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XIII

That was only the beginning of Angel's troubles. She had the next day free of care, but that night, she was to witness the power Adrian had warned her about.

Jaden brought her home that night, as he usually did, and Angel was left to herself once they finished eating dinner. Crystal hadn't arrived at the studio yet, being busy, and so Angel got ready for bed by herself and then left her bathroom, dressed in her favorite silk pajamas. She moved towards her bed area, and her thoughts were happy and faraway…until she saw the shadow moving from the corner of her eye.

Immediately, her hand flew to her necklace, and she drew the diamond out of its place, in the silken fabric of her shirt. She let its light shine into the room, showing her instantly the shadow that was looming there.

"You can't keep hiding behind that light," the British voice spoke, giving away the identity of Valiris.

"You again," Angel frowned, glaring at him. "Such a gentleman as yourself would know better than to approach a woman at such an hour without first asking for an invitation."

Val chuckled and shook his head, pushing back his hood as he did so.

"How much longer do you think you can run? You are far outnumbered, and even if Ghost and his men are striving to protect you, they'll fail."

"What is your story, Val? You are older than Ghost, and yet he has the rule over you."

"I'm not older than Ghost," Val said, shaking his head and watching her with glowing eyes as she eased her way towards her studio door. "And don't try and escape. There's a man waiting for you just outside that door."

"How can I believe that?"

"Open the door and look for yourself, if you wish."

Angel kept her eyes on him as she unlocked her studio door and then opened it.

Val was telling the truth. There, standing with his back to her, was another vampire, large enough to fill up the doorframe with his width. Angel gasped and slammed the door shut, her mind working quickly to try and think of another escape route.

Her studio was laid out in an interesting design. It was composed of two floors. The first floor was her kitchen, living room, dining room, and bedroom area. There was a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor, which consisted only of a bathroom and a walk in closet. Directly on the other side of the bathroom window was the fire escape. Angel's thoughts immediately went there, but she knew it would be impossible for her to reach that. The only way she could possibly escape from Val now was to hold him off long enough for her to get to one of her walls and start banging on it, awakening her neighbors.

"I know you have some marvelous plans going on in your mind, but they're bound to fail, so give up," Val chuckled.

"You…you haven't told me your story yet," Angel stammered, trying to sound brave even though she was terrorized.

"I was born in the 1700s, to a vampire and a human woman," Val said easily. "Shortly after my fortieth birthday, I met and wooed a vampire woman by the name of Alette. Since I was already half vampire, when she bit me, I became full-blooded, but remained looking my age. I then killed her. It was quite simple, really. Ghost is quite a bit older than I am. He'll just never look it. Now, let's make this fast, shall we? I have some others on my list to kill tonight."

"Ghost let you come here?" Angel asked, stepping back as he began to walk towards her.

"I never listen to that pawn. He's a weakling, rescuing you from me before and letting you survive until now," Val snarled, his stalks long and threatening. "One would almost think he's in love with the one who is supposed to destroy us."

"I'm not going to let you kill me," Angel said, backing towards one of the walls purposefully, hoping to disturb her neighbors enough to get help.

"You aren't going to have a choice. Aside from that necklace, you're completely helpless," Val snarled and then lunged at her.

His body slammed full force into her, making her hit the wall hard, sending a shudder through it and making one of her pictures fall off. She gasped in pain as a jolt shot through her back, but she immediately began pounding on the wall with all her strength, using her one free hand while her other hand held the diamond up at Val's face. Her one thought was to keep his mouth away from her neck, to survive just long enough to get help. She started screaming and let out another cry of pain when his hands grabbed her wrists, hard, and slammed them against the wall, pinning them there.

She knew it would be painful, but she immediately picked her legs up off the ground, supporting all of her weight on her wrists, and then kicked with both feet, getting him hard in the lower stomach. He snarled, loosening his hold just enough for her to slip out of his hands and then crawl quickly away from him. She made her way towards the living room table, where a great glass vase was located. He dropped to the floor and grabbed hold of her ankle, intending to drag her back towards him, and she stretched her hand out as far as she could, managing to grab the lip of the vase and pull it towards her. She then turned, so she was leaning back on her elbows, and brought the vase crashing against his head.

He was stunned for a few seconds, giving her time to get to her feet and run towards the staircase. She raced up the stairs towards the bathroom, stumbling over the stairs as she did so. She had heard vampires couldn't fly, but she knew they were fast, and she wanted to beat him up the stairs. She heard him pounding up behind her, and she tripped on the last step. She crawled into the bathroom and then slammed and locked the door behind her. Immediately, she ran over to the window, unlocked it, and flung it open. Snow and a vicious breeze immediately rushed against her, blowing her back slightly.

