The Shadow Enforcer: The Shadow Enforcer Series Book One

by N M Thorn

  She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. A powerful wave of her magic washed over him, and he gasped, pulling back.

  “I am his programmer. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who I am or how I found you,” Ace said quietly. Then she frowned, looking as troubled as it got. “Listen, Damian, can you just take my word for it? We’re losing valuable time—Cole’s lifetime. Turn around and start driving toward Paradise Valley. Queen Roxana holds him in her mansion.”

  Damian put his hand on the stick shift but then took it off. “I can’t,” he whispered, staring out the window over Ace’s head. “River Evans is in danger, and it’s my obligation to protect her. Cole is an old vampire. He can stand his own—”

  “Not this time, you ignorant oaf!” Ace yelled, tears gathering in her eyes. She grunted, drying her eyes with the heel of her palm angrily. Turning in her seat slightly, she put her hand on his arm. “Damian, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Here is the deal. If you don’t save your brother, you stand no chance of saving River. You can’t do it alone.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “I just do,” she said, desperate tones ringing in her voice. “I have my sources. Can you just trust me?” She bit her lip, frowning, and whispered, “I guess I’m on my own?”

  Damian pulled his cellphone out and dialed River’s phone number. As he expected, she didn’t answer his call. He threw the phone into the tray between seats and slammed his hands against the steering wheel, barely keeping control of his power. An impossible choice...

  Ace sighed. “Start driving, Damian,” she said softly, taking his hand and placing it on the stick shift. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything I can on the way.”

  Without saying anything else, he put the car into drive and took it back to the street, driving in the direction of Paradise Valley at full speed. “Start talking,” he growled. “Who are you and what do you know about all this?”

  She leaned back in her seat, staring straight at the dark road ahead. “I’m not supposed to expose my true identity to anyone, but I believe the situation calls for it,” she started.

  As a terrible suspicion started in his mind, Damian glanced at the young woman, swallowing hard. “Please tell me, you are not a Guardians Witch.”

  “No, I’m not.” She smiled weakly. “I’m a Destiny Enforcer—”

  The tires screeched, and the car drifted to the side as Damian slammed the brake pedal. Leaning across Ace, he opened the passenger door, unlocked her seatbelt and pushed the young woman out, fury surging through him. She fell on the asphalt, but quickly recovered and jumped to her feet.

  Taking a few deep breaths, Damian growled, spitting one word at a time, “I. Hate. The Destiny Council!”

  “In training!” she yelled, desperation making her magical energy spike around her. “I’m not a certified Destiny Enforcer yet. Just learning.”

  “Oh, that makes everything so much better,” shouted Damian, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. “So, you’re not a certified asshole yet. You’re just learning how to be one. Forgive me! What the hell are you doing here? Did they send you to spy on me?”

  She stomped her foot, putting her hands on her hips. “Self-absorbed much?” she yelled, stepping closer to the car and leaning down to see him. “When you decide to pull your oversized head out of your skinny arse, you’ll realize the sun doesn’t revolve around you, jerk! I was sent here to keep an eye on your brother and protect him! And right now, you’re standing in the way of completing my mission!”

  “Since when does the Destiny Council protect vampires?” growled Damian, his anger slowly simmering down.

  “Since I have no idea!” grumbled Ace, folding her arms. “I don’t question their orders. I follow them.”

  “That’s the problem with all of you—the Destiny Council’s flunkies. You just follow orders,” he muttered, gesturing for her to get back in the car. “Get in and start talking. How long have you been serving as the Destiny Enforcer and who’s your commander?”

  “Just a couple of years or so,” she mumbled, buckling up. “Under Commander Moore.”

  Damian shuddered at the sound of the name. “Aren’t you the lucky one, serving under that oversized douchebag.”

  “Coming from an oversized douchebag, it’s priceless,” replied Ace snidely. “How do you know him, anyway?”

  Damian didn’t reply, staring straight ahead. “At least that explains why I couldn’t detect any magic in you. You’re a friggin’ Destiny Enforcer. The first thing you learn is how to shadow your magical energy.”

