(Author's note: I know, I know. This is really late. But believe me when I say that the last month has been kind of awful (mostly getting my wisdom teeth out, an extremely traumatic event for me. Ugh), and any inspiration I might have had completely deserted me. But, finally this chapter I've been working on all month is done, so I give it to you. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm really going to try to get this finished soon.
Redaura: Wow, thanks for all the questions. Lets me know what I need to make sure gets answered. ;-) hehe. Anyway, Troy has that bad habit of springing out of nowhere. He's a bad guy, and bad guys are just good at that. As for Jenny and Damian, they are pretty fickle, aren't they? But that's okay, because they both have a lot to deal with here. *grin* Sorry about all the cliffhangers, but they always feel like the right way to end a chapter. Hopefully this chapter isn't *quite* as cliffhangery, but it's kind of hard to not have cliffhangers during continuous action.
Mandy: Yeah, Jenny can't seem to make up her mind. But trust me when I say that by the end of the story, everything will be decided for good. What that decision is, I can't tell you, of course, 'cause then I'd have to kill you. *wink* Some rear ends will be kicked, though. Hehe. And thanks for the ch. 30 review. BTW, there is a Roman times fanfic – check out Moreta's 'Flame of Rome' if you haven't already by now. It's amazing.
Candika: Thanks!
Adelaide E: Nope, no law against reader angst. Sorry. lol. But angst is a good thing, because it means I did what I intended to. Troy is kind of a pain, always popping up at inopportune times, huh… hehe. Hopefully, he'll get his in the end.
The Cat: Thanks for not threatening me, even though threats occasionally work. Hehe.
Dragon Fire: I'm sure many people would like to tell Jenny that. lol.
Anonymous: Hopefully you know who you are, because I don't. lol. You forgot to put a name. But I'm glad you like the story!
Spunky: Actually, you weren't wrong – just read this chapter. ;-)
Laney: I leave it at Troy a lot, don't I? He's just a cliffhanger kind of guy. lol. I'm glad you liked the chapter!!
Littlemissgiggles: Well, I hope you didn't cry because the next chapter definitely was not up soon. But I'm glad you like it!
Baloo: Wow, Miss-Let's-Leave-a-Lot-of-Reviews. ;-) Hehe, not that I'm complaining. Good to hear from you again. Umm, to sum up… I'm glad you were rooting for Michael, because he wasn't meant to be a "hate with all my energy" kind of guy. lol. As for wanting to bitch-slap Damian, well… How do you think Jenny felt? ;-) I'll let him know you'd like to have a little talk with him though. Hehe. Uh.. You weren't *really* angry at me for him saying that, were you? Just checking… Anyway, I've been meaning to email you, and I saw you added a new chapter to Resurrection! So I promise that within the next few days (ie. Week), I will write you with my thoughts on it!
Lestat: Tsk, tsk. Threaten much? lol. I'm glad you like it, though. Sorry it took so long!
Soraia: Wow, I'm glad I told you about the rest of my chapters. Your comments are so flattering. Makes me feel good. Thanks! I hope this chapter doesn't let you down! And I promise, sometime soon I will try to get around to reading and commenting on your SC story.
Thanks everyone!!)
*Chapter 32*
"How do you do that, just appear out of nowhere all the time?" Jenny blurted. A second later, she wished she hadn't said it.
"Talent," he said, a sly grin sliding across his face.
A shiver coursed down her body in reaction to his smile. She didn't know what it was about him that scared her to death, but having him touch her made her want to tear her own arms off.
Because he's totally psycho! her inner genius volunteered.
She fought to free herself from his grip, but it only made him hold on tighter. "Let go of me," she found herself demanding. To her surprise he did. Not that she could go anywhere with his three muscle-bound cronies surrounding her. Surprised, she took a step back, stepping on the foot of the vampire behind her.
"Can I eat her?" the vampire asked.
That smile again. "Definitely not," Troy said. "This one's mine."
"Gee, that's great to know." Jenny's churning stomach was in competition with her pounding heart for 'Body part most likely to explode.'
