E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

  “I find that I’m rarely wrong about anything, Olivia,” he said seriously. “Our best slayers are those who have personal vendettas against vampires.”

  I frowned, not understanding what he was saying. “I don’t have a personal vendetta against vampires. I didn’t even know they existed before tonight, and that vampire was certainly not the first being to do me wrong on this planet. I’m sure he won’t be the last.”

  “You were dating the Masterson boys, were you not?” he asked calmly.

  “I—” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Dating didn’t seem like the right word to describe my relationship with Noah, Wyatt, and Ryan. Soulmates seemed a far better term for our connection.

  My heart clenched again.

  “Focus, Olivia,” James said gently. “You have to be able to focus through the pain.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re getting at. What do the guys have to do with anything?” There were tears pricking at my throat.

  “Olivia, the Masterson boys didn’t die in a car wreck. They were killed by a pack of feral vampires.”

  4

  I sat in the hotel room James had procured me earlier, going over everything he’d said during our drive. James was right next door, but he’d thankfully given me the space I needed to weigh everything that he’d said.

  I could understand now why the best slayers were those with an ax to grind, so to speak. As soon as I’d heard the details of the guys’ death and seen the pictures he had of their throats ripped out, hate so strong that I could taste it began building up inside of my soul.

  The first responders had believed my loves had died from a car wreck because that’s what they’d been convinced by vampires to believe. Even though all the boys had their throats ripped out savagely and their bodies had been drained of blood, the human emergency responders had only seen signs of blunt force trauma. Evidently, vampires had a power called “thrall” where they could convince humans to believe or do whatever they wanted. As a rookie slayer, I would be given an amulet to protect me from the vampire thrall. Eventually, I would be able to build up a tolerance against it so it wouldn’t affect me, even if I was caught without the amulet.

  Tomorrow, we would be headed to New York City to start my training. I may not care about necessarily saving the rest of the free world from vampires, but I cared more than anything about avenging my lost loves.

  Hot angry tears fell on my lap. Rage was slightly easier to deal with than the overwhelming agony and despair I’d been feeling since I’d first heard the news. My anger still succeeded in warping my heart and soul though, changing it into something I didn’t recognize anymore. The girl I was, was gone, burned away into a mess of ashes and ruin.

  I was reborn.

  But that wasn’t a good thing.

  Tomorrow would be the first day of my new life. I wouldn’t rest until vengeance was mine.

  That night, I dreamed of Ryan.

  “Hello, pretty girl,” he breathed sweetly as he brushed a kiss against my lips.

  “Ryan,” I sighed. “You left me.”

  He began to stroke down my arm and back while kissing my neck, dragging his tongue from my ear down to my collarbone. “We’d never leave you. I would follow you wherever you went. You’re ours. You’ll always be ours, pretty girl,” he whispered as his kisses began to build in intensity.

  He held me tight against him as his lips moved to my mouth. His tongue plunged into my mouth, hard and deep, long strokes of his tongue against mine. Our kiss was frantic, desperate…pleading. I couldn’t think, I just knew that I never wanted to wake up from this dream.

  My pulse, his lips, my breath, his frenzied possession… I was tied into a knot of yes please, more, and don’t ever leave.

  My hands roamed across his skin, and steely biceps rippled under my touch. His kiss was destructive, designed to take me to a place I could never return from.

  Our kisses had never been like this when he was alive.

  His growl rumbled between us, so real it made me want to cry. He ground his erection into me, squeezing my ass as he did so. I couldn’t think, I could only feel. He was everywhere. His body and mouth commanded my response, and I did so by continuing to answer his kiss.

  A shiver sung down my spine as he kissed a wet trail along the opening of the oversized T-shirt of his I was wearing. His mouth closed over the swell of my breast, and my nipples tightened in anticipation. I inhaled a huge breath.

  “Make me forget,” I told my dream boy, begging him for a relief only he could give me. My plea was lost in the passion of his kiss before he broke away and began to move down my body.

