13

here are three of them,” Pax said to Alex. He stood in the underbelly of the SEVEN headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The building itself acted under the guise of a warehouse and factory, but its real purpose was hidden underneath. The headquarters was the first under the title of SEVEN to be established. Launched in 1908, the building had undergone many changes. The most recent came in the 1970s. While masquerading as a complete overhaul to the factory, Alex ordered a redesign of the facility. New sections where added on, going further underground than before, and a new exit was also added. This tunnel went underneath the property and ended in the nearby woods. It was Alex’s dream to set up all future headquarters with a similar design.
Pax, on the other hand, didn’t give the building’s design much thought. It looked outdated and cumbersome to him, reminiscent of an old hospital. He even hated to brush up against the walls in fear of lead paint. Now the headquarters in Los Angeles he loved. Though it could be argued that he was biased, since it was the first place he worked at when SEVEN came knocking. But this place… even though it was the first of many, the place needed a major overhaul.
“None are talking,” continued Pax, looking through the folders.
Alex waited patiently before the hunter. He still wore his coat, its fabric cool from the evening air he just left. He began to remove his gloves as Pax flipped through one of the folders.
“Oh, and one just happens to be a pureblood. But he seems pretty much domesticated.”
“And the others?” asked Alex, pulling on his reading glasses to take a look at the wolf’s folder.
“From the information we gathered at the house, the two humans are siblings. Apparently there was someone else. We believe he acted as the getaway driver for Gabriel.”
His eyes lifted. “And Evonne?”
“There’s no sign on her. She may not be with him.”
Alex took off his glasses and handed the folder back to Pax. “I want to speak with them.”
“Oh!” Pax remembered. “There’s something else. They’re amateur hunters. From what we saw, they’re werewolf hunters. And another thing; the humans have been fed on recently.”
“I’ll talk to the wolf first. You pick one and start there.”
Agreeing, Pax led his boss to the room holding the werewolf. The room, nothing more than their version of an interrogation room, was average size and held a single table and two chairs. Two hunters stood by either wall, rifles in hand, loaded with tranquilizers.
The wolf sat in the chair, locked away in his human form. Around his neck was one of the many tools SEVEN used to keep their werewolf guests from changing forms. The silver collar looked to be a size too large, but the real secret rested inside. A series of sharp spikes pointed inward, each one pressed tightly against the neck. The wolf that now sat in the chair already shown signs of a struggle. Blood ran down several small punctures on his neck and onto the simple, white shirt he wore. Even swallowing looked painful for him.
The chain from the collar attached to the shackles on his hands, and then to the chair in which he sat. It all seemed a little too overcautious, but the hunters here knew better than to be fooled by a wolf deemed “domesticated.”
“Good news,” Pax said upon entering. “My boss has descended from on high to speak with you.”
The kid looked up to see another man enter.
Pax plopped a folder onto the table and smiled. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.” He left the room.
As the door shut, Alex picked up the folder, pretending to show interest in its contents. “It says here that your name is Adrian.” He thumbed through more of the papers, before closing the folder and dropping it back to the table. “Tell me, Adrian. What are your goals in life?”
The wolf stared at him, mockingly with his human eyes. “To be the manager of Dairy Queen.”
A small hint of amusement left Alex. He removed his coat and draped it over the back of his chair. He sat down, hands on the table with his fingers intertwined. “I see we have to take this slow.”

