Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. XXIII

-0-

"Zhan…"

Ethan stood across from the slowly approaching lycan, who was snarling and growing at him with every step he took. Ethan quickly recalled their last encounter and took a step back. But that caused the angry lycan to take two steps forward. Ethan stopped in place and faced him down, hoping to discourage him before it was too late.

"Zhan. Death Dealers are coming. We have to leave now."

The lycan only edged closer, beginning to circle around Ethan as he spoke. His eyes showed only ferocity and his claws twitched rapidly. Ethan kept his eyes glued to Zhan, knowing that loss of eye contact would mean certain attack and possible death.

"Zhan, we don't have time for this. If we don't leave now, we'll both be killed."

Nothing. Zhan just circled him, seeming oblivious to Ethan's words. Ethan began to tense. Zhan could attack any minute now. He was just prolonging it for his own satisfaction. 'Satisfaction for what? What could he be so incensed about?' Surely the fact that Ethan left him behind couldn't have brought this hatred about. After all, Ethan had to get the others to safety. Even if Zhan cared nothing about Selene or even Michael, he would have at least cared about…

'Of course!'

However, this sudden realization caused him to blink, losing track of the stalking lycan for a half a second. 'Damn!' His eyes were barely able to register in that time frame when he was suddenly hurled across the area with great force. His body slid on the concrete ground and rolled. As Ethan stopped rolling, he felt the shear of pain across his chest. Looking down at himself, he saw his shirt and coat was torn partially, but luckily the claws didn't get too deep into his skin for it to be fatal. 'I don't feel lucky.' he thought grimly. He began to lift himself up when he was suddenly smashed down again. Zhan had tackled him down and now had him pinned to the floor. Ethan was literally face to face with the snarling lycan, with the canine jaws steadily approaching him. 'Please let me be right about this.'

"You're in love with her, aren't you?" he said painfully. "Sisera."

Zhan stopped approaching, indicating that Ethan had finally gotten through to him. 'So it is true.' Ethan continued.

"I am not your rival, Zhan. But what would Sisera think about what you are doing?"

Zhan snapped and snarled, but approached no more. Ethan grimaced at the pressure the lycan was applying to his wounded body, but he refused to look away. Finally, Zhan lifted himself off of Ethan, letting out an anguished howl. The cry stretched out for a long time and then ceased. Zhan looked down at Ethan once again and backed away, giving him room to rise. Ethan was glad for that. It seemed that love was playing an integral part in these events as of late.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Suddenly, Zhan's body lurched forward and the lycan gave more pained cries as the silver bullets ripped into his body. From behind, a group of Death Dealers with Kraven in the front had unloaded a round on him. Zhan crumpled on the floor and struggled to rise, but the vampire leader strode over to him and raised his gun to his head. Then without so much as a blinked, he pulled the trigger.

"No!"

Zhan's body twitched to the side and fell to the ground still. Ethan kept struggling to lift himself from the floor, but the injuries from Zhan were still burning in him. Kraven's gaze soon shifted over to him and the Death Dealers move in around him. Ethan looked up at them, seeing that he was virtually doomed at this point.

"So it is you." Kraven stated. Looking at the Death Dealer, he dismissed them and was now left alone with the wounded lycan. Kraven looked him over, waving his gun barrel before him.

"It's been awhile…cousin."

Michael didn't expect to rush off so quickly. The blood in his veins was now boiling. Not in the same way he felt when he was with Selene. This was different. There was excitement, but it was the dreaded kind. As he dashed through the tunnels, he let the Change overtake him. His frame bulked, his fingers clawed and his skin darkened. His eyes had changed long ago, replacing the soft, almost sad human eyes with the frightening darkness of a vampire-lycan hybrid. His senses became inflamed, as the entire environment seemed to enter into his mind. This was his terrain now. And as such, the advantage was his. Any one that got in his way would be dealt with, swiftly and finally.

'Huh?'

The hybrid paused in his tracks, turning his head into an adjourning tunnel. Someone was down there. A powerful urge began to drive him, telling him to go down that tunnel. But he had to find Ethan…He began to move on, but stopped again. A familiar scent…It was drawing him down the opposing tunnel. Michael frowned within. He had to get to Ethan. But this feeling was too strong for him to ignore. He had to go. The indecision was only slowing things down. Growling, he turned down to the second tunnel, following his feelings and senses. They led him through the tunnel into another opening area. It was somewhat wide, with a hatch and ladder on the opposite end as well as another tunnel opening. But what Michael saw before him was what made him freeze. On the opposite side, staring at him the other end of the chamber, with a female figure beside him…was Marcus. And his eyes were blackened too.

