The Assassins of Light

by Britney Jackson

  For the first few minutes, as Kallias weaved the car in and out of traffic, no one spoke. Their hearts raced, and their stomachs lurched, as the car moved at a dangerous speed. Kallias didn’t even slow down until they left the city limits.

  “Where are you going?” Owen said breathlessly. “I need to go back.”

  “Not happening,” Kallias muttered as he merged onto the Interstate.

  “I wasn’t planning to leave,” Owen sputtered. “I don’t have my stuff.”

  “Your boyfriend tried to kill you,” Erik said, “and you’re worried about your stuff? Your life is the priority right now. We can get whatever you need later.”

  Rose twisted in her seat, so that she could look back at Owen. “Don’t worry,” she said with a weak, apologetic smile. “You’re safe with us. I promise.”

  Owen raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m safe? In a car full of vampires?”

  “The person who just tried to kill you was a human,” Kallias said, “but by all means, put your safety in his hands, instead of ours, and see what happens.”

  Owen leaned back in his seat, his face twisting with pain at the reminder.

  “Kallias,” Rose whispered, after Owen fell silent, “a little tact, please?”

  “I’ll protect him because he’s your friend,” Kallias said, “but if you want me to care about his feelings, too, you’re really overestimating how much I care.”

  Rose sighed. Her gaze shifted toward Owen. “He could’ve said it nicer, but he’s right. You know that, don’t you? That you wouldn’t be safe with Jared?”

  Owen nodded reluctantly. “He’s obviously not who I thought he was.”

  Erik snorted at that, “Believe me. I know the feeling.” He placed his hand on Owen’s shoulder. “And I, unfortunately, have to care about your feelings.”

  Owen frowned as he began to feel…different. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking your pain,” Erik said. “I can control and manipulate emotion.”

  “I know,” Owen said. “You were in their books. It said you were a Viking warrior and a powerful empath. It just…feels different than I thought it would.”

  Erik laughed, “What did you expect? Pain? Heat? Colors? Electricity?”

  “Something a little more dangerous,” Owen offered uneasily, “and evil.”

  Erik raised an eyebrow. “I could show you that side, too, if you want.”

  “Erik, you are not torturing my friend,” Rose said with an indignant glare.

  Erik shrugged defensively. “Apparently, I have a reputation to protect.”

  Rose offered Owen a reassuring smile. “He’s joking. He won’t hurt you.”

  “Wait,” Kallias said, glancing at the rear-view mirror. “What books?”

  “The Assassins of Light,” Owen began. “They have books about you.”

  Kallias frowned at that. “All of us? There are thousands of us, at least.”

  Owen nodded. “Their books only have information about the vampires that have been alive for more than three hundred years. So, people like you and Erik are in them, but people like Rose aren’t. The Assassins keep them in their homes, like storybooks or encyclopedias, and they use them to teach their kids.”

  “Did Jared’s parents try to teach you, too?” Rose asked curiously.

  “Yeah, they tried,” Owen said, “but I never took to it like Jared did.”

  “You learned it well enough to know about the allure,” Kallias muttered, glancing again at the rear-view mirror, “didn’t you?” He chuckled when Owen avoided his gaze. While he waited for traffic to start moving again, he glanced at Rose. “Did you notice? He never looks at Erik or me. He only looks at you.”

  “The allure?” Audrey repeated. She looked at Rose. “What is the allure?”

  “Humans are naturally attracted to vampires,” Rose explained, “usually.”

  “Rose was immune to it,” Kallias said, “because her will was so strong.”

  Owen ducked his head shamefully, and added, as quietly as possible, “It’s more than attraction. Something about their beauty—it kind of…stuns you.”

  “So, you do know,” Kallias said bitterly. “What else did they teach you?”

  Owen shrugged anxiously. “Your weaknesses are fire and sunlight. You can’t heal if you’ve been drained of blood. And you get weaker during the day.”

  Kallias shot a cynical look at Rose. “And we’re taking this guy with us?”

