Lycan Blood (Alex Vane: Demon Stalker #1)

Confronted

As the sound of the cheerleaders got fainter, the panic in my heart only increased. Try as I might, there was simply no freeing myself from his grip. He was strong, inhumanly strong. The further away from civilisation we got, the more and more I was certain what fate awaited me.

He was going to kill me.

Resisting wasn’t doing much good so instead I tried another option. I suddenly relaxed my arm, letting him yank me along like a ragdoll. It hurt at first but when he realised I’d stopped fighting, he slowed his pace a little. He kept glancing at me suspiciously, obviously bracing himself for an attack. I held back for now. I could only pray I’d get a better chance later.

When we were far enough for it to be completely silent, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. I let out a gasp as he flung me against a tree, sharp and angry. My head collided with the bark and instantly wooziness overcame me. He pinned me in place using one arm, flattening it against my neck whilst the other one pressed against my stomach. It was all I could do to keep breathing.

“What the hell?” I coughed, genuinely scared now we had stopped moving. No one else would pass through here and no one else would hear me if I screamed. He could murder me right now and no one would be around to stop him. I was not unfamiliar with such danger but this was the first time I had no idea how to save myself.

“Shut up!” He barked, skin rough against my throat, “Don’t play dumb. I know what you are.”

“Is that so?” My mind was working frantically, trying to think of a way to save myself, “Care to enlighten me?” He laughed then, a humourless sound. It wasn’t particularly comforting. I glanced at his chest, pleased to notice that he was only wearing a thin T-shirt. My mind went to my only remaining weapon, a small knife I always kept in my pocket in case of emergencies. It wasn’t much of a strategy but it was better than nothing. If only I could reach it…

“Don’t play games with me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I insisted again, trying to shift my body so I could breathe a bit better. There was no doubt about his supernatural strength now. If I wasn’t careful he’d crush my windpipe and I’d end up just as dead as Rachel. Attacking him would be crazy right now, which meant I’d have to wait for the right moment. Mind you, pretending to be ignorant obviously wasn’t going to work either judging by the furious look he was giving me.

“Oh really? So the name ‘Rachel’ means absolutely nothing to you?” Okay, that got to me. Before I could stop myself I winced, causing him to smile grimly in triumph. Realizing there was no way out of this, I decided to focus on keeping him talking instead. All I needed to do was survive long enough to get my knife into his chest.

“Fine, you’ve got me. I know what you are too. You’re a killer.” He laughed again, causing his grip to loosen slightly. I felt a glimmer of hope.

“That depends on your point of view really, doesn’t it? See, to me you’re the killer.”

“And don’t you forget it.” I growled, my temper getting the better of me. Big mistake. Instantly his fingers pressed harder into my throat, so deep I could already feel the bruises forming. He leaned in close, eyes filled with hatred.

“Make no mistake, I will kill you. You think I don’t know your type? You’re cocky. You might have won a few times before but you’ve never met anyone like me until now. I’m something completely new. And this ends here.” I braced myself for the final blow, for those fingers to close their grip and stop my breaths forever. I don’t really know what I was thinking in my expected last moments. There was no time to think about death, what it truly meant for me to fail. Thankfully I didn’t get a chance to think about the people I’d be letting down. There was no surprise either. I’d spent almost all of my life expecting to be killed by a demon. The only question had been which demon would finally finish me off.