No.

This wasn't over. I wasn't going out like this.

I snapped my head back, catching the vampire somewhere on the jaw. I heard a muffled curse through the pain spreading across the back of my skull. The vampire's grip on me loosened. I slammed my elbows back into its midsection. The muscles there were so hard it was like elbowing solid rock. Pain shot through my arms but I ignored it.

The knife. I had to find my knife.

Hunkering down, I scrabbled across the floor. My fingers touched cold metal. Snatching the knife up I spun to face the vampire. Its fingers clamped around my wrist, holding me at bay. I tried another kick but the vampire dodged. I threw myself forward, using my own momentum to drive the vampire back and chopped my free hand down on the inside of its elbow. It wasn't enough to make the vampire let go. It twisted my wrist to one side, keeping the knife as far away as it could.

We grappled for possession of the knife, the muscles in my arms screaming as they strained against the vampire's superior strength. But I wasn't backing down. It wasn't like the vamp needed the knife - it could rip my throat out with its teeth - but I needed it and I wasn't giving it up.

The vampire hit me with its shoulder and I stumbled off-balance. The next thing I knew I was on the floor, the vampire on top of me. Pain bloomed through my head where it had hit the floor. The vampire pinned both my hands on either side of my head. I tried to thrash but the vampire was a solid weight covering my body; I might as well have been lying under a stone slab.

I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw hurt. This was bad, really, really bad.

A moment passed and I didn't feel the pain of fangs tearing into my throat. I sucked a shallow breath into fear-clogged lungs.

"Get on with it then," I snarled.

I'd always known I would most likely meet my death at the hands of a bloodsucker, but I'd be damned if I'd let it tease me like a cat with a mouse.

"Kiara."

I froze, ice creeping through my body. How could the vampire know my name? Slowly, I lifted my eyes to the vampire's face. Its beautiful, devastatingly familiar face.

"Luke?" I gasped.

For a moment I forgot how to breathe. Shock was a physical thing, wrapping hands around my neck and cutting off my air supply. I had to be mistaken. This had to be some trick of my mind, my feelings for Luke somehow overlapping with my desire to kill the vampire. Luke couldn't be the creature I'd come here to kill.

One of his hands left my wrist. That would have been the perfect time to fight back but I was frozen. Luke's hand slid round to the back of my head, his fingers tangling in my hair.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

I couldn't speak. The ice in my veins was melting, replaced by something hotter and more fierce. Rage. I'd never tasted the bitterness of betrayal before and now it filled my voice, metallic and foul. It had all been a game to him. He must have known who I was since our first fight here, and he'd been playing me ever since.

"Get off me," I snarled.

Luke sat back on his heels. Coldness rushed over me where his body had warmed. I pulled myself into a crouching position, ready to run or fight.

Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.

"Why aren't you attacking me?" I demanded.

Luke's brow furrowed. "You attacked me. Both times."

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Luke's eyes fell on the knife I'd dropped. It lay between us, gleaming silver. "Except I already know the answer. You came to kill me."

"The last time I came here, you attacked me," I said.

"No, I approached you. You're the one who threw the first punch. Well, kick. I was just trying to defend myself."

"What were you doing in Bar 64?" I demanded.

His eyes met mine, the grey colour tinted silver from moonlight. "Talking to a pretty girl."

I felt heat creep into my cheeks. Treacherous hormones. They didn't understand that they shouldn't be responding to Luke like that. Not now I knew what he was. My eyes drifted back to my knife.

"You're a hunter, aren't you?" Luke said, following my stare.

I nodded sharply and he sighed. "I was really hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Why? You're planning to kill me either way, aren't you?" I put as much disgust into my voice as I could.

"Kiara, if I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already."

He had a point. I'd been completely helpless when he'd had me pinned to the floor, and we both knew it.

"The first time I saw you, by the bonfire, you already knew I was a hunter. When you turned up at Bar 64 yesterday, you knew. What are you, stalking me?"

We both knew I meant stalking as in predator/prey.

"If I was doing that, I would have followed you home," he pointed out.

