Night World : Huntress Chapter 7

She emerged on the rooftop. on that point was a sort of roof garden here- whatsoever sort, a lot of scraggly plants in large woodwind instrumenten tubs. There was excessively approximately dirty patio furniture and other odds and deceases. But the main experience was a sm whole structure thatsat on the roof the way a house sits on a street.Morgeads home. The penthouse. It was as stark and unlovely as the rest of the building, yet it had agreat reckon and it was comp allowely private. There were no other tall buildings nearby to look down on it.Jez locomote stealthily toward the door. Her feet made no noise on the pitted asphalt of the roof, and shewas in a differentiate of al some painful sensationfully heightened aw beness. In the old days sneaking up onanother gang member had been a game. You got to laugh at them if you could startle them, and they gotto be furious and humiliated.Today it wasnt a game.Jez started toward the misrepresent wooden door- because stopped. Doors were trouble. Morgead would havebeen an idiot not to have rigged it to alert him to intruders.Cat-quiet, she power pointed instead for a contract metal ladder that led to the roof of the wooden structure.Now she was on the real top of the building. The merely social function prouder was a metal flagpole without aShe move noiselessly across the late roof. At the far edge she found herself t bingle four stories straightdown. And directly below her on that point was a window.An open window.Jez smiled tightly.Then she hooked her toes over the four-inch lip at the edge of the roof and dropped graciously forward.She grabbed the top of the window in mid-dive and hung suspended, defying gravity like a bat attachedupside down. She looked inside.And in that respect he was. Lying on a futon, asleep. He was sprawled on his vertebral column, fully clothed in jeans, highboots, and a leather jacket. He looked good.Just like the old days, Jez thought. When the gang would stay out all ni ght riding their bikes and huntingor fighting or partying, and then come home in the morning to scramble into clothes for school. ExceptMorgead, who would smirk at themand then collapse. He didnt have parents or relatives to keep him from skipping.Im surprised hes not wearing his helmet, too, she thought, pulling herself back up to the roof. Shepicked up the fighting mother, maneuvered it into the window, then let herself down again, this time hangingby her hands. She slid in without making a noise. Then she went to nucleotide over him.He hadnt changed. He looked exactly as she remembered, except younger and more than(prenominal) vulnerablebecause he was asleep. His face was pale, making his dark hair seem even darker. His lashes were b dropcrescents on his cheeks.Evil and dangerous, Jez reminded herself. It excite at her that she had to remind herself of whatMorgead was. For some reason her mind was throwing pictures at her, scenes from her childhood whileshe was living here in San Francisco with her Uncle Bracken.A five- course of instruction-old Jez, with shorter red hair that looked as if it had never been combed, walking with a littlegrimy-faced Morgead, hand in hand. An eight-year-old Jez with two skinned knees, scowling as abusinesslike Morgead pulled wood splinters out of her stagecoachs with rusty tweezers. A seven-year-oldMorgead with his face lit up in astonishment as Jez persuaded him to try the human thing called icecream.Stop it, Jez told her brain flatly. You might as well ease up up, because its no good. We were friendsthen-well, some of the time- merely were enemiesat once. Hes changed. Ive changed. Hed kill me in a second now if it would suit his purpose. And Im deviation to do what has to be d whiz.She plump for up and poked him lightly with the stick. Morgead.His look flew open and he sat up. He was awake instantly, like any vampire, and he focused on herwithout a trace of confusion. Jez had changed her grip on the stick and was standing localise in case hewent straight into an attack.But instead, a strange expression crossed his face. It went from take aback recognition into something Jezdidnt understand. For a jiffy he was simply staring at her, eye big, chest heaving, looking as if hewere caught in between pain and happiness.Then he say quietly, Jez.Hi, Morgead.You came back.Jez shifted the stick again. Apparently.He got up in one motion. Where the hell have you been?Now he that looked furious, Jez parentaged. Which was easier to deal with, because that was how sheremembered him.I cant tell you, she said, which was perfectly true, and would also annoy the life out of him.It did. He shook his head to get dark hair out of his eyes-it was always disheveled in the morning, Jezremembered-and glared at her. He was standing slowly not in any attack posture, but with the relaxedreadiness that meant he could go flying in any direction at any moment. Jez kept half her mind on watching his leg muscles.You c ant tell me? You disappear one day without any kind of warning, without even leaving a noteyou leave the gang and me and just completely vanish and nobody knows where to find you, not evenyour uncle .. . and now you reappear again and you cant tell me where you were? He was workinghimself into one of his Extremely Excited States, Jez realized. She was surprised shed expect him tostay cooler and attack hard.What did you hypothesise you were doing, just cutting out on everybody? Did it