She didn't take the time to remember she was barefooted and in a silk shirt and pants. She climbed through the window just as her bathroom door caved in. Her feet hit the icy fire escape, making her cry out in pain and cold, but she ignored the pain, knowing she would die if she didn't bear it, and began to run down the fire escape.

This particular escape hadn't been tended to in quite some time. There were several parts of the railing missing, as well as holes in the stairs, and Angel had to slow her pace to maneuver her way down. She was high up from the street, and her hair was wet, making her extremely cold as she ran, the breeze rushing painfully over her skin, blowing right through her clothes. She shivered, making her way down to the third floor, and then let out a scream when Val suddenly dropped down in front of her, his feet hitting the platform hard, making it shake. Angel fell back, and to her horror, realized all too late that there wasn't a railing there. She stepped right off the platform and fell. She screamed and, by some miracle, caught hold of the platform and held on to it for dear life. She glanced down once, to see taxis speeding about under her, oblivious to the woman hanging from the broken platform.

Angel breathed loudly, her breath coming out in smoke, as she tried to pull herself back onto the platform. She was too weak and too shaky, however, and so she hung there, praying with all her might that Val would pull her back onto the platform and then kill her quickly. She'd much rather die that way than by falling to her death and being run over.

The wind seemed wilder than it had in a long time, and ice particles brushed against Angel's skin, hurting her and making her tremble from the cold.

"Oh dear," Val's mock sympathetic voice came as he knelt above her, gazing down at her, his blue and brown eyes sparkling cruelly. "What have we here? And I heard angels were supposed to fly."

"Help me up," Angel breathed, her throat dry and her voice trembling from the cold. "And then you can kill me."

"You won't fight?"

"Please!" she screamed, one of her hands losing its hold on the platform.

He sighed and then grabbed hold of her one hand and began to pull her up. Her arm came out of its socket as he yanked her, and she started crying in pain, her whole body frozen and cut, and her arm listless. He set her on the platform before him and then grabbed her and pulled her close. He moved her hair away from her neck and lowered his nose, taking in a deep breath of her.

She couldn't move. She was frozen into place. Even the tears that came from her closed eyes froze against her cheeks, hurting and sending shivers through her.

"You know, you're such a beautiful creature, I wouldn't mind letting you die slowly," Val breathed, his breath the only warm thing against Angel's body.

"Please, just kill me," she whispered, her lips trembling.

"I did rather like that kiss the other day," he smiled, moving his nose to hers and pulling her tighter to him.

"You've done enough damage. Just kill me," Angel sobbed, lowering her head, trying to get her face away from his.

"Not yet," Val smirked, and moved his mouth to kiss her.

Something suddenly landed, hard, on the platform, making it shake violently and nearly sending Angel over the edge again. She screamed as Val was viciously yanked away from her and slammed into one of the flights of stairs.

"I warned you to stay away from my prey!" Ghost shouted, punching Val hard across the face, making his head snap to the side.

"And your warnings are pathetic!" Val hissed, grabbing Ghost by his open collar and turning violently, intending to throw him off the fire escape.

Never had Angel seen anyone fight so violently. Ghost was apparently in no mood for mercy. He brought his hand to Val's face again, this time scratching him, making a great deal of blood flow down the vampire's face. He then swung to the side and kicked up at Val's chest, hitting him squarely and sending him flying back against one of the railings, shaking the whole fire escape. Angel screamed and fell to the floor of the platform, grabbing hold of all the railing she could as she slid back a bit from the impact.

Val wasn't going to stand for Ghost beating him to a pulp, and so he too began to fight, swinging his fists at Ghost, kicking him hard in the chest and face, and sending him falling back. Ghost stumbled once and nearly fell onto Angel, but he watched his footing and just missed her. He fell over the open railing, making Angel scream again, but he caught the platform as she had. Unlike her, he had the upper body and power to fling himself back up, flipping and then landing on the platform just in time to kick Val in the face.

The fight was brutal. Both vampires hissed angrily at each other, both drew great deals of blood, and Angel was almost positive Ghost broke Val's nose. But they kept fighting, growing angrier by the minute, until teeth flashed. Angel turned her head away as Ghost became a wild animal, a man she had never seen before. His teeth shone in the moonlight, and he flung himself at Val, biting into the man's shoulder. Val hissed and slapped Ghost hard across the face, but after that first taste of blood, Ghost was indestructible.

"If I weren't a parasite like you, I'd kill you, here and now," Ghost breathed, licking the blood slowly off his lips. "But I'm not a parasite."

