The Stone of the Eklektos

by Britney Jackson

  Rose pulled desperately at his hand. It felt as if he might crush her jaw with just his hand. The pain brought tears to her eyes, tears she tried to hold in.

  Having proven his point, he released her face with an arrogant smirk.

  She rubbed her aching jaw. “It wasn’t so much an insult as it was advice.”

  His eyes narrowed again, and he leaned closer to her, smiling as she tried to cringe away from him. “Once I’ve tasted your blood, my body will know your scent. I will be able to track that scent anywhere, to any place you frequent and to any person you’re close to,” he warned. She gasped as his hand suddenly wrapped around her throat. He whispered in her ear, “I think I might kill everyone you care about. That girl you live with. That boy who works with you. If you want to save them, you can hand over the item. How is that for leverage?”

  Rose felt the blood drain from her face. “Let go,” she pleaded hoarsely.

  Theron smiled and pulled his hand off of her throat. “I’m listening.”

  She coughed. “I still don’t know what it is that you want.”

  “Fine,” Theron said, his eyes narrowing at her. His gaze dropped to her neck, and he licked his lips, almost as if he couldn’t help it. “I’ll find it myself.”

  Before he could lower his head toward her neck, Rose shoved her pen into his eye. He screamed and stumbled back as blood spewed from his eye. Rose bolted toward the door, knocking desks and chairs over in her clumsy hurry.

  She froze as she reached the door, staring in horror as she saw him suddenly standing in the doorway, blocking her escape. Blood coated his face, still gushing from his eye, but he stood in front of her as if she’d only scratched him. She could tell from the paleness of his skin and the way he panted that the injury caused him pain, but apparently it took more than that to slow him down.

  “You will pay for that, bitch,” he growled. His voice sounded more like that of a savage beast than a person. He caught her in his grasp, his hands twisting her wrists painfully, as he shoved her against the wall. She fought with every bit of strength she had, but she couldn’t stop him as he pressed his fangs to her neck.

  Suddenly, Rose felt his body ripped away from hers, and she heard a series of thundering crashes through the room as desks and chairs scattered across the floor. She stared across the room, her brows furrowing as she noticed Theron lying against the opposite wall, his body curled on the floor.

  “Not you again,” complained a deep, lightly accented voice beside her.

  Rose spun toward him, her relief quickly morphing into irritation as she noticed the man standing next to her. “Oh, sure, get irritated at me,” she snarled sarcastically, “because I totally asked to be stalked and murdered by that psycho.”

  Kallias stood just inside the room, next to the door. His head tilted to the side as he scowled at her, his long, brown hair brushing the collar of his black leather jacket, annoyance and impatience evident in his narrowed brown eyes.

  As Rose glared at him, she suddenly noticed Theron return to his feet and charge at Kallias from behind. “He’s behind you!” she warned him.

  Kallias spun on his heels and stepped to the side just before Theron could reach him. He caught Theron by the shoulder as he passed him, unable to stop, and then Kallias tossed him across the room again. Rose gaped at him, stunned by how easily he’d just thrown a grown man. Kallias scowled at the blood oozing from Theron’s eyes. He laughed, “What the hell happened to you?”

  Theron just growled and glared murderously at Rose.

  Kallias glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. “Impressive,” he admitted.

  Rose blinked in surprise. “Did you just compliment me?”

  “Don’t read too much into it. I still think you’re infuriating,” Kallias said.

  She shrugged. “And I think you’re a jerk.”

  She pointed behind him as she noticed Theron on his feet again, but before she could warn him, Kallias had already spun around and caught Theron again. She frowned bewilderedly as she watched him throw Theron across the room a third time, tossing the full-grown vampire easily, as if he were a tiny doll.

  Theron groaned at the pain that tore through his bones as he crawled unsteadily to his feet. When he finally managed to stand, he glared murderously at Kallias. “Why do you keep interrupting?” he growled. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “You shouldn’t have sent your girlfriend to me, then,” Kallias said.

  Theron frowned for a moment and then glared toward the doorway.