  “Why would he hurt us,” Rose pointed out, “if we’re protecting him?”

  “Because he’s been brainwashed by a family of Assassins,” Kallias said.

  “I haven’t been brainwashed,” Owen interjected. “I’d know if I had.”

  “Actually,” Rose corrected, “brainwashed people don’t…usually realize they’ve been brainwashed.” She winced a little. “That’s kind of the whole point. If you realize what they’ve done, you’ll stop trusting them. You’ll start questioning the things they told you. And finally, you’ll start to separate reality from their lies.”

  Audrey groaned, “Do you have anything in your head, other than facts?”

  Rose blinked as a glimpse of her nightmare flashed in her mind—Alana’s words: Who wouldn’t lose their mind when there are so many people living in it? “Uh, yeah.”

  Audrey frowned at Rose’s distracted answer, but she didn’t press her.

  Eventually, the traffic began to move again, and they rode in silence for a while, as Audrey and Owen grew tired. The only sound that filled the silence was the quiet, ambient sound of the car radio—the volume too low for humans to hear, but still loud enough that if a vampire wanted to listen to it, they could.

  Rose glanced at the radio as the word vampire caught her attention. It was on such a low volume that she’d almost tuned it out completely, until she heard that word. She leaned forward and turned up the volume, until two male voices filled the car. It sounded like some kind of talk show, and the two male talk show hosts seemed to be discussing the recent murders that had taken place in Europe.

  “What?” one of the men laughed. “You’re not falling for those crazy conspiracies, are you? Be honest. You’ve taken up drinking again, haven’t you?”

  The other man laughed, too. “No. Of course I don’t believe the vampire theory. I’m just saying…people are scared. They’re freaking out over every crazy idea they hear, and it’s going to get worse, as long as the enemy is still out there.”

  “You really think it’ll keep getting worse?” the first man asked. “There haven’t been any murders in the last couple of nights. That’s a good sign, I think.”

  “No, a good sign would be the authorities telling us that they caught the people behind it. A good sign would be seeing this mysterious army of murderers dead on the front page of the newspapers,” the second man countered. “But for them to just stop for two days? That sounds even more suspicious to me. It’s the anticipation that gets people, you know. The knowledge that those enemies are still out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for us to let our guard down again.”

  “That’s enough of that,” Kallias grunted as he switched off the radio.

  “They don’t even know who their enemy is,” Rose said quietly, “or what their enemy is. And they’re still scared of us. They’re creating a mythical enemy.”

  “That’s how it always starts, isn’t it?” Erik sighed, tilting his head back.

  Owen shook his head. “But the enemy isn’t mythical. It never has been. Vampires have been killing humans for as long as they’ve existed. Those murders just woke everyone up. They made them finally pay attention. Because Alana and her army of vampires didn’t just kill one or two people here and there. They killed hundreds of people within a matter of days. And they didn’t just kill the humans that were out alone, late at night. They killed government officials, celebrities, people with families… They killed the people whose deaths would be noticed.”

  “But Alana is gone,” Erik said, clenching hi
s jaw, “and so is her army.”

  “They don’t know that,” Owen reminded him. “How could they? Unless you went public with what you are and how many of you there are? As far as they know, that army of murderers is still out there. So, of course, they’re terrified.”

  “I know, but,” Rose paused, exhaling shakily, “when people do this—invent the enemy in their head—even if they had reason to do it, they tend to see this enemy in everyone that even resembles that idea in their head. It makes it easier to stereotype and generalize. Most vampires aren’t like Alana. There are a lot of evil ones, I’m sure, just like there are a lot of evil humans. But we’re not all bad.”

  “I don’t think it matters, really,” Audrey said, leaning against the window, “whether or not we have preconceived ideas of you. Vampires are just…scary.”

  “We’re also an aggressive species,” Kallias commented as he took a sharp curve. “If the Assassins of Light attack us openly, vampires will fight back.”

