7

Present Day

n a roof within the city’s warehouse district, Lori mentally cursed at the storm ready to unleash itself. She looked through the binoculars and scanned the scene again. The Brotherhood was here, but were they going to spring their trap? The werewolf and vampire were on the cusp of this snare, being tested to see if they were worth the trouble.
It wasn’t by chance that she was in the city on this particular night. Lori had been watching this group for almost a year. She would pick up stories from others, most told to them by someone else, but they were all she had to go on. From the beginning, the only reliable information she gathered was from Gale. This group was more difficult to follow than SEVEN.
But her revenge wasn’t aimed at the group itself, but at Owen Hartley. The rodent was transferred out of the facility in Arizona and sent elsewhere. Lori lost track of him after his transfer. Armed with various license plate numbers, however, her searching began. Owen was part of the teams used to bring in their new test subjects. All she had to do was follow the vehicles and hope Owen would show his face.
She hated this type of hunt. Patience wasn’t her strongest trait. She wanted the kill. And the team for tonight? Her body crawled with excitement. Owen had to show himself one of these days.
Lori felt her breath catch in her throat. She wasn’t alone. The feeling of eyes on her made her blood run cold. Another few drops of rain struck the concrete ledge as her mind raced over the right plan of escape. Down the main stairwell? No, too obvious. Down the fire escape? Or jump off the roof? Lori lowered the binoculars. How about a fight? She wanted to smile at the thought.
Turning around, Lori’s eyes rested on the last thing she imagined to see. The vampire, who accompanied the werewolf, stood across the roof, watching her with no a hint of emotion. The wind picked up, stirring his long, black hair and black clothes, the only parts of him that shown movement.
His clothes. Lori scolded herself for not noticing them earlier. Simple at first glance, she now saw the intricacies of their design. The long coat was made of heavy, black fabric and accented with silver pieces—a garment mixing historical and modern. These were the common garments used by Haven Guardians. This type of vampire couldn’t be reasoned with or manipulated. All guardians were created by the Originals. But who did he belong to?
With her back to the roof’s edge, Lori needed to end the brief stalemate between them. Her choice of action wasn’t the smartest or bravest, she just needed to distract him long enough to get out of there. Reaching behind her waist, she retrieved her gun and fired, unloading it as she began to run. The gun went empty as she approached the end of the roof. Not stopping her momentum, she leapt into the air and landed on the next building, a story shorter than the other.
The rain began to fall.
Lori continued to run. This wasn’t happening! All of her patience and work, to end at the hands of a fucking guardian! She had to outsmart him. Her mind tried to form a plan, but as she felt something grab onto her hair, her thoughts went from her new plan to any chance of survival.
Arden grabbed a handful of the woman’s hair and pulled back, sending her off balance and to the roof. He stood over her, his boot crushing the hand still holding the gun.
Through the rain, Lori looked up at him and saw the blood on his face where a bullet struck his cheek. A bullet to the head would’ve been better, would’ve given me a few extra minutes. Why didn’t I shoot him in the head to begin with?
“Who are you?” he asked.
Tell him the truth. “I’m not your concern,” she said. “You and your friend are walking into a trap.”
He stared at her as if trying to read her thoughts. Was he capable of doing so? Lori shielded her mind.
“What makes you believe this?” he said.
“Trust me. I know these guys better than you.” Why am I afraid of him? Guardians are suppose to bow down before me.
Bracing one leg on the roof, Lori brought the other one up and around, kicking him in the stomach. All of her strength was behind the quick swipe. The vampire was sent backwards, caught off guard by her abrupt attack. Lori saw no chance in escaping him while he was at the peak of his strength, so her tactic changed. She was going to fight him long enough to find the right opening and hopefully weaken him. The best way to weaken a vampire was to remove their blood, a plan that would give her own strength a boost, but only temporary. Though she savored the taste of human blood, vampire blood enticed her more. She feared the many broken bones as a result of this plan.
The vampire pulled himself to stand, taking his time as he tried to read further into this woman. She stood a few strides before him, gun still on the ground and her body dropped into a fighting stance.
“You wish to fight me?” he said, the emotion still absent from him.
“I have no choice. You won’t let me leave.”
“You have a choice. Who are you and why are you watching us?”
Don’t play your hand too soon, she warned herself. Stick with what he needs to know. “Please, listen to me. Get in the van and drive away. Refuse to help them.”
Lori expected him to reply but the vampire moved forward, beginning his own attack, his speed surprising. She dodged to the side but his hands still found her. Lori tried to free herself from his grip, twisting her body around and throwing the back of her elbow into his face. The jarring strike loosened his hold and she pulled herself free—hands balling into fists and flying into him over and over. The vampire took the shots to his face before deflecting them with his arms. He didn’t fight back. He was still reading her.
The realization squashed Lori’s aggression. She could feel herself losing her momentum. The fear returned. He knew. He knew she wasn’t human. She was too strong, too quick to be a human. But why continue to stay on the defensive? What was he planning?
A new realization came into view. He was debating whether to kill her or…
Lori threw a series of final punches and kicks, gaining back some of her energy as she struggled to send him off balance once more. He didn’t budge. She had no other way out; she had to run.
