My blood ran cold and I stiffened,
frozen with panic. I couldn't think, couldn't react, couldn't do
anything that I'd been trained to do. I'd been this close to monsters
before, but only when we had a trap set, when the others were close
by.
Now that I was alone with a killer, it
turned out I only knew how to be a lost lamb.
He didn't touch me, but his presence
surrounded me completely, just the same as if he'd swaddled me in his
arms. “Don't scream. Don't fight. I'd just like to talk.”
No one reacted to us. And why would
they? We were just two people talking in a tavern, something that
happened all the time. Nothing unusual to pique their interest. The
barkeep smiled and winked when he brought me the full flagon, then
returned to his other customers.
I still couldn't speak. My skin
prickled with goosebumps as I forced myself to turn my head and look
at the vampire, heart in my throat. He moved to my side, seemingly so
I could get a better look at him.
Tall, slender, pale skin, red hair,
with long pointed ears and refined features. His clothes were plain
but tailored, black linen and suede, and he wore many silver rings
and pendants. Emerald green eyes studied me, uplifted at the corner,
surrounded by scarlet lashes. He wasn't smiling, but there were the
hints of dimples beside his mouth.
“You're not a vampire,” I
whispered. The noise of the crowd surely drowned me out, but I didn't
try to repeat myself.
“Not as your hunters think of them,”
he said. He either read lips or had managed to hear me. “I
certainly won't die as easily.”
I couldn't look away from him, my mouth
dry, heart thundering in my ears. The crowd meant nothing to me,
faded into the background as I stared. He was beautiful, and eerie,
and captivating, and inhuman. The vampire that had so recently
attacked me had been beastly and frightening, but he hadn't scared me
like this.
He cocked his head, his unblinking gaze
boring deep into my soul. I flinched when he moved, but couldn't put
any distance between us. He simply touched a medallion, one eyebrow
rising, and the noise of the inn faded to a background hum.
“Conversations work much better if both parties can hear.”
“What are you?” I could still only
whisper. Surprisingly, I didn't stammer.
He snorted briefly, eyebrow rising
higher. “What, not who. I expected that from the others, but you
seemed different. Which is why I wanted to talk to you. Mayhaps
you're more hunter than I realized.”
“Of course I'm a hunter. I fight
monsters like you.” My words had no vehemence, were unable to echo
the rage in my soul. Why couldn't I look away from him?
“The 'monsters' you hunt are nothing
like me. They are mindless beasts, slaying indiscriminately, with no
sense of loyalty, no ability to protect what is theirs.” He moved a
fraction of an inch closer, looming over me, though there was still
no contact between us. “I own this town, and I will take care of
them no matter what comes.
“And you're going to tell your
friends that I want them to stop hunting me.”
I stood up straighter, clenching my
jaw. I wasn't a fighter, but I wasn't a weakling to remain in fear of
our target. “And why would we do that? So you can kill more
innocent people?” A spark of anger colored my voice.
He lifted a long-fingered hand to trace
the air around my face, never actually touching me. A sigh escaped
me, and my heart stumbled, though my shoulders stiffened. His eyes
consumed me, drawing me into their depths, becoming the whole of my
world.
“When you return to your friends,
when you tell them you have seen me, that we spoke, be sure and tell
them how I never once touched you. I caused you no harm, though I
could have bundled you out of this inn with none of them the wiser.
“Let them know that I would like to
meet with all of you, make you an offer. There will be a truce
between us. I will not lift a finger against any of you, so long as
you all do the same. Here are the directions to my lair.” He held
up a slip of parchment between us. “Tonight, when the moon is at
its highest. If you all do not arrive, I will take it as a
declaration of war. All will suffer.”
Another icy shiver raced down my spine,
and wondered what he would do in retribution. “Who are you?”
He smiled then, dimples deep, eyes
sparkling. “My name is Albrecht. Tell your leader he faces a
dokkalf.”