ever spend to you that peoplewould be crazy about you? That people would think you were dead?It didnt occur to me that anyone would care, Jez thought, startled. Especially not you. But she couldntsay that. Look, I didnt mean to hurt anybody. And I cant talk about why I went. But Im back now-You cant just come backJez was losing her calm. Nothing was going the way shed expected the things shed compose out to saywerent getting said. I know I cant just come back-Because it doesnt work that way Morgead was pacing now, tossing hair out of his eyes again as heturned to glare at her. Blood in, blood out. Since youre apparently not dead, you abandoned us. Yourenot allowed to do that And you certainly cant expect to just walk back in and become my secondagain-I dont Jez yelled. She had to shut him up. I have no intention of becoming yoursecond-in-command she said when he finally paused. I came to challenge you as leader.Morgeads jaw dropped.Jez let her breath out. That wasnt exactly how shed planned to say it. But now, seeing his shock, she matte more in control. She leaned nonchalantly against the wall, smiled at him, and said smoothly, I was leaderwhen I left, remember.You have got to be joking. Morgead stared at her. You expect to walk-in back in here asleader?If I can beat you. I think I can. I did it once.He stared for another minute, seeming beyond words. Then he threw back his head and laughed.It was a scary sound.When he looked at her again, his eyes were bright and hard. Yea h, you did. Ive gotten bust sincethen.Jez said three words. So have I.And with that, everything changed. Morgead shifted position-only slightly, but he was now in a fighting stance. Jez felt adrenaline full stop through her own body. The challenge had been issued and acceptedthere was nothing more to say. They were now facing all(prenominal) other ready to fight.And this she could deal with. She was much better at fighting than at turn of eventsing with words. She knewMorgead in this mood his pride and his skill had been questioned and he was now absolutely determinedto win. This was very familiar.Without taking his eyes from her, he r individuallyed out and picked a fighting stick from the rack behind him.Japanese oak, Jez noted. Heavy, well-seasoned, resilient. Good survival of the fittest.The fire-hardened end was very pointy.He wouldnt try to use that first, though. First, he would go for disarming her. The simplest way to do thiswas to cut in the wrist of her dominant hand. After that hed go for critical points and nerve centers. Hedidnt play around at this.A minute change in Morgeads posture alerted her, and then they were both moving.He swung his stick up and down in a perfect arc, aiming for her right wrist. Jez blocked easily with herown stick and felt the shock as wood clashed with wood. She instantly changed her grip and tried for atrap, but he whipped his stick out of the way and was facing her again as if hed never moved in the firstplace.He smiled at her.Hes right. Hes gotten better. A small chill went through Jez, and for the first time she worried about her dexterity to beat him.Because I have to do it without killing him, she thought. She wasnt at all sure he had the equal concernabout not killing her.Youre so predictable, Morgead, she told him. I could fight you in my sleep. She feinted toward hiswrist and then tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him.He blocked and tried for a trap. Oh, yeah? And you clap like a four-year-o ld. You couldnt take medown if I stood here and let you.They circled each other warily.The snakewood stick was warm in Jezs hands. It was funny, some distant part of her mind thoughtirrelevantly, how the most diminished and lowly of human weapons was the most dangerous to vampires.But it was also the most versatile weapon in the world. With a stick, unlike a knife or gun or sword, youcould fine-tune the degree of pain and injury you caused. You could disarm and control attackers, and-ifthe circumstances required it-you could inflict pain without permanently injuring them.Of course if they were vampires, you could also kill them, which you couldnt do with a knife or gun.Only wood could stop the vampire face permanently, which was why the fighting stick was the weaponof choice for vampires who wanted to hurt each other and for vampire hunters. Jez grinned at Morgead, knowing it was not a particularly nice smile.Her feet whispered across the worn oak boards of the floor. She and Morg ead had practiced herecountless times, measuring themselves against each other, training themselves to be the best. And it hadworked. They were both masters of this most deadly weapon.But no fight had ever mattered as much as this one.Next youre going to try for a head strike, she informed Morgead coolly. Because you always do.You think you know everything. But you dont know me anymore. Ive changed, he told her, just ascalmly-and went for a head strike.Psyche, he said as she blocked it and wood clashed with a sharp whack.Wrong. Jez twisted her stick sharply, got leverage on his, and whipped it down, holding it against hisupper thighs. Trap. She grinned into his face.And was startled for a moment. She hadnt been this close up to him in a long time. His eyes-they were sogreen, gem-colored, and full of strange light.For just an instant neither of them moved then-weapons down, their gazes connected. Their faces wereso close their breath mingled.Then Morgead slipped out of