She heard footsteps behind her, and Troy lost his smile. "Silverwind. Good timing as usual." Even in her getting-ready-to-panic state, Jenny didn't miss the sarcasm. "What say you and I have ourselves a little snack?"
Jenny didn't turn to look at Damian – no way was she turning her back on Troy – but she wished she could see the expression on his face as he spoke.
"Go ahead, drain her. Make the world a better place."
Troy didn't hide the surprise on his face fast enough for Jenny to miss it. "Are you saying you want me to kill your little tramp soulmate?" His voice was teasing, but backed by seriousness.
A pause, then Damian said, "I don't have a soulmate. There's no such thing."
Jenny couldn't help feeling a little hurt at that, even though it was her fault. She had pushed him away, and she still felt it was the right thing to do. Still … shouldn't he at least make some sort of attempt at rescuing her?
Amusement flickered on Troy's face. "I guess I misjudged your strength, Silverwind. I admire that. I see I wasn't wrong letting you into my guard." He smiled cheerfully, and Jenny suddenly realized Troy didn't know Damian had been with her.
His attention had been fully on Damian for a minute, and Jenny decided to take a chance. With his eyes diverted, she snapped up her foot and caught him just under the chin. Then, in one fluid move, she rounded behind her with her elbow, digging it into the stomach of the vampire behind her.
She wasn't fast enough. The other two vampires were on her the second the air left their companion. They grabbed her from either side and held her firmly. She lashed out at their legs unsuccessfully, resulting in them stepping on her feet so she couldn't kick.
Troy walked up to her, rubbing his chin with one hand. His eyes swirled red and silver, reminding Jenny of mercury. "Now that wasn't very nice," he said, the smile gone from his face. Calmly controlled rage had taken over instead. "For that, I won't be very nice to you."
"You son of a bitch!" she spat at him, struggling against her captors. Her feet were falling asleep under the vampires' weight.
"Yes, well, that may be true, although I don't remember her." He nodded at the vampire behind Jenny, the one she'd elbowed, and something smashed into the back of her head. Her vision faded in and out for a second, and she closed her eyes, trying to fight it.
"Thanks," she gasped. "It's always good to get a nice head beating."
Troy turned his eyes on her, and her mouth went dry. She stared at him, trying frantically to think of a way out of this. For the first time, she noticed the pendant he wore around his neck was really a silver key. He laughed. "Oh yes, I'm quite tired of you. And quite thirsty."
Jenny thought she might have had tears in her eyes, if Troy hadn't scared them all dry.
He reached up and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look sideways. She jerked her head away, and he held her head sideways with a palm on her cheek. With her head at this angle, she could see Damian standing behind her to the right. She met his gaze, and with her eyes she begged him to help her. He didn't move, only staring at her. Or rather, through her, it seemed. Jenny didn't know if he was even seeing anything that was going on. He stared into space, his mind elsewhere. This is all my fault, she thought.
"Oh, God," she whispered as Troy leaned toward her exposed neck.
She squeezed her eyes shut, every thought fleeing from her mind except the feel of Troy's hand on her cheek. Strange. She'd always thought that when you were about to die, your mind flooded with images of your life, things you never did that you'd always wanted to, the people you loved. That's what always happened in movies. But apparently she wasn't Hollywood material – all she could think of was Troy about to drink the life out of her. What a terrible last thought. It sucked – pardon the pun. She felt his lips brush her skin.
"Sir!" someone yelled, and her eyes flew open. The hand on her face disappeared, and her breath escaped her all at once. Impulsively, she rubbed her neck on her shoulder, trying to erase the feel of Troy's touch.
Someone was running down the tunnel, motioning wildly with his hands. Jenny realized with a shock that it was Damian's friend from the club, the one who'd been guarding the door to Troy's room, Toby. His eyes lit with excitement, he skidded to a stop in front of Troy.
"It's time," he said breathlessly. "The guard has changed."
"Excellent," Troy said, and even though Jenny couldn't see his face, she had a feeling he was smiling. "Thank you, Toby. You may go now."
