His Stoic Mask, Her Bleeding Heart

Chapter 16: Friendly Competition

I let the wool blanket slip from my shoulders as I stepped out of the sunlight and into the shadows of Matthias' back rooms. This area of the house had been generally unused during both Terrence's reign and James', and judging by the emptiness of the small room I stood in, it was the same for Matthias' rule. Kai kicked my blanket aside as he followed me into the darkness, his amber eyes nearly incandescent as he scanned the cramped space.

"Do they never keep watch?" he asked in a growled whisper, his eyes flashing toward me.

"Probably not," I responded as I started through the room. "There's never been much of a need for it."

"And yet, here we are," the werewolf rumbled as he followed. "And yet, there you were when you came to free Elyria."

I nodded. "Some vampires aren't big on learning from their mistakes."

"Think they have too much power to be in any danger, eh?"

I answered with a soft chuckle, thinking of the general attitudes of this mansion's three recent owners. He was more correct than he thought he was. "Don't forget the wealth. That means immunity to them, too."

"Ah, of course," he said, laughter somehow lightening the roughness of his wolfish voice. "How could I forget?"

Neither of us spoke again as we crept through room after room, having yet to see or even hear another soul. We reached the more used area of the house after a moment, soon stepping into the vast entrance hall at the front of the house.

"Jesus," Kai mumbled, his voice even quieter now that we'd reached a usually highly trafficked area. "We might as well have walked right through the front door. I bet it wasn't locked, either."

I frowned, stopping in the very center of the hall as I scanned the area. "It's odd, isn't it?"

"Like they're luring us into a trap," he agreed, parroting my thoughts.

"Or maybe he really is that arrogant," I reasoned as I started for the stairs. "It really wouldn't surprise me."

"We should go," he said, though he tiptoed after me up the stairway. "He might just be a stupid, cocky prick, but I wouldn't bet on it. This obviously isn't safe."

"So?" I paused near the top of the stairs and glanced back at him, my voice lowering even further now that we were only feet from the quarters of the many vampires who dwelt here. "We came here to kill them, anyway. We came here prepared for a fight."

"And a fight you shall receive," came the smug voice of Matthias, popping the bubble of false safety I'd imagined around myself and Kai. I turned toward the man, who stood at the opposite end of the hall, his arms crossed and his lips curved in a smile. "But you won't be doing the killing here; I will."

"Just you?" I asked, climbing the last few steps so that I could stand on the same level as Matthias.

"Of course not," he answered, his smile growing. "I have an army. Why not use it?" Right on cue, the doors were thrown open all along the hallway, and a group of vampires emerged from each until a swarm of the damned creatures had formed, completely blocking my view of Matthias. "Good luck," I heard him call in a mocking sing-song; and then, his army charged.

"Run," I said to Kai, the consonants tripping over one another as I hurried to get the word out. I shifted into a more aggressive stance and didn't dare to look away from the approaching crowd. "I'll hold them off until you're out the door."

"You run," the Were scoffed, and I risked a glance at him to find that he stood at the ready, his pose promising the same violence that mine did. "I can hold them off." But by then, they were on us, and Kai and I leaped into the fray without hesitation.