  Stopping his descent, he pressed his lips to my ankle. He kissed and licked his way up until he was groaning, sucking and tasting my inner thighs as he spread my legs wide. “Fuck, Olivia.” He growled my name and then licked my slit through my panties. My cry broke free just as my head slammed into the mattress. I squeezed my eyes closed. He sucked my clit through the lace, lapping and teasing with his tongue and then teeth. I bowed into his mouth, and with a groan, he peeled me free of everything. I was bare. My lips parted, but I couldn’t speak. I could only watch and feel and breathe through the pulsing ache in my core, while he kissed me everywhere.

  He lifted his head, and I wanted to scream from how close to the edge of the cliff he’d left me. He began to rub around my clit with his hand. Slipping to where I was the wettest, he gathered my heat and teased me with the slickness by painting it in tight tiny circles, but never where I needed him the most.

  “Please, please, please,” I begged. I gasped when his fingers finally slid into me. “Ryan.” I groaned, loud and shameless, as he reached in and tipped forward, pumping and rubbing me into a full-out cry. He felt perfect. He felt real.

  “So tight,” he said in a pinched voice, as if he was on the precipice of finding the treasure at the end of the map. I bowed from the bed as the pleasure threatened to overwhelm me.

  “Please.” I begged for something, anything. “Make me come, please make me come.” I tried to move. Pinned down, my only recourse was to flex and roll my hips, bring him deeper, faster, and take in his growl as he crushed his mouth to mine. He ground his palm into my clit, and it was my undoing. I screamed and exploded into a million pieces as I came all over his magical hand.

  A prickling knowledge shimmered over my skin just then, and I forced my eyes open from the dream I was desperate to come true.

  I was alone. Shaky and turned on.

  But all alone.

  I cried for an hour after that thinking it was a cruel trick of fate that I could practically feel the path his lips had taken across my skin.

  Morning couldn’t come soon enough.

  “Everything okay last night?” James asked as we settled into the first-class seats on the flight he’d booked. I had been in first class a few times on trips with the Masterson’s, and I’d never gotten used to it.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, nodding yes to the flight attendant who’d just come by with glasses of water to hand out. I was feeling especially emotionally raw this morning, but I was still embarrassed about him hearing me crying my eyes out all night after I’d woken up from that dream.

  That gloriously terrible dream.

  “I guess the best way to get over someone is to get under someone,” he joked dryly, flipping through the SkyMall catalog he’d pulled from the pocket of the seat in front of him.

  My cheeks must have looked like I had a third degree burn with how hot they felt. He’d heard me having my dirty dream.

  Holy fuck.

  “Just a bad dream,” I told him quickly, even as his gaze danced across my flaming cheeks.

  “Hmm,” he murdered disbelievingly. “Sounded like quite a bad dream.”

  Things were awkward for the rest of the flight from Dallas to New York City. I curled into my seat as far away from his as I could get, which obviously wasn’t far, and pretended to fall asleep. Although with my sudden penchant fo
r dirty dreams, I didn’t actually fall asleep. Hellfire forbid I had one while sleeping on the plane.

  I would never live that down.

  My heart skipped a beat as hours later, the skyscrapers of New York City came into view. My lost future hit me just then. There would be no sharing an apartment with the guys, no coming home to each other every day. I couldn’t even comprehend going to NYU at this point. This city was dead to me as far as my dreams were concerned.

  I took a deep breath, beating away the ever-threatening tears.

  James thankfully didn’t comment on the fact that this was where I would have ended up in just a few short months. I was sure it had been in my file.

  Outside of the bustling airport, there was a black town car waiting. We slid into the leather seats that smelled brand new, and an unsmiling beast of a man nodded his head at me through the rearview mirror. I gaped at the cityscape as we drove by. I would never get used to the awe and grandeur of Manhattan.

