My shoulders sagged. “Why the hell did you say you were looking for his body? Don’t say shit like that unless you mean it.”
“I mean it, buttercup. Sorry to break the news, but Christian’s in the between.”
CHAPTER17
The instant Raven left the courtyard, Christian rushed at the Mage, not caring if the sword impaled him. He could take the pain if it meant getting close enough to crush that eejit’s skull.
The Mage flashed behind him. Christian immediately spun around with his sword out, hoping like hell the Mage didn’t pick up the blade Raven had left behind.
“Are we actually going to get to the fighting part?” he asked, irritated by all the prancing about.
Was the Mage stalling?
Christian backed up to block the corridor. Even if the Mage flashed through it, Christian could catch up in the darkness. Once he was out in the brightly lit street, it would be difficult to shadow walk.
Their steel clashed, and he sliced the man’s arm.
The Mage flashed a distance and then removed his jacket. While he did so, Christian picked up Raven’s sword and tossed it over a wall. When the man swaggered toward Christian, he was holding his sword entirely differently, and it unnerved him. The courtyard didn’t have enough shadows for him to shadow walk.
“You’re a little rusty,” Christian remarked, noticing the look of irritation in the man’s face. “I know a lad who’ll train you right. I wager whoever taught you only had the skills to butter bread.”
The Mage wielded that sword so fast and furiously that Christian struggled to keep up with all his twisting movements and fancy tricks. He almost lost grip of his own sword but held his ground, parrying each attack. Not without losing a little blood here and there.
Suddenly they were in a clinch, and the Mage spoke.
“Tell me, why should I fear a man with a tail?”
For feck’s sake.Christian had forgotten all about the raccoon tail until just then.
He punched out his fangs. “You should be shivering in your boots.” When Christian twisted the man’s sword away, he reached out to grab his collar. Once again, the Mage flashed out of reach.
The man slowly circled him like a predator, his eyes laser-focused. “I fear nothing.”
In that moment, Christian realized this was no guard. “Soyou’rethe infamous Li Han, hiding behind an army of incompetent men.”
“That is one of my many names. I’m over three thousand years old.”
“Well, isn’t that astonishing? Save your grand speech for someone who actually trembles in fear. If the secret to your longevity is using the talents of other men, you’re all out of luck. Where are they now?”
The swords clanged as they fell into a dance of blades. A dog barked in the distance, a city truck plowed one of the nearby roads, and the wind whistled above while tiny snowflakes sprinkled into the courtyard like powdered sugar over a bloody cake.
Li Han thrust his arm forward, immediately letting go of his only weapon when it speared Christian in the gut. He was smart not to get too close. Instead of sticking around for more action, he flashed out of the courtyard.
Christian grimaced as he pulled out the blade and then shadow walked down the dark corridor. When he glided over the short wall, the streetlight struck him and sent him falling to the ground. Li Han flashed down the slippery sidewalk with difficulty, Christian hot on his trail. The Mage turned to look once before he kept going.
This bastard is going to stay in the light, he thought, deciding his best bet was to follow him at a distance through the dark alleyways. Christian moved skillfully through the shadows as if his feet weren’t touching the ground. He tapped into the sounds around him, locking in on the footsteps and following their direction. Even though he wasn’t on the same street, he kept up without difficulty. Li Han was a noisy bastard, panting like a dog on a hot summer day.
Christian fell back and stayed out of sight. The Mage wouldn’t step out of the light with a Vampire on his tail, so Christian needed to give him a false sense of security. He must have depleted a lot of his energy from all the fancy flashing he had done in the courtyard. Christian casually entered a short alley between two buildings and watched him from a safe distance.
“Get your own alley,” a man grumbled at him.
Christian looked over his shoulder at a homeless man poking his head out from a large box wrapped up in plastic.
The man cackled at Christian’s tail. “The rats are getting bigger these days.”
Li Han stopped on a corner and searched the area. With the Mage lacking the ability to sense a Vampire’s energy, Christian was as good as hidden.
When Li Han turned away, Christian jogged out in the open. He didn’t need a stunner to incapacitate a Mage; all he needed was something sharp enough to take off his head. Unfortunately, there weren’t any weapon shops within view, but he was good at improvising. Christian dipped into the shadows a second before the Mage turned around. The sound of crunching footsteps grew distant, so Christian followed at the same stride in case the sound traveled too far. Falling snow created a thin veil between them.
