Blood turned icy in my veins, slowing my heartbeat down almost instantly, like some primal part of me understood this was the survival mechanism I needed to use. My breathing evened out. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes for a brief moment.

I had to grab Ian and run.

I had no intention of fighting Vilmus.

Hell, I was even prepared to let him go if it meant I'd get Ian out.

As the thought crossed my mind, I realised I might have finally understood him. I would let Vilmus walk away right now if it meant he'd let Ian go. I'd doom hundreds, even thousands of lives if it meant Ian would stay alive.

Crap. I truly was a bitch sometimes.

"I wasn't surprise you attacked me." Vilmus's smug voice interrupted my thoughts. "Nothing about that was unexpected. What surprised me was the fact you found me."

A strained, throaty laugh came as an answer to Vilmus's words.

"That's because you're outdated." Ian's voice sounded weak.

I took in a sharp breath, then clasped my mouth again. He was still alive.

"You've hacked me." Vilmus hummed. "And my programmers didn't see you coming. I must have chosen badly."

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Ian said. "Old companies don't know how to put HR to use."

A chair scraped the floor and creaked under Vilmus's weight.

"I admire your efforts. I truly do. No matter what you might think, I've always respected you." The vampire said.

"That's bullshit." Ian laughed. "The only vampire you've ever respected is yourself."

"Of course I respect myself." Vilmus said. "A man who does not respect himself cannot possibly expect others to respect him. But I've respected you, too, I still do. Oh, I've had such plans for us. You had potential; murderous, ruthless potential."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Ian said, his voice losing strength.

Gathering courage, I peeked beyond the concrete wall. I could see only Vilmus's back, turned to me, and two guards standing by the door to his right. Quickly, I returned to my previous position. There was no way I could fight Vilmus and two other guards, not with a single stake and no pants.

"I am disappointed, indeed." Vilmus sighed. "After one thousand years, I thought such human emotions were out of my reach, I thought it wasn't possible to feel disappointment anymore, but here we are."

"If nothing else, I'm glad I made you feel more human." Ian said.

"Humans." Vilmus said. "It's a strange dynamic, the one between vampires and humans. We're predators and they are our prey, yet there's more. It's a relationship like no other in nature. They can be our family, friends, even lovers."

"Which is why we shouldn't kill them all." Ian's voice sounded strained.

Despite claiming he built salvia divinorum immunity, he got shot multiple times with the poison. How long would it take until the plant made him lose his mind? Or kill him?

I needed to come up with a plan.

Footsteps resonated through the acoustic walls, someone approached the room quickly.

"Vilmus, we need help." Someone spoke. "We need more weapons."

"Not now, Leon." Vilmus spoke. "I'm having a chat with my old friend."

"All due respect, Master, but if we don't find more weapons, they're going to win!"

My heart fluttered in my chest and I scolded myself for the reaction. If Vilmus heard my heartbeat, he'd kill me on the spot just to spite Ian. But I couldn't stop the flutter of happiness. We were winning!

The chair scraped and Vilmus stood up, "Tell me what's going on."

"The eastern wing of the tunnels is completely destroyed." Leon, the vampire, spoke. "The southern exit is blocked, the vampires inside are rushing to the western exit, but the military waiting there has explosives. I don't think they'll make it."

Silence.

Vilmus took in a sharp breath, "Take the men through the northern exit, the one in the mountains."

Like a professional spy, I took out my phone and began texting Thomas and William, wanting to let them know everyone would go to the north.

"Make sure everyone gets out safely." Vilmus continued, stopping me in the middle of the sentence. "Then run."

"Run?" The vampire stuttered. "What about you, Master?"

"I will finish up in here, then I'll follow you."

My lips parted. He knew he wouldn't win. If he knew he wouldn't win, he'd made sure to do as much damage as possible before he lost. And he'd start by killing Ian.

My hand tightened around the stake.

"Alright, I'll see you outside." The vampire's footsteps echoed as he walked away and Vilmus's chair scraped across the floor again.

"You'll lose." Ian's voice trailed off.

Goddammit, why did he have to provoke him?

"Perhaps." Vilmus said. "But that does not mean you will win."

Ian let out a laugh, "You can kill me if you want, but you're still going to lose. Whatever plans you've had for this world will crumble to the ground, just like the building we're in."

"You can leave, too." Vilmus said and for a moment, I thought he spoke to Ian.

"Are you sure, Master?" One of the guards asked.

"Of course." Vilmus answered. "Get to safety. This structure will quite possibly collapse."

"What about you?" The other one asked.

"I will follow you soon." Vilmus said.

My heart pounded in my chest and I closed my eyes, trying to force my body to relax. This was my chance. The footsteps grew quieter. Now was my chance. Vilmus was alone in here. If I attacked him now-

"I do not intend to kill you, Ian." The vampire spoke, stopping me. "I intend to make you understand."

Ian grunted, his voice faint and weak, "I'm listening."

"During my life, I've survived three vampire hunts." Vilmus sighed. "One during the Crusades, when Knights Templars fought hard against anyone with different beliefs than them. The other during the Inquisition and the third during the Industrial Revolution, believe it or not. Each time, I was certain the vampires would eventually win. But today, the outcome is not so clear."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who wanted war." Ian said.

