by Ashlee Sinn
As I rubbed his silky smooth, gray fur, I flipped aimlessly through the Sunday morning television programming. After realizing that the television sucked, I finally decided that it was time to get dressed and head out for work. Dressed meant throwing on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt with the words Princess Gloomy printed over a goth-like cartoon girl. It had been a present from Silas for my last birthday. And while I was probably too old to be wearing clothing like that, I didn’t care at all.
I took a cab to our company headquarters. Well, maybe headquarters wasn’t really the right description. Since our organization needed the ability to hide and move around, we had several different locations that we used throughout the year. This particular location was Ezra’s first choice for our gatherings—the basement of a local university library.
Climbing out of the cab, I inhaled the fresh, crisp scent of an arriving autumn. Large oaks and maples planted hundreds of years ago, decorated the landscape with a beauty only nature could create. As I walked toward the library, the campus cathedral stood like a sentinel to the right of the building. I was not a religious person, but I could appreciate the magnificence of the architecture. Stained glass windows, a steeple higher than the nearby buildings, and stone bricks not used anymore. Legend said that the school was built around the church and some of the original founders were buried in the catacombs underneath. I hadn’t ever been in them, but had always wondered if there were more than just dead bodies lurking below.
The library hummed with a buzz of determined students seemingly unaware that it was the weekend. However, this school only accepted some of the best and brightest future doctors, lawyers, and scientists in the country, so it really shouldn’t have been surprising to see so many students hunched over their books and studying hard. I walked through the large, open atrium filled with tables, past the help desk, and toward the stairs. At the basement level, I made my way through the darkened hallway and the far northeast corner of the floor. This level was reserved for the older reference books, printed journals, and an antiquated computer lab. Small single desks sat tucked away in corners and in cubbies at the end of the dusty bookshelves. It smelled like a musty basement mixed with old paper and a faint hint of ozone from the copying equipment. Every once and a while I’d pass the occasional student, but they’d blocked out society with their headphones and computers.
I thought about how easy of a target they were as I turned the corner around the last aisle of books. A split second later, I smacked into Silas and his very muscular chest.
“Hey there,” he smiled and gave me a quick squeeze on my butt, noticeable only to me.
I instinctively returned his smile. “You’re here early” I said.
“Not really. You’re one of the last ones to get here.”
Figures. I can never seem to be on time for anything. Silas led me down the rest of the aisle until he opened a glass door on the right. In it sat a small, bland meeting room with out of date furniture and a moldy tinge in the air. Someone had brought fresh coffee but the aroma couldn’t quite make the room smell better. The two school issued tables had been moved into the center of the room with the chairs arranged around them to convey a board-room type setting. Most of my coworkers were gathered around the perimeter with just a few claiming their spots at the table. Ezra stood at the far end of the room, hunched over and speaking quietly to his second in command, Jaelle, on his left. Silas and I split apart and walked in separate directions to greet the others.
The first group I noticed was Nadya, Broch, and Graham—the only hunters Silas and I would sometimes socialize with. The three of them were pretty much inseparable since birth. Well, at least since they’d joined our New York division. Nadya, with her tall and lean figure and short black hair, was one of those women who could wear bald. The sharp angles of her dark face clashed nicely with her even darker, mysterious eyes. She wore her typical jeans and a tank top outfit with platform high heels, towering over almost everyone else in the room.
Next to her stood Graham. Even taller than Nadya in her heels, he’d been a high school basketball star before his service began. A handsome guy with light brown hair and green eyes, I often wondered why he’d given up his potential sports career for a life of hunting vampires. I also noticed the way he still guarded Nadya as she moved. The two of them had dated briefly a few years ago, but eventually developed a better relationship as friends. At least as far as Nadya was concerned.
Broch was the shortest of the group and looked like a male gymnast full of muscle and energy. His wavy blond hair nearly reached his chin now, hiding a surfer dude face that served as the perfect disguise for anyone who would question his intelligence. But Broch came from a family of great hunters and although he didn’t look threatening, he’d lived up to the legacy thus far.
“Well look who finally decided to show up,” Graham teased with a smile. “I thought you might have been too worn out this morning.”
It would appear that Silas didn’t keep his plans last night a secret, and I shot him a look before turning back to Graham. “You guys never get over yourselves do you?” I rolled my eyes and sighed as I grabbed a coffee. While mixing in my three sugars I asked, “So do you have any idea why we’re here?”
“Apparently there’s something going down with the Magi,” Nadya replied with a shrug. Nothing ever seemed to bother her.
“And Ezra’s been meeting with some of the consorts privately,” Broch added. He’d often work with Ezra during the day assisting with menial tasks like record keeping and insurance claims. Broch didn’t need another paying job—his family’s legacy made sure of that.
“Well, that can’t be good,” Silas mumbled as he joined our group. I tried to give him an evil glare so he would know our sex life was not up for discussion with our friends, but it was lost on him.
Ezra stood up at the end of the room and cleared his throat. His domineering persona made him a good choice as leader. Easily in his early sixties, his dark hair had yet to grey and only a few wrinkles around his eyes hinted at the stress in his life. Ezra was old for a hunter—most of us didn’t tend to make it to forty.