  “How about you not being able to detect my magic because you’re magically challenged,” retorted Ace, sarcasm overflowing. “You’re nothing like your brother. Nothing! He’s everything you’re not. He’s kind, smart, strong—”

  “And for the last thousand years, he has been on a liquid diet of human blood.” Damian shook his head, throwing a glance at Ace, wondering how long she’d had a crush on Cole. “Anyway, don’t you know Destiny Enforcers can’t get emotionally involved with their targets or charges? You’re magical law enforcement with the license to... do anything you must to complete your assignment.” He chuckled bitterly and added, “No remorse, no mercy, no exceptions, no doubts.”

  “You’re wrong,” she said quietly.

  “About you being sweet on my brother or about the Destiny Enforcers?”

  “Both,” she said, looking out the window. “And how do you know so much about the Destiny Enforcers, anyway? It is one of the most secretive organizations in the World of Magic. To know anything about them, you must be—” She cut herself off and stared at him, shock in her wide eyes. “Are you—”

  “No,” he interrupted her. “I knew someone who knew someone.” He took an exit from the highway toward Paradise Valley. “We’re almost there. You better start talking.”

  “Take this road,” said Ace, pointing to a narrow private path on the left. Damian made a sharp turn, and she continued, “The Queen has been following Cole for the last few weeks or so. He knew it, yet he still did something extremely stupid. I’m wondering what drove him to do something so reckless.”

  “What did he do?” asked Damian, shivers spreading through him as if the temperature suddenly dropped.

  “He met with the Arizona Master Warden,” replied Ace, throwing her hands up. “He did it even though he knew he was being followed. So, the next day Roxana showed up at his company, and they had an unpleasant conversation behind locked doors. I have no idea what she told him, but she left him on his knees in his office, and he didn’t look happy. A few hours later, he was gone.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cellphone—Cole’s cellphone. “I found it behind the Warden’s bookshop. The last phone call he made was to you. Care to share with the class what that call was all about?”

  “Heaven and Earth, Cole. Why would you make such a dangerous move?” whispered Damian, tightening his hands around the steering wheel. “This is exactly the reason I didn’t want him involved in all this mess with Paradise Manor. He has no fear, and it makes him reckless.”

  “Did you ask him to visit the Wardens?” asked Ace, carefully shifting as far away from him as the limited space would allow her.

  “Of course not,” replied Damian. “I would never send a vampire to see any reps of the Destiny Council. I know better than that.”

  “Do you now?” murmured Ace, aggravation making her cheeks flush hot red. “Before you showed up here, Cole was doing perfectly well. Another month or two, and the opposition would overrun the Queen’s rule, and I’m sure they would select Cole as their new leader.”

  “This could be the true reason why the Queen abducted Cole,” suggested Damian quietly. “She found out about the gathered uprising.”

  “Could be. Doubt it. Cole was never leading the opposition. They were looking up to him and the way he dealt with all the issues vampires have while living among humans.” She pointed at a small alley branching off the road. “Park it here. W
e’ll walk the rest of the way.”

  Damian turned off the road and parked the car. Opening the door, he stepped out and slammed it shut. “I still don’t understand why the Destiny Council cares so deeply about the situation in the Arizona Vampire Court that they sent a Destiny Enforcer here. As important as my brother seems to be to the situation in the Court, still...” He cocked his head, staring over the top of the vehicle at Ace with a cold smirk.

  “You’ll understand when you grow up, sweetie,” murmured Ace, checking her gun and her sword in the leather scabbard attached to her belt. “Get your weapons.”

  “I don’t need to get anything,” replied Damian dryly. “Lead the way.”

  “I hope you’re not planning to fight the vampires with bare hands, are you?” she muttered as she headed toward the private road.

  Damian didn’t reply, anxiety twisting his insides as he thought about his brother’s situation, blaming himself for everything that had happened to him. I failed to protect him in 996, and now, I put him in danger by showing up in Blue Creek...

