by LJ Rivers
I wasn’t happy about losing my previous security, but I thanked him all the same. Better than having none at all. Besides, the surveillance cameras were intact and operational.
“I’ll see you in the morning, then,” I said.
He patted the steering wheel as I went outside, and his face disappeared behind tinted windows when I closed the car door. I glanced at the logo on the hood. A Volkswagen—a hybrid, from what I could tell by my limited knowledge of vehicles. Palming my pocketknife in one hand, keys in the other, I trudged across the street and headed inside.
My body was aching all over, and I couldn’t remember the stairs to my apartment being this exhausting. It was only five flights of stairs, for heaven’s sake. Victorious, I had finally dragged myself to the top, barely taking note of my new state-of-the-art door before unlocking both locks and letting myself in. I locked the door behind me and slid against the frame to the floor, my hands resting on my head.
I was a witch. A poor one at that. Now that I knew of the existence of magic, being immune sounded like a good thing. Then again, not having any actual magic myself was like having a million euros in my account and no way of accessing it. I retrieved my phone, noticed a text from Stefan that I didn’t open, and called Edwin again, waiting until his voice mail answered.
“It’s me again.” I sighed. “I have just had the craziest day of my life. Call me back as soon as you get this.” I ended the call. Whatever he was doing, it was clear he didn’t want to be disturbed. Whenever he got around to listening to my messages, he would hear the urgency in my voice. No way could he ignore that.
My eyes lifted to the living room, sending another wave of exhaustion through my body. It wasn’t a total mess, but my dresser was broken, and I had left a few scars on the walls with the pull-up bar, which was lying on the floor in the hallway across from me. Leaving it where it was, I stumbled to my feet and padded to the kitchen. I stared into the near-empty fridge for a few mind-numbing seconds, snapped up a beer bottle, and closed the fridge again, then went to lie down on my couch to read Stefan’s message.
I miss you already
I grinned at the screen but didn’t text him back. It was better to wait until morning. If I texted him this late, he would know I was up and take it as an invitation to come over. A wave of guilt caught me off guard. What was I doing, drooling over Leon when I had a guy like Stefan who wanted me in his life? I pushed the empath out of my mind and glanced at the message again. While part of me desperately wanted Stefan’s arms around me after the day I’d had, I had no way to explain the unexplainable. Saga hadn’t said anything about keeping magic a secret, which technically meant I was free to share. Of course, I was no fool, and I could read between the lines. And there were obvious lines here. It was clear that magic wasn’t general knowledge. And while I had a lot to learn about the inner mechanics of the veiled world, I understood the need to keep it hidden. If people found out, it would create unfathomable ripples that could easily turn into massive tidal waves.
I retrieved my pocketknife, toying with it for a while, relieved I hadn’t gotten to use it. Sigmund had been afraid I might have killed him with the pull-up bar. It would have been easier to use the knife, but that was a last resort. It was far too risky to stab someone. Even with all my training, I could’ve accidentally nicked an artery or killed them with a blade, even a small one like this. And I wasn’t a killer. Becoming one was not on my bucket list. Even so, having a weapon, whether it was my gun or a knife, gave me a sense of security. For other kids, teddy bears and blankets gave them the illusion of safety. For me, it was sleeping with a weapon under my pillow. I had never questioned it growing up, but Edwin gave me this very knife when I was only five, and my first gun at the age of ten. While they didn’t qualify as toys, which he was particular about pointing out, they offered me the same sense of comfort.
After gulping down my beer, I left the bottle on the coffee table and mounted the pull-up bar back in place. I was going to have to keep my newfound knowledge hidden from Stefan, and I just didn’t have it in me to lie to him. Not tonight. At the top of my game, however, I was an excellent liar.
I glowered at the damaged walls, knowing I would need a cover story for those, as I probably wouldn’t have time to do anything about them before Stefan’s next visit. Summoning the strength to brush my teeth, I went into the bathroom. Toothbrush in hand, I looked out the window. It was a tiny frame with a dark film attached, which allowed me to see outside while keeping prying eyes from looking in.
My heart gave a tiny jolt when I noticed Leon’s blue car still parked across the road. Was he worried about me, or had he been ordered to make sure I didn’t skip town or something? A thought that hadn’t occurred to me until just then. Could I pack up and leave? This magic stuff seemed all-consuming, and I didn’t picture myself having a place in that world. Saga had said that as long as I was here, I reported to her, but she hadn’t said anything about what would happen if I left. She knew who I was now, so it was likely that anywhere I went, I would have to answer to someone in the veiled world—whether I wanted to or not. Better the enemy you know, and all that. Not that Saga was an enemy, although the jury was still out. No, I decided, as I turned the faucet off and put my toothbrush back in the cabinet, I had to play this out.
My phone played the notes of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, the ringtone I used for all unknown numbers, as I shuffled into my bedroom. I fished it out of my pocket and frowned at the unknown number. Maybe Stefan was calling me from work? Skipping my usual protocol, I decided to answer.
“Hello.”
“Camryn MacKay?” A woman asked, out of breath. “Are you her?”