“Everyone have a seat so we can get started.”
The five of us sat in the chairs on the right side of the table, leaving the head of the table opposite Ezra open. Across from my little group of friends sat the rest of the New York division of hunters. There were eleven hunters in our district in total, although Ezra and Jaelle rarely performed the actual physical task of hunting anymore.
“Thanks for meeting here today and thanks to Greg for bringing the coffee” Ezra nodded toward the newest transfer to the group. I think he came from San Francisco or maybe San Diego? “I understand that we had a few successful hits last night,” Ezra continued before eyeing our side of the table. “And I wish I could assure you that things will slow down a bit.” He took a breath and plunged forward. “It has recently come to my attention that the Elder of the Magi Circle has become gravely ill, which means that his position is up for grabs.”
The Order of the Magi was a group of twelve powerful magicians, necromancers, witches, and voodoo priests and priestesses. Like the hunters, those who belonged to the Order were mostly born into their fate. Although there were a few of them that had crafted their skill over time, becoming skillful enough to earn a spot in the Circle. The members of the inner circle were very powerful, and also the ones that created vampires.
For millennia, vampires had been used to help police the human world. Most often, the Magi were contracted by national and international government agencies to ‘create’ these ideal assassins. Vampires were interspersed in all forms of military, government, and private sectors throughout the world and most humans never suspected a thing.
“There are two junior Circle members vying for the Elder position,” Ezra stated. We all sucked in a collective breath, knowing what this meant. “Tensions are high and each one has gathered their own support. Rumor has it that each side is rapidly cr
eating vampires to rally against each other. Unfortunately, they have been careless with their endeavors.”
The Order of the Magi selected those to turn vampire based on traits humans usually associated with criminals. They were typically emotionally disconnected, had usually served in some type of military or policing force, and, more often than not, were willing to change into permanent killing machines and eternal protectors of the Magi. The process of turning a human into a vampire was not something I’d ever witnessed, but there were documents and stories used in our training. Turning was a complicated procedure and it took a delicate magical balance between a necromancer, a witch, and a voodoo priestess to conduct the most successful changes. And unfortunately, it wasn’t uncommon for a ritual to fail. These failures would often produce sociopath vampires with little connection to rational thoughts but increased strength that made them difficult to control. Again, my thoughts drifted to the newbie vampire from last night.
Ezra dropped his gaze, looking uncomfortable with whatever he was going to tell us next. “We have been asked by one of the Circle members to assist them in their conquest to destroy these unwanted and unsupervised vampires that are creating havoc within the Order before it becomes too difficult to cover up.”
There was an instant shift in the emotions in the room. Why would the Order approach us? They hated us. We destroyed their creations whenever we could. Although I guess in a sick and twisted game of irony, we were their enforcers. We’d rid society of the unruly and disruptive vampires. We were their attack dogs.
“Isn’t it a good thing they’re killing off each other’s demon spawn?” I muttered to Broch who sat on my left. He gave me a grunt of a response but Ezra snapped his head up and shot me a look that chilled me to the bone.
“Yes, Ms. Glen, that is one way to look at it. But we all swore an oath to protect innocents from the monsters that only exist in their stories. This situation is getting out of control, and despite our differences, the Order has swallowed its pride and asked us for help.” Ezra looked around the room at each and every one of us with his green-eyed gaze, daring someone to protest. During his time as a hunter, Ezra had survived numerous attacks on his life, earning our respect.
We were also scared of him.
“Sebastian Branazio, the Order’s liaison to Human Affairs has been working closely with me over the past several weeks to develop a contract between the New York division of hunters and the Order.”
I sat back in my seat and sighed. This wasn’t going to be pleasant.
“We are to kill all of the vampires created as part of this power struggle for the position in the Circle.”
And just how are we supposed to know who they are? I thought. But as though Ezra read my mind he continued. “In order for both of us to do our job efficiently and effectively, the Order has assigned one of their own to work with us.” For some reason, Ezra shot me a look. I sunk deeper into my chair. “His name is Viktor Kaska, and he is their oldest vampire.”
“What?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“You can’t be serious?”
The shouted questions filled the room, most of them coming from my side of the table. Working with a vampire to kill other vampires? This arrangement simply wasn’t going to work. Ezra had lost his mind. Maybe it was time for him to retire.
Just as I opened my mouth to make that suggestion, the glass door opened and in walked the oldest vampire I’d ever seen. Not old in physical appearance, but his signature scorched my skin like a flame. Power rolled off of him like an Order elder, commanding us all to submit to his presence. My body shivered with the rush of sensations racing through my blood. On one hand, the hunter in me wanted to see a stake through his heart. But the woman in me couldn’t tear her eyes away from the perfect specimen of man in front of us.
Just a few years older than me when he was turned, his tan skin and dark hair had been closely shaven to reveal a manicured face. The exotic essence in him could not be subdued, his otherworldliness a beacon for my kind and more. Close to six feet tall, he had a solid build typical of someone who’d been involved with manual labor, or the battlefield, his entire life. Yet the expensive suit hiding his body screamed anything but savage.
