by Olivia Black
Garrett stood. “All right.”
He held out his hand and Evan shook it. Dropping his hand, Evan turned on his heal and headed toward the door. He let himself out and strode toward the front door.
It was time to call an emergency meeting.
Chapter Two
Reyes Caliar sat on the single bed inside the room he’d been assigned at the coven. Each bedroom in the mansion was an exact replica of the others—bed, dresser, and small sitting area. When he finally moved out, Reyes never thought he would have to return, but the new coven leader wanted everyone at the mansion. The rules along with the wards placed by a warlock made the coven feel less like a home and more of a prison.
He knew about the dangers currently surrounding their coven. The gossip had spread like wild fire, but this place wasn’t his home and none of the vampires downstairs were his family.
Reyes was brought to this coven when he was just a boy with his older brother, Devin. He could remember the night he arrived here, but the details were vague, almost dreamlike. Various images rolled through his mind, haunting him. He wouldn’t mind staying here, if Devin was still around. But, he’d left long ago, leaving Reyes behind, all alone. Why did you leave me here, Devin? Reyes wasn’t sure he’d ever get an answer.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Reyes fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. In one night, his whole world changed.
The smell of smoke tickled his nose, pulling him out of his dreams. Reyes rubbed his eyes as he slowly sat up, his brows furrowed in confusion. Looking at the window, he could see the moon through the slats in the blinds.
Where’s the smoke coming from?
He climbed out of bed, and shuffled his feet against the thick carpet, as he made his way toward his closed bedroom door. Reaching out, Reyes wrapped his fingers around the doorknob. He opened the door and stuck his head out into the hallway. When he was met by a thick cloud of smoke, Reyes dropped to the floor on his hands and knees. Dropping his head down—chin touching chest—Reyes coughed uncontrollably.
He wanted to close his bedroom door, but something deep inside told him he needed to help his family. The house was silent, and Reyes knew everyone was still asleep.
Crawling out of his room, Reyes looked right and left. The hallway was filled with black and gray smoke. He squinted his eyes, blocking out the smoke, even as it burned so badly that Reyes started tearing up. He could see orange and red flames peeking through the smoke to his right, the direction of his parent’s room. Reyes went left to wake up Devin. His older brother would know what to do.
“Devin! Devin!” Reyes shouted as he crawled toward his brother’s room. He opened the bedroom door, repeatedly yelling the name over and over again.
“What!?” He jerked up in bed. “Rey-Rey, what’s wrong?”
“Fire.” He panted. “Mom. Dad.”
“We need to get out of here,” Devin said, jumping out of bed, and dropping to the floor. He crawled toward Reyes. “It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.” Devin patted Reyes’s hand as he moved past him, looking down the hallway. “Shoot! We can’t go this way, Rey-Rey. We have to climb out the window.”
“No.” Reyes shook his head. “We have to help Mom and Dad.”
“Reyes.” Devin grabbed him, pulling him into the bedroom and shutting the door with a sharp bang. “We have to get out of here.”
Devin wrapped his hand around Reyes’s bicep and pulled him to his feet. He ran toward the window, dragging Reyes behind him.
“What about Mom and Dad? We have to go wake them up,” Reyes insisted, trying to pull away, but he couldn’t. Devin was older and stronger than he was.
“They’re probably already outside waiting for us. Reyes, listen to me, we have to get out of the house.”
Reyes stopped putting up a fight. Devin opened the window. He pushed the screen out before lifting himself up and climbing out onto the ledge. He held out a hand and Reyes took it, allowing his brother to pull him out.
Devin helped Reyes every step of the way. He held Reyes’s hand as they walked along the edge of the roof and even helped Reyes climb down the trellis, until they were safely on the lawn. But when they were standing outside their burning house, their parents weren’t waiting for them. Reyes stood beside Devin, his older brother holding him tight, as they watched the house burn down.
He wasn’t sure how long they stood outside on that cold winter night, but eventually, the FPA arrived followed by the now deceased coven leader, Fabian Nicodemus. He was escorted, along with Devin, to the coven. The other vampires tried to make them feel welcome, but in the end they were children that tragically lost their parents in a fire. Reyes and Devin clung to one another, mourning. Reyes never thought the pain would go away. His heart ached terribly, but with Devin by his side, Reyes was able to sleep without nightmares.
Reyes still didn’t know why Devin went away. They were on the cusp of adulthood, at the point where their bodies stopped aging, and they became true vampires. The two of them had made plans to leave the coven together. They were going to travel around the world. But things didn’t go as planned. One day his brother was there, and the next, Reyes was told that Devin left. The photographs of his brother disappeared soon after that. Reyes found a pile of pictures in the trashcan and snuck them back into the mansion, hiding the items inside an old tin box.
Rolling off the edge of the bed, Reyes dropped to the floor. He grabbed his suitcase and unzipped it, pulling the box out. He sat on the floor and flipped the lid open. Seeing Devin’s smiling face always made Reyes grin. It was familiar and welcome, especially when his life was once again out of his control.
Over the years, Reyes tried to find Devin, with no success. Instead of moving away and starting over again, Reyes stayed in New York, just in case Devin ever wanted to find him.
