by G. K. DeRosa
The six vamps moved to the front of the room and a blonde male stepped forward. “Team one, you’re with me. I’m Marco, and I’ll get you settled in today.” He glanced down at a tablet that appeared from behind his back. “First, I have a Phoenix Morana.” He smirked after enunciating my name with a hint of a Spanish accent. “Very appropriate last name.”
I was impressed he was familiar with Slavic. My last name meant death. Then again, I supposed when you were immortal you had a lot of time to learn random crap. “Thanks.” I stepped up and stood a few feet behind him.
“Rhydian Skyraider,” he continued.
“Everyone calls me Spark.” He joined us on stage, and I couldn’t help the little flutter of happiness. Besides our new relationship status, Spark was my best friend on the team and having him next to me on this new adventure meant more to me than I’d ever admit.
The vampire nodded and continued on, “Seline Lupo, Callan Beata, Vera Hargrove and Archer Darkhen. And that’s it for team one, please follow me.”
I mouthed, “Thank you,” to Demetra as he led us past the table of high vampires. She’d promised to do whatever she could to keep Alpha team together, and I was beyond thankful. With my team assembled, I was ready to kick some vampire ass.
Chapter
Nine
Phoenix
* * *
Two soaring buildings stood adjacent to Royal Castle, their modern glass and steel facades in sharp contrast to the medieval stone fortress beside it. Now standing outside of the foreboding structure, I doubted I ever would’ve willingly walked in. The exterior of the sprawling castle was made of the same roughhewn dark gray stone with towering turrets and creepy little gargoyles perched on the ramparts. An old wooden drawbridge stretched across the large moat that encircled the queen’s home. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of it was as most vampires could likely jump its extensive width, or swim at worst.
Our escort, Marco, must have noticed me eyeing the murky waters as we crossed the bridge because he bent his head at me. “The bottom is lined with stakes. Anyone that jumps in will have a painful surprise.” The old-world Spanish lilt became more discernible the more he spoke. I wondered where and when he was from.
“Gotcha.”
The male grinned, and his fangs peeked out from under his lip. Some of these vampires acted so normal I had a hard time remembering what they were. On the island, it was easy. They behaved like animals, wild and bloodthirsty, but here…
My expectations and reality were clashing in an epic battle. I tamped down on the unease, reminding myself we would likely be sent out to handle immortals like the ones we’d trained with at the Isle of Mordis.
Those onyx eyes rimmed in crimson blazed across my mind once again.
I shoved back the image, reminding myself Ran—the fanger was likely dead by now. And the only reason I couldn’t get him out of my head was that he was the one that got away. I was a sore loser; I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
Marco pointed at the second building, the one slightly further from the castle. “Say hello to your new home.”
“Seriously?” Vera squeaked. “We get to live in there?”
Compared to headquarters and the dank, dorm-style living this was going to be a major upgrade.
“That’s right, little witch. All sicari live in these two high rises. The first one is reserved for secondis and triens. They’ve been with us for at least two years and have mastered or come close to mastering all basic sicari skills. Building two is for all you little primis.” He let out a chuckle. “Both edifices are cloaked for your protection of course. The residents of Nocturnis believe it’s home to the queen’s most favored vampires, her offspring, etcetera. Very few know of the killers that hide within the glass walls.” He grinned.
“How many offspring does she have anyway?” Seline asked.
Marco shrugged, his eyes set on the building ahead. “No one knows for certain. I would assume she does, but it’s not information she openly shares. Obviously the twel—eleven of the inner circle are all her direct progeny, one generation down at most, but there are many more that don’t get a seat at the table.”
Eleven. How long ago had Ronin abandoned his seat? And why hadn’t he been replaced by someone new? I tabled the questions for now, hoping to get my new fountain of information alone later to interrogate.
We reached the immense skyscraper, and Marco swept his hand across the reader. “You’ll all have access within the next hour. IT is inputting your prints in the system now. You’ll also each get a badge to access other parts of the compound.”
