by Jack Knight
“Fuck you, okay?” I interrupted. “I did that spell you wouldn’t let me practice and my arm was dying the same way Magnus’ did after he escaped the Hunters. I had to do something.”
Slowly, Asher’s expression melted into an apologetic one. “Oh, gotcha.”
I had no idea what his issue was, and I didn’t get to find out.
At that second, I heard the scrape of metal against concrete and turned around.
Torn, swaying a little, was on his knees, my knife was in his hand.
I had a thrill of fear run through me. There was no telling what he could do. As weak as he must be, I wouldn’t put it past him to nearly kill himself trying to escape, or kill us for a chance to get away. Before I could even take a step toward him to stop whatever he was trying to do, he put the knife to his own throat.
“The Hunters will die, and the Reapers will be next,” Torn croaked, and then he drew the knife across his neck.
Blood spilled out of him, coating his torso and leaking down to the ground before he collapsed.
I was frozen. Out of everything that I was expecting, Torn killing himself had never occurred to me. What secret was so important he would take his own life to stop us from finding out? Who was he protecting by making sure we never learned who he was working with?
“Well, looks like he’s taking all his secrets to the grave,” Asher said with the cadence of a joke.
I turned back to him and Gen, both of them appeared just as shocked as I was, and shook my head.
“This is really bad.”
Chapter 30
THE WALK FROM MY APARTMENT was a lot longer than I expected it to be. I hadn’t been back to the abandoned hospital since we got all the vampires free.
The building still had all the warding on it as I approached, but I was glad for it now. Nobody would find the building filled with fledgling vampires.
I opened the door and walked in, still a little weirded out by the fact that so much had happened here, and I still had to go back.
As soon as the door closed behind me, the smell of burning flesh slammed into me. Matt had insisted that he and his vamps were cleaning the entire building with bleach. It clearly hadn’t been enough.
The concrete hall that led into the building, and the cells that lined the walls were exactly as I had left them, but the place had a distinctly different feel to it.
For one, the cells weren’t locked this time. The doors were all open, and most of the bars were covered by sheets, creating makeshift walls. Every cell that I passed, I glanced into. They all contained bedsheets and pillows, a few clothes, and personal belongings. Every cell was now a tiny bedroom.
It almost felt like I had gone through all the trouble of freeing all the vampires for nothing. They all turned around and went right back in, making their former prison their new home.
A few of the vamps, the ones that happened to be in their rooms, waved at me or said “Hi” as I walked by. I did my best to return the favor, but it felt odd. They knew who I was, but to me, they were just vampires.
Obviously, I couldn’t kill them. Torn hadn’t Turned any of them into his super vamps. We made sure there were none lurking in any of the cells or halls before we left that night, so none of these vamps needed to die. Still, it was a little strange to have such a large vampire nest so close to where I lived and not try to kill them all.
I guessed I had changed a bit since I left the Hunters.
When I started walking up the metal staircase, I forced myself to focus. I wasn’t here to reconsider my decision to let the vampires live. I had a purpose.
After I reached the top of the stairs, I headed toward the door that had once held Torn and his lab inside. Now, when I entered the room, it was a mix between an office and a bedroom.
Matt didn’t have many things, but he had moved a bed into the room. He had also acquired a new desk, since all the furniture that had been in here before was burned and destroyed. There was even a computer set up against one of the walls. The place actually looked kind of cozy.
“Hey, Maddi,” Matt said as he glanced up from some papers on his desk.
He was standing in front of it, instead of sitting in the chair beside him, and he went right back to looking at his papers after greeting me.
“Nice to see you too,” I said sarcastically as I crossed the room.
When I reached the desk, I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the desk with my hip. I tried to figure out what Matt was so interested in, but the papers just had a bunch of numbers and words that didn’t make much sense to me, all scrawled in Matt’s messy handwriting.
“Do you have any idea how much blood sixty vampires need to drink a day?” Matt asked without looking at me, almost like he was just talking to himself.
“Um, no?” I answered uncertainly.
Matt sighed and finally raised his head, giving me a weak smile. “Thanks for all the cash. Every one of us would have had to scatter if we couldn’t stay here.”
I shrugged. “No big deal.”
Matt shook his head and looked back down at his desk. “You gave us almost eighty thousand dollars. That’s a big deal. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
I rolled my eyes, but Matt wasn’t looking.
“I never said it was a loan, you idiot. I gave you guys the money so San Francisco wouldn’t have a hundred vamps that have no idea what they’re doing running all over the place.”
Matt straightened up and smiled at me. “You don’t want the money?”
I shrugged again. Playing it this cool was getting kind of tough. It had taken me a while to save up that much money, and it sucked that I didn’t have it anymore, but they needed it more than I did.
“It was for me to buy a grimoire. I’ve got one. It was so I could meet with a sorcerer and maybe get them to teach me magic, I’ve got that too. It’s really not a big deal.”
Matt’s smile slowly faded and he looked serious again. He must have caught himself, Hunter training kicked in. No emotion, ever. Just stone-cold calm at all times.