My heart raced within his presence—a part of me embarrassed for that uncontrollable urge to give in like all of the other human females I was sure he had seduced. Another part of me licking my lips in anticipation of what it would be like to kill him. Or kiss him.
The bright blue eyes typical of all vampires caught my gaze and held it under his command. I tried to look away, I really did. But I found it hard to focus until I felt Silas kick my shin under the table.
“Mr. Kaska,” Ezra said as he stood to acknowledge our unusual guest. The rest of us simply stared in silence—the women with jaws open and the men casting evil glares in his direction. Ezra gestured with his hand around the table. “Welcome. Please have a seat. I was just discussing our contract with my staff.” Ezra seemed so calm and authoritative, as though he’d dealt with vampire contacts every day. “Mr. Viktor Kaska is the Order’s Handler, the one that trains new vampires.”
A handler. As I ran my gaze over the well-defined proportions of Viktor’s body, I knew I’d called it when I thought he’d been a warrior in some distant past.
Ezra’s voice broke the spell I’d fallen under again. “He’s been asked to work with us to help identify and kill the uncontrollable ones. Viktor has been with the Order for centuries and I expect to see everyone’s full cooperation.”
I didn’t miss the glare Ezra shot to my side of the table. He could have meant that look for me, but Silas and Nadya had a bad habit of irritating almost everyone they worked with as well. I smirked at the thought of Silas fighting with Viktor.
“I’m glad you appear so optimistic, Ms. Glen,” Ezra chided and I blushed. “Since I will not be handling this matter personally, I’ve decided to assign you as our liaison to Mr. Kaska and his mission.”
A quick glance in the vampire’s direction allowed me to see the small smirk on his face. And that pissed me off. I leaned forward and slammed both of my hands on the table. “Why? Why me?” Broch put a quick hand on my arm to encourage me to calm down. Silas didn’t move a muscle on my other side.
“Not that I owe you an explanation, but you’ve been in the city longer than the rest of the hunters in this room. Plus, I think it will be good for you to learn some teamwork, patience and ….tolerance,” he finished with a smile in his tone. “And this is a direct order.”
I didn’t have a choice. I was going to have to work with a species I was sworn to kill while fighting my stupid inner-sex maniac that had secretly craved being ravaged by the very same creatures.
“Sophia, I expect you to meet with Mr. Kaska soon and report back to us all in a week.” With those words, Ezra effectively dismissed everyone.
I sat in stunned silence, trying to process what just happened when the vampire, I mean Mr. Kaska, leaned over to me. He not so discreetly placed his body between Silas and me, effectively blocking out the large, and angry hunter to my side. “I would like to start as soon as possible, however, I am unavailable the rest of today. Can we meet tonight?”
“I have a lot of things to do today,” I snapped without thought. But then I sighed and resigned myself to doing my job. “Fine. Where do you want to meet?” I asked too quickly, kicking myself for not suggesting that we meet in a public place while the sun was still up and he’d be a little weaker.
Viktor gave me a sly little grin. “How about I send a car?”
I tensed and Silas leaned out beyond the vampire and shook his head in warning. I knew the safety rules, but for some unexplained reason, I felt like I could somewhat trust Viktor. “Have the car come to Broadway and Canal,” I said, not wanting him to know that was a full ten blocks away from my home. Better to be safe than sorry.
“Very well, Ms. Glen. The car will be there at nine.” His gaze slowly took in my Princess Glo
omy shirt and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Wear something nice.”
Viktor stood up in an unnaturally quick way and walked around the table to talk to Ezra and Jaelle before I could admonish him for the backhanded wardrobe dis.
“What the fuck was that?” Silas whispered to me. His dark glare didn’t leave the back of Viktor’s head, and I found myself stroking his arm in an attempt to calm him down.
“I don’t know, but I sure need a drink right now.” I received nods from all of my friends and we made a move to leave the room. But Silas seemed glued to his chair, the anger slipping from him in waves. I noticed Ezra watching him closely. And I also noticed how Viktor paid him no attention at all.
Instead, as we made our way through the door, I caught a quick glimpse of the vampire and the mesmerizing blue eyes watching my every move.
Chapter 4
It had turned into a nice, cool day with few clouds and a warm sun brightening the surroundings. But the tension rolling off Silas ruined the lunch for all of us. Despite downing a few of his favorite local beers, no one could take the edge off. Even Broch, with his usual cheerful yet peacemaking ways, fell flat.
Nadya and Graham, along with myself, attempted to convince Silas that Ezra wouldn’t purposely put me in harm’s way. And it was our fateful duty that we oblige the Order’s request to help them deal with the escalating conflict. The doubts flitted through my brain as I tried to influence Silas—would I be able to handle working with such an old, and powerful, and seductive vampire? Where was he taking me tonight? What had he witnessed in all his years of life?
And while those questions swirled, I put on my best game face. With several hand squeezes and shoulder nudges, I tried to show Silas that all would be well. However, his shitty attitude and insinuations that I wouldn’t be able to handle myself finally grated on my last nerve. So an hour after we left our meeting, I headed home. Alone.