  Finally, after sitting through traffic for an hour, a soaring black skyscraper came into view that James explained was the headquarters of E.V.I.E. A tingle of excitement darted over my skin. It felt wrong to be excited about anything, but I was here, about to set off on the first steps towards avenging my men.

  Nothing was going to stop me.

  5

  I wiped sweat from my forehead with my equally sweaty arm. I was exhausted. I’d been a runner, always considered myself in good shape, in fact…but this was on a whole other level.

  “Break time’s over, princess,” a smooth voice called out sarcastically.

  I huffed as I poured water down my throat, wondering if my stake would be better used on my current E.V.I.E. trainer instead of vampires.

  “Olivia,” the voice barked again. I threw my water bottle down on the floor and made my way back over to the mats, my whole body aching and protesting with the effort.

  I’d been at the facility here in New York for three weeks now, and every day had been harder than the last. My day started at six am. I’d eat breakfast and go for a three-mile run first thing. I had to beat my time from the previous day every run, even if it was by one second. Needless to say, I was getting quite fast. Noah would have been proud.

  After the run, I had a yoga and core class, and then a language class, because evidently, killing vampires required the ability to blend in no matter where you were. I’d taken French and Spanish in school, and was passable in both, but I wasn’t getting anywhere with Mandarin Chinese.

  As if that wasn’t enough, after lunch, I had hours of combat training, and then jiu-jitsu training…the class I was currently in with my trainer, Vaughn Griffith, aka the silver fox.

  Vaughn was definitely easy on the eyes, with his silver-flecked black hair, sharp cheekbones, and perfect jawline. And he knew his stuff…but I hated him.

  He didn’t know the word ‘stop.’

  “Again, princess,” he called out as I lifted my fists up to start on the punching bag. I hated that fucking nickname. James had called me that in front of some of the E.V.I.E. staff the first day we’d arrived, and the nickname had spread like wildfire.

  I huffed and started to pound the punching bag as Vaughn shouted out commands.

  Hours passed like this, and just when I thought I was going to pass out from exhaustion, Vaughn finally called it a day.

  “You’re doing well,” he commented as I dragged myself off to the side of the room to get a drink. I watched in awe as another slayer trainee performed a series of acrobatic maneuvers as she battled another trainer. I still had so far to go, despite how far I’d come.

  It was disheartening.

  I leaned against the wall and tried to catch my breath. “She’s amazing,” I commented to Vaughn as we both watched the purple-haired slayer do a back flip while swinging a broadsword.

  “You’ll get there,” he assured me. I looked over at him dubiously. He looked as cool as a cucumber, despite the fact that we’d been at it for hours. I was jealous. “Don’t look at me like that. You will.”

  I sighed. “Every second that I’m in here, means another second that I’m not out there,” I told him, biting my lip as I thought about my loves for the millionth time that day. The pain never dimmed, in fact, it worsened over time.

  I hadn’t even had any more dreams about them. It was just a constant yearning. At night, I would pour over their photographs. E.V.I.E. had somehow managed to collect my stuff for me.

  I had tried to call Rachel and Daniel in a moment of weakness, thinking it would be nice to talk to someone who was experiencing at least a portion of the kind of grief that I was currently experiencing.

  They hadn’t answered. And they hadn’t returned my call, despite the fact that I’d left a message.

  “You won’t be able to do any good out there if you’re not ready,” Vaughn replied, breaking me out of my reverie.

  I didn’t respond to him. E.V.I.E. didn’t need to know that one of their rookie slayers had every intention of going out in a blaze of glory…after I’d taken out as many of the vampires who killed Ryan, Wyatt, and Noah as possible.

  “Go eat and get some rest,” Vaughn told me when it became apparent that I didn’t feel like talking.

  “See you tomorrow,” I told him before heading out of the room.

  I was limping as I walked through the halls, my muscles needing a deep tissue massage or maybe a fucking break. I nodded as I passed a few E.V.I.E. trainers and other slayers as I made my way into the cafeteria.