"We meet again, Michael."

"I thought you'd died a long time ago."

Kraven stood over Ethan, gun still readied in his grip. Ethan glared up at him with such malice that he would have attacked him without thought if not for the gun waving in front of him as a reminder of his situation.

"You should have died a long time ago." Ethan spat back.

Kraven merely smirked and stood still beside him, "Oh please. Even you knew how much of a fool Lucian was, believing that he could control me."

"I believe only this." Ethan replied, his voice narrowing. "You lived much, much longer than you should have. You should have died in that forest."

"Forest?" Kraven asked questioningly. His eyes wavered as he searched his memory and he laughed, "Ah, ha! So that's your motivation. That b$&h in the forest was yours. Well, look at it this way." He held the gun trained on the lycan's head.

"You'll soon join her…in hell."

Ethan suddenly lurched forward, grabbing hold of Kraven's leg. However, his hold was weak and Kraven didn't fall. Kraven snarled briefly and then grinned.

"This is exactly how your brother died. Groveling at my…Guuuuaaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

The cry erupted when Ethan reared his arm back and struck Kraven's leg. However, the true blow came when a hidden switchblade shot out of his sleeve and stabbed deep into Kraven's thigh. He then released the handle and swiped his arm up, knocking Kraven's gun away. The vampire staggered back and slipped as Ethan struggled to rise. When he returned from his house, he had taken a slight detour into the underworld where the battle had erupted, in search of the body of his brother. Amidst the carnage and bloodshed of the area, he found it, riddled with bullets and beginning to decay. After a moment of silence, he left the area as it was, as a reminder to the tragedy of the fighting. But not before he obtained the switch blade weapon of Lucian, which had been tossed aside on the floor near his body. Along with the bloodstains that were left on it, with the scent of his current opponent on it. In seems that even in the face of his death, Lucian continued to defy the vampires.

He would do no less…

Now up on his feet, Ethan breathed heavily as he looked at the wounded Kraven, who was searching for his lost gun. Ethan glared at Kraven briefly as he retrieved the lost weapon. A click from it alerted Kraven's attention and he froze at seeing that the tables had turned on him. Ethan looked at the gun and then back at Kraven who was struggling to his feet while prying the blade out of his thigh. But Kraven was suddenly surprised when Ethan took out the clip and tossed it away. He then pointed upward and fired the remaining bullet, shattering the glass window above. As Kraven backed away from the falling glass, Ethan continued to stare upward, whispering one word.

"Run…"

Kraven blinked, but his surprise was brief when he looked up as well. Surprise turned to realization and sudden panic and fear. Momentarily forgetting the pain in his leg, he bolted from the chamber in terror, not bothering the even look at Ethan's eyes, which had narrowed from the sight he saw above.

A full moon…

Michael and Marcus stood across the chamber, face to face. Their eyes revealed nothing of their intentions; only darkness. From behind Marcus near the hatch, Erika watched the scene with a bit of nervousness and fear. She had never seen a fully-transformed hybrid and now that Michael was standing there, she had every reason to be fearful. Though his features were mostly unchanged, she saw the savageness and ferocity his face showed. And the eyes…those pitch-black eyes had always disconcerted her. She felt a strong desire to move back out the hatch and run, but refrained from doing so, unwilling to leave the Elder alone no matter how she felt. The silence between the two was tense as they simply stared at one another. Finally, Marcus spoke again, somewhat strained at withholding his own Change mostly.

"I am not your enemy."

Michael remained immobile, coldly staring at him. Erika's fear grew. Would they fight each other now? She knew Marcus didn't want that, but it was hard to tell with the hybrid standing so formidably before him. For all she knew, the Michael she had seen earlier was gone, replaced by this frightening creature. Then in a weird display, Michael cocked his head to the side slightly.

Click, click

The two hybrids suddenly turned as a troop of Death Dealers stormed out of the second tunnel, lead by Lucas. Seeing the two hybrids, they lifted their weapons and took aim. Michael snarled ravenously at them and they fired. Marcus, being the wiser and more in control, hid behind a stone pillar, but not before shoving Erika back into the hatch.

"!"

Michael on the other hand, was pelted with a rain of bullets and the silver shot through parts of his body. Michael's angry snarl became a pained roar and forced him to back away, bullets still flying at him as he retreated…

Further away from the battle, the anguished roar was heard by the retreating lycans. Sisera turned and looked back, not recognizing the cry at all until she realized that the cry was neither lycan nor vampire. That could only mean one thing. Michael was trouble.

And that's when the eyes of Selene, whose body was resting on a cot they were dragging, snapped open in response.