  They stopped in front of tall, iron gates. Channeling his magic, Damian quickly checked the entrance for mundane and magical security systems. As he expected, a modern state-of-the-art home security system was installed on the Queen’s property. Besides that, minor wards were placed over the gates. However, neither human nor magical protection was enough to stop him.

  “Stay close to me. I’m not powerful enough to keep you hidden from a distance,” he whispered to Ace as he cast a cloaking spell, concealing both of them. “Let’s try not to alert the vamps before it’s necessary.”

  She huffed, looking heavenward, but didn’t object otherwise. “I’m not afraid of a few vampires.”

  He grunted, wondering if it would be safer for him and Cole to just leave her behind. “You should be,” he whispered at length, carefully probing the wards with his magic. “Didn’t Moore teach you anything? He’s losing his touch.”

  “He’s not losing his touch, alright.” She shuddered. “It’s not the first time I have to fight vamps. I can hold my own against them.”

  “Not against the Queen’s Court where she assembled the most vicious, the oldest and the deadliest of them all,” he objected, straightening. “Why do you think Cole was always so careful? Just do me a favor and don’t go happy-go-lucky when we’re there. I can’t help my brother and Sam if I have to worry about you.”

  “Sam? As in Sam Vetrov? Why in—”

  “Shut up and let me work,” growled Damian. Focusing on his magic, he placed his hands on the gates and whispered, “Rilekti Amnia.”

  A soft, golden glow expanded from under his hands, surrounding the gates with a shimmering, yellow mist. Damian lowered his arms, observing the effect of his magic, and then moved his hand through the gate. His hand went through unobstructed as if the iron bars were no longer there.

  “Go,” he whispered, glancing back at Ace, who stared at him in awe, and added, unable to conceal his sarcasm. “What? Moore didn’t teach you the basic spells?”

  She muttered something incoherent that sounded an awful lot like ‘self-centered jackass’ and walked through the gate. As soon as Damian crossed into the Queen’s property, his training kicked in. He sharpened his senses and moved forward, stepping softly on the sandy ground. Most likely, Ace noticed the change in him because she slowed down and fell in step behind him.

  As they approached the stairs leading toward the main entrance, Damian stilled, holding his arm back to stop Ace. The front lights were off, but two brawny figures towering on either side of a tall, glass door were throwing deeper shadows on the wall of the building. A scent of demonic essence enveloped him, and he frowned. Demons weren’t known to favor vampires, thinking of them as a lower species, so the presence of two demonic mercenaries at the entrance into the Queen’s residence set his nerves on edge.

  He was positive the demons could detect him through the basic cloaking spell. Even though he could completely suppress his magical energy signature, his heartbeat would betray his location to vampires, and his body heat would show his position to demons.

  “Stay back,” he mouthed, turning to Ace. She frowned, folding her arms over her chest resentfully, but catching his furious gaze, she raised her hands up and halted.

  In one fluid motion, Damian manifested his dagger and crossed the distance between him and the demons, running up the stairs. As he expected, the demonic guards detected his presence immediately and twirled around, unsheathing their swords. Infusing the blade with his magic, Damian thrust it through the nearest demon’s chest, and the purifying energy of Creation rushed through it, obliterating the host body before the demon could shimmer out of it.

  His cloaking spell dropped, but at this point, he couldn’t care less. Without slowing down, Damian spun around, meeting the sword of the other demon with his dagger. As the demon pressed down on the blade, his eyes burning with hatred, Damian manifested his second dagger and pushed it into the demon’s stomach. The monster cried out and tried to back away, dropping his sword.

  “Illucious,” growled Damian, and a blinding light burst out from his blade, evaporating the demon.

  Glancing back at Ace, he jerked his chin at the entrance, gesturing for her to follow. She stood dumbstruck, staring at the blazing weapons in his hands, seemingly too shocked to make a move. He frowned at her and carefully pushed the door handle down. The door opened silently, exposing a dark, spacious lobby. He slipped inside and stilled, straining all his senses.