  Erik nodded solemnly. “And then, the war will begin,” he sighed.

  “That’s what the Assassins of Light want,” Owen told them. “Since that night, when Jared’s family saved my life, they’ve always said the war is coming.”

  “We have to stop it,” Rose said. She propped her elbow against the door and leaned her face against her hand, gazing thoughtfully through her window, at the dark street that buzzed past. “War would mean suffering for both sides. So many innocent lives would be lost, and what would even be accomplished by it?”

  Kallias lifted his eyebrows. “The end of the world, most likely.”

  The Message

  Aaron heard her footsteps echoing in the tunnel, before she even reached his room. “Where have you been?” he grumbled. “You’ve been gone all night.”

  Kara leaned against the wall and crossed her arms across her chest, her black, leather jacket stretching tight over her arms. She watched as Aaron typed something into the computer, switching from one surveillance video to another. “Working,” she said tiredly. “I learned some things about the Assassins of Light.”

  Aaron turned toward her. He leaned against his desk, curling his hands around the edge of the desk. “Something useful, I hope,” he muttered. “Tell me.”

  Kara looked as if she hadn’t slept in weeks. Dark bruise-like circles rested beneath her light blue eyes, and the strength of her shoulders seemed a bit less pronounced than usual. “They sent a shipment of weapons to the United States.”

  His brows furrowed. “Why? What’s significant about the United States?”

  She watched him for a moment, and he got the distinct impression that she was reluctant to tell him something. “Rose,” she answered, finally. “Rose lives in the United States, and the Assassins of Light are very…interested in her.”

  His frown deepened. “Why? Do they know something about her?”

  Something flickered in Kara’s light blue eyes—a hint of pain or concern, perhaps—but it disappeared so quickly that Aaron wondered if he’d just imagined it. “Too much,” she muttered under her breath. “Someone betrayed her to them.”

  “What do you mean?” Aaron asked. “Do they know about her power?”

  “Among other things,” she mumbled. She blinked, as if she were trying to shove something out of her mind. “The important part is…they want her.”

  “Who betrayed her?” he asked. “Who could have told them about her?”

  Kara shrugged one shoulder. “According to the file they keep on her,” she began, a hint of unease in her voice, “multiple sources. Including…a friend.”

  “A friend?” Aaron repeated, his dark eyes narrowing. “A human friend?”

  She watched warily as hostility and anger flashed across his face. “Rose didn’t intentionally tell her friends that she was a vampire. It was Alana’s doing.”

  Aaron’s glare turned murderous. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me?”

  “She mentioned it to me a few nights ago,” Kara admitted. “I don’t think she realized what she was doing when she told me, but I kept her secret, anyway.”

  “You should have told me,” Aaron snarled. “You know the rules.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I’ve broken that rule, too. You know I have.”

  He raked his hands through his curly, black hair in frustration. “Doesn’t anyone understand why it’s so important to keep our existence a secret? We’re on the brink of war with humans because your ex-lover decided to break that rule.”

  “Yes, Aaron,” Kara said coolly. “I haven’t forgotten what Alana did.”

  Aaron just stared at her with no sympathy whatsoever. “You should have told me. You are my second-in-command. It was your duty to report this to me.”

  “It’s also my duty to protect Rose,” she said. “I swore to protect her.”

  He rolled his eyes. “She isn’t a king or queen, Kara. She is an ordinary person. You don’t swear an oath of fealty to an ordinary person,” he muttered.

  “She isn’t ordinary,” Kara argued, “and you know that as well as I do.”

  Aaron watched her suspiciously, his eyes dark and narrowed. “I know she’s a valuable asset to me,” he agreed, “but that’s not what you mean, is it?”

  “Since when do you get so involved in my love life?” Kara asked. “I want her, just like I’ve wanted countless other women. It’s nothing more than that.”

  “I’d call you a liar,” Aaron scoffed, “but you already know what you are.”

  “What does it matter to you, as long as I do my job well?” she sighed.

