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Opportunity favors the bold. It was an old lesson that never failed to inspire, and this night would mark the end of the game. She stalked forward, paws more silent than the night as the two boys, no, the foolish runt of Dracula’s litter and the abomination, raced ahead. She didn’t know why the young vampire was here, but it didn’t matter.
She’d already killed one of Lillith’s children. What harm could come from reminding Dracula that he also wasn’t untouchable? And the best part is that Theresa followed. She could hear her dashing after them, her lightest step as delicate as a feather on glass, but she heard her all the same.
And Theresa would be too late. The vampire boy was already tired, and carrying the abomination wasn’t helping him escape. She almost wished he realized his mistake and left the abomination to his fate. Anyone else would realize when they’d been beaten, but the boy continued running.
So, the game continued. She knew the area well enough to know where they were going and had already decided where it would end. It was simply a matter of time before fate favored her once again.
Antione
Clay swore, ducking a low-hanging branch, almost dropping Antione before rolling to his feet and taking off again.
“Where are we going?” Antione didn’t know how many times he asked. He still wasn’t sure how much of this was real. But Clay’s irritation and desperation were too potent to be ignored.
“To my father’s house. How many times are you going to ask?” was the gritted reply.
“Right. I get that. But don’t you have an easier way to get there? That thing is going to catch us. We should try looking for my friends and–”
A yowl pierced the air, drawing out the rest of Antione’s words as Clay struggled to speed up.
“I-I can’t fly right now. You’re too heavy.”
“You carried me before!”
“That’s when I was gorged!” Antione wanted to glare at him, but a sudden shaking of leaves distracted him.
The creature was done hiding. It leaped into view, and everything slowed down. The cat was now the size of a motorcycle, with glossy reddish fur that almost resembled fire as it lunged, knocking into Clay’s legs and making both boys hit the ground hard. Antione rolled instinctively, barely dodging as the cat landed where his head used to be.
It stared at him with large green eyes the size of dinner plates and hissed. Antione didn’t remember transforming, but a low warning growl emerged the next instant from the deepest parts of his chest as the faint sound of shredding cloth filled the air. The transformation felt good.
He didn’t know if it was a natural side effect of canceling what his mother did, but Antione’s mind was now fully clear. A monster cat was stalking toward him, preparing to leap as it bared its teeth, but Antione didn’t feel like waiting. He charged, hoping to startle the cat long enough to get one hit in, but the cat leaped aside before he could touch its fur.
Antione growled and lunged again, only to be knocked aside by the cat’s tail. It wasn’t enough to send him to the ground, but it did make one thing clear. The cat was still toying with him. It didn’t see the werewolf as a threat. That was fine because Clay jumped on its back a moment later and bit its neck.
The cat yowled and immediately began going ballistic, jumping between trees and slamming itself against everything in sight in an attempt to make Clay let go. Antione didn’t hesitate. He couldn’t. He still didn’t understand what was going on, but this thing wanted him dead, and was willing to stalk him through his neighborhood to kill him.
Antione refused to let that slide. He jumped, aiming for the cat’s side, but it saw him coming and moved… but not fast enough to completely avoid him. Antione’s claws and fangs sank past the fur and deep into the cat’s lower belly, causing it to scream. It made him want to howl, but he fought the urge and kept clawing and biting.
He could feel his power activating, spurring his efforts on as blood filled the air… It made Antione hungry. He sank his teeth deep into the mauled flesh beneath, and the cat shrieked again. It wasn’t done, though. He jerked his head away just in time for a paw to smack him aside.
The cat rose on its hind legs… and quickly began shrinking as hands found and tore Clay away from its now human neck. Antione wasn’t sure why he froze. He should have been used to seeing people transform since he and his siblings practiced and trained together whenever they could.
But nothing prepared him for the sight of a gorgeous teenage girl around his age glaring at him as she bit Clay’s neck in retaliation. Clay screamed, and Antione found himself moving again. He had to get her away from the vampire boy. His inner wolf refused to allow anything less.
He could see Clay’s struggles rapidly weaken as the girl healed herself on his friend’s blood. Clay opened his mouth as he tried to kick her, but she wrapped one arm around his chest and arms and used the other to smack Clay’s right leg. Bone snapped, and the vampire boy went limp, eyes desperately locking with Antione’s as he raced at the girl.
She watched him come, and it was Antione’s turn to be scared. He knew Clay would die before he reached her. He knew that the girl would go after him again once she was done, and this time, it wouldn’t be a game anymore. But that wasn’t what scared him. A scent of old blood, woodfire, and tarnished steel filled the air seconds before Antione could strike, and then, the girl wasn’t in front of him anymore.
Clay was now leaning against a tree a few feet to his left, but Antione barely had any time to comprehend it. The strange scent surrounded him, comforted, and chilled him far more than anything else before. He heard a gurgled gasp and spun to see a man wearing an expensive black coat over a pair of jeans holding the girl by her throat and glaring at her.
