Onyx Roses

Chapter Fifteen

I was thristy, but feeding was the last thing on my mind as I wandered through my hunting grounds completely out inthe open and passing many humans. Their scents made my gums throb, but I felt drained; too drained to simply knock a human out and drink. My mind kept wandering to Lucian, and my heart still ached. 

I turned down a dark alley, ignoring a slight feeling of warning in the pit of my stomach when I saw something move along the shadows. I was too far gone in my own thoughts to even think twice about it. I continued walking, oblivious to the danger. 

I dropped my gaze down to the ground, and then something that was faster than I was charged me, ramming into me so hard it sent me hurlding through the air and slamming into the brick wall of an old building. I cried out from the pain as I fell to the ground. I didn't even have time to look up before I was yanked up from the ground and slammed into the wall again. I opened my eyes and store right into the face of Dante, whose eyes were cold and full of hatred as he glared at me. His hand was around my throat, and tightening.

"I knew I'd find you here, traitor. I'm surprised you still even hunt," he snarled. 

I clenched my jaw and gripped his wrist, digging my claws into his flesh. "Only a coward would attack from the shadows," I growled back. 

His hand tightened, cutting off my air and I gasped, struggling to push his arm away. But his grip was like steel, and I hadn't fed. I wouldn't be able to do a thing, and I knew he would stangle me. "It's your fault for wandering into them, my dear," he said. "You should have known that I wouldn't come for you just because your little hunter boyfriend aimed his gun at my head."

"You looked pretty scared when he was about to pull the trigger," I choked. 

"You'd better watch your tongue, vampiress. The words you speak now might certainly be your last," he snarled. 

"Go to hell," I gasped, and then his hand really clamped down on my windpipe. I began to get dizzy from the lack of air I was receiving, and I began to struggle against him, becoming desperate. The cold, creeping feeling of death began to consume me, and black dots danced in my vision and my thrashing became less and less until I was almost unconscious. At this point, apologies were running through my mind. I apologized to my father for killing him, and to my mother for killing her as well. I apologized to everyone I had killed for the sake of surviving, and I apologized to Lucian for screwing everything up...

Suddenly Dante's hand let me go and I crumpled to the ground, coughing and sucking in fresh air as quickly as I could, coming back to full consciousness. I looked around wildly, regaining my focus before my eyes landed on Dante laying on the ground with a familiar, muscled figure looming above him, pinning him to the ground with a stake in his raised hand. "I told you to stay away from her, bloodsucker," Lucian snarled. 

I saw Dante's eyes widen and then the stake came down. I looked away quickly and squeezed my eyes shut, but my eyes closed didn't keep out the sounds of the stake being driven into Dante's flesh. I heard a final gasp escape him, and then there was complete and utter silence. My eyes slowly opened and I looked over at Lucian, who had sat up with his arms limp at his sides. "Lucian?" I asked, starting to stand up.

He flinched, almost as if he had forgotten I was there, but then he stood straight up, yanking the stake from Dante's chest. He raked a hand through his hand, and I heard him draw in a shuddering breath.

I walked over to him. "What's the matter?" I asked sofly.

He looked down at me with cold, guarded eyes and then motioned towards Dante's body. "That is," he said. "I hate doing this."

Anger flared up inside me, and I clenched my fists. "Then why the fuck did you do it, Lucian?" I snapped.

"Because I wasn't going to watch him kill you, Lissa," he snapped back.

"Maybe it would have better for you if he had killed me," I snarled. "That way you wouldn't have to deal with someone telling you can be something better. That way you wouldn't have someone who believed in you."

He went silent, and I saw the pain in his eyes.

Regretting what I had just said, I looked away from him, biting the inside of my lip.

He finally let out a sigh, and turned his back to me, gripping the stake in his hand, making me suddenly aware of the fact he had a weapon that could kill me just as it had killed Dante. It probably wasn't helping the fact that I was saying things while he was already emotionally unstable. "I don't know why I ever thought you and I would work out," he said slowly.

Now I was the one who had gone silent. The tone in his voice was one I had never heard before. This was a different part of Lucian, one I didn't know and was now terrified of.

He spun around, grabbing my arm and pulling me against him and I flinched back when I felt the tip of the stake press against my stomach. "I mean, come on, a vampire and a hunter beign in love? It's about as natural as a lion and a gazelle loving each other," he said, staring down at me with cold, emotionless eyes.

I kept my face and body calm, even though on the inside everything part of me was screaming for me to escape, so survive. But I knew, I hoped, Lucian wouldn't kill me.

"You seem so calm," he said, leaning close. "Aren't you scared that I could kill you right now?"

Yes, I was scared. I was scared of a lot of things, but not of dying. "No," I said calmly.

"You should be," he said coldly, pressing the stake into my stomach harder.

"Well I'm not," I replied. "I'm not because I know you're not going to kill me."

"You don't know that," he snapped.

"I do, Lucian. Because if you were going to kill me, you would have done it already."

He didn't say anything, but I saw his eyes flash and I could insantly see through the emotionless mask. He was waging a war with himself, and I could tell that his love for me was winning over some different part of him that was telling him to kill me. His hand tightened on my arm again, and then he shoved me back. "Get out of here, and don't ever come back," he growled.

I stared at him.

"I'm serious!" he yelled. "Get the fuck out of here!"

I flinched, but took a step towards him, reahcing for his arm. I didn't want to leave him here like this. "Lucian," I whispered.

He spun around, extending his hand and swiming it full force into my face. There was a loud smack, and my head whipped to the side and I fell to the ground, holding my right cheek as it burned. I bit back tears of shock and hatred, as I slowly stood up, not saying anything to him. I heard him move towards me. "Lissa, I'm sorry--" he began, but I didn't want to listen. I did exactly what he wanted me to do.

I left.