  Cold air touched his skin, and a wave of shivers ran down his back, raising goosebumps all over his arms. It seemed to be a lot colder than it would be from an air conditioner, but since vampires weren’t sensitive to a change of temperatures, he didn’t think the Queen would run her thermostat at such low settings. Clenching his teeth, he gestured for Ace to stay behind him and crossed the lobby, moving into a side hallway.

  As soon as he stepped into the corridor, the scent of pumpkin spice invaded his nostrils, suppressing all other smells, and he halted, pressing the back of his hand to his nose. Without his second sight, in complete darkness, and with his sense of smell killed by the excessive use of air fresheners, he felt defenseless and exposed. Closing his eyes, he strained his hearing. He could hear Ace’s breathing behind him, and he isolated this barely noticeable sound, focusing on everything else.

  A soft movement from above alerted him that he was no longer alone. Ace gasped, but he didn’t turn to look at her. Holding one of his daggers up, he channeled his magic through it, and it lit up with a bright white light. Loud hisses responded to the light, and a few shadows slid away, hiding in the remaining shreds of darkness.

  “Vampires,” whispered Ace, but to his overly stretched hearing, her soft voice sounded like thunder. He looked back at her, pressing his finger to his lips.

  Before he could take another step, a man landed on his shoulders, appearing out of nowhere. Damian fell forward, pressed to the floor by the weight of his attacker’s massive body, and his fingers unlocked, dropping the dagger. As the darkness enveloped the hallway once again, the vampire wrapped his arm around his throat, forcing his head to the side. Damian groaned with strain, struggling to free himself.

  Somewhere behind him, Ace yelped, and the sound of clashing metal told him she was fighting, too. He seized his attacker’s shoulders and then pushed himself to the side, smashing the vamp against the wall. A strangled yelp followed his move, and the vampire’s grip loosened up a bit, which was enough for Damian to get him off his shoulders.

  Rising to one knee, he punched the monster, crushing his jaw, and extended his arm, calling to his dagger. The weapon reappeared in his hand, and he swung the blade, slashing it across the vampire’s neck. Dark vampire blood gushed from the wound, drenching his face and chest, but he ignored it and swung his dagger again, decapitating the monster.

  Jumping to his feet, he saw Ace engaged in a fight with another vamp. He thrust his blade into the vampire’s b
ack and hissed, “Illucious.” As the purifying light of Creation obliterated the vampire, he spun around. A few more figures separated from the shadows and then vanished, moving at a blinding speed.

  “They’re coming,” he yelled, spreading his arms to keep Ace behind him. “Hold on to something.”

  He connected with the elemental power of Earth, and the entire house rattled like a flimsy house of cards. As he moved forward, stepping heavily and slowly on the thick carpet, the walls and floors shook and fluctuated, unbalancing and disorienting the approaching adversaries. They slowed down, but he still couldn’t count how many of them were there.

  Speeding up, Damian summoned his second dagger and cut into the mass of monsters, slashing and stabbing without looking where his blades were landing. The vampires screamed, their claws and fangs shredding his flesh, but he didn’t feel the pain, his mind focused on getting Ace and himself out of this mess alive. Leaving behind piles of steaming ash, he made his way through the hallway and into an empty lobby. Quickly surveying it, he saw four closed doors and halted, wondering where to go next.

  A whistle of a blade cutting through the air made him flinch and spin around, his daggers blazing in his hands. Ace stood behind him, her chest shuddering with laborious breaths. She pointed at a vampire’s body turning into ash before his eyes.

  “He came from above,” she managed to say.

  She was covered in ash and drenched with blood, some of which was undoubtedly hers, and he cringed inwardly, blaming himself for her getting hurt.

  I should have left her behind. She is still in training. Not ready for fights of this magnitude... Who knows what is behind the next door... His fingers clenched the grips of his daggers, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

  “Second door on the left,” she whispered, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Cole is there. I can sense him.”

  “You can? I sense nothing with all the blood, ash and pumpkin spice.” He wrinkled his nose, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

  She chuckled. “You wrinkle your nose just like Cole.” Then she gazed heavenward and added, “Of course I can sense him. I can see him with my other sight, too. I told you—you’re magically challenged.”