Toby grinned and pushed hair out of his eyes. He turned to go, then stopped when he noticed Troy's captive. "Hey, Damian. Looks like your girlfriend is a bit of a fighter, huh?"
Damian snorted behind Jenny, but didn't say anything.
"Just go, Toby," Troy ordered. Toby went, with one last grin at Jenny.
Troy turned back to Jenny, not smiling, but definite amusement in his eyes. "You got lucky. I guess I don't have time for a snack after all."
"I'm so disappointed," Jenny deadpanned, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Oh, but you'll still get your chance at fun. I'd say any minute now."
Before Jenny could reply, he spun and started back down the tunnel. A snap of his fingers over his shoulder was all it took for the guards to start dragging her along after him. She would have struggled if the guards' grips on her upper arms weren't cutting off her circulation. Instead, she turned to look over her shoulder at Damian, who was walking easily alongside the other guard.
"Damian," she hissed. "We can take these guys. There are only three!"
"Quiet," one guard warned, trying to force her to look forward again. She fought him, keeping her eyes on Damian.
"We can!" she tried again.
Damian looked at her, and the expression in his eyes chilled her blood. Anger swirled in them, more anger than she'd ever seen in him. Anger and … hate? He sneered at her. "Why?" he asked, coldly.
Her heart sank, and she turned forward again, trying to ignore the wetness forcing its way across her vision. All my fault, she found herself thinking again. She had expected him to be angry with her, even meant him to be. She hadn't expected him to let her die.
***********
Troy motioned to the guards to keep Jenny underneath the stadium while he disappeared through a doorway. At the entrance to the stadium, Jenny could see the box where Hunter still sat, enjoying the fight going on. Raina, a few seats down from him, blatantly pulled at her chains. The guards around her just watched her in amusement as she said things to them that Jenny imagined couldn't be repeatable in decent company.
Then Troy emerged behind them, stepping down next to Hunter and murmuring something in his ear. A smile broke out on Hunter's face, and he stood, motioning to the guards positioned on the dirt floor of the arena to end the current fight. The human boy who'd been out there came back underneath, a relieved expression on his face.
All eyes turned to Hunter as he stepped to the front of the box and raise a hand for silence.
"It seems," he began with a smile. "That something interesting has come up. One of our fighters tried to get away." The crowd booed, knowing that was the reaction he wanted. "I think she should be punished. How do you feel about that?" Cheers, of course. "But I'm sure you're all getting a little bored with fight after fight of the same old thing. I propose something different, something… more interesting." He paused to let the crowd wait in anticipation. Jenny had to give him credit; he knew how to work people. He didn't get to be on the council for his humanity, that was for sure.
Troy, at Hunter's side, gestured toward the entrance, and the guards began pushing her out toward the middle again.
"Hey, I've already been here. Let's see something different," she protested, despite her heart feeling like it was going to explode from fear. They stopped in the middle, the guards letting go of her and retreating the way they came. Jenny lifted her eyes to gaze at the crowd around her, feeling them watching her, the hatred pressing down on her.
Hunter continued. "I'm going to have one of my guards, Mr. Silverwind there, join the fun," he said, and Jenny turned her head to look behind her. She hadn't realized Damian had come out too.
Not good, her mind murmured. Not good at all.
"You see, we've had doubts about his loyalty. It seems he may have an … affection for the girl," Hunter's distaste at the situation was obvious. "I feel the need for him to prove himself to us. Show us that he's truly on our side by taking out this little nuisance." The crowd gasped in excitement as one, and all feeling drained out of Jenny's body. He couldn't be serious.
But he was serious. Jenny should have seen it coming. This sort of thing appealed to Hunter's twisted little mind. She whirled around to look at Damian, who was staring at Hunter, his eyes narrowed in anger.
"You're dead, Redfern," she heard him murmur. As if he'd heard him, Hunter looked at Damian and smiled.
