone since no other vampire had emerged, but I wasn’t taking any further risks. I needed to get back to the room while I could still partially see.
I rose to my feet. I was only a couple of blocks from the inn. Breathing was difficult. I took a cloth from my inside pocket and blew my nose. Thick blood clots filled the cloth, undamming loose blood behind them. My nose was bleeding again. I held the cloth to my nose while I staggered down the center of the street. I walked faster. My blood was certain to attract any vampire within the vicinity.
Every few steps I glanced over my shoulder. Even though my vision was limited, I was relieved that no one was following me. I reached the inn, walked to the side hall door, and pulled it open. In less than a minute I’d be at our door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I knocked at the door.
Jacques peered out and then opened it wide. He reached for me with both hands. “Forrest? What happened?”
Matilda hurried to the door and covered her mouth.
Jacques gripped my elbow and helped me to the side of the bed. I plopped down and the bedsprings creaked. “Who did this? The duke? Did you encounter him?”
I shook my head slightly, immediately regretting it. “No.”
I lowered the cloth from my nose. The bleeding had at least stopped. My pains had not.
“Who did it?”
“Another vampire,” I replied.
“You took a severe beating,” Jacques said.
“I’m quite aware of that.”
He looked disappointed in me. “You need to hit back.”
“He was too fast. There was no blur. I never saw him move.”
“Did you slay him?”
“He’s dead.”
Matilda brought a small pouch with different salves and teas.
Jacques touched my bruised face, which was hot and swelling. “Is he one of the duke’s offspring?”
“No. In fact he offered his assistance to kill the duke.”
“Doesn’t seem you two could work out an agreement?”
“Should we have?” I asked.
Jacques hesitated in replying. “He made a proposal?”
“Not a good one. He’s dead. Those were my terms, so I suppose it worked out.”
Jacques shook his head. “You’re fortunate to be alive, Forrest.”
“I realize that. I refuse to join forces with a vampire even if we have a common enemy. How would you view such a coalition?”
“I agree, but you’re still not experienced enough as a Hunter to try to kill them all. Not by yourself.”
“He was stronger than I credited him to be.”
“The undead cannot be judged by their appearance. Some wield incredible strength even when they have small thin statures. Never underestimate them.”
I nodded.
“Your face is bruised pretty badly. I’d say in the morning you won’t be able to open your eyes. Maybe not even for a few days.”
“Where’s Father?”
“Asleep. I had quite a few choice words for him and his behavior. I’m sorry that you had to find him that way when we got back.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s his own.”
“While that may be, I know he loves you,” Jacques said, softly. He helped me out of the overcoat. I unbuttoned my shirt. “Damn.”
“What?” I asked, looking down but not seeing anything clearly.
He placed his hand against my ribcage. I winced.
“You’re solid muscle, Forrest, which is probably why you survived this fight. Your overall strength is greater than even you acknowledge. Being a Hunter, you have great agility and speed capable of thwarting attacks like you just endured. You’re not invincible, but you c
ould have prevented most of this damage. Don’t think because you’re huge that you are slow. You aren’t. Never hold back or limit yourself.”
He pressed slightly beneath my muscled chest. I grunted.
“You’re bruised deeply, Forrest. A few of your ribs might be broken. He really wanted to hurt you.”
“I believe he succeeded in doing that.”
“What prompted such rage in him?”
“I told you. He was offended that I viewed him as a monster and for not seeing him for something different.”
“Like what?”
“How good he was inside.” My bloody cracked lips formed a crude grin.
Jacques laughed. “That’s a common argument you’ll hear vampires use. We’re supposed to ignore their murders and feedings because they have contributed other charities to the city or township, but their evil outweighs any kindnesses they could ever bestow. But as badly as he assaulted you, how did you ever manage a killing blow?”
“I didn’t.”
His eyes narrowed from his curiosity. “Who did?”
I slid the wooden limb from my pocket. “This. I cut this from the hedgerow. It somehow flung itself off the ground and struck the vampire dead center in the heart, killing him.”
Jacques held the branch in his hand and studied it. “So even though it’s no longer connected to the hedge, her spell remains?”
I nodded. “It saved my life.”
“Incredible. Who was the vampire it killed?”
“I never got a name.”
“Interesting,” Jacques replied.
“What?”
“Usually a vampire will boast his name well before he attacks. It’s part of their conceit.”
I squinted, trying to see more than a blurry image of Jacques. Viscous hot tears leaked down my cheeks. “He has nothing left to boast of now.”
“The fact that he asked you to help him kill the duke is important information,” Jacques said.
“Why?”
“Well, for one, it means that the duke is not from this region, as we had theorized. And the duke must have been a powerful foe for this vampire to seek assistance.”
Forrest Wollinsky: Vampire Hunter [Book 2]: Blood Mists of London Page 15