the stab wound on my back. The dagger wasn’t a stunner, so the offering was meant to increase the bloodshed, not win the fight.
Blood trickled down my arm in rivulets as I pointed the dagger at her. “Come and get it.”
She spat blood on the floor, her left eye swelling up and those pretty lips split and bleeding. Defeat didn’t flicker in her eyes, and she stood like an immovable rock that refused to be broken.
I admired the hell out of her.
We circled each other like predators, each looking for a weakness. Blondie flashed at me, and in a surprise move, bent down and hoisted me off the floor. Airborne for the briefest of seconds, I braced myself for the fall. My back hit the floor with a sickening thud. Before I could wince, we grappled as she tried to disarm me.
I wrenched my hand away, slicing her arm in the process. Stabbing a Mage in the torso wouldn’t do much damage, but a leg wound would slow her down. I readjusted the blade and sank it into her thigh. To my delight, Blondie let out a bloodcurdling scream. She then yanked the blade out and aimed it over my chest. With her straddling me and my right arm pinned, I had no escape.
As the blade came down, I knocked her hand with my free arm. She missed, and once again, we fought for the weapon. I threw her off me as I bit her arm and rolled to the side. No Vampire fangs, just good old-fashioned incisors. When her entire body suddenly heated up like a furnace, I roared like a wild animal caught in a trap. Her touch was unbearable, and I scurried backward.
“You Thermal bitch,” I growled, my teeth still burning.
Out of breath, she exhaustedly grabbed the knife and remained on one knee, glancing at me over her right shoulder.
“You’re tough,” she said. “But I’m tougher.”
That pissed me off.
I sprang to my feet, and I didn’t feel my injuries anymore. Niko’s words rang in my head. When you feel the pain and let it take over, it consumes you with fear and doubt. Niko said if I learned to separate pain from my conscious mind, I could do anything.
I sprinted toward the wall and ran up it two steps before pushing off and sailing through the air. She didn’t have time to process what was happening. I was already on top of her like one of those wrestlers my father used to watch on TV. I body-slammed her, and the knife spiraled out of reach. Blondie crumpled to the ground like a broken tree in a storm, and I was that storm.
Then I twisted around and pinned her head between my thighs, my ankles locked and knees bent like I’d done a hundred times before. As the circulation to her brain ceased, she did what they all had done—tried to pry my legs apart before beating her fists on them. She writhed and struggled to free herself, but I had a tight grip on that bun on her head.
She suddenly switched on her Thermal powers, and it felt like my legs were wrapped around a radiator.
Hold on just one more minute. You can do this. Don’t give up. I ignored the intense heat and only thought of survival. This was the end times, we were the last two on earth, and only one of us would walk out alive.
As her struggling decreased, so did the heat. Sweat beaded on my brow and across my chest. My thighs were on fire, and it was everything I could do not to scream.
She finally went limp. This was the part where they lost consciousness for a few brief moments, allowing me to finish the job. I released my hold, my inner thighs bright red from the knees up with two visible handprints on top. I rolled my opponent onto her back and straddled her.
“Light’s out,” I panted, placing my hands on hers.
Just as the first current of her energy entered my palms, my fangs wanted to punch out. I tasted the power in her light. What would her blood taste like? If she wasn’t evil like the others I’d killed, would that blood have the opposite effect, giving me a rush of power?
So many questions.
I reached deep down for her core light. Her eyelids fluttered before her eyes popped open when she realized I was about to steal her immortality. Somehow they could always tell when I went too deep—deeper