"Of course," Hunter continued, not taking his eyes from his staredown with Damian. "All he has to do is kill the girl and we'll know for sure where his loyalties lie. If not… They can both die." And with that, he sat back down again, and all eyes turned on the two standing in the middle.
Jenny gaped. This couldn't be happening… It was one thing to fight an evil vampire, totally another to fight… him.
Damian turned to her and narrowed his eyes. Jenny backed away, smiling nervously.
"Damian. You're not serious. You can't be."
He raised an eyebrow as he stalked toward her. "Why not? You said yourself we can never be together. Might as well end it now and get it over with."
She kept backing away from him, her eyes jumping from him to Hunter to the exit. Her mind raced in circles, unable to focus on a plan of action. "This wasn't exactly what I had in mind."
A grim smile. "They'd kill us both if we didn't fight. Might as well take the opportunity to get out of here alive."
"But…" Whatever she was going to say got lost, because at that moment her heel struck something and she tumbled backward to the ground. Instincts still protesting that this wasn't happening, she lay on the ground a moment, staring at Damian dazedly as he knelt at her feet and picked up whatever she'd tripped on.
It was a spear. A giant, sharp wooden spear. Another one lay next to it, and he kicked it toward her.
Her eyes widened as he suddenly brought the spear down an inch from her head, burying the tip in the dirt.
Something clicked in Jenny's mind as the crowd cheered, and the sluggishness and confusion suddenly swept away. Instinct took over, and she gritted her teeth. "Alright, have it your way then," she growled as he pulled the spear out of the ground.
She had time to register surprise on his face before she rolled to her side and kicked him in the ankle, knocking him off balance. His eyes flashed silver and he held the spear in front of him. "Bring it on then."
Despite still being sore from her previous fight, Jenny felt energy surging through her. Adrenaline coursed through her, filling her with strength. She rolled to her feet, snatching up the other spear as she did it. They stood staring at each other for a moment, spears held in front of them.
Rage flooded through her. How dare he try to kill her! she thought irrationally. Just because she didn't want to be with him was no reason for him to get violent. Well, she would be damned if she was going to let him get away with it. She wasn't going down without a fight.
"You want a fight, you got it," she growled.
Something flickered in his eyes, and he smiled, slow and calculated. "Don't think I'll go easy on you. I'm not ready to die just yet."
"Yeah? Me either." As she spoke, she swung the spear at him. Effortlessly, he blocked her. Jenny had never really trained with this type of weapon, but instinct took over. The next few minutes were a blur of swings and blocks, their gazes locked. She ignored the pain that flared up in her sore wrist every time she took a swing.
Then, just as she thought she was getting the best of him, the inexplicable happened. He knocked the spear out of her hands. It flew off somewhere behind her, and she froze, arms out in front of her.
For a moment, they just stared at each other, she wide-eyed and Damian with a triumphant grin. It was the moment of truth – would he really kill her? She really hoped he wouldn't.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked cheerfully, his eyebrows raised.
"I'll think of … something." He swung at her as she spoke, and she ducked, diving to the ground. He stabbed the spear into the ground as she rolled out of the dive, missing her side by mere inches.
She grimaced and kicked a leg at him, connecting with his hip and sending him stumbling backward. At the same time, he stabbed at her with the spear, and it grazed her upper arm. For a second, she stared at the blood welling up, then she jerked her head up to glare at him, eyes blazing. He stood clenching the spear, looking vaguely surprised. Then he narrowed his eyes and stabbed again. She dodged it this time, shooting her hand out to grab it as he pulled it back. She couldn't yank it out of his hands, but she wouldn't let go either.
Their eyes met, and for a second she thought he was going to let go. Instead, he pushed the spear toward her, and the tip grazed her side. She gasped at the sudden pain but didn't take her eyes off him. She let go of the spear and spun around, finding hers lying in the dust about 20 feet away.
She ran toward it, but before she got there a fist smashed into her back, knocking her to the ground. Damian planted a foot between her shoulder blades, pinning her down. Gasping, she tried to grab the foot, but her arm didn't bend at that angle. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him staring down at her.
