Chapter 28

Anais

I walked outside tentatively, the cold night breeze from the sea making it difficult to smell anything even if I had been a vampire with heightened senses.

As soon as I had closed the door quietly behind me I put my off hand into my pocket to grasp the ring. I would be able to slip it on quickly if I saw movement or signs of Ludis. Out here there were more places that a vampire could hide or be than I cared to find. There were piles of deck chairs, parts of the ship that jutted out and shadows from the inadequate lighting.

For a few seconds I paused and considered my options. If Ludis was out here he was likely to be able to see me before I could see him unless he wasn't trying to hide at all. I was in more danger than I had probably ever been in.

The vampire wasn't anywhere my current vision could detect, however. There were several shadows too dark and large for me to be sure there wasn't a person in them. It made me wish I had brought a flashlight with me, but it was in my ready bag in the cabin.

I took another quiet step, focusing on keeping to the main bulk of the metal ship so I couldn't be hit from every side. The sound of the engines and the wash from the water rushing past the ship and out the back helped to cover any sound I made, giving me some comfort.

Of course, it would also cover any sounds that Ludis might make.

As I took another step I thought I saw movement near the deck chairs and shifted to peer into the gloom. Ludis stepped out from behind them, the wound on his shoulder still very obvious. To my surprise it wasn't the only one he had. It appeared as if he had been in another fight as well.

"You hunters really don't know when to quit, do you. I must admit, I didn't expect your companion to be on the ship as well. Not that she will ever be a bother again."

I lifted an eyebrow, not responding as he strode toward me. Slipping on the ring, I stepped back and to one side to try to give myself a bit more room on either side and the door behind me instead of the water.

"Well, I guess I'm taking out two hunters in one night."

"Good luck trying," I replied, bringing up the blade and shifting just as he lunged. I had moved faster than I'd thought possible, the ring doing everything that Leo had promised it would.

Ludis grasped where my neck had been a fraction of a second earlier and I thrust my blade through his hand.

I wasn't prepared for how quickly he would yank back and he pulled my blade right out of my grasp.

"You little bitch," he said as he growled and backed off. It was the most foolish move he could have made as I quickly pulled another blade from my boots and switched it to my good hand.

Normally I had three or four about my body, but this was the only other blade I had and I knew I would have to be a bit more careful.

While I was adjusting and looking for the next moment to attack, Ludis pulled the dagger out of his hand and brandished it as if it was his own weapon.

I frowned. Arming him hadn't been part of the plan.

He came at me again and this time I dodged and made sure he didn't hurt me at all. Again, the extra speed from the wing gave me an advantage I hadn't expected and I almost danced around him.

The move took more energy than I was expecting, however and lactic acid built up in my arms and legs. Taking a couple more steps, this time slower, I positioned myself so the stack of deck chairs wasn't far behind me and waited for him to come at me again.

Now that he was more in the light I could see that his clothes were torn in several more places and whoever he had fought with they had cut him open at least twice more. With the wounds that Leo and I had given him, he had to be really hurting and to have lost some blood.

There was a chance he had fed if he had somehow killed another hunter on this ship recently. That would be helping him heal, but it would depend how much he had drunk and how strong the vampire had been who had turned him.

I wasn't going to take any chances and I looked for the next opening to attack him, which also waiting for his attack. He didn't move, studying me. For the first time he didn't have the usual bravado about him.

If this fight was going to be resolved any time soon, I was going to have to begin it.

Stepping forward, I fainted a jab toward his midriff. Immediately he reacted and reached out to grab the arm. I was already turning as he came in and he missed again.

This time my blade flicked across his side as he went past me, but he turned close to me and I stabbed toward me. I used the momentum I already had to twist and the blade caught on my dress and ripped one side of it while giving me the lightest of scratches. A line of burning fire lit up across my skin briefly.

The ring on my finger warmed and I only had a fraction of a second to register that it might be healing me before I had to block another stab. This one I pushed aside, but his other arm was coming up already and he grabbed at my throat.

He managed to get a grip, but I immediately slammed up into the underneath of his hand and tilted my head back. His fingers slipped off me and I staggered back.

Trying to get some distance between us again, I continued to step back and back and slash out in front of me with the blade. I didn't know if I caught him, the vampire moving too fast for me to see again.

Eventually I found myself out in the open at the back of the boat, nothing around me and the water to one side beyond a railing. I had to remind myself to stop and calm, panic momentarily seeing me put myself in a much more vulnerable situation.

My body calmed as I waited for him to come closer again. I had managed to cut him again, but it was only another shallow slash across his arm.

As he approached me I considered what I could do to help gain the upper hand. While I was likely to be slowly wearing him down, I knew that he was stronger than me and he could easily get lucky and kill me in one go. I was only making him angrier right now.

More blood was dripping from him, especially from the new wound in his hand, but he was holding my blade in the other still. I knew I needed to disarm him and then consider how to harm him some more.

Focusing on my breathing and watching him I adjusted my stance and let the power of the ring give me the speed to turn my slight movement into an attack. He anticipated it this time and dodged me, side stepping but turning. I was forced to put my back to the railing of the ship and the water.

It wasn't where I wanted to be, but as he lunged again I slammed my fist into his hand right where his thumb held the blade strongest. The knife went flying across the deck, skittering as it hit the metal under our feet. He didn't stop there despite how much I must have hurt him and tried to grab me with the other hand.

All the blood made his grip slippery and I managed to twist out of his grasp before he could tighten it again. Still we were close and he was recovering fast.