“You have an IT department?” Archer asked.
“Of course we do. Just because we’re old doesn’t mean we’re obsolete.”
“How old are you?” Seline shot him a flirty smile.
The guy was good looking, which I had been trying not to focus on. With warm caramel skin and dark chocolate eyes, and a body that boasted many hours of training, hot was a more accurate description. Actually, all the vampires we’d encountered since our arrival at the castle had been gorgeous, male and female alike. The monsters from my nightmares were nothing like that.
I had to keep reminding myself of the truth that lay beneath the deceptively attractive surface. They were all perfect predators designed to lure and trap their prey.
“I was turned when I was twenty-five,” he finally answered. “But that was nearly a century ago now.”
Seline’s mouth slammed shut, her blatant ogling ground to a halt. “Oh,” she muttered.
Marco let out a laugh, and his broad shoulders bounced. “Would it help if I said I was young at heart?”
Her cheeks rosied, and she scampered inside the sweeping lobby as our guide held the door open. The foyer boasted high ceilings and all glass walls, a light tint keeping us from full fishbowl mode. A modern brass light fixture hung over the entryway, giving the place a very swanky, cool vibe. We followed Marco toward the elevator, catching glimpses of seasoned sicari loitering around the hall. Kill tats swarmed up and down their arms.
“I thought you said only the newbies—or I mean primis, lived in this tower?” I asked.
“They do, but we hold our morning assemblies in the basement so all the sicari loiter around this building. River will fill you in tomorrow.”
I caught a glimpse of another sicari stalking by, had to be a triens by the number of tattoos. So many dead vamps and they were still recruiting more hunters. I tried to make a quick calculation of how many sicari lived in the buildings and multiplied it by the dozens of marks snaking across their flesh. They were killing them by the thousands.
“How many sicari are there?” I asked Marco as we waited for the elevator.
“Right now, we have one hundred and three in residence, plus the thirty-six of you so we’ll probably be at about a hundred again by the end of the week.”
My eyes bugged out.
“What?” Vera screeched.
The elevator doors opened, and Marco ushered us inside. “I hate to be the one to break it to you, kids, but the mortality rate isn’t great among the sicari, especially not the primis.”
“Now he tells us.” Spark tossed me a smirk.
We stopped at the thirteenth floor, and I eyed Vera. Guess the vamps weren’t superstitious. Our resident witch most definitely was. Her eyes were wide, a look of horror plastered on her face. “You’ve gotta be kidding me? Our place is on the thirteenth floor? Talk about a bad omen.”
“I promise it won’t be your assigned floor that’ll do you in.” He flashed us some fang, and a chill skirted up my spine.
I’d just about reached my vampire max for the day. My brain was having a hard time assimilating to this new reality. Back at the Isle of Mordis the distinction was clear. Besides Demetra and a handful of trainers, the only vamps we encountered were targets.
Now we were surrounded by them.
Marco stopped in front of two adjacent doors. He pointed at the left then the right. “Ladies, y
ou’re in 1301 and gentlemen, you’ve got 1303.” Again, he swept his palm over the scanner beside the doorframe, and a sharp click resounded across the quiet hall.
The doors opened, and we split up into our corresponding apartments. Vera let out a squeal as we crossed the threshold into our uber modern new home with sprawling views of Royal Castle and a fully lit-up Nocturnis at night.
I walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows and peered over vamp territory. A twinge of disappointment swirled at the thought of never seeing the view in daylight. From now on, it would be forever night.
“What’s over there?” Seline pointed in the distance, at an area covered in black just beyond a snaking river.
“That’s the Darklands.”
We all nodded in understanding. That was where the rogue vampires and the Children of the Night lived, skulking in the shadows, attacking the borders.
