I immediately tried to throw her off, just as she tried to drive the stake through my heart. Signs of fatigue and fighting were all over her. Defeating the other Strigoi had taken its toll on me too, though I doubted she was in much better shape. We grappled on the ground. I was at a disadvantage and Rose seemed to be focussed on the kill.

She raked the stake against my cheek, drawing blood. The excruciating burn was enough to numb all of the feelings on my face. I snarled in pain but shifted on the ground to keep my chest well protected. She had staked me once, not again.

I still couldn't believe Rose was determined to kill me. Maybe I had pushed her limits too much, back at the estate. But the way she managed to hold me down, dhampir strength to Strigoi immortality was breathtaking.

“You. Are. Amazing,” I said, full of both pride and battle Fury. I had taught her... Me...

She didn't respond. Her only goal was my heart.

At one point I felt her stake pierce my chest—but I reacted fast,  knocking her hand away before she could fully drive the stake through. In the process, I  knocked her off of me, completely. She flew several feet away, mercifully not hitting any trees. She scrambled to her feet, dazed. Half drunk in my pain and exhaustion, I still hobbled towards her.

We were going to kill ourselves in trying to kill each other.

She ran off into the forest again, me on her heels. At this point we were gone too far to let this game go.

“Ahhh!”“Ahhh!”

Her scream rang into the night, jarring against the quiet darkness. I heard the sharp whirr of small rocks sliding, followed by a splash into the water of the Ob. Rose had lost footing on the river Bank and tumbled into the water.

The moon peeked out from the clouds, casting enough light to show me the huge expanse of black, fast-moving water in front of me.  I reached the top of the ridge only to find her moving along the river towards the light of hope — Novosibirsk. Did she really thing she could follow the river to reach the city?

I started climbing down the slope as she quickened her pace. My feet splashed through the shallow water on the bank as I picked up speed. Rose was nearer and nearer when...

Gotcha!

And my hand closed around the back of her jacket, jerking her backward. She fell against my and immediately whipped around and attacked with her stake, trying to wriggle out of my grip. Why was she foolish enough to fight? She knew she couldn't win against me.

“Stop it!” I yelled, gripping her flailing arms. “Don’t you get it? You can’t win!”

“Then kill me!” she wriggled, but my hold on her upper arms was “You said you would if I didn’t surrender myself. Well, guess what? I didn’t. I won’t. So just get it over with.”

That phantom moonlight lit up her face, eradicating the normal shadows and showed me her face. Those eyes, those lips I loved. It was like all the colors in the world had been blanked out. I could see her desperation. I could see her fear. She was willing to die than be turned.

Why? Ignorant fool.

“It’d take a lot for me to kill you, Rose,” I said. “This isn’t enough.” I wasn't enraged enough to go on a killing spree and regret losing my love. This was the time I made the decision that she was too afraid to make. I'll choose the life for her that she's too blind to see.

I leaned towards her exposed skin, steady and determined. She wriggled in my grip, just as my fangs touched her skin and so many things happened together. I heard the faint cling of metal and suddenly it was like a nuclear explosion going off.

Ghosts and spirits — translucent and luminescent in shades of pale green, blue, yellow, and silver, burst between us.

I sprang back, not knowing what those were and how to actually ward them off. I waved my hands around, swatting the spirits like mosquitoes. My hands passed right through them, ineffectual.

They were affecting my  mind, and they were damned distracting. The dead hate the undead. And from the way these ghosts swarmed me, it was clear that they hated powerful Strigoi more. My strength was ineffective against the otherworldly beings. Through the swarm of irritating spirits, I saw Rose attempting to climb up again.

The bridge. She was aiming for the bridge.

The ghosts still swarmed me like a cloud, yet I was managing progress, one agonizing step at a time. Turning back, she continued her climb. It seemed she had her own glowing companions too.

Soon something happened and the ghosts disappeared with a poof as soon as they had come. Rose has managed to reach the top of the slope and was on her feet, sprinting up the slope. She began backing up, never taking her eyes off of me. I was now at the other end of the bridge and she was halfway. I had won. She had no where to run now. Her energy was depleted.