the trap. Don t try that stuff, he said nastily.What stuff? The moment her stick was free of his, she snapped it up again, reversing her grip andthrusting toward his eyes.You know what stuff He deflected her thrust with unessential force. That Im Jez and Im so wildand beautiful stuff. That Why dont you just drop your stick and let me hit you because itll be fun stuff.Morgead what are you talking about? In between the words she attacked, a strike to his throatand then one to his temple. He blocked and evaded-which was just what she wanted. Evasion. Retreat.She was crowding him into a corner.Thats the only way you won before. Trying to play on peoples feelings for you. Well, it wont workanymore He countered viciously, but it didnt matter. Jez blocked with a whirlwind of strikes of herown, pressing him, and then he had no choice but to retreat until his back was against the corner.She had him.She had no idea what he meant about compete on peoples feelings, and she didnt have time to thinkabout it. Morgead was dangerous as a wounded tiger when he was cornered. His eyes were glowingemerald green with sheer fury, and there was a hardness to his features that hadnt been there stick out year.He does hate me, Jez thought. Hugh was wrong. Hes hurt and angry and he absolutely hates me.The textbook answer was to use that sensation against him, to provoke him and get him so mad that hegave her an opening. Some instinct deep inside Jez was worried about that, but she didnt listen. Hey, alls fair, right? she told him softly. And what do you mean, it wont work? Ive got you, haventI? She flashed out a couple of ready(a) attacks, more to keep him occupied than anything else. Yourecaught, and youre going to have to let down your guard sometime.The green eyes that had been luminous with fury suddenly went frozen. The color of glacier ice. Unless Ido something unexpected, he said.Nothing you do is unexpected, she said sweetly.But her mind was telling her that provoking him had been a mista ke. She had hit some nerve, and he wasstronger than hed been a year ago. He didnt lose his temper under pressure the way hed used to. Hejust got more determined.Those green eyes unnerved her.Move in hard, she thought. All out. Go for a pressure point. asleep(p) his arm-But before she could do anything, a wave of Power hit her.It sent her reeling.Shed never felt anything exactly like it. It came from Morgead, a Shockwave of telepathic energy that potty her like a physical thing. It knocked her back two steps and made her struggle for balance. It leftthe air crackling with electricity and a wisplike smell of ozone.Jezs mind spun.How had he done that?Its not hard, Morgead said in a calm, cold share that went with his eyes. He was out of the corner bynow, of course. For a moment Jez thought he was reading her thoughts, but then she realized herquestion must be written all over her face. Its something I spy after you left, he went on. All ittakes is practice.If youre telepathic, Jez thought. Which Im not anymore.The Night People are getting stronger, developing more powers, she thought. Well, Hugh had been righton that one.And she was in trouble now.Whack That was Morgead going for a side sweep. Hed noticed her lack of balance. Jez counteredautomatically, but her head wasnt clear and her body was ringing with pain. Hed shaken her, distractedher.As you said, alls fair, Morgead said, with a small, cold smile on his lips. You have your weapons. Ihave mine.And then he threw another of those Shockwaves at her. Jez was better braced for it now, but it stillrocked her on her feet, took her attention off her weapon- Just long enough for her to piece of tail up and let him in.He drove upward to catch her stick from below. Then he twisted, wholesale her stick in a circle, forcingher off balance again, trying to topple her backward. As Jez fought to feel, he struck to her elbow.Hard.WhamIt was a different sound from the crisp whack when wood hit wood. This was softer, d uller, the sound ofwood hitting flesh and bone.Jez heard her own involuntary gasp of pain.Fire shot up her arm, into her shoulder, and for a moment she lost her grip on the stick with her righthand. She forced her fingers to close on it again, but they were numb. She couldnt feel what she washolding.She couldnt block properly with one arm useless.And Morgead was advancing, that deadly coldlight in his eyes. utterly merciless. His movements were relaxed and easy he knew exactly what hewas doing now.Two more whacks and he got through her guard again. The oak stick slammed into her ribs and she feltanother wave of sickening pain. Gray dots danced in front of her eyes.Fractured? Jez wondered briefly. She hoped not. Vampires could break each others ribs in fun andknow that everything would heal in a day or two. But Jez wouldnt recover like that. Morgead might killher without even meaning to.She couldnt let him keep striking her-but she couldnt retreat, either. If he got her into a corne r, shed belost.Whack-wham. He got her on the knee. Pain sparked up and down her leg, lighting every nerve. She hadno choice but to back up. He was crowding her relentlessly, forcing her to the wall.Morgead flashed a smile at her. Not the cold smile. This one was brilliant, and very familiar to Jez. Itmade him look devastatingly handsome, and it meant that he was in absolute command of the situation.You can give up anytime, now, he said. Because Im going to win and we both know it.