Chapter One
San Francisco, California
November, 2001
Something wasn't right.
I could sense it as soon as I stepped off the elevator. Something had been there, something that didn't belong. Something that had left behind an immense mark of evil. It sent a chill down my spine just sensing it. The imprint of energy on the atmosphere was one that I recognized, but just because I recognized it didn't mean I had ever gotten used to it.
Vampires.
I looked around to make sure there were no innocent pedestrians lurking about. When I saw that the coast was clear, I reached into my coat and pulled out a gun that had been totally concealed only moments before. Then I started off down the hallway, towards my apartment.
There were several reasons I could think of why vampires would seek out my place of residence, and none of them were reasons that I liked. The most obvious one was, of course, the fact that I was a vampire slayer. There had been a price on my head since the first day I entered the scene, and it had just kept getting bigger. There were several vampire assassins out there who had tried to take me out and collect the reward. Each one of those attempts had ended in the assassins turning to ash.
The other reason was one just as frightening. So much so that I kind of hoped it was just another vampire assassin, although I knew that no professional assassin would be so stupid as to leave the door open to where I could see that an intruder had been there. No, that left only one option. The vampires who had invaded my home and might possibly still be there were foot soldiers, either not very old or not very bright. Probably both. And they weren't there for me. They were there for Cassie.
Cassie Winterbourne was probably the second most dangerous person on the slayer scene; second only to me, of course. The reason she was so dangerous? She was my protege, the girl I had been training to take my place because I was ready to settle down and have a family. I had a nice, normal boyfriend who wanted to marry me, and I wanted out. I wanted to marry Brandon and have a small house in the suburbs and three kids and be a soccer mom. I was ready for it. So Cassie the orphan was living with me, training to be a slayer, taking lessons from the best.
And that made the vampires want to kill her almost as much as they wanted to kill me.
I crept up to the door and flatened against the wall on the hinged side. I held my gun to my chest, hoping I wouldn't have to use it. There was some small part of me--some small, stupid part--that prayed that Cassie had just stepped out and forgotten to close the door, that I would go in and find the apartment empty and in order, and then Cassie would come back and we would eat Chinese and watch old black and white movies and everything would be just fine.
Was I taking a trip down Fantasy Lane or what?
Slowly I reached out and opened the door. It made an annoying creaking sound. Why do all doors make that creaking sound when you don't want them to? Just as I expected, nothing jumped out at me. Nothing started attacking me, or shooting at me. The apartment was empty. No vampires. And no Cassie. Damn. I walked in and switched on the light. It looked like Cassie hadn't gone willingly. The apartment was in shambles. Atta girl. I slipped my gun back in its holster and got my cell phone. I was worried about Cassie, but I couldn't panic. If I paniced, I could get myself and Cassie killed, not to mention countless others.
I called Donovan Kelley, a fellow slayer. We actually worked together--we were part of an organization called The Legion, a group of professional slayers. Obviously. After three rings, Donovan answered.
"Talk to me."
"They've taken Cassie."
Short, sweet, and to the absolute point. That's me for you.
"We're on our way." Click. That was Donovan for you, too.
There wasn't anything I could do until the others got there except try to straighten up the apartment. That was easier said than done, though. The couch was in two halves, laying on opposite sides of the room. It looked like someone had put a foot through the television. The weapons hanging along the wall--just for show, I wouldn't put my real weapons on the wall for anything--were scattered about the room. Had someone been fooled by them, or had Cassie had to resort to using fake weapons to beat off her attackers? I shuddered thinking about what the fifteen year old might have gone through, and might still be going through.
I jumped and gave a small shriek when my phone started ringing. House phone, not cell phone. I was usually not jumpy at all, but having your surrogate child--for I did think of Cassie kind of like a daughter--stolen does bad things to you. I picked up the handset and gave myself a minute to calm down before answering. "Atrelic residence."
"Hey, babe! Glad I caught you at home."
I resisted the urge to sigh. Brandon Brooks was the reason I wanted out of the slayer business. I loved the guy to death, but I really couldn't deal with him right now. The only problem was, how was I supposed to explain Cassie's kidnapping to him? He didn't know I was a slayer, and I couldn't just come out and say, "Oh, by the way, Cassie's been abducted by a bunch of vampires who probably are using her as bait so they can kill me. Wanna go out on Saturday?" Yeah, like that was going to work.
