I looked back at Hugo whilst sprinting through the woods, catching him extend his arms towards me.
"Up!" he yelled and even without clear instruction, I reached for his hand. Trusting his strength, I let him throw me up like a rock.
I landed on a thick tree branch, skipping from branch to branch at full speed. Hugo was dashing through the forest lane, keeping up with my speed while the vampires were hot on our tails.
After Hugo sent Niall flying, we didn't have time to talk as the vampires attacked him all at once. Hugo managed to down a few of them in a single blow, while some tried to abduct me. I wouldn't let them touch me, so I also fought back, breaking the branch in the process.
Things escalated from that moment on until Hugo and I ran. We didn't run because we were cowering, but because it was inconvenient. The vampires were growing in numbers. The plan was to lure them away from the territory they were occupying.
If we keep going this way, we'll soon reach those werewolves and some from the Tarsa tribe on standby. Since Hugo and I came alone, they had to wait for us in a particular location in this vast fortress. I didn't know why Hugo didn't react strongly after Niall's remarks, but that wasn't important right now.
"You..." I looked to my side, seeing a vampire appear beside me. I ground my teeth, jumping from the tree branch only to hold on to it. When I saw him look down, believing I jumped down, I spun my entire body like a pinwheel and kicked his chin from below.
Just one spin and I was back to the tree branch, shifting my attention at the loud crash from another direction. There, Hugo sent someone flying towards the three vampires coming after him. With our brief pause, Hugo looked up at me, hands on his hips, whistling.
"Hot damn!" he yelled, jumping into the same spot as we both resumed in our sprint. "How did you do that?"
"I was a performer!" I shouted back, a strong wind blowing past me.
"You dance! You don't perform in a circus!"
"Well, guess what?! Life is a circus!" We spoke at the top of our lungs, eyes ahead as we both run at the same speed.
"It sure damn is!"
I glanced at Hugo, only to see him looking ahead. He wasn't also surprised by my speed or reacted strongly to my actions. But then again, he was the one who sent me up so I could hop from tree to tree.
He knew. There was no shadow of a doubt. He knew about the lamb. But how? Did Daniel tell him? There were so many questions in my head, and it was annoying I couldn't ask him. So I focused my glinting eyes ahead, grinding my teeth as I felt the strong presence following behind us.
Niall was coming.
"Hugh!" I yelled and cast him a quick look.
"I know!" he shouted back, voice echoing through the forest. "Let me think first!"
"I have a plan!"
"What?!" his voice raised, looking behind him. "If you're going to propose, we'll split, then forget about it! We'll kill them."
"No!"
"Then what is?!"
"We'll improvise!"
This time, Hugo looked at me whilst speeding. "That is the opposite of a plan, Bambi!" he scrunched his nose up in dismay while I shrugged.
"I'm coming down!" I announced and didn't wait for his reply when I jumped. But instead of landing on the ground, I landed on the vampire that suddenly appeared behind Hugo.
I didn't stay idle and bolted, catching up to Hugo until I was running beside him.
"Thanks." I smiled as if we were not running away from people who wanted us dead. "Do you want to carry me?"
His eyes dilated. "Lazy to run?"
"Hugh, only because I can now catch up to you doesn't mean you should neglect your wife?!"
"Bambi, is this the time to actually argue? Won't you even ask me why I am not surprised?" he gasped, shaking his head in dismay before he looked ahead. "You have the wrong priorities."
"My priority is myself."
"Wow… I would've clapped if I'm not —" Hugo's feet screech as he paused, twisting his upper body along with his fist. The next second, that fist landed on a vampire's face and sent him flying. "… if I'm not punching bugs!"
He jumped and ran towards me, catching up to me within a few seconds. I blinked twice, eyes landing on the speck of blood in his fist.
"Wow." This time, I clapped whilst running. "That's cool."
"Thanks." He shrugged proudly, tilting his head down. "But that damn Niall… is coming closer. He's the fastest vampire I met so far."
"It's not him," I uttered, catching Hugo's attention. "Niall is someone who can control vampires at will, shift from one person to another."
"What?"
"It's hard to explain. To make it short, that is his… gift or ability. Vampires had special gifts. Didn't Azazel tell you about it?" I explained casually, putting all other important questions at the back of my head.
It was strange. How we both changed and now acting as ourselves without the slightest fear of not being accepted. Even so, it was quite fun. Which was quite ironic since we're being chased.
Funny thing though, it reminded me of our first meeting. We were also being chased by vampires. But unlike before, he wasn't carrying me and I wasn't filled with dread.
Talk about starting over. This was literally a start over.
"Ah, shit!" I flinched when Hugo suddenly ground his teeth and howled. "If he's a stand-in, Azazel will be in danger!"
"Huh? Didn't you say you betray Azazel?"
"I did. I didn't tell him about Niall." He explained, eyes shifting in red. "Bambi, I'll snap their necks real quick. Head to the border and help Alice and Silas. Niall will be there."
"Huh?" my brows furrowed, watching him cast me a quick look.
Hugo smirked and winked. "I trust you because you are my Luna."
For reasons unknown, I held my breath as I felt slightly overwhelmed by the trust he was giving me. But what was overwhelming was he truly meant his words.
"Don't die!" I gnashed my teeth only to hear him laugh.
"You… don't die!" he slowed down and faced the vampires coming at us. "Bambi!" he yelled as I continued, making me slow down and look at his back.
"I will come for you!"
I ground my teeth while staring at his broad back. "Don't die, Hugh! We still need to talk!" I huffed, jumping to go to where Azazel might be.
"I will be waiting for you…" I whispered, eyes ahead and unfazed when Hugo appeared beside me to down a vampire. He had my back, so I trust he wouldn't let them get past him, and even if they did, they wouldn't lay a finger on me.
'We really... have many things to talk about, Hugh. Many, many things.' My eyes sharpened as a glint flickered across them. 'So... don't die here. I will deal with the child of evil.'