“Look, I’m taking care of things here as best I can, but I haven’t been a vampire longer than anyone else here. I know you have a spy or whatever in the Reapers, but is there anyone else that can help these people out?” He waved at the papers in front of him and said, “I’m not cut out for this kind of stuff. I’m more of a ‘you point, I stab’ kind of guy.”
I had actually not thought about whoever else was working with Torn for a couple of days, thanks for bringing that up, Matt.
After a moment’s hesitation, an idea occurred to me, and I gave an evil smirk.
“You guys could all join the Reapers,” I suggested.
Matt gave me a look of absolute revulsion, so I continued before he could knock down my idea.
“Just think, you’re a vampire now, you can’t go back to the Hunters, they’d kill you. We’re already recruiting anyway, and I haven’t brought anyone in yet. If I bring in sixty vamps, Ezra will shut up about me ‘doing my part’. It’s a win for everyone.”
Matt still looked uncertain, but I didn’t know how to help him. My job wasn’t to recruit them, I just took the opportunity when it came up. I had something else in mind when I came to the vamp nest.
I pushed myself away from the desk and uncrossed my arms. Now, for the uncomfortable part.
“Anyway, I kind of have to ask how long you guys are going to be camped out here.”
Matt’s eyes narrowed before I could add, “Unless you join the Reapers.”
“Ezra?” Matt asked.
I just nodded in response. Matt wasn’t happy about the fact that Ezra had left the Hunters, he had been very open about that. I assumed he wasn’t super happy with me, either, but I had saved his life, so he kept it to himself.
“I’ll think about joining and get back to you,” Matt answered, a little more gruffly than he had been speaking before, “But, if we don’t join your little group, Ezra gets no say in what we do.”
Good enough for me. I was told to ask, Ezra never said I had to get a decent answer.
“Works for me,” I answered as I started toward the door. “Just keep your vamps in line. If they start killing, I’m doing my job.”
The door closed behind me before Matt could answer, and I walked a little faster on my way out of the building than I had when I entered.
Fighting with Matt wasn’t the goal. I knew what it felt like to leave the Hunters. He was probably confused, angry, frustrated. He couldn’t go back to the place he had grown up, he couldn’t ever see the only people he had ever known, all because of something he couldn’t control. Otherwise they’d kill him. I understood completely.
The walk back to the church took way too long. I spent half my morning walking, and maybe ten minutes inside the vamp nest. It was a huge waste of time. Maybe, I should just accept the fact that the world was full of murders and just get a car. The Reapers all had them, it was starting to make me feel a little left out.
When I walked into the church, I saw that Kevin and Asher were sitting around the table in the main room. They were there all the time now. Asher and Magnus were in charge of the recruiting drive, now that the city had settled down a little. Kevin, even though he spent most of his time staring at his GameBoy, was the best recruiter we had, so he helped Asher out.
“How are the baby vamps?” Asher called to me when I entered the room.
I rolled my eyes at him. “They’re super great. Using all my money as fast as they can.”
Asher chuckled and looked back down at the piles of manilla folders in front of him. “Told you not to give it all away.”
I ignored him and walked toward the library door. Ezra had said to report to him as soon as I got back. It took a few seconds to locate the book that hid the button to reveal Ezra’s office, and then I strode in without even knocking.
Ezra looked up in surprise, which faded instantly when he saw me.
“Back so soon?” he asked.
“I’ve been gone like three hours,” I answered as I fell into one of the chairs facing his desk.
His lips twitched into a smile and he leaned back in his chair.
“Your two weeks have passed.”
It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was saying, and then I glared at him.
“Oh, would you like me to leave?”
He ignored me and asked. “I take it you’re staying, then?”
“Nope, I’m stalking you.”
“Did you get an answer as to how long the vampires are staying in town?”
“Not really.”
“Alright.”
Ezra pulled open a drawer and pulled out a file that he let fall down onto the desk in front of him. I let my head fall back and gave a disgruntled groan.
“Are you fucking joking?” I asked the ceiling.
“It’s not a hit.”
I lifted my head to look at him suspiciously. “What is it then?”
“It’s a recruit. Panther shifter, she just left her pack and is new in the city. I feel that she will be ideal for stealth and reconnaissance.”
“You want me to walk a file out to the front room?” I asked, pointing over my shoulder with my thumb. “I’m not your slave.”
Ezra’s smile grew. I didn’t like it.
“No, I’m assigning this recruitment to you specifically.”
“Nope,” I replied immediately. “I don’t do ‘talking to people’.”
“Our organization is growing,” Ezra insisted seriously. “You are well suited to be a leader, and for that, you need to know every aspect of this place,” he gestured around the room.
“What? Torn’s gone, so now I’m your number two? I’m just an assassin, I’m not a leader.”
Ezra’s smile faded. “You have great potential, you just refuse to see it. Don’t worry, soon enough, I believe you’ll make a great leader.”
