IZEL

I closed my eyes and stood still in the circle.

I felt the wind change.

A vampire was coming from my left. I held my sword out, not early enough for it to dodge and not late enough for me to miss, but just on time so that it ran straight through the point. I quickly grabbed my dagger from my thigh sheath and stabbed its heart. The ambience of the room immediately changed when I shoved the dead vampire away from me.

I closed my eyes again, sheathing my dagger and fixing my grip on my sword.

So long as the vampires kept coming at me one by one, I knew I had at least a 10% chance of survival. There was a high chance they would come one by one because vampires like these would want to prove they were the best by taking me down on their own, and it was that arrogance that would get them killed.

I felt the wind change.

A vampire was coming from behind me. I shifted to the side, dodging it so that it sped past me but just as it turned, I quickly unsheathed and threw a dagger. The vampire fell down. Dead. I got its heart.

I quickly went and grabbed my dagger from its chest as another vampire sped from my left, shoving me to the edge of the circle. I hadn't fallen, only slid on my feet, so I used that as an opportunity. I swiftly turned and pierced my dagger through the unexpecting vampire behind me. One of the vampires near it grabbed my hand and threw me back and I threw the same dagger at it while I was still in the air and was surprised myself when I heard the vampire collapse to the ground just as I landed on the ground with a hard thud.

I groaned against the sharp pain running up my back, but managed to slowly stand, grabbing another dagger from my calf holster. I closed my eyes but the vampires were taking a little longer to attack me.

I felt the wind change from two directions.

Now that was just dirty.

I waited till the last minute before stepping back. The vampires crashed into each other, then I thrust my sword forward hard enough that it went right through both vampires. They both shrieked, pinned against each other because of the sword. I unsheathed a dagger and thrust it through both their chests before reclaiming my sword. 

I closed my eyes again.

I felt the wind change from my right side and timed my attack before extending my sword, waiting to feel it pierce skin, but when it didn't I opened my eyes and before me stood the Quearus. It was standing right in front of the point, looking me dead in the eyes. It hit the sword out of the way then grabbed my wrist, squeezing hard and making me release my grip on the sword. I lifted my hand with the dagger to hit its head but it caught that wrist too and squeezed, making me release the weapon. It then grabbed my neck and raised me off the ground, slowly tightening its grip.

"This was supposed to be a fun game," the Quearus growled.

The only response I could form was little whimpers as I failed to breathe and futilely tried to get it to release my neck. I began feeling light-headed and stars flickered in my eyes before they started closing, despite my efforts to keep them open. This was it. I could feel it. My pulse started slowing and my hands dropped limply to my sides. My lungs started burning and I felt myself losing consciousness—

The Quearus suddenly howled and released me. 

My legs buckled and I fell to my knees, uncontrollably coughing and gasping for the air I'd been deprived of.

I looked and saw a throwing knife had gone through its hand. Around me, bodies suddenly started dropping to the ground. One by one. The Quearus removed the knife from its hand and looked around, searching for the source.

We both found it at the same time.

Jaeger.

He kicked the Quearus so hard that it hit against the wall. I hurriedly grabbed my weapons just as Jaeger took my hand, forcing me to my feet. 

We began running.

The vampires were on our tail and I was constantly losing my footing but Jaeger stabled me each time, controlling our speed.

"We're gonna die!" I shouted, my voice rough.

"Why are you always so negative?"

"Am I supposed to be positive in a situation like this? Oh yay, we're gonna die!"

I heard Jaeger snicker beside me before he led us into the library. We rushed down the spiralling staircase.

"Wait," I began, "the people, there are—"

"Humans, I know," he interrupted, "they're out already, I took care of it."

"How?"

"I have my ways."

He led us through the maze of shelves, vampires lurking within. We cut corners, senses on alert. The chances of bumping into a vampire were too high for my liking, and when we did, Jaeger took care of them before I could even reach for my weapons.

Finally, we stopped at a shelf, a tall, oakwood shelf, and the woman's words came back to me.  Jaeger started pulling out books, and I did the same, looking for the book that was disguised as a lever. Finally, I found the book and the shelf started turning. 

We ran through and didn't look back.

In no time, we reached a door. Jaeger opened it, leading us outside where we ran even faster, at least, as fast as I could manage. We were completely exposed because of the large plots of land, but surprisingly, there were no vampires outside, and the ones from inside hadn't picked up on the fact that we'd escaped through a hidden passage.

Yet.

We reached the forest but even then we didn't stop running, not until I could barely move my legs anymore. Jaeger, seeming to pick up on this, slowed his down a little to a pace I could handle.

"Let's stop now Jaeger," I panted, "I—I can't go on any further, I—"

Jaeger abruptly stopped and looked me dead in the eyes. It was night now, but thanks to the full moon, I could make out his expression, which was full of anger and... fear.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You." He said simply, "Would it kill you to be careful so that I don't have to worry about your safety all the time? Why would you just wander around someplace you don't even know?"

"How was I supposed to know there would be vampires?"

"Do you know how long I was looking for you? I heard the gunshot then..." he exhaled, trying to control his breathing. He was definitely furious, but under that, I noticed a spark of what looked like worry in his eyes. "We shouldn't have split up in the first place."