The crowd cheered, yelling at him to finish it.
She closed her eyes a second and rested her chin on the ground. Her mind whirled, turning over possible next moves. At the back of her thoughts, she wondered why he hadn't finished it yet. When she opened her eyes again, something caught her eye. The spear, her spear, was lying in front of her, no more than two feet away.
"What …" she murmured. Damian had left it there. He could have knocked it away, but he hadn't.
She didn't have time to consider it because Damian dug his heel farther into her back.
In one fluid motion, she grabbed the spear and swung it behind her. Awkwardly, but it worked because she made contact with something.
Damian grunted and the pressure on her back lifted. She rolled over to see Damian holding a hand to his forehead. She jumped to her feet.
"Oops, did I get you?"
He narrowed his eyes at her and threw the spear at her.
She gasped as she jumped to the side. The spear whistled by her and stuck in the ground.
Before she could react, Damian dove at her, tackling her to the ground. The air whooshed out of her lungs. He pinned his arm across her throat and she gagged.
"Damian," she gasped, feeling her face turning bright red.
He leaned in toward her, as if going for her throat. She closed her eyes. This was it, she thought. She seemed to find herself in this position a lot lately. But not anymore. It was all over now. She felt his breath on her throat.
To her surprise, he spoke softly in her ear.
"You're too overconfident, that's your problem. You're not focusing enough."
Jenny opened her mouth, and Damian stopped her. "No, don't say anything. This has to look real. They have to think I'm draining you." Thankfully, he eased the arm off her throat.
She closed her mouth again and stared at the dark hair brushing the back of his neck as he spoke in her ear. Every time she thought she knew what was going on, Damian did something to wrench that perception into something entirely different. He constantly surprised her. Even after pushing him away – and hurting him – he still tried to help her.
But what about what he said about Elizabeth? Her mind whirled, trying to decide if he was just being nice and trying to save her, or if he'd only been pretending to be angry with her. His anger had seemed genuine, but then again so had his hatred when she'd thought he'd betrayed her. Hell, he probably just feels sorry for you, she thought.
If they got out of here alive, she was going to have a long talk with him.
The crowd continued to shout and cheer at Damian, but Jenny no longer heard it. Instead, all she could focus on was the closeness of Damian, and how badly she wanted to apologize for what she'd said to him. Her entire body tingled with his nearness, and his breath on her neck gave her goosebumps.
"I'm going to bite you, Jenny," he breathed. "But only enough so they can see that I bit you. Then I need you to pretend to be dead. I doubt they'll check your pulse. Just stay still until they carry you out of here, and then get away."
She nodded her head slightly, then gasped at the slight sting as Damian's teeth pierced her skin. She could feel her blood pulsing throughout her body, being drawn toward the wound. Then, just as quickly, it was over.
Damian brushed his lips slightly against her throat as he lifted his mouth to her ear, and a shudder raced down her spine.
"Okay, stay still. Try not to breathe too much."
And with that, he stood, brushing off his hands on his pant leg. Jenny stared at the high ceiling, fighting the urge to look toward Hunter and Troy, and held her breath.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Damian moving toward Hunter's box.
"Happy?" he asked.
Hunter stood, leaning his hands against the waist-high wall in front of him. Jenny couldn't see him clearly, but she got the distinct impression that he was examining her.
Don't move, she warned herself. Don't even breathe.
Playing dead was something new to her, but she must have been doing it right, because Hunter seemed to accept it. Two guards began walking toward her from the side.
"Very well. I suppose I underestimated you, Silverwind," Hunter said. "I will let you live."
Damian bowed dramatically. "Thank you, sir."
The guards reached Jenny. One grabbed her under her arms, and that other grabbed her legs. They lifted her, blocking her view of Hunter just as Troy stepped up next to him, and began moving her toward the staging area. Jenny poured all her energies into staying limp, so she almost missed what happened next.
Troy put a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "You let him live, sir," he said in a voice loud enough to carry throughout the stadium, but not loud enough to cover the sound of a hundred guards moving into place. "But I can't let you live."