I hesitated, just for a second, but it was enough.
Because looking at him, his fire and his fury, it reminded me of something. Someone.
A face buried deep in my memories, long forgotten. Someone I’d cared about, before all of this. Before the hunger, before the blood.
It was ridiculous. That was a lifetime ago. I wasn’t that person anymore. I wasn’t human. I was a vampire. A monster. And yet…
“You’re hesitating,” Asher said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “Why? You never hesitated before.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, voices pierced the air.
Then, I heard it. The sound of boots on pavement. We both turned at the same time, our instincts kicking in.
A group of figures emerged from the shadows at the far end of the alley, their movements sharp and deliberate.
They were all dressed in black and armed to the teeth. Guild hunters. Damn it.
“Looks like we’re both popular tonight,” I muttered, my voice low.
“This is your fault,” Asher hissed, his eyes darting between me and the hunters.
“Save the blame for later, hunter,” I snapped. “Unless you want to die here.”
The first hunter raised his weapon, a gun probably loaded with silver-tipped bullets.
I barely had time to shove Asher behind a dumpster before the bullets whizzed past us, embedding themselves in the crumbling brick wall.
Wait a moment. Did I just save his life? For what?
If anything, I should’ve left him to his fate. Let the Guild solve my problems for me.
But no, my instincts had kicked in, and here we were.
Before I could stew on my poor life choices, a voice called out, sharp and hesitant. “Wait. Asher? Is that you?”
Asher froze beside me, his hand instinctively tightening on his gun.
His name being shouted from the other end of a hunt clearly threw him off balance. It threw me off too.
The Guild rarely hesitated. Yet here they were, standing down mid-chase.
“You’re supposed to be on vacation,” the same voice said, disbelief lacing his tone.
The hunter emerged into view, stepping cautiously into the dim light of the alley, his weapon still raised but not aimed.
“What the hell are you doing with a vampire? With that vampire?”
The emphasis on "that" made my lip curl. As if I were some particularly nasty stain on the Guild’s reputation.
Maybe I was. I didn’t exactly cover my tracks as cleverly as I should have. Asher didn’t answer immediately.
I didn’t think he was the type to stammer or falter under pressure, but even I could tell he hadn’t prepared for this.
His silence was a dead giveaway.
“Damn it,” the hunter barked, suddenly looking over his shoulder at the rest of his team. “Guns down! He’s one of ours.”
A ripple of hesitation passed through the group, their weapons lowering one by one. But the unease in their stances didn’t fade.
