Soulless (Book #2 of Hunted)

Go Kill Yourself

"Idiotule! Opresc!" The words sounded annoyed. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. Zane had grabbed the silver stake and pushed it away from his chest before it could penetrate and his hand was being burned by the metal. Zane jerked his hand back and the stake slid out of Malick's hand and he stabbed Malick in the thigh before letting go of the stake and cursing. Malick screamed.

"Asta e ceea ce veţi obţine pentru a încerca la miza mine, cur mut!" Zane yelled as if any of us knew what he was saying. He sighed and stared at the blood blooming across Malick's light blue jeans. He bent down and pressed his shackled hand against the wound. Malick gritted his teeth and fought the urge to cry out. Zane pulled his hand away from the wound and licked the blood from his palm. "Hunter's sânge. Cum delicioase," Zane sang quietly. It was infuriating not knowing what he was saying though I pretty much got the gist from his actions.

"Zane?" I asked taking a step closer to him. He turned to me as he finished licking the blood from his fingers.

"Scuze, dragostea?" he asked. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Anton," I stated. I couldn't decide which one was better, Anton or the wild animal he had been only about seven minutes ago. At least I knew how to treat him when he had no control over himself, when he was Anton he could outsmart me. As Anton he wasn't as predictable as the mindless monster before, but at least Anton knew who I was and at least I didn't see the blatant hatred of me in his eyes. He smirked, showing off his blood-stained fangs. Every smirk loses its charm when it's soaked with blood.

"Give the girl a prize," he said sarcastically, switching easily from Romanian to English. Malick sat up and pulled the stake from his leg with a muffled yell.

"You son of a bitch, you were baiting me! You never planned to let me kill you!" Malick yelled furiously. Anton smirked again.

"Normally I'd take credit for pulling the wool over your eyes but that's not really my style today. I think I'll try honesty on for size," Anton said. "The monster who wanted to die and the monster before you are not the same monster." He sighed as if it were completely obvious.

"You're Anton. The Terror of Romania," Malick gasped. Anton laughed boisterously.

"Wow, I haven't heard that name in a while," he said. He glanced down at Malick's leg and the large bloodstain on his jeans. "God, I am starving," he moaned. He poked his index finger into the middle of the stain. "Damn. Already healed," he swore. He sucked the blood off his finger and pulled the collar of Malick's shirt down. He stared captivated at the pulsing blue artery millimeters beneath Malick's skin. His mouth hung open slightly and his fangs glistened with saliva.

"Get off me you disgusting animal," Malick growled angrily. Anton leaned over Malick until his lips brushed Malick's ear. Even Malick had enough sense to freeze. I just kept staring. I didn't know what to do. I'd known Malick since I was five and he had always been a good friend, but he had tried to kill my boyfriend three times now. Zane saved my life and gave me something I had never even witnessed before. He had given me love and showed me that life could be the most beautiful thing in the world. He had also tried to kill me on more than one occasion. What was I to do? Stop my boyfriend from killing my friend or let him have his revenge?

"Insults won't help you," I heard Anton whisper. The tip of his tongue flicked against the skin of Malick's throat and he chuckled almost seductively. Malick made a sound of revulsion and tried to push Anton off of his body. Anton laughed and pinned Malick's arms to the ground. He pressed Malick's legs into the concrete floor with his knees. It looked to me as if Anton were straddling Malick and I couldn't stop my brain from immediately thinking about Yaoi and all the slash fan-fiction Phoebe made me read. I shook my head violently. How could I be thinking about freaking Yaoi at a time like this? I am an awful, awful person.

He leaned over Malick and bit slowly into his neck as if trying to lengthen every moment. As if he were giving me time to stop him. I didn't stop him though. Not right away at least. I continued to stare at Anton and Malick locked in their strange embrace. Malick struggled for a moment, but as Anton swallowed more and more of his blood he ceased. I think I waited six whole seconds before moving a muscle.

"Anton. Anton! Stop it! You're going to kill him," I shrieked. I pulled on his shoulders but still he didn't release him. I frantically glanced around, hoping that something in the basement would give me some kind of idea as to what I should do. I finally spotted the silver stake lying, gore-stained, a few feet away. I lunged for it and gripped it tight in my sweaty hand. I positioned the tip of it over the middle of Anton's back.

"Let him go or I'll kill you," I said in a voice I hoped sounded way stronger than I felt. It was the first thing that popped into my head. He barely took notice of me. He knew I would never try to kill him because I would kill Zane as well. Also, I knew that if it came down to Malick's blood or his life he would choose to save his own life. What should I do? Then suddenly another thought struck me. I pulled the stake away and held it to my own chest.

"Anton stop or I'll kill myself," I cried. He might've thought I was bluffing and admittedly I was but that didn't mean I wouldn't draw blood. I drug the point of the silver stake across my collar bone and a line of bright red sprung forth in its wake. I gritted my teeth against the pain and dropped the stake. A trail of blood spilled from the cut and down the front of my shirt. I smirked as Anton's body lurched away from Malick and he turned towards me. I guess that grabbed his attention. He licked the blood from his lips and suddenly he was in front of me. He grabbed my upper arms in his hands and I felt his tongue skim across the new cut on my collar bone. Great, now how do I stop him from killing me?