Shifting her weight, she began running for the edge of the roof, hoping to leap to the ground and run for her car. Getting on the road was her only sanctuary. As she neared the edge, she felt his hands return to her, this time grabbing the back of her clothing. His actions were too fast for her to retaliate. The pressure of his teeth in her neck caused her to gasp. This was his way of ending their fight.
Lori could feel her blood and strength leaving her. He wasn’t taking his time to enjoy this. He wanted her dead. She heard her own voice pleading with him. “Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. Kill me and he’ll come after you. Stop. Stop! Please, stop. Please… stop.” Her voice trailed off but her mouth continued to form the words.
Arden heard her mind grow quiet as her pleas softened. Deep within her fading thoughts, she begged for help. The image of an old soul shimmered to the surface before losing itself amidst her dying consciousness.
He lifted his head to look at the woman in his arms. She hung lifeless, her heart falling quiet as well, unable to continue its steady rhythm. He had killed dhampirs before, but he had never met one as strong as her. And the taste of her blood confused him the most. He knew each vampire could be traced back to one of the Original Six. Even with the generations placed between them and the source—diluting the once pure blood—the telltale taste was still there. This woman… the blood within her spoke of Jharell and Gysai. How could she be a product of both lineages? She wasn’t a normal dhampir.
Arden called out to Nicholas with his mind. The order simply told him that they needed to leave. The rain, added with the dhampir’s warning, were too many red flags telling him to back off. He had to trust his instinct. Someone else was watching them this night.

In the back of the van, Jayda was ripped from her sleep as she heard the side doors open. The vampire laid the body of a woman on the floor next to the cargo containers. The woman was pale, her light, red hair drenched from the rain and covered her face like netting. Jayda stared at her, not even blinking as the doors shut. She heard Arden speaking to Nicholas outside, their words lost among the heavy rain striking the van’s roof .
The front doors opened as they climbed inside. Nicholas picked up on the new scent and looked in the back.
“Who is she?” he asked.
“Get us out of here,” demanded Arden. Jayda actually heard something else within his voice. It wasn’t anger but fear. Did something actually spook him? What on this planet had the power to frighten him?
Jayda stared at the woman again as the van started to move. She looked dead. Touching the woman’s face, she felt the warmth still within her and nothing else. No crackling of images dared to surface or any sense of who she was. Her odd ability had a known habit of only working when it wanted to. But the torrent of images she saw within Nicholas’ house, she had never experienced anything that strong before.
Jayda sat back, eyes still on the woman. What was so special about her that kept Arden from killing her? Could she be like me? The thought was comforting.

Who in the hell parked their elephant on my head? And why do I keep seeing green, smoky dragons? I want a slice of cheese pizza.
Blood loss affected most people the same way. Lori, on the other hand, knew that any severe loss would force her body into a defensive sleep. As the sleep deepened, her mind would be the next thing to lock itself away.
She envisioned her attacker as a giant, black bird, wrapping its wings around her and its beak slicing through her flesh, feasting on every morsel. She was at his mercy. He could easily kill her—removal of her heart or head. Unlike her father’s kind, her body wasn’t as resilient. A part of her, blurred within her linage, was her humanity. As much as she tried to squash its presence, she could feel it festering within like a sore brimming with maggots.
The elephant caught scent of some peanuts and lumbered away from Lori’s head to find them. The green, smoky dragons, however, continued to swirl about, their hissing becoming rasps of words.
“Who is she?” one dragon asked.
“I don’t know,” replied the other dragon, his voice deeper than his buddy.
“Let’s get her inside.”
The dragons wisped around her, their touch like thin velvet, and carried her through the darkness. Pops and rattling hissed around her as well, bringing with them flashes of light. Another wisp of smoke came into view, this one a radiant orange and in the form of a phoenix. The creature’s voice moved from her in a cascade of blue—caring and serene. The dragons hissed at this one, telling her to wait in her cage. In a fluster of orange the phoenix disappeared into the darkness.
The touch of the dragons left Lori as she felt her body falling to rest on a sea floor, her slow impact stirring up the soft, sandy bottom. Around her the dragons continued to churn within themselves, their hollow eyes watching her.
“You took too much,” one dragon commented.
The second dragon—the frightening dragon—moved over Lori, its form melting into a thick cloud, blocking out everything she once saw. The wisps from the cloud opened her mouth and began to slid itself inside. From a massless form, the invading cloud grew heavy and thick, awaking her sense of taste, and this was a taste she knew. Blood. Vampire’s blood. Vampire?
A shattering jolt of lightning ripped through Lori’s mind, waking her fully as she sat up in the bed, her hands pushing the vampire away. The vampire’s hands returned to her, forcing her back to the bed, his weight on her shoulders.
Lori’s wild eyes searched her new surroundings. The vampire she once fought on the roof sat on top of her, straddling her waist, his grip like stone. Another person stood beside the bed with his arms crossed over his chest, watching her. His lack of compassion was as absent as the vampire’s. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Just answer their questions. You can ask yours later. “Lori,” she replied.
“Who was waiting for us?”
