Chapter 10

I pushed off of the door and lunged at Zane with a wild battle cry.

My body gave way to primal instincts when I had no lie to offer him about Brian- I felt cornered, lost, trapped, more so than I ever have in my entire life. I felt nearly defeated- so I turned into a wounded gazelle that thought it was smart to leap on a hungry lion. What else could I do to protect the one's I love other than kill the source of the harm?

But my primal instincts were wrong.

Two mistakes in thirty seconds. Wow I was getting good at that.

"I thought you liked Alek," Zane grunted as he thrust both his arms in front of him. My bones rattled inside of me, threatening to crack as I collided with his arm's that, when connected, resembled a brick wall. I crumpled to the floor in a surprised heap.

Holy mother-

He stood over me and shrugged indifferently before jamming his elbow into my vulnerable side.

"GAH!" I bit back a scream as my feet and head tried to reflexively meet halfway. My side exploded into a spasm of pins and needles as if Zane's bones were made of metal bars and his skin of a billion microscopic knives.

And he was just toying with me.

What kind of strength did he have when he was really fighting?

I shoved down my growing unease and forced myself to stand up. But before I could steady my feet Zane's knuckles pounded into my left ear. A high-pitched ringing filled my head as I stumbled backwards, through the doorway, and into the hall wall.

A picture frame thought it could cushion my head but it shattered beneath the impact and shards embedded themselves into my skin with painful ease.

And that's when they started to come back: The stupid, little black ants in my vision.

Panic shivered through me. This shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't be getting weaker right? I should be healing. Why wasn't I healing? It was almost as if I were a human.

Chills rushed through my blood.

It was almost as if I were human.

"But then again, people are always attracted to what they can't have," Zane mused to my distant form.

He now loomed in the doorway of Valentina's room- Valentina remained sleeping behind him, oblivious to the chaos around her.

"Poor love sick Alek. Does he know? Maybe ill just have to find this human-" Zane took a step closer towards me.

"And," he drawled dramatically. "Do Alek a favor. After all he did give me a good fight the other day."

"Don't you d-dare," I wheezed pathetically.

I couldn't remember the last time I was out of breath. That felt like years ago, when mom didn't have to worry because I disappeared and math homework was my worst enemy and I could kiss a boy without killing him three times.

Zane slammed his hand into the wall beside my head, causing it to vibrate, and me to flinch. I stifled a groan as the glass sunk deeper into my skull. The black ants were marching frantically in front of me, obscuring my sight and my balance. I felt like a little kid on a boat, wobbly on the deck as the waves raged beneath me.

But I wasn't even moving.

Zane's face took on a hint of malevolence for the first visible time that night; his eyebrows appeared bushier, his jaw sharper, his lips thinner, and his eyes filled with the blackness of his pupil's. And I really feared for myself for once.

Before, dying hadn't been as scary because I had nine lives to spare, but looking into Zane's determined gaze, I felt like I could die in an instant. I felt like he could snap my body into two, just as easily as any human could die by a fall or a bullet wound.

"Chloe, Chloe, Chole," Zane said through my haze. "I haven't even shown you half of my potential yet but here you are, whimpering like a pup. You are cornered, and desperate, and broken. You have a pretty face, but this pitiful state just doesn't suit you. You are at your weakest while I am at my strongest and all I had to do was let love take its toll on your silly human-girl heart. Maybe I should . . . . " His face twisted into a mock look of indecision. "-well no, I won't put you down just yet. Maybe this will do you good, this suffering. Besides, we still have to find Brian don't we? Can't have the confused little human wandering around on his own now."

When I remained silent, Zane took that as an invitation to present a final blow to my gut before pushing off of the wall and away from me. He started to waltz down the hallway, a smirk tattooed on his face, and me doubled over like the sad pup he described; the conversation was apparently over.

The black dots were filling my eyes to the brim.

I knew that if I tried to run after Zane, I would end up on the floor in an exposed heap. But if I didn't, he would get away and all hell could break loose. Either way, in this instant, the good guys would lose.

I remained still, unable to will myself to try.

God, he was right. Zane's judgment was completely right. My chin hung low against my chest in submission. What else could I do when I was this pathetic heap?

I couldn't help the defeat that forced my eyes closed. My forehead was beating in time with my heart, threatening to explode and destroy my mind.

I had let my emotions get in the way of survival again.

And Zane was quickly slipping out of my grasp.

"Wh-what are you?" I choked out quickly, before he could disappear for good.

He pivoted on his heels to study me. The moonlight that reflected off of the balcony doors created a milky halo around his body. I could see the ominous figure through my lids.

Slowly he confessed, "I don't know." I could almost feel him give an open armed shrug and a smile. "But it's pretty damn awesome."

He took a step further into the living room, half consumed by darkness and half in light. "I wasn't lying by the way," he added over his shoulder. And then he melted into the shadows of the penthouse, just as if he were one.

I remained still for a moment longer, listening to the penthouse's emptiness that overthrew my thoughts. Once I was sure Zane was lost to the busy night of San Francisco, I slid down the wall with a grimace and rested my pounding head into my hands.

Soon enough, the black dots consumed me.