Pax entered another interrogation room. Unlike the other room containing the wolf, there were no other hunters, guards, or shackles. Just a human sitting at a table.
“Melissa May Mathews,” he said, slapping the folder onto the table. “Mmm, mmm, good.” He pulled out the empty chair to sit down. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. I hate this part of my job.”
“Then quit,” she said as coldly as she could.
“Can’t. The pay is too good.” He leaned back in the chair, tapping his fingers on the table. “Plus, I can kill all the werewolves and vampires I want. But you,” he said, looking her over, “playing with your homemade toys, are as human as they come. Well, not a ‘normal’ human, I suspect. You look like one of those vampire worshippers. Are you a vamp freak?” Pax watched her glare at him through the smudged, thick eyeliner. He continued on, explaining his point. “You know, those Goths who play with their pretend fangs, giving other Goth kids love bites? I see a lot of those freaks in my line of work.” He leaned forward, whispering, “But they have no idea about the real vampires out there.”
Melissa cocked her head to the side. “I’m sorry you have a problem with how I dress. It’s just that cardigans and Polo shirts are too darn expensive for me.”
“Typical defense mechanism.” He nodded once at her bandaged wrist. “That’s one hell of a mosquito bite.”
She slid her hands off the table and onto her lap.
“Gabriel seems to have many human sanctuaries across the States,” he said.
Her eyes turned cold. “Now that right there is a lie. We are his only ‘human sanctuary.’ ”
“Right, of course,” replied Pax, his voice saturated with sarcasm. “We’re SEVEN. What do we know?”
“Not a lot if it took you this long to find him at my house,” she taunted. She leaned forward, as well. “I know about your group here. I know about the shadows you lurk in. Seeking help from the police is out of the question for me.”
“Because?”
“You’ve infected the police.”
Pax smiled. “Excellent observation.”
“But my right to remain silent still stands. And you know what?”
“What?”
She sat back, arms crossed and lips tight.
Pax let out a sigh. “Right,” he said as he grabbed the folder. “Time to visit your brother.”

“No harm will come to you,” assured Alex, keeping his words calm. “All we ask is for your cooperation.”
Adrian almost laughed at his words. “Cooperation? That’s funny. Your hired goons should’ve said that to begin with.” He glanced down at the shackles. “But now, I don’t feel like cooperating.”
“Do you know who I am?”
He stared at him, debating whether or not to play his game. “You’re SEVEN. That’s all I need to know.”
“That’s where you are wrong. I don’t work for SEVEN. SEVEN answers to me.”
Moments passed as Adrian’s fatigued brain latched on to what he said. “You’re… Alexander The Great?”
Alex’s lip tightened upon hearing the nickname. “Call me Alex.”
“ ‘Tyrant’ sounds better.”
“Tell me about your recent guest.”
“Guests,” corrected Adrian.
Interested, Alex’s composure lifted. “And?”
Adrian grinned, seeing who truly had command of the conversation. “I’m not sure. My memory is fuzzy.”

“Taylor Bradley Mathews,” Pax introduced as he closed the door to the interrogation room on the far end of the long hallway. “You’re such a typical kid. Not like your sister at all.” He pulled the chair out from the table and sat down, new folder in hand. “So, let’s get down to business. Ever kiss a girl?”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed at the question. “What?”
“A girl. Ever kiss one? Or should I change it to boy?”
“What kind of question is that?”
Pax answered, showing a fake interest in the folder’s contents, “Just curious to see how far you and your joystick have gone.” His eyes rose to the boy. “Or do you still play alone in your room?”
Taylor looked at him oddly.
Pax closed the folder. “Your wrist. Let me see it.”
He hesitated as he extended his arm across the table.
Grabbing the hand, Pax slid up the long sleeve and removed the bandage. “Let me see the other.”
Taylor obeyed, rolling this sleeve himself. He laid both arms on the table, palm side up.
Pax looked over the old bite mark on the other wrist. “Why do you do it? What do you get in return?”
He shrugged. “Just helping friends.”
“Some friends. Nothing in return? No money?”
“Helping friends means expecting nothing in return.”
Baffled, Pax leaned back in his chair. “But it’s always nice to get something in return. At least that’s what your sister’s boyfriend, Derek, just told me.”
Taylor slid his arms from the table, visibly worried at the mentioning of the name.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” the hunter said, taking an interest in his own words. “We picked him up forty miles from your house. The Jeep was in pretty bad shape. But that’s to be expected when flipping it four times. Don’t worry. He’s only bruised.”
Taylor’s face skewed as he tried to read the hunter. “You’re bluffing.”
“Uhm, no. I’m pretty bad at bluffing. But what I really want to now is the whereabouts of his passengers, Gabriel and Evonne.”
“You’ll never find them,” he gloated.
The boy saw Pax’s exterior shift into something foreign. The hunter leaned in, gloating, as well. “Thank you, Taylor. That’s all I needed to hear.”

