TO MY FAMILY

YOU ARE A SOURCE OF ENDLESS INSPIRATION.

The bastard was fast.

The hard soles of his shoes echoed off the cobble-stones that lined the alleyway, leaving the sound to bounce off the tall brick walls that rose up around us. He wasn’t even trying to be quiet any longer. He was hoping to out-run me, but he didn’t realize that just because he was faster didn’t mean I wouldn’t finally catch up to my prey. I could sense him now, smell him out like a hound to a hare. Even if he went to ground, I would find him.

Popping suddenly out of the alley, we darted across a barren street, cutting between parked cars before shooting through another trash-strewn alley that fed into a network of back ways and dark streets. I took a corner too fast and my feet slid, sending my shoulder crashing into a building on my right. The steel of the blade in my right hand scraped against the brick as I pushed off. My prey was gaining distance on me, darting down one dark alley after another until I had finally lost sight of him. But then I was there again, just over his shoulder, ready to plunge my knife into his chest.

A breath exploded from my lungs in a white puff as I leaped over an overturned trash can, and a bead of sweat trickled cold down from my temple along the side of my face. The cold bit at my fingertips and my legs despite the fact that my blood was pumping from the chase. Sliding my left hand down to my waist, I grabbed one of the small blades that I kept in a holder there and pinched it between my thumb and index finger.

I had caught sight of the vampire as he strolled out of a dark alley on the other side of town. The scent of blood and death hung heavy in the air as I slipped after him to find a young girl lying limp among the bloated bags of trash, her breathing labored and her skin an unhealthy shade of white. She had lost too much blood and the vampire had left her for dead among the rotting garbage. He hadn’t even tried to hide her. I had spared a quick call on my cell to the local authorities, but I didn’t have much hope that the ambulance would reach her in time. From there, the chase was on.

Taking only a moment to aim, I hurled the small blade at the vampire, embedding it right between his shoulder blades, deep into his back. He cried out. His right arm reached back for the blade, his fast gait slowing as he struggled to maintain his balance. Clenching my teeth, I fought back a smile as I moved in for the kill.

Nearly two millennia had passed at the blink of an eye, most of the time spent hunting down vampires, wiping their evil from the face of the earth. Each time, each kill, seemed to come just a little bit easier. They were getting younger, less experienced, careless, and I was just hitting my prime. Only one had eluded me so far, but I’d get Mira eventually. I had eternity on my side.

The vampire exited the alleyway and skid to a stop in the middle of the small town circle. Despite the cold of winter, water still bubbled and danced in the center fountain, though the lights had been put out. The area was empty, but then it was after two in the morning. We had yet to run across any pedestrians or even a stray car during our long chase.

Pulling the knife from out of his back with a grunt of pain, the vampire turned to face me, tossing the blade aside. It made a metallic ping as it bounced off the cold pavement. The cocky bastard didn’t realize who he was up against, and thought he could easily dispatch me. He hissed, baring his bloodstained fangs at me. Tall and lean, he looked as if he were made of pure muscles and sinew, and yet the power that rolled off him spoke of a vampire that had seen only a few centuries of nights at best. He was young by most standards, a fledgling, but a killer nonetheless.

“What the hell do you want?” he snarled at me in roughly accented Spanish. He wasn’t a native of the area. “Are you a hunter or something?”

“Something like that,” I said in a low voice.

The vampire took a step backward, clenching his fists at his sides. “You’re out of your league here, hunter. This is Sadira’s domain. She won’t take hunting in her domain lightly. If you wish to survive, I would leave here while you still can.”

A soft snort escaped me as I took a step forward, keeping my legs spread wide and my stance ready for any kind of attack from the bloodsucking monster. That explained why there had been so much activity in this area recently. The mistress was gone, so all the children had decided to play. I had no problem exacting a little punishment for their carelessness. “Sadira was killed by the naturi in Peru months ago. Arrow through the heart.”

The vampire’s shoulders slumped slightly at this news and surprise actually flashed across his narrow face. He hadn’t known that his mistress had been killed. He was simply enjoying her extended absence.

In a flash of movement, I launched my attack, taking him by surprise. Of course, that didn’t mean that his reflexes weren’t still faster than mine. I slashed the blade in my right hand down, moving from right to left, hoping to catch him across the chest, but he jerked just out of my grasp. I managed to only clip the side of his hand as he moved away from me. As he jumped backward, I grabbed another knife.

The vampire swung his hand at me, looking to take advantage of my apparent slowness. The palm was open, revealing a set of sharp fingernails that could easily shred me with the sheer force that was behind them. Twisting awkwardly, I dodged the nails. At the same time, I swung the blade in my left hand, slicing his right arm before he could move away from me. The vampire howled and jumped backward several feet, clamping his left hand over the wound. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness and I could feel his power filling the night air. Apparently, he was finally seeing me for the threat that I truly was.

Yet, at the same time, a second power filled the air. It swirled around us before seeming to settle just at my back like a heavy cloak hanging from my shoulders. It bore the same icy energy touch as any vampire I had ever encountered, but this was infinitely more powerful than I had ever felt before. I reached out with my own powers, but the energy couldn’t be pinned down to any one place. It seemed to be everywhere and yet focused on me.

I kept my eyes locked on the vampire that stood before me, but he didn’t flinch, didn’t give anything away to indicate that there was something dark and evil standing just at my back. In fact, he launched himself at me, hands balled into fists. I dodged the first blow aimed at my jaw, but wasn’t fast enough to evade the punch to my stomach that cracked at least two ribs. The impact was enough to send the air from my lungs, but it didn’t stop me. Pushing the pain aside, I slammed the short blade in my left hand into his chest, just missing his heart.

The creature lurched away from me. Wrapping one hand around the handle of the blade, he attempted to pull it free as he dodged a series of swipes of my sword aimed at removing his head from his neck. A low growl rumbled through the circle, rising above the splash of water, as he pulled the blade free. Yet, instead of dropping it like he had the other, he kept this one tightly clenched in his bloody right hand. He finally had a weapon that he would wield faster and harder than I could, but not by much. My half-breed ancestry did give me a leg up when it came to fighting vampires. Not only could I sense them, but I was nearly as fast and as strong as they were, and could heal nearly as fast. Still, without actually becoming a nightwalker, I was just a poor cousin. I wasn’t complaining, though. I still had an ace up my sleeve if it came down to it, but I wouldn’t need it to take down this fledgling.