“How dare you touch what is mine.” The words were soft, almost expressionless, but Antione shivered as the girl clawed at the man’s hand. How can anyone be calm in this situation? Is he really calm? Antione couldn’t tell. The girl kept trying to escape; her hands grabbed the wrist, holding her in the air hard enough to make her knuckles turn white.
Antione braced himself for the horrible crack of bone snapping, but when it came, it wasn’t accompanied by the man screaming in pain. But the girl did. She cried out as the man flexed his hand slightly, and then, her head flopped back against the tree as if trying to stare at the sky.
The man snorted and turned, hand still holding the girl up almost casually as he looked at the young werewolf. Antione opened his mouth, but the man held up a perfectly manicured finger.
“Silence. I didn’t come here for you.” The man’s eyes turned to Clay and softened. Antione could hear the young vampire struggle to sit up and almost sighed in relief when Clay spoke.
“F-father?”
“Hello, son.”
Antione waited, but neither vampire moved. It was as if time stood still, and he was forgotten… until a pair of warm arms encircled him from behind, and his mother’s favorite perfume rose to combat the man’s scent.
“Antione! Oh, my baby. What are you doing out here? Did she hurt you?!”
He tried to speak, but the man’s next words cut him off. “Are you planning on greeting me, Theresa?”
His mother snorted as she turned Antione around to check him for wounds. He wished she hadn’t done that. Antione could tell the girl’s neck was broken, but who knew how long that would last?
“There’s no need for me to greet you. You’ve been in New Orleans long enough to know I have nothing to say to you.”
“You have nothing to say to your father?”
Antione blinked in shock. “What?”
“Hush, darling. That man has nothing to do with us,” Theresa soothed, placing both hands on Antione’s cheeks and staring into his eyes. “I need you to transform now, Antione. We need to go home before things get any worse.”
Antione frowned, part of him already relaxing under his mother’s touch. She was right. He shouldn’t be in his werewolf form. The fight was over, and the man… Clay’s father… his grandfather? He could handle the girl, and everything would be alright. But his inner wolf howled.
It knew the girl wasn’t dead, and there was still the matter of… What are we doing out here again? The answer came when Clay grabbed his arm and yanked Antione away from his mother.
“You can’t do that. You can’t interfere with his choice!” Clay turned to the man and continued. “He wants to make the trade. You said you’d let the mutt go in exchange for Antione. So hurry up and keep your word already!”
Antione couldn’t follow the conversation anymore; the fog kept seeping into his brain. But his inner wolf refused to settle down, and it was only encouraged when the man raised an eyebrow.
“You’re giving me orders?”
Clay’s jaw dropped. “Um… no?”
The man, his… grandfather, smiled. Antione was glad he wasn’t the only one out of his depth.
This night began with him thinking everything was fine, and now he didn’t know what to think at all. Clay said he was of the Dragul line. Does that mean this guy is…
Theresa wasn’t amused. “Kindly get your youngest under control, Father. I need to take my son home.”
“You can’t,” Clay cried. “The rules say–”
“Child,” Theresa calmly cut him off. “I know the rules better than you. There’s no need for Antione to take Robert’s place. The one who killed Klaus and started this mess is in our father’s hands.”
Her eyes locked on the girl, still struggling limply, yet her neck still flopped at an unnatural angle. Antione couldn’t look at her for long. He didn’t want to imagine being in that situation. Theresa scowled. “Are you going to kill her now or wait until Lillith arrives?”
“Lillith isn’t coming. She left me to take care of this matter.”
“And that gave you the right to target my family?!” Theresa demanded, hands clenching as if she wanted to strangle her father, but the man calmly nodded.
“You and your offspring are of my blood. You are mine to command and mine to deal with as I see fit. For I am Dracula, and you are my daughter… whether you like it or not. Your fates are mine to decide.”
“And what have you decided?” Theresa whispered, rage still echoing through each syllable. Antione didn’t know if he’d ever seen her this angry before, but if the sight bothered Dracula, he didn’t show it. He simply shrugged and lowered his hand so the girl was kneeling behind him.
“I’ve decided this wretch hasn’t suffered enough.” He looked at Clay and pointed beyond him to the woods. “Take your sister and her get to retrieve the dog. I don’t need him anymore.”
“Yes, Father,” Clay said, looking down as he turned to lead the way, but Dracula called him back.
“Clay.”
The vampire boy looked up. “Yes?”
“You were reckless this night. But you fought well. Feed and wait for me in the drawing room. I’ll deal with you after the dog leaves.” Dracula paused and turned to Theresa. “You are welcome to stay for as long as you like…”
His eyes flicked to Antione’s and continued. “… both of you.”
Theresa said nothing, but she nodded. She placed a hand on Antione’s back, and they followed Clay away from the most famous vampire in history.