  “It matters to me because I’m concerned that, at some point, you won’t,” he said, his brows furrowing. “You swore an oath of fealty to her. That’s a little more extreme than your usual wooing tactics, don’t you think? You’ve served me for fourteen hundred years, and you’ve never even sworn an oath of fealty to me.”

  A bitter smirk twitched at the edges of her lips. “Are you jealous of her?”

  “I just wonder,” he said darkly, “if I ordered you to kill her, would you?”

  Kara carefully masked her emotion. “Should I expect an order like that?”

  Aaron lifted his eyebrows. “Eventually, I won’t need her anymore. She’s a threat to my power, Kara. I’ll need her dead. Where will your loyalty fall, then?”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  A dark shadow of anger passed over his face. But then, he spun around and returned his attention to his computer, switching gears so effortlessly that it seemed as if he hadn’t cared at all about the previous conversation. But Kara saw the stiffness of his shoulders. She’d seen the ambition and jealousy in his black eyes. “If the Assassins of Light are after Rose, then she’s our key to finding them,” he said after a moment. “She’ll be the perfect bait…as long as she doesn’t know.”

  Kara straightened, her arms dropping to her sides. “You’re not asking me to keep this from her, are you?” she asked. “Rose is in danger, Aaron. She needs to know.” Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t really mean to risk her life.”

  Aaron turned to look at her. “Are you refusing to follow my orders?”

  “I never said that,” Kara said. “Is this a test? Are you testing my loyalty?”

  Aaron shrugged. “Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not. It shouldn’t matter. You’re my second-in-command. Your job is to follow my orders without question.”

  “You know I don’t follow the rules, Aaron,” Kara reminded him. “Never have. Never will. I’m still the most loyal follower you have.” She crossed her arms, and a cocky smirk reappeared on her lips. “I guess you’ll just have to get over it.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Arrange a team. We’ll leave tomorrow night.”

  Kara nodded. “And Rose?” she asked, careful to keep her voice steady. “By the time we make it to the U.S., she might be dead. Is that what you want?”

  “You’re emotionally-involved, Kara,” he warned. “I can’t
have that.”

  “I’m not emotionally-involved,” she said, her jaw tight. “I’m just asking you to clarify your orders. Are you truly prepared to risk Rose’s life for this?”

  “Yes,” Aaron said without even a hint of sympathy in his voice. He took a step toward her. “You’re to leave here, and say nothing to Rose. Understand?”

  “Of course,” Kara said easily, as if she’d never argued otherwise.

  His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I mean it, Kara. Don’t say anything to Rose. If you do, it’ll jeopardize everything. The Assassins of Light could intercept the message, and I don’t want them to know that we know.” A dark, bitter smile twisted at his lips. “Besides, it’s always best if the bait doesn’t know that it’s bait.”

  “I get it,” Kara assured him. “Stopping the Assassins of Light is the most important thing. Rose is just one person. Her life is expendable. I totally agree.”

  He didn’t look convinced, but he pretended to believe her, anyway. “Let me know who you choose,” he said after a moment, “to go with us to the U.S.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kara said, bending at the waist in a sweeping, mocking bow.

  His eyes darkened at that, but he said nothing as she turned and left.

  —

  “Audrey,” Rose said, tilting her head to the side to look at Audrey’s face.

  Audrey’s tangled, brown hair hung over her face, obscuring the paleness of her face and the peaceful expression she wore, as she slept on Rose’s shoulder.

  “Audrey,” Rose repeated, moving her shoulder a little to shake Audrey awake. Audrey’s head fell forward when Rose moved, which jolted her awake.

  “What?” Audrey mumbled sleepily, her eyes popping open. She leaned back in the seat and glanced at Rose, her brows furrowing. “What? Where am I?”

  The faulty, flickering lights of the small, deserted gas station shone into the dark car, revealing the empty, leather seats. Audrey’s frown deepened as she glanced around the car and realized that she and Rose were alone in the backseat.