He was afraid for me. Worried about me. I didn't need him to do that, it just made it harder for me to fight my feelings. I didn't need him to make me feel like that anymore.

"I was handling myself well without you," I spat.

"Yeah, well, you would have died if I hadn't come."

"And so what if I died?"

"How can say something like that?! Do you value your life that little?"

"We're all going to die anyway, humans aren't going to be able to beat the vampires."

"You're always so optimistic aren't you?" He sneered.

"This journey of ours is going to end up being for nothing in the end. We've almost died countless times and we haven't even reached Zvade yet! There's no hope for humans."

"You. You are the hope for humans Izzy."

"Like you said, I could have died just now, so what makes you think I'm any hope? What makes you think fighting the Zas will be any different?"

"Because we'll be fighting him together."

"A human and a half-human against the most powerful vampire. That'll definitely end well for us won't it?" I said bitterly.

"I've never seen so many Quearas' and Supremes taken out by one human before, and that's not including the ones you probably secretly killed and tucked away someplace. I need you, Izzy. I can't do this without you so you can't be so reckless."

"Like I said, I didn't know there'd be vampires so stop blaming me!"

"You decided to split up. We never should have split up, we should have stuck together. Sure, you're amazing alone, but together we're better. You and I could change how things end up for humans and vampires, but we have to stay together. So can you not run away next time?"

"I can't make any promises."

"Gosh Izzy, why are you being so stubborn all of a sudden?" He demanded.

"And why are you being so concerned all of a sudden!"

"I've always been concerned!"

"So stop being concerned!" I retorted. "Stop encouraging me! Stop saving my life!" Because it keeps intensifying my feelings for you, and I really hate that.

"I can't do that."

"Why not!"

"Because I care too much to let you die!"

"Then stop caring!"

"Don't you think I've tried! I've tried so hard to stop caring but I fail every damn time. Do you think I enjoy this? Do you think I enjoy caring about you? Worrying about you? Thinking about you? I don't enjoy any of it!"

He was doing it again. I felt my heart reach for him but I grabbed it and forced it back into place. I was done feeling like this. I groaned then turned on my heels and began walking away.

"You're supposed to hate me, Jaeger!" I shouted, "just go back to hating me."

"That's the thing, Izzy, I've never hated you, not once." He said, and I paused in my tracks. "Have you never noticed that during all our fights I'd never hurt you, never made you bleed, never truly injured you? Had you never noticed that?"

"No," I said too fast, not wanting to consider the possibilities that Jaeger had never hated me. No. 

No, there was no way. But he was right, he'd never truly injured me, not like I'd done to him. Had he mistaken his feelings for hate? Had I ever truly hated him either? One couldn't suddenly go from hate to whatever it was that I was feeling. 

"That's a lie," he said.

"I'm not lying." I'd always looked forward to seeing him, but I thought that was only because I wanted to kill him. Had I been wrong?

Jaeger was suddenly in front of me, his hand on my chin as he tilted my head up so I had no choice but to look at him, "denying it won't help you get over it," he said. "You feel it too, don't you?"

"I don't feel a thing."

"That's another lie."

Then his lips were on mine. 

My eyes shot wide open and my breath caught in my throat. Jaeger was kissing me. And I liked it.

Pull away, pull away!

Listening to my inner self, I pulled away, looking at him, still wide-eyed.

Push him away, push him away!

I placed my hands on his chest, intending to push him away, but rather than pushing, I pulled. I fisted his shirt in my hands and pulled him closer to me, making his lips meet mine again.

I'm going to regret—

The warmth of his lips, and the way they moved against mine consumed my thoughts. He leaned closer to me, deepening the kiss, parting my lips with his. A groan escaped my lips which only made him kiss me harder.

I tugged on his shirt, wanting him closer and that was what I got. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my body against his, and I felt myself shudder under his touch. I wrapped my hands around his neck, bringing us closer still. A ripple of sensations shot through me, sending tingles to unmentionable places.

I was getting lost in the feel of Jaeger's body against mine, his lips against mine. Reality slowly disappeared and it was as if I was in a whole other world, one with just him, where he tasted soft and subtle and sweet.

I liked kissing Jaeger, and I didn't want to stop. The rational part of me knew I probably should, but the rational part of me disappeared a long time ago.

It was kind of concerning, the way my heart was racing in my chest, the way it felt like it was going to leap out any second, the way the longer we kissed, the faster and harder it beat. I placed my palm on his chest, wanting to feel the beat of his heart. Jaeger's breath hitched. I began removing my hands, unsure whether his reaction to my touch was positive or negative, but he took hold of them and held them flat against his chest. A series of shockwaves shot through my fingers all the way up my arms.

I couldn't believe I was kissing Jaeger, a vampire. It was wrong. Too wrong. But it felt so damn right. I needed to push him away, but instead, I kept pulling him closer to me, kept wanting him closer. Jaeger had never been able to take me down, and I had never been able to take him down, but this new weapon was tearing the both of us apart as we kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

I'd always thought my first kiss was going to be with Alek, but I was wrong. And I was glad I was. I liked Alek, but as nothing more than a friend. He didn't make me feel the way Jaeger made me feel, no one did.

Alek made my heart smile, but Jaeger... Jaeger made my heart burn.

And that revelation frightened me so much.