Page 34 of Love Lives
"Ooph, sounds heavy. I'm sorry you got so much on your plate."
Leandra pressed the blade a little more firmly against Aldrich's neck, drawing blood. "The dhampirs want to kill us all, and you're helping them."
"I'm really only looking to get laid." What could he say? It was the truth.
Leandra snarled. "Will you ever take anything seriously?"
"I take plenty of things seriously."
Leandra's hair tickled the back of his neck as she shook her head. "I suppose it doesn't matter. You know where the dhampirs are, and you will tell us."
"Like hell I will."
"If you don't cooperate, I'll have to--"
Aldrich didn't wait for the other vampire to finish her sentence. Leandra was a capable fighter. If he wanted to get out of this situation, Aldrich needed the element of surprise on his side. While she was still speaking, he started to shift into his ocelot-form in an attempt to escape her grip.
Leandra didn't hesitate one second, though. The moment he began to shift, she drew the knife through his throat. Pain sliced through Aldrich, making him stumble forward, even as his body continued to shrink and his paws hit the ground.
She hadn't managed to slice through the bone. Aldrich's head was still attached, but blood gushed out of the wound the knife had torn into his throat, coloring the concrete a dark red. Aldrich didn't waste any time admiring the sight. If he stoodanychance at surviving this encounter, he had to run now.
Only his surroundings looked strangely blurry.
Blood loss. That was what it was. That stupid bitch had rendered him incapable of seeing straight. Or walking straight, for that matter. He dashed forward, his hind legs propelling him through the air, only to skid to halt just before colliding with the outer wall of the club. Wrong direction.
Goddammit.
He whirled around, leaped forward once more, but he wasn't moving now. At least, he wasn't moving forward. His paws lifted off the ground until he hovered in mid-air. Telekinesis. Snarling, he glared at Leandra.
"Did you really think I was just going to let you run?"
Aldrich really wished he could make some smart remark, but he couldn't speak in this form--not even if his throat hadn't been slashed open. Vampire or not, a wound like this would take time to heal. Leandra knew it too. Her lips curled up in a smile.
"You have no idea how many times I've wanted to chop your head off."
Aldrich could only imagine. He'd had similar thoughts about many of the vampires in their old coven. He'd never thought he'd be at the receiving end of the blade, though.
And he hadn't even managed to get into Remy's pants yet.
Strange, that in his final moments, he should be thinking of a mortal.
Aldrich closed his eyes and exhaled. He had to think, find a way out of this, any way, because therehadto be a way. Thiscouldn'tbe the end.
And then suddenly, as if all his prayers were being answered, he felt himself dropping to the ground again. His eyes snapped open.
Another vampire had appeared on the scene. Talon held Leandra in a grip not too different from the one she'd used on Aldrich before, only that he was holding a stake in his hand, rather than a blade. He glanced at Aldrich, then made a slight motion with his head.
Aldrich understood. He ran, as fast and as far as his paws were willing to carry him. His lungs burned and his vision swam, but none of that mattered. He had to get away, he had to survive.
He had to return to Remy and take what he wanted.
He also had to thank Talon.
Under different circumstances, he would have scoffed at the fact that his partner didn't think he could handle himself, but right now? He could have kissed the guy for always underestimating him. Not that Talon would want that.
A few blocks away from the scene of the fight, Aldrich finally let himself collapse as his legs gave out under him. He turned on his back, the rough asphalt of the street digging into his fur.
There was a large bird overhead.