  “I appreciate the gesture, but she’s not really my type,” Kallias continued, drawing Theron’s attention back to him. He pulled the dagger from his pocket and twirled it between his fingers. “The dagger was a nice gift, though.”

  “It wasn’t meant to be a gift. It was meant to be painful,” Theron snarled.

  “I’m aware,” Kallias assured him. He smirked, his eyes gleaming mischievously. “By the way, she seemed awfully interested in me, considering you wanted her to stab me. Are you sure you’re pleasing your women well enough?”

  That taunt succeeded in enraging Theron, and he immediately charged Kallias. Just as Theron reached him, Kallias stepped to the side again, causing Theron to slam into the classroom’s brick wall at supernatural speed.

  Kallias walked toward him, stopping just out of his reach. He laughed, “You’re so easy to manipulate. All I have to do to turn you into a mindless idiot is piss you off. One emasculating comment, and you charge into a wall like a bull.”

  Rose shuddered at the strange sound that Theron made as he climbed to his feet: an inhuman snarl that sent chills down her spine. At a speed that only a vampire could follow, he raced across the room and shoved Kallias into the wall behind them. Rose blinked, not sure how she’d missed what happened, and then turned to look at them as she heard the crash that sounded like an explosion.

  Theron smiled as Kallias winced in pain. “I wouldn’t laugh if I were you,” he warned, keeping Kallias cornered. “We both know I am stronger than you.”

  Kallias dropped and swept his leg under Theron’s feet, knocking the vampire flat on his back. He pulled away from the wall, his eyes narrowing at Rose. “Why are you still standing there like an idiot?” he snarled at her. “Run!”

  “Excuse me?” she snapped. “An idiot? I’ll have you know that I have…”

  Kallias cut her off. “Damn it, woman, if you don’t run…”

  Before he could finish the sentence, Rose noticed the flash of a blade and saw Theron approaching Kallias from behind. “Watch out!” she shouted.

  Kallias swiftly grasped Theron’s wrist before the dagger’s blade reached his neck. He spun on his heels and twisted Theron’s wrist. Theron fell to his knees, groaning in agony. Kallias twisted Theron’s wrist to its breaking point.

  “Drop the weapon,” Kallias demanded.

  Desperate for relief from the pain, Theron opened his hand, allowing the rusty weapon to fall. The metal blade clanged against the tile as it slid across the floor. Theron glared murderously at Kallias, snarling a string of Greek curse words under his breath, as his wrist burned and ached. Kallias released his wrist, and Theron scrambled several steps backward to put space between them.

  Glancing at Theron and Kallias to make sure they weren’t paying attention, Rose used her foot to drag the dagger behind her. She quickly knelt and picked up the weapon. She hid it behind her back, watching the two men warily.

  Kallias’s brown eyes darted toward her, but he gave no other indication of noticing what she’d done. The moment he looked away, Theron attacked him, but Kallias caught him and shoved him back. Theron growled and attempted to punch him, but Kallias blocked the blow with his forearm. This provoked an onslaught of attacks from Theron, all of which Kallias skillfully blocked.

  Rose managed to make out a few punches and kicks, but as their speed increased, the fighting soon became a blur. She watched the blur of movement in stunned confusion as she tried to make sense of what she was
seeing.

  She blinked several times. “What the heck?”

  The fighting suddenly ended with a thunderous crash as Theron landed against the farthest wall with enough force to shake the room. Rose gaped at Theron as he slumped against the wall and wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. His eye had stopped bleeding and appeared to be healing.

  “I told you to run,” Kallias growled, his voice suddenly close to her ear.

  Rose gasped and spun toward him, stunned to find him right behind her. He seemed mostly unscathed from the fight with the exception of the blood that trickled from his bottom lip. “When did you get there? How did you…” she trailed off in confusion as she glanced back and forth between the strange man standing next to her and the injured vampire lying in the floor across the room.

  “Do you have a death wish or something?” Kallias snarled.

  Rose shook her head and decided to blame the weirdness of the situation on her concussion. “I can’t just leave you here with him. He is dangerous.”