Alex remained relaxed in his seat. “I have all night, all day, and even months. Excluding full moons, of course.”
“I’ve always imagined meeting you,” Adrian truthfully admitted. “But every time I did, I imagined the fear I would feel. But you know what? My fear… for some reason I haven’t felt it yet.”
Reaching down, Alex removed the gun he kept concealed on his ankle holster. He placed the compact 9mm Beretta on the table and returned to his relaxed composure. “Don’t try and explain this away as some sort of scare tactic. We’ve disposed of rogues, such as yourself, all the time.”
“And your definition of a rogue?”
“A werewolf without a pack.”
“Not of my choosing,” Adrian defended, wanting to attack Alex’s definition.
“People go missing every day,” he vaguely threatened.
“Like your daughter?”
Alex let his guard down. “What do you know about her?”

Picking up the folder, Pax headed for the door. He had what he searched for in this little conversation.
Taylor spoke. “Aren’t you going to ask me about this one?” He rolled his sleeve up further, revealing bandage on the inside of his elbow. He removed the bandage. Another bite mark stared back, surrounded by bruised skin. “Gabriel prefers Melissa, while I was asked to feed his friend.”
Pax looked from the bite to the mocking expression on the boy’s face.
“Evonne tries to be so gentle,” he said, “but we all know the real strength she now carries.”
Eyes widening, Pax felt the full gravity of the words as they collided into him. Scrambling for the door’s handle, he tore from the room and ran down the hall.

“What do you know of Evonne?” Alex demanded, his voice raised.
Adrian kept his cool. “Let’s see… blonde hair, hazel eyes, and the interesting habit of drawing up her shoulders when she’s nervous. But the most endearing thing is how she hunts.”
Alex grabbed the gun and stood. The two hunters in the room readied themselves but kept their distance.
“You better choose your next words carefully,” warned Alex, aiming the gun, his grip tightening.
“Why should I? You came here looking for answers, and I don’t want to disappoint you.”
“The truth.”
Adrian paused, the tension in the room doubling. He didn’t know what drove him to this point. But all he wish for now, all the weapons he had, centered on making this bastard suffer. “The truth? The truth that she was the first to ever taste my blood and not shudder? Or that her blood was like nectar to me? Or that every day, as they ‘slept,’ I could sense Gabriel all over her? Take your pick.”
Alex squeezed the trigger.

As Pax neared the door, he heard the series of loud pops as a gun emptied. He stopped and waited. The door opened as Alex stepped out, his face void of emotion. Pax walked past him to see the boy’s slumped body in the chair, his eyes staring lifeless. The two hunters remained in the room, awaiting new orders.
Pax went back to Alex, frantically demanding, “What happened?”
Alex released the magazine and replaced it with a new one.
“Curse of the silver tongue,” he said lifelessly. “What did you find out?”
“Sir, I’m not sure right now is the appropriate—”
“What did you learn?” Alex almost shouted.
Pax took in a deep breath. “Evonne was with them. She escaped with Gabriel. Evonne… Evonne’s dead.”
Alex’s face grew lifeless, as well. He handed Pax the gun. “I need…” he began say but stopped in mid breath.
Helpless, Pax watched his boss walk down the hall. Taking in another deep breath, he went into the room. The hunters began to remove the silver collar and shackles from the wolf.
“Wait,” Pax called out. Something was off. He knelt by the boy’s body. Several tiny clanks came from the floor. Looking closer, Pax picked up a bullet covered in blood. The cheap metal of the spent round spoke clearly to him. He stood and released magazine from Alex’s gun. A slew of silver bullets sat ready for use.
Pax shook his head as a laugh left him. “Sneaky, old man.”
He slid the magazine into the gun and motioned to the werewolf. “Get him cleaned up and back in his cell.”