I blanched at the use of my mother’s name. Did everyone know my birth name by now? “Who wants to know?”
“Please. I’ve been trying to reach you.” She sounded terrified, her words an accented jumble I couldn’t identify. She gulped down a few swallows of air and spoke in a more hushed voice. “Your life is in danger.”
I dumped down on my bed, clutching the phone to my ear. “Wait, what? Who are you?”
“No time to explain, but you have to get out of Berlin, or they’ll find you.”
“Who?” Get out of Berlin? That sounded more than a little extreme, although I couldn’t deny the pleading in her voice or the sincerity in it.
“Just leave.”
“Listen, I don’t know who you are or why you’re calling me, but I can’t just—”
“If you won’t leave now, then meet me tomorrow morning at that coffee place you like so much, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“I can’t.” I hesitated, but I had to hear her out. “Best I can do is around five.”
“I wish you would come sooner, it’s not safe to stay.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s something I have to do first.”
Something screeched in the background, like old hinges protesting a movement. “Very well. Pack a bag, but pack light. We might have to run.”
“Wait. Please, tell me your name at least.”
Her breath hitched, and I heard feet shuffling across the floor, then a door closing. “The name is Naunet.” She hung up, leaving me to stare at the phone.
Naunet? The name didn’t ring any bells, aside from the fact I believed it was some kind of Egyptian deity. I didn’t know a whole lot about those things, but ever since an Arabian leopard killed my mother in the Sinai Peninsula, I had taken a special interest in all things Egyptian.
Shaking my arms to calm the goosebumps that had erupted all over my skin, I lifted my feet from the floor. I scooted back on the bed and curled up under the covers. Who was after me? And why? Maybe it was a trap, and I would be walking right into it. It was something to consider, but no matter what it was, I had to find out. If my life really was in danger, this Naunet woman would tell me more, if I chose to believe her.
I turned off the lights and shut my eyes, but while I had been ready to drop dead just minutes
ago, my body was restless. I tossed and turned for what must have been hours until sleep finally found me.
Chapter Seven
After dropping off Camryn at her place, Leon sat in the car for a long while, staring at the apartment building. Her apartment had few windows, and only two facing the street. One tiny window in the bathroom, a slightly bigger one in the kitchen. He could just make out the shape of her as she opened the fridge, illuminated by the light inside. Her windows were tinted, like those on his car, so all he saw was her silhouette. When she closed the fridge again, she disappeared entirely from view.
There was something magnetic about her.
Sure, she was a little rough around the edges and nothing like the women he usually went out with, but he couldn’t deny the attraction. She didn’t have the typical sensual curves that often attracted him to a woman. Instead, her features were square, and her body looked hard instead of soft, no doubt due to years spent building it. But not being able to sense her mood forced him to study her differently than he did all the others, and he hadn’t failed to notice her silky hair or the defiant spark in her breathtaking eyes. Looks aside, he’d always had a soft spot for strong and independent women, and she was certainly that. A clever mind beat physical attributes at every turn.
Camryn was stunning in her own way, and he could stare at those stubborn honey-colored eyes for days. While the file on her said she was Scottish, like her mother, her bronze-tinted skin told a different story. Camryn and Leon shared the same small bend in their noses, he’d noticed, but that only added to her allure as far as he was concerned. He wondered briefly at how it would be to run his fingers through her rich hair and feel nothing but the strands against his fingertips.
Leon doubted she had any idea what a relief it was to be around her, even though he had tried to explain. For once, all emotions he felt were his own. Of course, it was like that whenever he was alone, too, but friendships—and especially relationships—were a constant battle. Only one time in his life had he been able to truly love someone, because she had worn her heart on her sleeve, and he knew without a doubt that she had loved him back.
Knowing how everyone felt at any given moment was a gift, but it often felt more like a curse. And though he could turn the volume down, so to speak, there was always a kind of buzz in the air, like a swarm of bees waiting to attack. Touching someone was even worse, as the emotional imprint became clear as day, no matter how much he wanted to turn it off. It made intimacy somewhat of a problem. There were undoubtedly added benefits to his gift, and relationships could get extremely heated, or, more often than not, the tension would simply fizzle out. There was no mystery in knowing every whim and want of your partner, which left little room for spontaneity and romance. Knowing that your partner’s mind was on something, and sometimes someone, other than you … well, it was a real relationship killer.
For years now, he had more or less given up hope that he would ever find someone he could be with the way you were supposed to be with someone you loved, someone he could give himself over to completely and without doubts, to share his life with. Having had and lost love once before, that relationship hadn’t been without its challenges either. Being intimate with someone made the emotional connection stronger, and he would share in all their happiness, but also in all their grief and sorrow, as if the regrets and torments were his own. While he knew there had to be more between two people than the comfort of not sensing their desires, if nothing else, Camryn gave him hope.
A familiar red van slowed to a stop at the corner, and after a while of complete darkness in Camryn’s apartment, Leon finally backed his car out and drove off. He had a job to do.
