I did. But his hand only moved to my back as if ready and waiting to have to steady me again. Making matters a gazillion times worse, he spoke down my ear again, close enough that he was nibbling on it as he spoke. I just about managed to hold back a shudder.
“You’ve got the Dutch courage now. Shall I go get Max?” His tongue lightly flicked my earlobe. “Or are you ready to admit that it’s not him you really want?” Discretely his hand teasingly travelled slowly and lightly down to the small of my back, fingers splayed.
Oh God. Another shudder began to crest. I tried holding it back but a tremor still ventured through me. Jared felt it and giggled. It wasn’t so much the contact that was causing the shudders, it was more to do with the fact that it was Jared who was touching me.
Desperate for some kind of distraction, I glanced around the club; concentrating on how bright the flashing, colourful lights were and how drunk humans were prancing about waiting to be bitten and how –
Oh my God. The sight my eyes found made my brain fail for a second. My cheeks and hands burnt; something they always did when I was irate. My breathing became short pants as I felt the anger swirl around my lungs. The contents of my stomach curdled and my pulse was practically out of control. Familiar voices were talking to me but my brain didn’t interpret the words; every part of me was far too fixated on the spectacle before me. Approximately eight feet away from me, dancing and giggling like he had a right to walk the Earth, was someone I never thought I’d see again. Someone I swore to one day find. And now he had more or less fell in my lap.
At that moment his eyes incidentally found me through his fuzzy, red, unruly hair – as if sensing he was being watched. He tensed and his eyes widened. Abruptly he swung his arm in my direction and a ball of black fire came zooming at me. Without even waiting to see if his aim had been successful, he darted toward the exit. I drew in the energy around me and then released a gush of water from my palms to cancel out the black flames. Then I chased after him, ignoring the complaints of the people around me who were now a bit wet.
Outside the club I halted and scanned the street. Further along the path, passing each of the stores with an admirable speed, was the tall, scruffy bugger. Sucking in more energy, I manipulated it into the form of my whip and then cracked it like I’d never cracked it before. It wrapped around his ankle. I ragged the whip hard, dragging him along the pavement and over to me.
“Throwing fire balls at me? That’s not very nice, is it.” He didn’t struggle or try to free himself. He just gazed up at me, a mixture of shocked and incredibly anxious. I realised something then. “You thought I was dead, didn’t you. I hate to disappoint you, but Victor spared me.”
“I should have known that the Sventé Feeder everyone’s been talking about was you,” he said in a shaky voice.
“Yes, you should’ve. You never were very bright.” I became aware that there were crowds of people around. I picked up the scents of Jared, Evan, Chico and Max close behind me. But I didn’t care to answer their questions. “Is this where you’ve been hiding for the past few years then, Clark, hoping Victor wouldn’t still come after you just for the fun of it? Turns out that Victor was the least of your worries, eh. No wonder I couldn’t find you. Just how did you get accepted here?”
“My Sire got a security-guard position. He was permitted to bring along two of his guards.”
“And the stupid bastard thought you’d be loyal?” I leant over him, eyes almost bulging out of my sockets. “Well I hope he’s not going to miss you too much, because your life has now reached its expiry date.”
Clark held up his hands, palms out. “No hang on a minute, Sam. Let’s talk about this.”
I straightened up and sniggered. “Trying to negotiate? This isn’t a hostage situation. It’s called retribution.”
“Come on now. Killing me won’t bring Bryce back.”
“Oh I know that. But it’ll feel bloody fantastic.” It wouldn’t bring me peace, but it was the next best thing. “Just how does it feel to know you’re the reason you’re best mate’s dead?”
“He wouldn’t want this. He wouldn’t want you bitter like this, he loved you, he -”
“Oh do me a favour and stop with all that.” I shook my head; amazed at his nerve. “Do you know what, Clark? I told Bryce not to go to you for help. I told him I didn’t trust you. You know what he said to that? He said he’d known you all his years as a vampire, that you were his best mate and you’d never betray him, and that he trusted you with his life.”
Clark’s face was even paler than before. I doubted I’d ever reach the tiny conscience he had, but he was getting the lecture all the same. Clark was like Victor in many ways; he was good at politics and manipulating people. He would know exactly what you would want to hear and then he would tell you just that. If you had a compassionate side, he would appeal to it. If you had a weakness he would pounce on it. If all else failed, he would barter.
“I didn’t betray him. It wasn’t like that.”
“He went to you for help, for somewhere to hide out for a couple of days, and you handed him and me over to Victor on a silver bloody platter!”
“I had no choice, Victor would’ve killed me if he’d found out I was hiding you and Bryce.”
“Bryce wouldn’t have gone to you if he’d thought you’d have been in danger because that’s the kind of person he was. Was.” I spat the last word. “Now get up.” I allowed my whip to fade away, freeing his ankle, and watched as he struggled to get up.
“What’re you going to do?” he asked.
“We’re going to duel. There’s no sport in just killing you outright.”
“I can’t fight you, Sam,” he said, shaking his head.
“Why’s that?”
“I can’t hurt you. Bryce loved you, I can’t hurt you.” The words couldn’t have been more false. The people around me sensed that too, a part of my brain registered.
I snorted. “It wasn’t five minutes ago that you threw a fireball at me, and then you legged it like a rat up a drainpipe. I think what you really mean is that you don’t think you can defeat me, and now you’re just saying all this shite in the cause of self-preservation. Well you’re only stalling the inevitable.”
Backing up a little, he said, “Sam, it won’t bring him back.”