Page 59 of Lured

There was no choice, I had made Anais a promise. I couldn't take the chance that Butch was telling the truth and she was in danger.

“We're done here. You're not going to give me what I need.” I grabbed Butch and then one of the knives I had strapped to my side. As Butch looked up at me I cut his head off. As soon as I'd removed one from the other I quickly freed his arm and grabbed the body as well.

The balcony was unlocked but it still took me several seconds to get it open and chuck Butch's body over and into the water. It was dark enough and late enough that I knew no one would see that this happened and I also knew that no questions would be asked of me. As long as I cleaned this room up.

For now that wasn't a worry, however.

I hurried out of the room before I looked down and noticed I had a few blood splatters on my clothes. I quickly shifted my jacket and buttoned it in place to cover as many of them as possible. Thankfully, it only left a few very small blood splotches and if Ludis noticed them I would be very surprised.

The lounge felt as if it was forever away, but I made my way there as quickly as I could, sprinting until I was right outside the door.

Just in case Butch had been lying and he wasn't suspecting a thing, I slowed and took a fraction of a second to compose myself before I strode into the lounge with the usual confidence I had.

As I turned to where I'd left Anais, I let out a growl, Ludis had her tied up across a chair and her chin in his hands as he threatened her.

I raced toward him and grabbed him from behind before he even knew I was there. Thinking only of protecting her, I shoved him to one side.

“What are you doing tomyenthralled?” I demanded as I let go of him. I hoped that would be the end of it, but Ludis got to his feet and rushed at me.

I braced myself for the impact and prepared to defend myself and Anais, but my words and Ludis coming back at me also drew the attention of all the other vampires in the room. And Anais was incredibly vulnerable.

As Ludis came toward me, it took all my skill and speed to dodge to one side and deflect his attempt to knock me off my feet. Ludis came past, but I grabbed hold of his arm and swung him.

It gave me the upper hand and it should have been enough to let me punch Ludis hard and slow his fight. Instead the vampire moved with more strength and speed than I had been expecting and dodged out of the way.

I was suddenly on the back foot as he swung at me. I blocked a couple of times, but again, he was hitting harder than he ought to have been able to and with greater speed.

While Ludis had not been a vampire I'd intended to underestimate, he shouldn't have been able to hold his own against me this well and it explained why Anais was now tied up and helpless.

Thankfully, Ludis had given me his full attention and so far none of the other vampires in the room wanted to get involved.

For a few minutes we ducked, weaved and kept out of each other's reaches while both of us growled. To any outsider looking in, it might have looked like some sort of strange dance or a friendly play fight of some kind.

Of course, I knew that Ludis was at his highest level of rage. But I didn't think I could kill him. Until I knew where he was planning to meet someone and what he wanted to get, there was little I could do. It didn't help that my own contact hadn't got back to me yet either other than to say they would look into it.

Ludis grew more angry as I managed to dodge and keep to my feet. He didn't know I was true-blood yet as far as I was aware, but no doubt he would be beginning to work it out. The only way I could have underestimated Ludis this badly was if he was using some kind of relic or magically enchanted gear to make himself stronger or faster and it would make it clear that I had to be true-blood or using the same.

As Ludis pulled a blade, growing more and more impatient, I was forced to focus. Twice he ran at me and twice I managed to move out of the way at the last minute.

I tried to block the next attack in such a way that it turned the knife out of his grasp and he'd drop it, but Ludis anticipated that and sliced the other way at the last minute.

Although I reacted in time to not have him cut through my midriff and spill my innards, I took a slash across my stomach enough it cut my jacket, shirt and blood splattered. I hissed in pain, knowing I would live, but it would make the fight harder.

Anais let out a frustrated noise of her own having knocked her chair back slightly in her struggles to get out of being tied to it. She couldn't get free and she was making her arms and legs bleed where the bonds were cutting in as she tried to get free.

The blood, noise and more obviously truly angry fighting was finally drawing the attention of the other vampires in the room.

Seeing me take the first hit had put the other vampires at ease in terms of seeing Ludis doing okay, but they were coming closer, I knew that any one of them might try to aid Ludis in the hope that finishing me off would win them favor with him.

This fight was going to get harder before it got easier.

I considered breaking off the fight with Ludis as I dodged again and tried to look for an opening to attack him. If I took out one of the other vampires it might bring the others into the fight on my side. But I knew it could as easily bring them into the fight against me. Right now they didn't seem to know who to choose.

As long as they also left Anais alone, I knew there was a chance she would get out of this. She was beginning to move herself and I had to hope that either the chair would break or she would get a bond loose enough.

Ludis caught his foot on the edge of another chair by a small fraction and it gave me an opening while he was far enough away that I could also pull a blade and consider going on the offensive again. Pain flared in my stomach as Ludis lunged again and I was almost too slow to get out of the way.

My stomach wasn't happy, even if it was a wound I could heal from. It had been a long time since anyone had injured me at all and I had almost forgotten what it was like to have to fight through the pain.

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