He parked the car in the same spot he had the night before, went outside, and opened the trunk. The night pressed at him, hot and humid, and the hairs rose on his neck. Someone had walked past this spot earlier in the evening. Whoever it was had been angry. No, not angry, furious. The emotion lingered in the air like a sickening perfume, but the person it belonged to was long gone.
He reached for the solarbeam device, a kind of sun simulator that had been tweaked into functioning as a weapon against vampires. While it wasn’t lethal in the same way the actual sun was to them, it did make their skin burn. Vampires healed quickly, but they weren’t accustomed to pain, and the solarbeam hurt. A lot. Which made what had happened all the more strange. The attacking vampire reacted to the light, or so he thought. For some reason, though, he didn’t seem to be injured by it. Leon wasn’t sure if he was the one who had scared the creature, or if it had something to do with Camryn. Unable to reach any sensible conclusion, he abandoned the thought for the time being.
Next, he made sure his gun was loaded with silver bullets, the safety on, and walked back to the scene of the crime. He wasn’t expecting to have to shoot a shapeshifter, but being prepared never hurt anyone. Except for a potential foe. In all his years of service to Saga, he had only had to fire his weapon a handful of times, almost exclusively on werewolves. While Albrecht had a hot temper, he was a strong and reliable Alpha, and Leon would almost go as far as to call him a friend. But they were more like acquaintances on friendly terms, if he was being honest with himself. For Albrecht, the pack always came first. Even so, he had never blamed Leon for killing any of his wolves. The pack was an ally to the witches, since the wolves in it were considered partly of witch blood, as was the case with most magical beings. Every once in a while, though, a wolf would become moonraged. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, execution was always the most merciful outcome. And it was understood by all in the veiled world, including within the pack, that a moonraged wolf was a dead wolf.
Leon wasn’t hunting wolves tonight, but silver worked just as well on most in the veiled world. The fact that Petra was somehow involved in all of this could mean the werecats were up to something. He doubted it, but until he knew more, everyone was a suspect. Saga didn’t need a war on her hands, and neither did anyone else. It was hard enough to coexist and share territories. The wolves and cats were especially territorial by nature. It was different with the vampires. To them, owning territory was more about a showing of power and strength than a need to claim land. As for us witches, we cared about the land as well, but for entirely different reasons. It wasn’t about owning anything, but about harmonizing and being able to practice magic without the interference of other influences.
So, while veiled beings shared the city, certain areas were considered belonging more to one creature than the other. The cats and wolves were on friendly enough terms, but rarely crossed into each other’s territory, at least not without an invitation. The witches, on the other hand, were more or less free to move about as they pleased. As were the vampires, and Leon suspected no one would want to test the waters and see what happened if they tried keeping the vampires out, anyway. It was fortunate that these children of the night favored the busy parts of central Berlin, where they owned mostly clubs and other businesses that were open at night, instead of venturing to more secluded areas. The system worked to some extent, yet the smallest breach or insult could make the entire foundation crumble in an instant.
Which made this incident both peculiar and potentially a political nightmare.
Having reached the spot where Camryn had punched him, Leon recalled when he had first laid eyes upon her. The closer he got, the quieter the world became. He hadn’t sensed the danger like he normally would. And if it hadn’t been for an anonymous letter tucked under his windshield that night, he would have never been there at all.
When he read the message, part of him thought it was a prank. All it said was: A woman is in danger. Attached was a map showing the Landwehrkanal and a red line encircling one of the pathways. When he looked around the parking lot, the only residual imprints were fleeting and entirely normal. There had been no sense of fear or anger, no insatiable needs of any kind. He almost dismissed the message because of it, as there should have been something on that note to reveal the sender’
s sincerity. But there was nothing. Maybe it was the lack of residual energy that made him curious enough to check it out. Whoever had left the message had been right to do so. He hoped he was able to thank that person someday.
He crouched, letting his hand brush over the ground, looking for any piece of emotional residue that might linger there. Nothing. Frowning, he moved to the wall where the vampire had escaped, putting his hand flat against the bricks. A smile widened on his lips. Most believed vampires were incapable of feelings such as love or even hate, but Leon knew better. The truth was, they felt more strongly than anyone. When a vampire loved, they did so with a tremendous passion, so devoted to their chosen consort that they would move heaven and earth for that person. They would stop at nothing to keep them safe. People say that about those they love, but hardly anyone would ever actually take a bullet for someone else or snap someone’s neck if they looked at your beloved with more than a hint of interest. A vampire in love was the most dangerous creature of them all.
This particular vampire had not been in love. There were no such strong emotions on the scene. There was, Leon realized, a faint trace of something else, something even stronger than what he had expected to find. A searing white hatred. This vampire wasn’t just acting blindly on someone’s orders; he truly hated his target and believed she needed to die. Which of the women was the real target was still unclear, but the intent was not. Murder.
Surprisingly, there was also a hint of desire and bliss. That didn’t seem right, but it was there all the same. Shaking his head, Leon straightened and returned to his car. He pushed the power button. After a few seconds, his phone connected with the sound system.