Each of them collected their coats from the cloakroom when Morgana saw the human, the red-headed Daywalker’s girlfriend, approaching.
“Morgana?” The blonde smiled at her brightly.
“It’s Ava, right?” Morgana replied, remembering her name from their chat earlier.
“Yes, that’s right.” Her tone was friendly. “I was just wondering, with you being new in town and all and not knowing many people, if you might like to come over to our place for dinner one night… get to know my friends and me?” Ava waved her hand toward the Daywalkers at the bar. The dark-haired Daywalker was staring again, most likely waiting to hear her answer.
“Sure, that would be lovely. When and where?” Morgana replied.
“How’s Wednesday night at about seven?”
“Yep, sounds good.”
“Excellent. I’ll write down my address for you.” Ava opened her bag.
But Vivienne beat her to it. “Here you go, dear.” She smiled warmly, handing a pad and pen from her purse over to Ava. Morgana raised an eyebrow, noticing Ava hadn’t so much as batted an eyelid at Vivienne’s speed. So, she’d been with the red-headed Daywalker for a while, then?
“Thank you, Mrs. Van Wilden.” Ava wrote down her address and handed the sheet of paper over to Morgana.
Morgana scanned the address.
“Mr. Van Wilden, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to interview you for The Oak Wood Hills Daily,” Ava said hesitantly.
“Wow, that name’s a mouthful.” Oscar smiled. “Should be fine.” He pulled on his charcoal overcoat. “Just call my office in the morning, and run it past my assistant to see if we can arrange something soon.”
“Okay, will do.” Ava turned to walk away, “See you on Wednesday, Morgana.”
“Yes, see you then.” Morgana glanced once more toward the dark-haired Daywalker, their eyes meeting. She couldn’t seem to look away. His deep blue eyes bored into hers. They stared at each other for what had to have stretched on for a full minute, each analyzing the other. There was something about the way he looked at her—conflicted, with distrust and an inexplicable longing. At that moment, it was only the two of them.
“Morgana,” her mother’s voice broke through the trance.
“Huh?” Morgana shook her head, following her parents outside. As the doors swung behind her, she turned back to catch one last glimpse of him, knowing she shouldn’t, but her heart fluttered when she did.
Chapter Five
Seated and buckled in a black SUV, the family drove back through the quiet streets of Oak Wood Hills to their new home. When they first moved to town, they chose one of the older Victorian-style homes situated on the outskirts of town. The newly-developed, modern homes more aptly suited a candidate for mayor and his small family, but the Van Wildens had felt an ease of comfort and homeliness when they crossed the threshold of the older home.
Morgana watched the houses and shops pass by while thinking about the dinner invitation. The Daywalkers were surprisingly efficient in taking the next step to finding out more about her. This wouldn’t give her much time to find out as much as she could about them before dinner. She only had four days. She would have to trail each one closely. She yawned, weary from the day’s events. What she needed now was sleep. She would start afresh in the morning. She would also need blood, lots and lots of blood.
***
Morgana woke the next morning feeling like new. Once they had returned home, she and her parents raided the blood supply, enjoying the feast. Now she felt full, energized, and ready for the workday ahead. Her strength had to be in top form if she needed to fight. The Daywalkers may attack if they found out she was spying on them. For some reason, the idea of fighting the attractive Daywalker made her feel uneasy, but she shrugged it off. What must be done must be done. Morgana Van Wilden never went down without a fight.
Morgana quickly dressed in what, over the years, had become her go-to spy uniform. Her tried and true consisted of black leather slacks and a dark jacket over a black tank top. Pop-culture fads be damned, leather simply didn’t slow her stride like cotton, denim, or even nylon while she ran. She pulled her long hair back, twisting it into a high bun. She picked up an antique perfume bottle and spritzed her arms, neck, and torso to mask her scent. She barreled down the staircase, planning to eat a quick breakfast. Before entering the kitchen, she sensed her parents were already there.
“Good morning,” she said with a cheerful tone.
“Good morning, dear.” Vivienne wrinkled her nose. “Is that wolfsbane I smell?”