I rolled my eyes, stood up, and snatched the file off the desk.
“Just so you know,” I snapped, “I fucking hate you right now.”
Ezra didn’t bother saying anything else, he let me storm out of the office in peace.
If I had to go recruiting, even though I may have just brought in sixty people, I should at least do it right. When I got back to the main room of the church, I marched over to where Asher and Kevin were sitting and slammed the file onto the table before I pulled up a chair.
“Talk with Daddy went well, I see,” Asher noted with a grin.
I ignored him and looked at Kevin.
“Teach me how to talk to people.”
Chapter 31
“THIS ONE HAS RECENTLY acquired a new car,” Gen said as she tossed a folder into the “no” pile.
“So?” Asher asked with a look of complete confusion.
Gen, Asher, and I were sitting around a table in the main room of the church. I had just spent an hour with Kevin, learning how to not be an asshole, and was trying to put off going recruiting.
I had my feet up on the table and was slouched down in a chair. Asher and Gen were busy pouring over all the possible “maybes”. They started sorting through them while I was talking to Kevin, but when he left to go get something to eat, I finally started paying attention.
“Dude, he stole it,” I translated.
“Exactly,” Gen agreed.
“So?” Asher laughed. “She kills people,” he said as he pointed across the table at me.
Gen and I made eye contact before she smiled and rolled her eyes.
“That’s a bit different,” Gen pointed out. “That’s something we encourage here.”
“So, are we kicking out the people here who have stolen things, Genevieve?” Asher asked with a smirk.
“Fine, how about the fact that he left bodies behind?” Gen asked. “Human ones.”
Asher shrugged and held up another file. “This one is in a shifter pack. Why’s he in the pile?”
That drew my attention. “Do we not take people who are in packs?” I asked.
Asher put the folder in the, already much larger, stack of rejected people. “Shifters in packs are way too close to the others they run with. They can’t be trusted to keep the secret.”
I nodded, but didn’t really get it. The Hunters just taught us that shifters had to be killed as a group, otherwise the pack would want revenge. It didn’t occur to me it was because they actually liked each other. I just figured it was an honor thing, or something.
“This is a witch,” Asher said, already rejecting the file. He had barely glanced at it.
Gen snatched the folder from the file and opened it, pushing the one she had been reading off to the side. “What’s wrong with witches?” she asked.
Asher glanced up as he grabbed another folder. “They worship life and nature and stuff, they won’t be too happy about killing things.”
Gen shrugged. “We can always ask them to become wizards, the two aren’t very different.”
“They’re super different,” Asher argued, “witches are basically just hippies.”
I groaned and stood up. They had already had this argument. They were basically using the same exact words. Listening to it again was not something I could tolerate.
The file on the chick I was supposed to recruit was still on the table, so I picked it up, searched through it and looked for hangouts, and then dropped it back to the table.
“I’m headed out,” I said in resignation.
“Remember to be nice,” Gen called after me as I headed toward the exit.
“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled back.
“Remember not to kill her,” Asher added.
“Fuck you,” I yelled back in a bored tone.
I wouldn’t kill anyone in daylight. The Hunters were still after me. I was not drawing any attention to myself.
Once again, I had to walk across town. The sun was still only halfway across the sky, but it felt like I had been awake for days. I missed working at the apothecary, at least I didn’t hav
e to walk so much.
Alright, definitely getting a car. Ezra owed me one for doing this recruiting shit.
It took me about a half hour to make it to the part of town with the coffee shop this shifter was supposed to hang out at. The same coffee shop where I had first met up with Matt.
When I walked through the doors, I looked around and saw almost the same thing I had seen the last time I was in the shop. There were lots of hipsters working on their computers, a few people drinking the sugary drinks that the blondes I used to hang out with liked to drink, and not a lot else.
The shop was almost exactly the same, and yet so much had changed. When I got in line to get myself a coffee, the differences all ran through my head.
Two weeks, and I had gone from fearing that every shadow was a Hunter out to get me, working at the apothecary, and doing random assassinations for money whenever I possibly could. Now, I had a group of people that I sort of liked, I was part of a group again, and I was working to help them out.
There was the little problem that one of the Reapers was supposedly working with Torn, but that seemed less likely the more I thought about it. Since Torn had died, nobody had done anything that seemed even a little suspicious. Everyone was a little upset that Torn and Atasha had betrayed the Reapers and tried to take down the Hunters, but most of them had moved on.
If someone had been working with them, they would have to be running off to create new vamps, or something, right?
I got my coffee, walked over to the counter with the sugar, and then took one of the few empty tables that was left. Looking around the room, I didn’t see anyone that resembled the girl in the file Ezra had given me, but it had said she went to the same coffee shop every day around noon, so I just had to wait.
Not that long, either. I hadn’t even finished half my coffee when the girl walked in.
She was a little shorter than me, she had darker skin and shoulder length, black hair. She was wearing faded, ripped, black jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a dark blue hoodie that was so worn out that it was probably twice the size it had been when she bought it.