He let his anger fuel him and despite me stabbing my blade deep into his arm, he kept coming. He drove me into the rail, winding me.

As I tried to yank the blade back, I gasped for air. He knocked it from my hand as well, his body weight and larger form easily keeping me where I was.

I had to fight not to panic as I blocked another attempt from him to grab my throat. Neither of us had a weapon now, but it wouldn't take much for him to lift me up and chuck me in the water, or snap my neck if he could get a tight enough grip.

Again and again I blocked him, trying to kick and lash out in any way I could while I was stuck between him and the rail. He was pressing hard enough up against me that I feared he would break a rib or two, but he seemed more focused on going in for the kill. It was frantic, fast and I could only keep up thanks to the magic from Leo.

Still, my limbs were starting to ache and I knew I was paying the price for the ring's magic. I had to find a way to get out of this.

As he tried to grab my throat, I found the opening and brought my knee up into his balls. He went over backwards, momentarily stunned. I immediately reached for the wire wrapped around my wrist and pulled it loose.

I grabbed it with both hands and then rushed toward Ludis. He tried to shift back, but I pushed through the pain and ache in my body to rush him, shove him back and straddle his torso. I used my weight and momentum to drive him back and get the wire across his throat.

Reaching my hands behind his back I crossed them over and then rolled as hard as I could to one side. At first it only shifted his body, one of his hands coming up quickly enough to get in between the wire and his neck.

I threw myself backwards again and severed the fingers. It still didn't remove his head, but I wasn't going to give up. Each yank had moved him partially across the deck and he was struggling to fight it, fully panicking. This was a very unconventional way to kill a vampire, however.

The wire was also digging into my own hands and my grip would get slippery if it cut me too. I had only one attempt left. I got to my feet, pulling him backward a little. He flailed, unable to get a grip on anything with the fingers missing from one hand.

We worked together to get him upright and I used the momentum and the last ounce of strength I had left to half jump and half run up the side of the deck chairs. It lifted Ludis up and pulled him back against the stack. Not wasting a moment of time, I threw myself off the other side backwards.

Thankfully, I landed on my feet, the head coming off Ludis and following me. It rolled before it came to a stop at Leo's feet.

I hadn't seen him come out onto the back deck, but he came rushing over to me as if he had just arrived.

"One dead vampire," I said as I let go of one end of the wire. It had cut into my hand as well, but only a small amount. A bandage and some rest would see me okay again.

Leo was panting as he pulled me into his arms. I winced, aching in more places than I expected to. He checked me over as I took the ring off and held it out to him.

He closed my hand over it. "Keep it. You've earned it."

I didn't know what to say to thank him, but he didn't stop moving. He grabbed one of the deck chairs and opened it up.

"Sit down for a few minutes while I tidy this up." He didn't hesitate to grab the head I'd severed and immediately threw it off the back of the ship. A few seconds later he did the same to the rest of Ludis.

There was a lot of blood out on the deck and this had Leo frowning. My hands were also covered and there were many splatters on my dress. I didn't know how anyone was supposed to hide these sorts of things, but Leo only seemed to want to figure out where it all was and gather up my daggers.

He pulled a cloth from his pocket and cleaned them both off for me before handing them back.

I tucked them back into my boots more on autopilot than really thinking about it and watched him carefully wipe down the wire I'd also used. "Wrap that back around your wrist. It was surprisingly effective when combined with the ring."

It was certainly a true statement although I had barely made it work. I knew I had got lucky to some degree with this fight, but it was over. After everything Ludis had done and said, relief hit me next. He had been a despicable person and it made the world a better place to get rid of him.

I had once thought it better for the world to get rid of any and all vampires, but I found myself watching Leo sweep the area and send messages to various people before he came back to me.

"We need to go and wait somewhere else and clean ourselves up. I've got someone coming to clean this before anyone else notices. Can you walk?"

As if to answer him, I got to my feet. I tucked my hands under my arms gently in an attempt to hide the blood on them and the wounds I had, no matter how small and followed along just behind him.

"Have you managed to stop whatever he was up to?" I asked as Leo led me back into the hallways of the boat. "I don't know where his phone went."

Leo nodded and glanced down at me. "It's okay, we stopped it all and everyone will be safe."

I exhaled, relieved that we'd both succeeded. Although I knew it meant the end of our working relationship and probably everything else between us as well, I was glad that we had stopped Ludis growing stronger.

Despite us being done as partners in this mission, Leo took me back to the suite. Instead of going into the bedroom we had used so far, Leo had me sit down on the sofa. He fetched a medical kit, shutting the bedroom door behind himself.

I still got a glimpse inside and noticed that the room had been messed up and was also covered in blood. Another fight, or something similar, had occurred here as well.

Leo also had my rucksack with everything that mattered to me in it.

"We're going to need to rest in one of the other rooms for the rest of the night. I thought you'd want to keep this with you."

I nodded, surprised at the assumption that I would be staying here longer. Despite how taken aback I was, I didn't voice it, but let him carry on.

He bandaged my hands and checked the cut down my side through the dress.

"Sorry," I said. "He ruined it already and you only just bought it."

Leo let out a chuckle, a sound I was falling in love with and I couldn't help but smile in response. He looked up at me, his gaze intense. My heart raced as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.

Unable to think of anything else, I lost myself in the feel of his mouth on mine. I had feared I would never get to enjoy this again, but he still wanted me. I would enjoy whatever followed.