“Yes, Vivienne, it’s for putting the Daywalkers off my scent while I track them.” Morgana sat at the breakfast table.
“Well, keep it away from me, then.”
“Of course, Vivienne, not going to use it on you. Not going to incapacitate my own mother.” Morgana rolled her eyes.
“I forgot what it was like needing to have wolfsbane in the house.” Vivienne grimaced, raising a mug filled with espresso to her mouth. Her coffee drinking was purely out of habit. She’d acquired the taste centuries after turning, along the same time Morgana began drinking coffee. Despite the caffeine had no effect, her mother couldn’t quite bring herself to kick the habit. Though Morgana thought she’d never even tried.
“Yes, but it’s a necessary protection from fellow vampires.” Oscar’s voice chimed in from behind the newspaper he was reading.
Morgana nodded in agreement.
As her father had taught her hundreds of years earlier, apotropaics are necessary weapons and protections against vampires when controlling or eliminating them. They can be either objects or substances. The Primus own apotropaic were well-guarded secrets only the Primus and its descendants knew of. The Primus and their descendants were difficult to kill unless you knew how, and The Council was quite adamant this information be kept a secret that modern-day vampires wouldn’t be able to use against them.
Oscar folded his paper, placing it on the table. “How are you this morning, Morgana?”
“Quite refreshed. I’m going to spy on the Daywalkers today. Trail each one, see what trouble they get into.” Morgana grabbed a piece of buttered toast, taking a bite.
“Yes, we’ll need to follow every possible lead we have. This mission is turning out to be a bit trickier than I’d imagined. Do you require help on this?” Oscar adjusted the cuffs on the sleeves of his gray dress shirt.
“I’m fine.” Morgana waved his offer away with her piece of toast. “You keep up the cover at the campaign office. I’ve got this covered.”
Oscar’s tone was stern. “There’s nothing wrong with receiving help, Morgana.”
“It’s fine, Father,” she spoke while she chewed. “It’s only spying on two Daywalkers to see if they’re connected in any way to the Night Dweller. I could handle this sort of thing while half asleep, running on half a pint of blood.”
“Just make sure you don’t get caught,” Oscar warned.
Morgana scoffed, “You’re never going to let me live that down. It was over two hundred years ago for goodness sake!”
“Every time you’ve ended up in real danger feels like it just happened yesterday. Only looking out for you, dear.” Oscar bowed his head.
Morgana felt more compelled than ever to prove her strength and vampire-tracking prowess to her parents. She looked down at the paper. There was another article on the bear attacks written by Ava Hayes. “The human girlfriend is the key, I think. She’s the one writing the articles about the bear attacks. It’s obvious certain details are missing. She might be doing it to protect her vampire boyfriend. I can start at her apartment and work my way up from there.”
Oscar rubbed his chin and nodded in agreement.
Morgana finished the rest of her breakfast, placing her dishes in the sink and left the house. She would trek along on foot. She was just as fast as any car.
***
Morgana arrived at the apartment block corresponding with the address Ava had given her. It w
as a three-story building built out of red bricks, and wood trim painted white framed the large bay windows and doorways. According to the town’s signature landscaping, a large oak tree grew out front, dwarfing the building. Morgana eyed the tree, looking for ways she could use it as a place to conceal herself. The foliage didn’t seem dense enough to hide her dark clothes during the day. Maybe she should consider wearing more camouflaged clothing while in such a wooded area. She doubted any clothing shops in town sold khaki-colored leather pants.
She cased the perimeter of the building, trying to sense if the Daywalker boyfriend was present. She couldn’t feel him. Time to change the vantage point. Easily scaling the side of the building, Morgana hopped up onto the roof. She would have a better view up here of anyone coming and going. Up here, the vampires would never be able to detect her scent either. Vampires usually smelled her blood before they sensed her vampire side.