“You guys will get to know the area well. Most of your missions will involve patrolling the land adjacent to the Darklands. The queen doesn’t often send the sicari into the hornet’s nest. The territory is a wasteland, and she’s pretty much given up hope on its inhabitants. The key is not letting them stray and cause damage elsewhere.”
“Why don’t those starving vampires just drink Blud?” asked Seline. “It’s gotta be better than nothing.”
Marco’s lip curled in disgust before his expression returned to neutral. “The supplies of Blud have been dwindling in the past year. We’re having issues with our supplier. The Darklands is the last territory to receive provisions.” He shrugged. “When there’s a limited supply, hard choices must be made.”
“Why can’t they just make more?” I asked.
“Not sure. Why don’t you ask the queen the next time you see her?” Marco shot me a wink.
The guys barreled into our apartment, putting an end to the discussion.
“This place is pretty cool,” said Archer. “Did you check out your rooms yet?”
“Nope.”
Spark grabbed my hand, and he jerked me toward a hallway off the living room. “Come on, let’s go christen your bedroom,” he whispered in my ear before shouting over his shoulder, “Nix gets the last room on the right.”
I threw him my best eyeroll as he dragged me down the hall.
“I’ll let you guys get settled,” Marco called out. “You’ll receive your first assignment tomorrow morning at the assembly. Don’t be late.”
Our escort’s words faded in the background as Spark slammed the bedroom door shut, and his lips assaulted mine. My mind wandered as we kissed, as he walked me back toward the bed. A pit of dread had embedded deep in my gut since the moment we’d arrived in Nocturnis, but I didn’t know why.
The queen, though creepy and intense, seemed decent enough. After three years, I trusted Demetra, and if she trusted Carmen Rosa then I would too. Until she proved me wrong. Then why couldn’t I shake this feeling?
“Nix?”
“Huh?” I glanced up to meet a pair of shimmering amber orbs.
Spark braced himself over me, his arousal nudging my upper thigh. “It’s no fun if you’re head isn’t in it.”
“Sorry,” I spluttered. “It’s just been a day, you know?”
He nodded slowly and rolled off me. “I thought this would be a fun distraction.”
“It is.” I cupped his cheek, forcing a smile. “I just need a minute to wrap my head around all of it.”
“One, two, three…” he began counting.
“Spark,” I whined and rolled over on my side. “I think I just need some alone time.”
“Sure, Nix. Whatever you need.” He rose and trudged toward the door.
“Spark, don’t be mad,” I called after him.
He turned back and huffed out a breath. “I’m not mad; I just don’t get you sometimes.”
That was probably because I liked keeping him at arm’s length. Not just him, everyone.
“Being here is just a lot for me. I need some time to process, and it has nothing to do with you.”
He nodded before turning back to the door and disappearing down the hallway. I could practically feel his disappointment trailing behind him.
Son of a vampire! I raked my fingers through my hair and huffed out a breath. Why did I agree to this stupid relationship thing anyway? Killing vamps for a living was stressful enough. I did not need this.
I sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed, tugging my boots off. I dug my toes into the soft carpeting, and my knee bounced up and down. We’d get our first assignment tomorrow. A nervous energy strummed through my veins at the thought. This was my chance to finally get the revenge I’d dreamt about for years. Somehow, I’d find Ronin and make him suffer.
Chapter
Ten
Phoenix
* * *
River stood at the front of the assembly room, a large space on the ground floor of our building, with a widescreen monitor behind him. The massive sicari pointed at the digital screen and spouted off assignments to the secondi and triens teams.
I sat between Vera and Seline, nursing my coffee and trying to ignore the fact that Spark hadn’t even looked at me this morning. The three males sat behind us, silent. Relationships were bullspit. Things were so much easier when we were just randomly hooking up. Here I was on the biggest day of my life, and I was worried about him instead of paying attention to the sicari teams’ leader.
Grounding my teeth, I focused on the big male’s status report. My eyes kept wandering up and down his arms and the scores of sicari marks etched into his flesh. Most of the females in here were staring at him for a different reason. They wanted to screw him; I just wanted to be him.