He kicked back, hitting Val and sending him falling off the platform. Angel looked through the bottom of the platform to see Val hit one of the taxis, landing in a crouching position, making the whole roof of the car cave in. He then climbed off, seemingly unharmed, and limped to the safety of the shadows.

She heard Ghost's boots as he stalked towards her, and then she cried out in pain when he grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. She gasped between her teeth as her dislocated arm screamed in agony. She then let out a shout when Ghost slammed her hard against the studio wall, pushing her harshly against the bricks and pressing his body firmly against her, his face right in hers.

"I can't keep saving you!" he shouted, keeping his hands pressed hard against her arms. "Don't you understand that? I have to kill you! Stop making me rescue you!"

"You don't have to rescue me," she stuttered, her eyes glassing over from the cold. "I didn't ask for your help."

"You were going to let him kill you! You foolish woman!" Ghost said, slapping her across the face, trying desperately to knock some sense into her. Once again, she had come close, far too close, to being killed, and it was starting to scare him how she was just giving up. His breathing was hitched and rushed as he stared hard at the woman in his hold.

She started to cry. Tears streamed down her pale cheeks, and she would have let herself slip to the floor, had he not been forcing her to stand. She choked on her tears, shaking terribly, and she couldn't speak.

"Angel, this is the last time I'm saving you," Ghost snarled, putting his hands hard to her face and the red mark that was forming on her cheek. "I have to kill you, and I will. I may not want to, but for the sake of my authority, I have to."

He felt, suddenly, how terribly cold her face was beneath his hands, and he moved back and looked her up and down. She was dressed in a tank top and pajama pants. Her feet were bare, and her hair was wet, making this cold weather horrendous to her. Scratches lined her skin from the ice flinging against her.

At the moment, she wasn't a murderess or a threat, but a woman. A cold, scared, beautiful woman.

She was cradling herself now, her arms wrapped around her chest and stomach, rocking to try and stay warm. Ghost moved towards her again, and she cringed, her eyes wide with terror. Her hand went to her bruised cheek and then moved again to her wounded arm, supporting it.

Ghost let out a long sigh and then, not giving her a chance to fight if she had wanted to, knelt down, wrapped his left arm around her thighs, and then hoisted her into the air. He put her over his shoulders, in a fireman hoist, and then began to carry her effortlessly up the stairs.

She couldn't fight. She felt as though she had been drugged by the cold. She lay limply atop his back, her long hair draped over his shoulder and brushing against his chest.

He brought her all the way back to her studio and carried her through her bathroom window. He then closed the window with one hand and carried her down the stairs to her living area. He rolled her off his shoulder and placed her on one of her leather couches.

"You're freezing cold," he said, releasing her arm as he finished lowering her. She let out a moan of pain, and he immediately grabbed her arm and examined it. "You've dislocated it."

"Oh, please don't!" she pleaded, grabbing his hand in an attempt to pull it away.

"It'll only take a second," he said, taking hold of her shoulder with one hand and her arm with the other.

She bit her lip nervously and then took a good chomp on it when he popped her arm back into place. She drew blood from her lips, and she tried hurriedly to lick it away. Her face was warming up enough now for the coloring to return to it, and Ghost flinched when he saw the fiery red mark on her cheek. He moved his hand to her face and stroked her flushed skin, silently apologizing for hitting her. His eyes caught sight of the blood on her lip, and he smiled sadly.

"Believe me, Angel, if I could, I would change what I am, but I cannot," he said, putting his fingers to the blood on her lips. He moved his thumb slowly across her lower lip and then brought his finger to his mouth and licked the blood off.

"You…you really want me to destroy you?" Angel said hoarsely, closing her eyes tiredly.

"Yes," he nodded. "I want you to do it before I end up killing you. I can't hold off any longer."

"Then why don't you kill me now?"

"You still haven't come to me," he said, kneeling down next to her and putting his hands to her feet. He began to rub them, hard, getting feeling back into them and warming them up.

"Why is that so important to you?" Angel asked, watching him wearily.

"Because I'm tired of being the hunter who stalks its prey. It's time the prey went to the hunter," he smiled, and then stood up.

She watched him, only half awake, as he walked away from her, to her bed, and pulled off all the blankets. He then brought them over to her and proceeded to tuck her in, wrapping her up carefully.

"Are you getting warmed up?" he asked, lifting her head gently and putting a pillow behind it.

"Ghost…I know…I'll end up coming to you one day. You're…too nice," Angel breathed, drifting into sleep.

"I'll be waiting," he said, and then wrapped his cloak around him and disappeared.