"Hey, Brandon."
"What's wrong? You don't sound so hot."
What did I do? Did I tell him, about everything? Me being a slayer, and Cassie being kidnapped by vampires, and the whole bit? Or did I lie to the guy I loved to avoid confrontation?
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just feeling a little under the weather. Can I call you back tomorrow?"
Yeah, I'm a terrible person. I'll send him chocolate or something later.
"Sure, hun. Just get some rest. Love you."
"Love you, too."
"Don't forget about our date on Saturday." Click.
Just after I hung up the phone from talking with Brandon, the door to my apartment opened. In a flash my gun was out and pointed at my visitors, my finger on the trigger and ready to pull.
"Don't shoot, Kayla!" Donovan walked into the room, holding his own firearm, which was pointed straight at me. We may have been friends, but with The Legion survival came first, even if you had to sacrifice your friends to keep it. Maybe that was why we were such good friends--because we had that knowledge all the time that any one of us could die at the hands of the other at any moment.
I put up my gun, and Donovan did the same. Behind him came the others: Cassandra Black, Elle Harris, Vann Anderson, Nick Crow, Jay McMahon, and Seth Palladino. Together we made The Legion. Sounds incredibly Saturday morning cartoon, right? We even had nicknames for each other.
"Jesus, didn't go without a fight, did she?" Nick asked, looking around. He was from Kentucky and even after years of living in California he had never gotten the twang from his voice.
"Kayla taught her well," Vann said in that soft yet commanding voice of hers, giving me a slight nod. For Vann, giving someone a nod--even a slight one--was a sign of great respect, one I was honored to have.
"How are we going to get her back?" Seth, the newest addition to the team--newest addition meaning fully trained slayer here--asked.
"The vampires will ransom her," Donovan said.
"How can you be so sure?"
Just as the words came out of Seth's mouth, the phone rang. Donovan looked from the phone to me, and I picked up the phone without hesitation.
"Where is she, you fucker?"
Several pairs of eyes widened, but I didn't care. The person--or thing, rather--on the other end just laughed. "Hello to you, too, slayer."
That voice, though I had heard it many times before, sent chills down my spine every time. It was the voice of Mikhail, San Fran's master vampire. He had been sixteen or seventeen when he was turned. He should have been an awkward teen, not intimidating in the slightest, but almost a thousand years can change a lot about a person.
"Where have you taken her, Mikhail?" I hated the amount of pleading that I heard in my voice, but that couldn't be helped. I didn't know what I would do if something happened to Cassie.
"You remember where my lair is, slayer?" Mikhail's old voice asked. Sometimes he could sound like the child he was supposed to be, but other times, when he didn't expend his magic to make him appear beautiful and youthful, you could catch the age in him. It was most evident in his voice.
"How could I forget? I've hunted your people there."
If you want to piss off a master vampire, always be sure to mention the fact that you've murdered their people. That really gets them ticked.
"If you want to see the girl again, you'll come to my lair, and you'll come alone." Click. I was getting really fucking tired of people hanging up on me.
After putting up the phone for a second time since I had been home, I turned to see six pairs of eyes staring at me. "They've got her at the lair," I said. That was all I needed to say. We all knew that it was hours before dawn; if we waited, we would never make it in time. As bad as it was, if it had been one of us, things would have been different. But it was Cassie, and she was still technically an innocent. We just couldn't leave her in the monster's clutches.
"We'll go," Donovan said. "Seth and Jay, stay here with Kayla."
"Now hold on just a minute, Donovan!" I snapped. "Mikhail said for me to come alone--if he senses you, Cassie's as good as dead."
"You're too emotionally involved!" Donovan shouted back at me. "If you go, not only will you get Cassie killed, but you risk your own life as well!"
Vann stepped forward and put a hand on Donovan's arm. "We can all go," she told him. "Cassandra, Elle, and I will keep Kayla with us. She won't lose her focus. Isn't that right, Kayla?" I swallowed thickly. Vann could be very intimidating, especially in situations like these. I always wondered why Donovan was our unofficial leader, and not Vann. After all, Vann, Cassandra, and Elle were the original Legion--the oldest and most experienced. They had been doing this for so long that there were rumors floating around that they weren't even human anymore. Finally, I found the will to nod. She smiled, and you could practically see Donovan melt. He couldn't refuse Vann for anything.