  Kallias suddenly shoved her into the wall behind her. She gasped as he forcefully pinned her to the wall with his hands and body. Her blue eyes darted toward her left hand, the hand that held the dagger, which he’d been careful to safely pin beside her head, proving that he had noticed her take it. His face was so close to hers that his breath warmed her face, carrying the faint scent of mint toothpaste, and his perfectly sculpted face suddenly looked terrifyingly furious.

  Kallias smelled the spike of adrenaline in her blood, and the scent only intensified his predatory hunger. He could feel every inch of her soft body pressed up against his as he held her against the wall. It took an unbelievable amount of self-control to resist the urge to sink his fangs into her neck and feed from her.

  He sounded breathless as he growled, “In case you haven’t noticed, I am dangerous as well. So, when I tell you to run, I would suggest that you run.”

  “Fine,” Rose snarled between clenched teeth, officially too angry to care.

  “Good,” Kallias muttered as he pushed himself away from her.

  Rose truly had every intention on running, but before she reached the door, she saw Theron grab Kallias from behind and press the sharp blade of what appeared to be a rusty, short sword against his throat. She turned back.

  “Where the hell did you have that hidden?” Kallias asked Theron.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Rose protested before she could stop herself.

  Theron stared at her curiously, a sinister smile tugging at his lips. He pressed the blade closer to Kallias’s neck and said, “I think you have an admirer.”

  “I am not, nor will I ever be, his admirer,” Rose muttered indignantly.

  Kallias stared blankly at her. “What do I have to do to get you to run?”

  Rose frowned. “You do realize he has a knife on your throat, right?”

  “It’s a sword, smartass,” Kallias informed her. “Knives are much shorter.”

  “Oh, congratulations, you know more about weapons than I do. Shucks, I was so hoping to win that award,” Rose muttered sarcastically.

  Frustrated that, even though he was holding a sword against Kallias’s throat, they weren’t paying attention to him, Theron glared at them. “Do you want me to leave the room so that you two can just have sex and get it over with?”

  “Eww,” Rose said, grimacing at Kallias, as if she found him repulsive.

  Kallias raised his eyebrow in disbelief. “Eww?” he repeated.

  “Hello? Remember me? The one who’s going to kill you?” Theron growled, pressing the sword into Kallias’s skin until it drew a thin line of blood.

  Rose gasped as she saw the blood on his neck. “No! Leave him alone!”

  “I don’t need your help. I need you to run,” Kallias reminded her.

  “I wouldn’t listen to him, if I were you,” Theron warned her. “If you take one step toward that door, I’ll decapitate him without a second thought.”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “Don’t hurt him. I won’t run. I promise.”

  “Good,” Theron said. He smiled arrogantly and gently dragged the sword’s blade to the side of Kallias’s neck, forcing him to tilt his head to the side. “I find it interesting that a human would risk her life for a man she doesn’t know.”

  Kallias winced at the pressure of the blade. “Not interesting. Foolish.”

  Rose shot an irritated glare at Kallias before returning her gaze to Theron. “He risked his life for me. Why does it surprise you that I’d do the same?”

  Theron offered her a patronizing smile. “If you only knew,” he sneered.

  “If I only knew what?” Rose asked irritably.

  “I think, if you knew what Kallias really is, you’d want me to kill him,” Theron speculated. He smiled at Kallias. “What do you think? Should I tell her?”

  “I don’t really give a shit what you tell her,” Kallias snarled. “Either kill me, or get the damn sword off of my throat. I’m sick of your psychotic games.”

  “I don’t care what he is or what he’s done,” Rose said, earning a surprised look from both of them. “It’s not my place to decide whether he deserves to die.”

  Kallias stared at her, stunned and confused by her answer.

  With a sigh of disappointment, Theron tapped the dagger against Kallias’s throat the way a normal person might tap a pen on their notebook when they’re thinking. “I don’t know if it would be a good idea to let him go, though. He’s interfered one too many times. Maybe I should just kill him, after all.”