I threw up my hands in frustration. "Then what do you want?"

"Who said I wanted anything?"

"So it was just coincidence that I happened to run into you yesterday?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

Luke shrugged. "There's not a lot I can do about that."

"Okay, say I believe you. Say it was just coincidence that made our paths cross last night. Why did you come and talk to me?"

"Why not?"

"Because you knew I was a hunter. Why would you try and get close to me if you weren't planning to kill me?"

My legs were starting to ache from crouching in one position too long, but I refused to move. I didn't trust Luke and I didn't want to show him any weakness.

"Maybe I was intrigued by you."

That caught me off-guard. "What?"

"You fascinate me, Kiara Morrow. There's nothing I like more than a gorgeous girl who can kick my butt."

A smile tugged at my lips and I shoved it away. "You expect me to believe that you came to me last night simply because I intrigued you?"

Luke smiled and I caught a glimpse of his fangs. "You were expecting something else?"

"Hmmm, I don't know," I said, tapping my chin and pretending to think. "How about murder and blood-drinking?"

"I already told you, Kiara. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I've told you nothing but the truth tonight."

"Bullshit." My shout echoed round the stone walls. "You're a vampire. Vampires are evil."

"No more than humans," he countered.

"Humans don't drink each other's blood."

"Neither do I."

The quiet seriousness of his words made me pause. The last thing I wanted to do was listen to anything a vampire had to say, but Luke was right when he said he could have killed me. He'd had ample opportunity.

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"Kiara, I don't know where you've been getting your vampire facts, but you might want to change sources. I don't drink human blood. Never have done."

Doubt swirled through my mind. That couldn't be true. All my life I'd been raised to believe that vampires were bloodthirsty killers, little more than animals driven by their most primal needs. Yet here was Luke, sitting in front of me and talking to me like I hadn't just been trying to kill him. Clearly he wasn't consumed by the bloodlust my parents had taught me about. But if they were wrong about that, what else might they be wrong about?

"If you don't drink blood, how do you survive?" I asked.

"I said I didn't drink human blood."

I cocked an eyebrow, questioningly.

"I live off animal blood. Vampire communities nowadays have bagged blood prepared for them. It's kind of like meals on wheels."

"It's disgusting." My voice was flat.

A look that was equal parts angry and hurt flashed through Luke's eyes. "I guess nothing will make you see me as anything but a monster." His words were tinged with bitterness, and something twisted inside me.

My knees finally gave out and I slumped onto the floor. The sudden movement sent a fresh wave of pain through my bruised head. Luke was at my side in an instant, his fingers probing the painful knot on the back of my skull. His touch was gentle, as if I was something precious that he was afraid of breaking.

"I'm sorry, Kiara, I didn't mean to hurt you." He sounded so sincere - I shook my head. No. Vampires were evil. Eradicating them was what I'd spent my entire life learning to do. It couldn't all be some huge mistake. Something hot stung my eyes.

I pulled away from his hand. "Don't touch me," I whispered.

Emotions crashed inside me, so much confliction it felt like my body was going to tear apart. I had to get out of here. Pushing myself to my feet, I made a beeline for the stairs.

"Kiara, wait." His voice stilled me and I didn't know why. Hesitantly I turned to look at him. He was holding my knife in his hand, the handle turned towards me. "You forgot this."

I stared at the knife and suddenly I didn't want to take it. It was an instrument of death, used many times by my team to kill vampires. If what Luke was saying was true, then those vampires might have been innocent. Sourness clawed at my throat.

Silently I took the knife from Luke. The weight of it was no longer comforting. The blade looked ugly in the moonlight, the serrated edge like a grinning mouth. Like the steel jaws of the bear trap I'd imagined myself to be. It turned out I wasn't made of steel at all. Luke had handled me like I was precious, and maybe he was right because it felt like I was shattering inside.

I slid the knife back into my belt. Then I turned and walked back down the stairs. I could feel the heat of Luke's stare burning into my back but it wasn't enough to warm the chill that had slid over my skin. He didn't come after me.

But part of me wished he would.