“Where are you?” Reyes asked the photo. He pulled the pictures out and shuffled through the short deck, hoping that his brother was happy. Wherever he was, whatever he was doing, Reyes only wished the best for Devin.
A sharp knock on the door made Reyes jerk. He dropped the pictures back into the box and slid it under the bed before jumping to his feet. Reyes took a deep breath, calming himself, before opening the door.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your night.”
Reyes smiled at the coven leader’s assistant, Dennis Boone. The man was young and extremely polite. He kept his voice low, almost a whisper. He was kind, something most of the members in the coven didn’t understand the meaning of.
“You’re not interrupting me. I’m just sitting around.”
It was the truth. Since being ordered back to the mansion and the mandatory lockdown, Reyes had been spending a lot of time inside his bedroom. He lived out of his suitcase, hoping that the vampire killing spree would end soon. The only time he was able to leave the coven was if he was in a group. Reyes wasn’t heartless or uncaring. He’d known each of the vampires that had been killed. He just wanted to move on with his life.
Maybe he should consider moving. Perhaps it was time to leave the past behind and start fresh elsewhere. He had serious doubts that New York would ever feel like home. He’d had a home once and it burned to the ground.
“Garrett is having a few members of the coven spread the word. It seems that we’re all going to FPA headquarters tomorrow. They want to question each of us about…the uh…you know…” He paused, biting his lower lip, and Reyes nodded. He didn’t need Dennis to finish the sentence to know what he meant.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
“No problem.” He tilted his head before walking off down the hallway.
Closing the door, Reyes sighed. He paced around the room, trying to burn off some pent-up energy. Now that the FPA was involved, they might be able to figure out what the hell was going on. He didn’t understand why Garrett and the others insisted on keeping the killings a secret. How the hell would they find the killer, if nobody knew what was happening? It wasn’t as if the c
oven was investigating.
Without warning, a loud siren started blaring throughout the mansion, the noise so loud Reyes thought his ears might start to bleed. A red light flashed, coming from an LED light placed above his door. Reyes covered his ears, dulling the sound. Dogs barking caught his attention and Reyes rushed toward the window. He yanked the velvet curtains open, searching. His eyes swept the grounds, looking for what had drawn the dogs’ attention.
Reyes spotted someone running toward the gates wearing all black. The man jumped over the wrought iron fence in a single leap. Vampire.
Reyes forced the window open. He climbed out onto the ledge and walked along the roof. Moving toward the edge, he stepped off, and landed easily on the balls of his feet. Reyes started running toward the fence. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to go after the intruder, but he did. He pumped his arms and legs, pushing himself. Reyes passed through the wards that had been set up around the property – a tingle of awareness ran through his system – right before he jumped over the gate. He stood on the sidewalk, looking right then left, but saw nothing suspicious. The man vanished.
He could hear the dogs behind him, prowling along the fence line, growling. Who are you? What the hell were you doing here? Having the FPA get involved was a real blessing. Whoever this person was, he was getting closer and closer to the coven.
Turning on his heel, Reyes jumped back over the fence. The dogs ignored him as he strode past them, toward the house. He went around the mansion, avoiding the front entrance. Reyes walked around the property. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but Reyes was hoping to find something.
The alarm was silenced. The red, flashing lights turned off. Reyes walked around in the dark, his ears still ringing and his head spinning. He knew that there was someone killing members of his coven. But seeing an actual person was a little shocking. The way he moved—quick and graceful—made Reyes believe that a vampire was hunting their coven.
A commotion of loud shouts and quiet murmurs caught Reyes’s attention. What the hell is going on around here? It seemed like all hell was breaking loose. Reyes walked a little faster, moving toward the voices. When he turned the corner, Reyes slowed his pace, and eased closer to the crowd. He wasn’t really sure what was going on. It looked as if the entire coven was outside, and they were all facing the brick wall.
“It’s blood,” someone said.
“He’s going to kill us all.”
“Why? Why is this happening?”
The conversations continued, everyone throwing in their two cents. Reyes pushed through the group. He needed to know what they were seeing. When he reached the front, Reyes came to an abrupt stop. Written in blood on the wall, it said, Retribution is mine.
“Retribution?” Reyes could only shake his head.
He was more confused now than he’d been before. Who would want to get vengeance on this coven? What had the members done? Reyes stepped back, letting the crowd swallow him as he moved toward the back of the group once more. He was grateful the FPA was involved. If the others didn’t report this incident, he sure as hell would. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Reyes headed back inside the mansion.
Chapter Three
Evan stayed up until the early morning hours running background checks on all the vampires that had met untimely deaths. He also decided to run a check on Garrett Egilson. The new leader was hiding something. Evan could feel it in his gut, and he always trusted his gut instinct when it came to a case. So far though, Evan hadn’t been able to find any evidence that pointed to Garrett as the killer.
He tried to sleep, but was only able to toss and turn for a few hours before giving up.
