18

It was by a pure stroke of luck that Ace avoided being seen by Edgar as he came barreling out of the apartment complex, a heavy scowl on his. He rubbed his knuckles as he approached the car and in that moment he looked down the street as if he sensed Ace's presence. Quick thinking made Ace move into the shadows, bumping into some drunken teenagers as he did so but luckily they were too intoxicated to cause a scene.

It was at that moment that Ace saw the small figure that had leapt from the window run into the street.

Ace narrowed his eyes. Whatever happened in that apartment sure as hell scared someone out. Edgar didn't look like he was going to go after it.

Curiosity burned rational thoughts as he stepped out of the shadows and began walking toward the other side without caring whether or not Edgar could feel his presence.

As the figure moved, Ace hastened his steps, desperate not to lose it. If it was Klavan moving like that then she sure as hell wasn't human. The movements were quick and too concise to be those of a mere human. As the figure hastened its footsteps Ace quickened his too.

They were approaching the road, there was a bus stop with unoccupied benches and the hooded person seemed to be heading there. Suddenly the hooded figure stopped and turned, it was indeed Klavan, and her eyes were fixed on Ace in a scowl. For a second Ace hesitated but only for a second because he immediately remembered that she had held a knife to Sarah for whatever reason and he stepped forward.

"Mrs. Klavan," he started as he took more steps toward him.

She smirked. "I knew it. I didn't think there were so many of your kind here but it looks like I slacked a bit with my investigations."

Ace didn't care about what she was saying, he wanted to wring her neck. That moment, when he saw her pull out her knife was burned in his memory. If he had been a second late…

"Who are you? What are you?"

She smiled wider. Suddenly she turned on her heels and began to run away from him, away from the bus stop, away from the partying teenagers.

"Fool," Ace cursed under his breath as he too took to his heels. He had to applaud her though, though foolish she was she had chosen a wise place to live undercover. A place with drunken, partying teenagers was less likely to draw attention to herself. But if she was running away from him she was not so smart then because she wasn't running for the bus stop, she was running in another direction. Soon the crowd fell behind them until just a few people were hanging around or passing by.

It didn't occur to Ace until suddenly, they were entering an alley and once again Klavan spun on her heels but this time there was no smirk on her face, just a strange look and before Ace had time to think on it she leapt off the floor, used the wall as an anchor and leapt into the air above him.

It was semi-dark but with sensitive eyes, far different than the pathetic ability of the human eye, Ace could see her claws were out and she was going to attack him. He didn't defend himself. Instead, he jumped too, snatched her out of the air, and slammed her with a thud on the hard ground.

The effect of his action was not something he expected.

Pain exploded in his back knocking the senses out of him giving Klavan the chance to twist their position around so that she was the one above him now.

How had that happened? Wasn't she supposed to be the one groaning in pain? Why did his back hurt as if he had been the one to hit the ground?

He barely has the chance to regain his senses when Klavan's clawing hands pulled his shirt open and placed both hands above his heart.

"What are you…?"

"Your kind is fake," she laughed evilly. "We are the real Drakai, Ace Veles. We Kataellys are the real Drakai," she bit out through her teeth. Her eyes flashed an iridescent gold as she layered her hands over his chest. "Ikts bhteris lakatti Kataellys!" she intoned a second before a dull boom resounded in Ace's chest.

A choked gasp escaped him. His vision dulled and just when he thought it was over another thud resounded in his chest and this time when he opened his mouth to scream blood gurgled out of his mouth. It felt like a ton of bricks had been placed on his chest.

"What…? Wha…have you…?" he tried to speak but he could only lay helplessly and twitch as his vision continued to grow dull.

Klavan lifted herself off him. "When you are all finished, we Kataellys will rule again."

As Ace lay there holding to his heavy chest, choking on his own blood, she took one last look at him and left him in the alley.