Morgana scanned the many voices buzzing beneath her. She concentrated to filter out Ava’s voice amongst the rabble in the building—Ava was taking a call on her cell phone. She was talking to the Daywalker. They would be meeting for lunch at one of the local cafés in town. The other Daywalker wouldn’t be joining them. Morgana gritted her teeth, disappointed. It would have been a lot easier to spy on all of them together, but she shrugged the frustration off. There was work to do.
***
Morgana landed on the soft ground with cat-like grace. The underground car park was open—no security gates. She was relieved. She didn’t want to have to break in, leaving a trail of destruction and evidence she’d been there. She crouched behind a large van waiting for Ava to arrive.
Her patience paid off.
The smell of human and strawberry lotion alerted her to Ava’s arrival. Ava climbed into a black sedan, started up the engine, and turned right onto the road outside the garage, heading into town. Morgana followed at a steady pace behind her along the side of the road, darting in and out of buildings too quick for humans to notice. She was undetectable to the human eye, but she needed to keep a safe distance enough away to prevent the Daywalker from being able to sense her. If she stayed downwind, he’d be less likely to pick up her scent.
Ava arrived at the café, parking on the street a few yards down from the entrance.
Morgana scaled the back of the building, crouching on the roof just like she had at the apartment block, enabling her to hear their conversation clearly. Positioning herself near the edge was optimal. The scent of her blood was likely lost amongst the humans and varied café scents.
The Daywalker arrived a short time later. Morgana leaned over the edge to get a good look at her targets below. She doubted she’d be noticed. Most humans don’t look above their eye level without reason to.
“Hey, babe,” Ava greeted the Daywalker, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“Ava, love,” came Alastor’s reply. He seemed comfortable amongst humans. Morgana wondered how old he was. Alastor pulled his chair out and sat. “Have you ordered anything yet?”
“Just got here myself.” Ava opened the menu, skimming the pages.
“How’s work been? Anything interestin’ to report?” Alastor opened his menu.
“More bear attacks.” Ava lowered her voice, “Are you sure you don’t know who it is?”
“Gareth wants to go into the forest to scout around and see what he can find. But I don’t think that’s a good idea. Based on the number of attacks, there’s got to be quite a large coven of vampires out there. We’d be outnumbered if we were attacked.”
Morgana’s ears perked up at the mention of the other Daywalker. Gareth was his name. Noted.
“But you’d be strong enough to take them down?”
“Aye,” Alastor reassured her.
Ava appeared both relieved and convinced, but Morgana could sense Alastor’s heavily-masked insecurity.
“My main instinct is always to survive…” he continued, “… but fallin’ in love with ye has amplified the desire to feed. I can’t stand the thought of leavin’ ye alone.” His hand slid across the table to take hold of Ava’s.
Ava smiled, leaning forward as she spoke. “You sure it’s not Gareth in the forest? The vampire at the rally sure gave him a peculiar nod. Is that why you won’t investigate?”
“No,” Alastor hissed and pulled his hand away quickly. Customers at nearby tables shot sideways glances at their table. Alastor flashed them a charming smile to reassure them everything was fine. “Neither of us have ever seen the Night Dweller before. Gareth has worked too hard to get where he is now. He may not respect humans the way I do, but he doesn’t need to feed like a lowly Night Dweller. We’ve lived in this town for too long to jeopardize it all now. Gareth is like a brother to me. I trust him with my life.”
“I know, I know,” Ava said soothingly. She reached for Alastor’s hand. “I’m sorry. You know how my mind works. I have to explore every possible angle.”
Alastor’s face softened. He nodded. “Aye, I do know. It’s one of the reasons why I love ye.” He leaned over the table, kissing the back of Ava’s hand.
“I love you, too.” She smiled. “Let’s order. I’m starving.” She flagged down the waitress.
“As am I,” Alastor said with a dark glint in his eye.
Ava shook her head.
Alastor winked.