A crease formed between my brows and reluctance stopped my feet from moving.

"True, but I wanted war because I wanted to keep the reluctant peace between vampires and humans. Our numbers are shrinking. Guns, explosives, chemical and biological weapons are our biggest enemy, bigger perhaps than our own nature."

Ian kept quiet.

"Today, you won this battle." Vilmus said. "But you've provided humans with something they should have never learned; the means and information to kill us."

My shoulders slumped.

"A thousand years ago, being a vampire was easier." Vilmus continued. "One could disappear every twenty years, live in another place and none would be the wiser. Today, with all the technology, disappearing isn't so easy. How soon do you think someone will figure out you're not aging? How soon before the world learns of our existence? What would happen then? Do you think humans would welcome you into their world? Or do you think vampires would be prosecuted and murdered? I wanted to prevent the extinction of our species."

As I stared at the wall on the opposite side, water dripping onto the floor, and the ground began to rumble and shake around me, I realised there might be some truth to Vilmus's words.

Ian said nothing.

"You won this battle today." Vilmus sighed. "But if you aren't prepared, you will eventually lose a war."

Earthquake-like sensation spread through the building. If we didn't get out know, we might end up buried under this massive concrete monstrosity.

I gritted my teeth and gripped the stake. I needed to get Ian out.

"What..." Ian's voice trailed off, he was losing consciousness. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I will leave you here to think about your mistakes." Vilmus said. "I will be going now."

The chair creaked as he stood up.

In a second, I jumped out of my hiding spot and leaped towards Vilmus. I latched onto his neck and positioned a stake over his back. The vampire shouted and walked backwards, slamming me against the wall.

Pain burst through my spine, the stake fell out of my hands. Vilmus stepped away and I stumbled on the ground. Ignoring the pain spreading through my body, I searched the ground for the stake and scrambled back on my feet. As I faced him again, he stood a feet away from me, staring at me.

"You've got spirit." He said and fixed the collar of his black shirt.

Unease crawled through me. Why wasn't he attacking? I held the stake tightly and braced myself to jump out of the way if he leaped towards me, but he wasn't moving.

He reached into his back pocket. Instinctively, I dropped on the ground, afraid he'd pull a gun on me.

"Don't worry." He said and I glanced up.

He was holding an envelope.

"I heard you standing by the door the moment you came down." He chuckled. "Here you go. Don't open this until you're alone."

I held the stake in front of me, afraid he'd attack me.

"I wanted to give this to Ian, but he collapsed." The vampire smiled serenely as he approached me.

My gaze fell on the envelope.

Vilmus came even closer, until the tip of my stake rested against his heart. My eyes widened. My mind blurred.

"Do it." He took my other hand and closed my fingers around the envelope. "Now."

His expression was calm and composed, even blissful, as he impaled himself on the stake in my hand. I let out a shriek and jumped away, terrified and confused. Vilmus's body turned grey before it dropped on the ground with a thud.

The walls around me began to shake.

"Fuck."

I turned towards Ian. His head dropped down, his skin completely blue, the tips of his fingers turned black and rotted. Cursing the existence of vampires, salvia divinorum and the lack of pants, I grabbed Ian under his arms and pulled his unconscious body up.

Ignoring the bubbling fear, I ran through the hallways back where I came from, trying my best to drag Ian along with me. At some point, he regained consciousness. His sickly, blueish eyes fluttered open and he looked at me.

"You're blue." He murmured and tried to stand.

"Not bluer than you." I supported him and moved through the collapsing vampire lair. "We have to hurry."

"Did you unblock the way back?" He asked.

"No."

We avoided the pieces of stone falling around us. Running became too unstable and now we both stumbled through. I prayed to any god that might be out there to reach the exit in time. I prayed someone took down the wall for us.

"Vilmus?" Ian's eyes fluttered again.

I slapped him, shaking him awake, "Dead."

"Shit."

We reached the blocked wall at the same time as the blast took down the concrete. Dust and dirt and pieces of stone flew through the air, slamming into us. I coughed out and closed my eyes shut.

"Chloe?!" A familiar voice reached me.

My mind wandered off. My vision turned blurry. Hands grabbed me around the waist. Someone took Ian away from me. Desperately, I clawed through the air, trying to hold onto him.

"It's fine."

Caiden.

His hands supported me while we ran somewhere, but I couldn't see anything anymore. Bright light reached through my closed eyelids and the different, fresher air hit my nostrils.

Suddenly, I was on my back, breathing heavily. Someone opened my mouth and poured blood down my throat. I coughed out dirt and dust and opened my eyes.

Sunshine blinded me. Gosh, was it morning already?

"Get them out of here! Now!"

Thomas.

"Is he alive?"

William.

"Yes!"

Someone lifted me off the ground and while they carried me away, I glimpsed the suburban house we were underneath a minute ago. The entire building was completely torn down, fire devoured everything around it, including the lawns and the trees. Dead bodies littered the ground.

We won.

Vilmus's words echoed through my skull.

Did we?