  Looking through the options, I finally settled on a protein shake and a plate full of pasta. All the food here fit in with the E.V.I.E. recommended nutrition plan, so I never really had to think. Which was a good thing. Despite the fact that I was working my ass off, literally, I had dropped a whole pant size already. I had no appetite. I blamed the ever-present grief.

  I’d almost made it to my room when I was stopped by another trainee, Bethany I think was her name.

  “You’re starting to really look good out there,” she commented.

  A little burst of pride bloomed in my chest. Bethany was hot shit. Her special skill was weapons master, and she could beat even all the trainers at basically every weapon. So a compliment from her was high praise.

  “Thanks. Slow and steady wins the race,” I quipped. My “curse” wasn’t exactly a useful talent in a place like this, where everyone was actively trying to help me and not hurt me. Progress felt slow compared to some of the other trainees, who had powers like the ability to hurl actual fireballs.

  “There’s a few of us going out tonight,” she commented. “You want in?”

  My first instinct was to say no. I was dead tired, and I didn’t think it was possible for me to have fun, so what was really the use of trying?

  But it would be good to see more than just the walls of the E.V.I.E. headquarters, even if the whole place was a feat of modern technology.

  “Come on, training doesn’t start until noon tomorrow. Live a little,” she cajoled me.

  I smiled sadly at her, thinking of the fact that I knew three people who weren’t able to live at all. My heart clenched, and I tensed. Heartbreak was shit.

  “Yeah, that sounds fun,” I finally said after a pause that was bordering on awkward.

  “Great!” she said, backing away slowly. I’m sure she was regretting giving me the invite after that exchange.

  Oh well.

  I took a quick shower, taking a few extra strength Advil to hopefully relax my muscles a bit and allow me to actually walk without crying. A pair of black skinny jeans, a white tank top, black moto boots, an assortment of necklaces and bracelets…and I was ready. It was the first time since I’d been here that I’d actually worn normal clothes. My daily wardrobe consisted of the skin tight training apparel issued by E.V.I.E. It took the guesswork out of getting dressed, but it was nice to put on clothes that felt more like me.

  I met up with the group who were gathered in the lobby downstairs. It was a mix of E.V.I.
E. staff, recruiters, trainees, and even some trainers. I looked around to see if James had gotten back from the mission he’d left on soon after we’d arrived, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  I kind of missed the guy.

  Kind of.

  We set off down the street, most of the group laughing and chatting. I stayed on the outskirts of the group, listening to their banter but never participating.

  It was strange to be lonely surrounded by people, but when the only people who really knew you weren’t around, loneliness was all you had.

  We were standing outside of a bar one of the girls had heard about when I heard a laugh that set my skin on fire.

  It sounded just like Wyatt’s laugh.

  Even knowing that it wasn’t him, I turned around, desperately seeking his face. A flash of gold hair caught my eye. Whoever it belonged to was disappearing around the corner. Muttering that I would be right back, I set off. It was as if an invisible string was connecting me to the owner of that voice, and I had no choice but to follow him.

  I turned the first corner, and once again, he was disappearing just out of sight. I began running, desperate to see him. It wasn’t him. I knew it wasn’t him. But it sounded like him. And that golden hair.

  That was Wyatt’s.

  It was.

  Even though I was flat out sprinting, he stayed just out of reach, until I’d wandered so far, I no longer knew where I was. I finally had to stop from exhaustion. My worn-out muscles threatened to collapse if I took one more step. I was coated in sweat.

  And the mystery man I’d been chasing was nowhere to be seen.

  Suddenly, I heard a rustling to the left. “Olivia,” a voice whispered. It sounded so familiar that my heart clenched. A desperate mind was a dangerous thing, because I could’ve sworn it was his voice. I could’ve sworn it was his scent that carried to me in the breeze.

  “Olivia!” Bethany cried out from behind me. I heard steps running away, getting fainter and fainter, and I knew whoever the man was, he was gone now.