Morgana reflected on what she’d overheard. Alastor didn’t think it was the other Daywalker, Gareth, who was attacking the hunters in the woods. Yet, Ava had seen the familiar nod the Night Dweller shared with Gareth. Coincidence? Not likely. Ava didn’t seem to have any suspicions of Alastor, nor did he act suspicious when the attacks were brought up. But then again, lying is like second nature to a vampire. From the brief moments Morgana had observed of the couple, the Irish Daywalker did seem genuinely in love with Ava, though. Vampires in love with humans don’t tend to feed on other humans. Her father had always said it was because the love for a human changed a vampire’s view on humans, and most stopped viewing them as a source of food. But Gareth wasn’t in love, so what motivated him to respect human life?
Morgana decided to continue trailing Alastor. She needed to know where he and Gareth resided. Specifically, she needed more information on Gareth. Alastor’s faith in his friend was endearing, but it meant little to Morgana, and besides, Gareth was her only other lead to the Night Dweller.
Chapter Six
Morgana waited patiently while Ava and Alastor finished their lunch date. The sun beat down on her, but it wasn’t as harsh as the Outback sun had been back in Australia. The rest of the conversation seemed uninteresting—typical human banter—though Morgana’s ears perked back up near the end.
“Are ye comin’ over after ye finish work tonight?” Alastor asked as they were leaving.
“Yeah, sure. You gonna cook for me?” she teased.
Alastor laughed. “I’ll pick up something on the way. About time I cooked dinner for ye.”
“Do you even know how to cook?”
“Aye, I’m a quick study.” He winked before kissing her cheek, then headed off.
Morgana kept tabs on him for the rest of the day. He wandered up the street and then stopped off at the local supermarket to buy groceries for dinner. Morgana followed him around the store quite easily without him picking up on her scent.
Alastor finally led her to his home. The mansion was on the outskirts of town in a nice neighborhood quite close to where her parents’ home was located. Close enough to town for quick access but far enough from the heavily populated suburbs not to be inundated by skate parks and strollers. Gareth and Alastor’s house was another beautiful Victorian-style home with a wide circular driveway. Morgana suspected the house had been empty for a long while before the Daywalkers moved in. She was pleased to see, like many of the other Victorian houses in the area, large oaks surrounded the property. The trees offered perfect places for her to hide while gathering information on Gareth and Alastor.
Morgana jumped straight up, takin
g hold of a tree branch about six feet off the ground. She swung herself onto the next branch up, balancing her weight against the limb as she landed. The branch felt strong enough to hold her. She stretched out on her stomach, planking the branch to get a clearer view. She was careful to remain hidden amongst the foliage.
From her vantage point, she could see into the bay windows and one of the upstairs bedrooms. She hoped the bedroom was not Alastor’s. She did not want a front-row seat to what would likely occur there later that night.
Morgana could hear Alastor moving and shifting around in the kitchen. She waited patiently for Gareth to arrive. Goosebumps began forming on her skin when she sensed his presence approaching the house. She shuffled back against the trunk of the tree, so she would not be seen by him. It would be asking a lot to expect a vampire not to notice her, so she thought it was best to take precautions. She sniffed the air around her, making sure the wolfsbane still lingered on her skin. Satisfied, she peered through the leaves.
Her breath caught in her throat. There he was, toned body strolling up the driveway toward the house. His eyes moved in her direction as if sensing she was there. She held her breath, remaining remarkably still. Maybe she should have worn khaki, so she was more camouflaged. She really didn’t want to be discovered.
Gareth stared at the tree where Morgana was hiding. He sniffed the air but never caught sight of her. Seemingly satisfied there was nothing there, he continued toward the house. Before walking inside, he turned for one last glance in her direction. Morgana slowly moved her hand to her waist toward her stake holster. If he circled and attacked, she would be ready. But he just turned back around and walked inside. She slowly exhaled. She could go for longer periods without breathing than normal humans, but eventually, she would have to breathe again. It was not pleasant trying to recover from near suffocation. It happened to her once when she was around fifty years old. She had tried to swim the English Channel without taking a breath. She ended up needing several pints of blood to recover and was on bed rest for several hours. She had lived, of course, but just barely. Her vampire side ensured she would never die in a normal human way, but she still suffered severely when pushing it.
The Van Wilden Chronicles Box Set Books 1-3 Page 4