Now, he stood inside the conference room located at the federal building. Evan stared at the pictures of each victim—taped up on the white board—trying to find some commonality. Unfortunately, the only thing that linked the victims together was that they were members of the same coven. The gender, race, and sexuality of the vampires varied. If it wasn’t for the coven, Evan would’ve considered the killings to be random.
Why this coven? Evan had been asking himself that question all night, rolling it over inside his mind.
“Morning,” Ian said as he strode into the conference room.
“Morning,” Evan automatically responded without turning around. He pushed his hands through his hair, scrubbing his scalp, hoping to rejuvenate his brain.
Ian walked closer, standing beside Evan. “What’s going on?”
“My vampire case took a major turn last night. I went to see Garrett Egilson, to ask him some questions. Turns out there were six other vampires killed, but none of the deaths were reported to us. I was investigating four murders, turns out there are ten.”
“A serial killer?”
“It looks that way.” Evan nodded.
“Fuck,” Ian breathed out.
“That about sums it up.”
“Where’s London?” Ian asked.
“She went out of town.” Evan didn’t give any details.
It wasn’t his place to tell London’s secrets. He usually worked with London Eillison on cases. They weren’t terribly close. For the most part, London was difficult. She tended to make enemies fairly easy with her vicious tongue and bad attitude. Evan was sure there was more to London, but she didn’t share anything personal. It was all business, all the time.
“I could use some help on this case.”
“Of course,” Ian shrugged. “Anything you need.”
“I don’t know if I’m losing my touch or if I’m burned out.” Evan rubbed his tired eyes. “I can’t find anything these vampires have in common besides sharing the same coven. But I feel like there’s more to this case. There has to be.”
“Maybe that’s all they need to have in common. The killer is targeting this particular group. The only question that remains is, why?”
Evan started shaking his head. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out. I ran background checks on each victim and I can’t find a damn thing.”
“They’re hiding something.” Ian confirmed Evan’s thoughts. “The coven. These victims. They were involved with something severe enough that the killer wants revenge. Garrett and the rest of the members in his coven didn’t report the other deaths. Maybe they didn’t report them because they’re somehow involved.”
Pulling out a chair, Evan took a seat. He leaned back and looked up at the board. “It’s a possibility.”
“When are you going to interview the other members?”
“Today.” Evan glanced up at Ian. “I told Garrett that I wanted the entire coven brought down here. But I was hoping to have more to go on before the members arrived.”
“We’ll split them up and interrogate.”
Evan chuckled lightly. “We have to be careful. Vampires like to handle all their problems internally. They don’t trust anyone outside the coven. In this case, we need them all to be helpful. If we interrogate, the members will just close us out completely. We’re going to have to handle this carefully.”
Ian sighed. “Damn vampires.”
“We’re all just a giant pain in the ass.”
“You said it, not me.” Ian smirked.
“I need to get the other agents involved in this case. Otherwise, it will take us days to interview everyone.”
“Call a meeting.”
“Yeah.” Evan sighed. “That’s what I was planning. I was just hoping to have more intel before calling everyone in.”
“It would be nice to have all the facts, but our cases are rarely that easy. Tell me what you do know.”
Evan stood up. “The first victim reported to the agency was Julian White. His body was bled dry and abandoned by the Harlem Pier. The second victim, Oscar Kirk, was beaten badly and dumped in the Bronx. The other two victims, Marvin Fulton and Nick Norton, were almost unrecognizable from the beatings they endured, and both were dumped in different locations.”
“The killer wants our attention,” Ian mur
mured, and Evan nodded in agreement.
“The victims before Julian White, their bodies were found within the coven’s territory. So, the coven was able to hide it from us. But for whatever reason, the killer doesn’t want his crimes to go unnoticed. He made sure to dump the bodies around the city so that the deaths would be reported to us.”
“This is personal.” Ian pulled out a chair and sat down, looking toward the board. “Beating someone to death is hands-on. He dumped the bodies around the city to alert the FPA. He wants us to investigate. Whatever his crimes are, he believes that the coven is responsible for something far worse. The people he killed, they did something to him that’s unforgivable.”
“He’s getting revenge.” Evan broke it down to the simplest form.
“Call a meeting. We need to interview this coven before anyone else gets killed.”
Evan pulled out his cell phone and sent out a mass message to the agents. He took a seat beside Ian and waited for the others to join them. Evan might not know why the killer is taking out the coven one member at a time, but he had a profile. It was a start.
* * * *
Reyes sat on the metal chair inside an interview room, waiting for his turn. The place made him nervous and slightly paranoid, even though he’d never done anything wrong in his life. Reyes was still terrified that the agents would punish him for something. It was a story he’d heard from a young age. If you do something wrong or step out of line, the FPA would come and get you. The agents—dressed in all black—were more frightening than any parent ever could be. All paranormal children were scared into behaving. Even though he was an adult now, those threats still existed inside his mind.
The door opened and Reyes automatically stiffened. He pulled in a deep breath and paused, categorizing each scent. The shifter entering the room was a reptile of some kind. Reyes also detected something sweet, lightly clinging to the air surrounding the shifter. It was familiar, yet completely new. Reyes wanted to find the source of the scent and roll around in it.