“Now onto the primis,” he called out, “Team One.”
I shot straight up. “Yes, sir! Phoenix here, team leader.”
Seline elbowed me in the gut, muffling a laugh. “Teacher’s pet,” she whispered.
“Phoenix, your team will rendezvous with Damon and Stefan from Team Seven in quadrant eight.” He pointed at the monitor which had the Darklands divided into twelve sections. “They’ve been out there all night, while you all got your beauty rest. They’ll update you on the situation once you arrive.”
I nodded quickly. “Yes, sir.”
“This isn’t the army, Phoenix, no need for the sir.”
Heat flamed across my cheeks, and I lowered my head, hiding behind the auburn curtain.
Vera giggled beside me, and I jabbed my elbow into her side shutting her up real quick.
“Sorry,” she muttered between stifled laughs. “You’re cute when you’re nervous. It’s not a side of you we get to see often.”
“I’m not nervous,” I hissed. “I just want everything to go perfectly today.”
“Relax,” said Archer leaning over my shoulder. “How hard could it be to take down a bunch of starved vamps? It’ll be just like back at Camp Kill. Easy peasy.”
He had to say it…
A bloodied Damon met us in an alley after a twenty-minute hike from the nearest portal station. Damn, someone had to build some of those bad boys in the Darklands ASAP. The Team Seven leader leaned against the crumbling remains of some old building. Judging by the tats on his arm, he must’ve been a secondi.
From what I’d seen so far, the entire southern part of vampire territory had fallen to ruin. His teammate sat on the floor, head leaning against the cracked stucco. Like Damon, his clothes were painted in blood and torn to shreds.
I sniffed the air, cataloguing their scents. Shifters, both of them. Bears by the pungent odor. I tucked the mini-tablet I’d used to track them into my jacket pocket and cocked a brow. “So what’s the status?”
Damon ticked his head at the mid-rise across the street. “Major vampire nest inside. Stefan and I tracked a group of them all night from the Marlwoods border, but there were too many. We took down a few along the way, but by my best estimate there are at least a dozen more in there.”
Marlwoods—shifter territory. They were r
aiding the feline prides again.
“Where’s the rest of your team?” Spark asked.
His lips pressed into a tight line. “Only Stefan and I are left.”
Awesome. I had about a dozen more questions for this guy, but now wasn’t the time. My fingers tightened around bardy, and I drew in a steeling breath. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road then.”
“Good luck,” said Damon.
I led my team down the narrow alley, adrenaline firing up. I pressed the tiny device behind my ear and whispered, “Com check.”
“Loud and clear,” said Vera.
“Check,” Archer announced.
One by one the whole team responded, even my sullen boyfriend. Was that even what we were? Focus, Nix.
“Does anyone else feel that?” Callan asked.
“Feel what?” I shot back.
“I think that vampire blood is taking effect with the adrenaline spike.” He moved beside me. “I feel like I did yesterday again.”
With the tangle of nerves in my gut, I couldn’t tell what was what at the moment. “Good, hopefully it’ll come in handy.”
Before we crossed the street, I raised my hand. The entire team stopped as one. I pointed at the squat buildings on either side of our target. “We’ll come in three on each side from the roof and work our way down.” Everyone nodded. “Cal and Vera, you’re with me on the east building. Spark, Archer and Seline take the west.”
“On it, boss,” Spark answered, the sarcasm in his tone slicing the still air.
Son of a dragon! Even considering getting involved with someone on the team was stupid. So stupid. I’d have to end this. Just as soon as we survived this mission.
I waved my hand toward the buildings, and we split up. My eyes trailed after Spark long after he disappeared behind the adjacent dilapidated edifice. Ugh. Finally turning to Cal and Vera, I whispered, “We’ll go around back. See if the fire escape steps are still solid.”