  “I said I won’t run,” Rose snapped, glaring at him. “Don’t hurt him.”

  Kallias’s eyes darted toward her left arm as she tightened her grip around the dagger’s handle. Since he had no other option, he used his telepathic abilities.

  “Keep the dagger hidden,” she suddenly heard his deep, accented voice say, the sound resonating inside her head. She froze, startled by the voice.

  She stared at him. “Did you just say something?”

  Theron frowned. “What are you talking about? No one said anything.”

  Rose glanced back and forth at them, noting the bewildered look on Theron’s face and the glare Kallias shot at her. “I just heard him,” she mumbled.

  “She did hit her head pretty hard last night,” Kallias commented.

  She glared at him. “I’m not hallucinating! I know what you…”

  “Shut up!” Kallias snarled suddenly.

  They both frowned at him. “What is going on?” Theron asked Kallias.

  Rose opened her mouth to demand an answer, but as her gaze dropped toward the floor, she stopped. Theron stood behind Kallias with his legs positioned a comfortable distance apart. At least a foot separated his brown loafers, and Kallias’s large, black boots filled that space. She watched as Kallias carefully inched his left foot toward Theron’s foot, seeming to feel for the distance between them. She returned her gaze to his face, and she froze as she found his warm, seductive, brown eyes studying her.

  Rose mouthed the word left to Kallias, and she noticed his lips tug upward into a small smile in response. With a speed she could barely see, he quickly shifted his foot to the left and hooked it behind Theron’s ankle while he simultaneously grasped Theron’s arm with his hand to prevent the blade from slicing through his neck. In a swift, fluid motion that seemed only a blur to Rose, Kallias swept Theron off of his feet and took the sword. As Theron fell backward, Kallias flipped the sword and pointed it at the vampire. Theron swallowed nervously and began to back away from him, but Kallias pursued him slowly.

  “Retreat is cowardly,” Kallias said as he followed Theron.

  Theron eyed the sword warily as he continued backing toward the bookshelves that lined the farthest wall. “I’m a vampire. We’re not exactly known for being virtuous. As his back collided with the wall, he began to slowly circle the room back toward Kallias, rather than allowing himself to be cornered. Kallias mimicked the action, stepping sideways in a s
low circle to keep Theron in his line of sight. Theron smiled and added, “Frankly, Kallias, I think you place too much importance on the foolish virtue. Courage has always been your downfall.”

  The way the two men circled the room reminded Rose of the way predators might circle their prey in the wild. She frowned at the natural way in which Kallias held the sword, almost as if he’d been formally trained to wield it.

  “How so?” Kallias asked Theron.

  “Well, it was courage that landed you in my hands,” Theron answered. “If you had just ignored that scream like any other human would have, you could have gone on living your boring human life, blissfully ignorant of Phoebe’s nightly activities, but you couldn’t do that, could you? And now, here you are, repeating history. Mark my words, Kallias. Courage will be the death of you. Again.”

  “You’re a disgrace to your kind. You always have been,” Kallias said.

  “Do you know what I think is a disgrace?” Theron asked as he stepped over an overturned desk. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “A vampire desperately clinging to his last shred of humanity thousands of years after that humanity died. You can’t think of any vampires like that, can you, Kallias?”

  Kallias’s jaw tightened, and he glanced back at the human woman, frustrated that she still hadn’t run. “Why are you hunting the woman, Theron?”

  “Why do you keep asking? Why do you even care?” Theron countered. “If I want her, I will have her. You can’t stop me. I am stronger than you are.”

  Kallias smiled. “Stronger, maybe, but your combat skills are laughable.”

  “I do not need combat skills to kill you,” Theron growled.

  “You know, I actually have no idea who you were before you were turned,” Kallias said suddenly. A taunting smirk curved at his lips. “But I guess you must have been pretty lowborn to have not been trained in combat.”

  Theron froze. “Lowborn?” he growled, his lip curling in disgust. His eyes narrowed. “You know nothing! I was a Macedonian prince when I was human!”

  “Ah, that explains it,” Kallias laughed. “Pampered and spoiled.”