Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 55

Hi,

And the battle of minds and wills continues... See who wins this round! What do you think, who's in the right, who is in the wrong?

Lara

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Chapter 55

I stared at him for a long moment, took in the high cheekbones, perfect white skin, and raven black hair. There wasn't a wrinkle in the pristinely white shirt Alexander was wearing, not a hair out of place. Nothing was out of order, every motion and every look controlled, every word well planned.

Azure blue eyes that, though at first glance seemingly void of motion, held secrets locked away I wanted to unravel. I wanted to rattle this man, see him lose his cool and lose in a verbal chess game, just for once. But most of all, I wanted to find my place in this city – even if that meant I had to fight for it.

"You're wrong about this, Alexander. I've met the Raven, talked to him, fought him. I understand, better than you might think," I delivered in a cool rush. "That one time we caught him together? We were lucky. The Raven's been hiding from the authorities for years, and successfully so. Now he's on his guard, more than ever. You think you're gonna get to him with some vampiric arm wrestling? No, our best chance at catching him, is letting me do what I can do. Leave me in New York, in the streets. Let me do some investigating. Let him and his rogues see me do the investigating. Use me as bait. Because this is what a human servant does. Isn't it?"

Seconds of silence. Seconds buried underneath a ton of emotions and sensations I couldn't name. I had the head vampire's undivided attention and he was putting his two-thousand yard stare on me. The feeling that he could look right into and through me, slashed into me like a knife ripping into a white canvas, laying open a carefully hidden range of colours no one was supposed to see, less understand.

He drew back, slowly, watching me, always watching me. "Even if we assume that your plan is valid, it will not change anything about your current situation. Your life is in danger. And you cannot protect yourself on your own. You will move out of the apartment. And you will do it tonight.

I twitched, fighting for control. "I-"

"The rest we will discuss later. There are urgent matters I have to attend to. You may stay and argue if you wish." He looked at the dashboard. "However, if I were you, I would not waste time. You have twenty minutes to pack and come back down again, starting from now."

The car halted, a neat swing to the curve that threw me sideways. I knew the street like the back of my hand. We were in front of my old apartment. My eyes went up of their own volition. There was no light, no movement in our apartment.

To the best of my knowledge Laura and Ryan were still with their shape shifter pack. But, what if they were there? What if Laura or Ryan, or maybe both of them, were home?

My head whipped back to Alexander. "Are they there? What am I supposed to tell them? They know me. A horde of rogues could be after me and I wouldn't leave the apartment just like that. Not permanently. They wouldn't believe me."

"Why not the truth for a change, little witch? Why not admit and let go?"

I snorted inwardly. They wouldn't believe me.

I glared at him. "I thought you wanted me to tell everyone your version of the truth? Since you just openly admitted that my plan could work, I don't even know what to tell and whom."