Lori glanced at the vampire still holding her down. As her eyes met his, she looked away and answered. “The Brotherhood of Osiris.”
“Who are they?”
The vampire above her spoke. “I’ve heard of them. They’re an old society of necromancers.”
“Why were they after us?” the werewolf continued to press.
Squirming underneath the vampire’s grip, Lori tried to roll onto her side, away from him. The vampire reaffirmed his hold as his hand went under her jaw, keeping her eyes on them.
“Tell us,” demanded the werewolf.
Lori’s body softened as she gave in. Okay, enough playing around. “I think it was their plan to add you both to their collection,” she choked out.
A look of confusion found the werewolf. “How do you know this?”
“Because I was one of their little projects.”
“And you happened to be there tonight by chance?”
The skepticism was caked within his words and body language. The CliffsNotes of her story would have to do for now.
“I was captured by them six years ago,” she began. “They tried to control me and exploit what I am. A lot of their tactics involve brainwashing and drugs. They strip away who you are to make you into the perfect subject; obedient to the end. I refused to yield to their program. And that was enough to stamp my file with the big, red word ‘Termination’. Before my body could be burned, a cleaning lady snuck me out of that place. I stayed with her while I healed and she told me all she knew about The Brotherhood.”
The confusion left the werewolf’s face as he went back over her words. “Why did they want you?”
Lori wasn’t sure how to answer him. Telling them the truth about The Brotherhood was one thing, but to explain her history to them now? She didn’t even know where to begin or how she should hide the truth.
“She’s a dhampir,” the vampire answered as he removed his hand from her neck. “A half-breed.”
The werewolf shot him a puzzled look. “Is that even possible?”
“Offspring of a male vampire and a female human,” he explained, sitting back, his eyes still on her. “It’s possible, but rare. They are abominations that are hunted down and killed.”
Lori finally turned her head away from them and spoke. “You can’t keep me here.”
“You haven’t told us everything you know,” the werewolf replied. “We’re not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about. We can continue this later after you have some time to rest.”
Closing her eyes, Lori listened to the werewolf’s footsteps as he headed for the door. The sound of his shoes striking the hardwood floor, added with the hidden inflection in his voice, told her of the stress he was under. She then heard him open the door and call out to the vampire.
“Arden, leave her. She’s not going anywhere.”
“I wish to speak with her alone.”
The werewolf took in a deep breath. “Fine. But remember what I promised; we’re not going to harm her.”
“Don’t worry. It’s only words.”
As the door closed, Lori felt the weight of the vampire leave her and the bed. Her stomach knotted as she heard him locking the door. She sensed him standing at the foot of the bed, her body now feeling the weight of his eyes.
“Who are your parents?” he asked.
Lori didn’t answer. She kept her eyes closed and wrapped her arms around her head, shielding herself from his stares. She felt like a spoiled child refusing to own up to the mess they created.
Arden continued to speak. “I, unlike Nicholas, am not interested in The Brotherhood. Your parents, who are they?”
“My mother…” Her voice gave out in the wake of uncertainty. Don’t tell him. “My mother’s name was Robin Carrick. My father’s name is Jared Carrick.” Half-truths, that’s all he needs to know.
“When and where were you born?”
Lori picked out a date and city she used in her previous life six years ago. “I was born twenty years ago on November 5th, in Vancouver. Would you like to know my shoe size, as well?”
“Who is your father’s sire?”
“Outside of a name, I know nothing about my father.”
“Yet you know he is alive.”
Shit, she scolded herself. What to say, what to say… “I saw him eight years ago. So yeah, he’s still out there.” She finally opened her eyes and looked at him. “I know what guardians are capable of, so my protection lays with one question; Who do you belong to?”
He tilted his head at the direct question. “Dhampirs avoid havens. How do you know what I am?”
“Clothing is a status symbol across all cultures. But which master you serve is my question.”
“Nauvia,” he said without hesitation.
“The Indian Princess,” Lori scoffed. The thoughtless remark struck a nerve within the vampire. She quickly backtracked as she sat up in the bed. “I do my research. It’s not based on any personal feelings, really. I wanted to know more about my father’s side of the family. I also learned about the role of guardians and that I needed to steer clear of them. It’s your job to kill my kind as well as protect the haven you’re assigned to.”
“I’m not really sure what you are,” he admitted. “Dhampirs don’t have fangs.”
“Dhampirs aren’t suppose to exist in the first place, right? Variations of the anomaly, so to speak. Can I trust your loyalty to Nicholas that you won’t harm me?”
“I obey him when I please. But I still don’t know what you are, therefore my judgment must wait.”
Not yet. String him along for now. Lori swallowed at the fake lump forming in her throat. “I won’t run. You have my word.”
The vampire loomed over the foot of the bed for a few passing moments, reading the fear within the young woman. She was telling the truth. Deceit was an easy trait for him to sense within others. This woman’s fear would keep her compliant.
Swirling within a sea of self-made hysteria, Lori watched as the vampire left the room, leaving the door unlocked. Keeping up the facade she jumped up from the bed and locked the door, then let out a sigh as the unneeded tension left her body.
You still have the upper hand. Let them believe they need you.