Chapter Fifteen

Leonard

Looking at the vampire in front of me, many lying from defeat while the strong stood, I looked at the young vampire who stood before me, exhausted from the beatings we had overcome to make it this far. I wiped the blood from the side of my mouth; this was my last adversary, as I had taken down many this night because of Graceona's training and Darin's, plus the combat I had picked up from various human teachers. I could imagine if my heart were still beating, it would beg me to stop this insane madness and take a seat. We had been throwing our bodies on the lineup in the night, the sounds of chatter around the caged circle, and the flames danced in chandlers overhead, the laughter of the audience at those who had lost the bet because their guy was laying in a bloody mess. The vampire across from me charged, aiming his fist at my face, only for me to grab it, kicking him in the abdomen, throwing him to the ground, as he got to his feet, breaking into a fury of punches as I blocked each strike with no effort, grabbing his fist as he attempted another hit, causing me to headbutt him, as he staggered back, head-butting him once more, before hitting him with a heavy-handed backhand, slamming him to the concrete ground, looking down at him, I looked at the man outside. "We're not supposed to kill anyone, correct?"

The man looked at me, jaws dropped. "This match is over." I placed my hands in my pockets, walking towards the caged entrance. The man rushed inside the ring to check the fallen young vampire, then faced me.

"And the winner by knock-out is Leonard Shepherd from the Bloodline Colony!" I sighed, walking from the ring and meeting Graceona, who awaited me.

She looked at me with a smug look. "You're bleeding." She wiped my brow with her shirt sleeve. "Come on, let's get your reward and get home; we should sleep."

The two of us walked to the desk, and the vampire behind the desk handed me the earnings. "Hope to see you next week."

I looked at the check, nodding my head, as Graceona laughed. "He'll be here. I take it he got some bets."

"Once he got out of the shy stage and showed he was that fierce, bets went up, and they went up fast; some big bidders had placed some big bets."

I showed Graceona the check. "Nice, 20 million. That's more than I make in this. I am so proud of you, honey." She looked at me with concern. "Are you feeling well?"

"I feel fine. Why?"

"I think you should have your head checked out." She looked back at the man behind the desk. "Are the medical staff still here?"

"They check on everyone before letting them leave. They started this last month; some craziness went down, and a rogue vampire came in and attacked many partakers; no one knew who this man was; he came, and he had the intent to kill, but some elders stepped in and restrained him, it got pretty bad, but we got it under control, some vampires were taken out before we saw what the man was up to."

Graceona bit her lip, looking behind me and then at the young man. "Thank you, Everette."

She grabbed my hand, leading me from the desk in a hurry. "Graceona, what in the world has gotten into you? I told you I was fine; where are you taking me?"

"Away from here, just be quiet and keep walking. Keep your head down," she instructed.

I looked at her as the two of us left the arena, getting into the car; Graceona rushed to the driver's side, getting in as we left. "What did you see? I sensed nothing odd."

She looked at me and then back at the road. "I know who the rogue vampire is. He was there in the crowds, his energy, his intent. He saw the complete match; I felt his presence all night. I'm getting you back to the palace doctors. They are going to tend to you."

"Who is he?"

She bit her lip. "It was Blake; I had failed to finish him, and he was found, thus turned. He was looking at you. You're the target. You had been from the beginning."

"Then let us finish this; he's a vampire, and now, so am I. Why are we running?"

"He's a scout. He knows your methods. Everything he needed to know he has access to, he stayed hidden out of view to gather his information on you; I felt that if the two of us stayed, he would have attacked with you weakened and injured and me on the sidelines, he wouldn't have hesitated to strike, he would have ended you where you stood, not through knock-out, he would have killed you, with a blindside attack, even in death people can't let go. I can't and won't make the promise that if he tries anything funny, I won't get involved, so you are wasting your time on asking me, so do us both a favor and don't ask me to put two children that came along over you a man that I have waited a long time for, that is out of the question."

I sighed, looking out the window. The car ride was silent until we entered Uzeterra.

Graceona looked at me with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Leonard. But I can't risk losing you. I feel your hurt and anger, but I won't risk you and your safety. I waited too long for you, and I'm not throwing 200 years and my happiness down the drain because the two of us got careless." She sighed, looking at the steering wheel, "I understand your desire for our family to grow, and at another point in time, I would give you that, but not here, not during this battle; I'm going inside to talk to the doctors. You should come to try not to stay out here too long in your condition. We'll deal with him later, not now, not this night." She looked at me, opened the door, got from the car, and placed her hands in her pockets, walking inside, her head down.