She nodded, looking pleased. “Smart. It might take both of you to bring him down.”
The mention of the vampire royal family had me nervous. They were powerful, strong, and freaking scary. They also raped and murdered women like it was a hobby. One of our most valuable vampire hunter society members was the Spokane City chief of police. Chief Baker helped make the kill list and passed it down to Maz. He saw the human bodies, drained of blood, prick marks on their neck, positive rape kits. He saw all the ugly and tipped us to who the demon perps were. If this douchebag had killed some innocent chick, then I was bringing his head back.Tonight.
After I left Maz’s office, I grabbed my food from Kenzley—a yummy breakfast burrito with extra sausage—then took the elevator to my shared apartment with Liv.
She was off tonight, but she’d never pass up twenty-five grand and a chance to bring down Drake royalty. As a part of our training we’d seen pictures of and memorized the entire royal family line … and that was saying a lot considering there were over a hundred of them. They bred like freaking rabbits.
Using my key, I entered our apartment and grinned when I saw my bestie on the couch, surrounded by popcorn, brownies, ice cream, and candy. She was watching some romantic comedy on TV and crying. Liv was three-days post breakup with douchebag Vasquez, and clearly not handling it as well as I thought.
“Hey, how are you?” I approached the couch with caution. One ice cream container was already empty and on the floor, and I was regretting my decision to take her with me tonight. Maybe she wasn’t ready to go back to hunting yet.
She looked up at me and wiped at her eyes. “I’m good. I’ve decided to become a lesbian.”
I forced myself not to smile, and instead pretended to take her seriously. “Okay.” I’d known Liv since she was a day old; we grew up in the order’s orphanage together. She was straighter than an arrow.
She paused the movie and sat up, looking feral. Her black hair was kinky and unbrushed, flying about her head like a lion’s mane. She glared at me with her honey hazel eyes. “Because women aren’t cheating, lying, dirtbags who think with their dicks!” she roared.
Ouch. She was definitely in the anger phase of grieving.
“True,” I agreed, shoving the last bite of my burrito down my throat. I’d need to shower and change into something super slutty if I was going to Bang and posing as a feeder.
“If Vasquez—” she said his name like it was poison “—wants to screw half the hunters here, then so be it! I’ll screw the other half! Including the women. Takethat!”
This was worse than I thought. Liv and I were both virgins, as outlined in the strict moral code of conduct for female hunters that we adhered to, so I didn’t think she was going to go and bang half the hunter squad anytime soon. “You wanna go hunting?” I hedged, “Take out your rage on a member of the vampire royalty?” I tried to switch gears and bring her out of this depression.
Pure joy spread across her face and she grinned, showcasing the dimple in her left cheek. “Yes!”
Liv was passionate, and turning that passion into rage would help tonight. “Get dressed. We’re going into Bang as feeders.”
“Think there’s time to slash Vasquez’s tires on the way out?” She raised an eyebrow.
Damn, he really screwed her over. I’d have to have a little talk with him later.
“Maybe later,” I lied.
And with that we got ready for one of the most high profile kills of my career. If I brought back the head of a Drake, Maz would surely make me a senior hunter.
Chapter Two
Music pouredout onto the street as I parked my baby yellow 1967 VW Beetle right in front of Bang. I preferred to hunt a mark in the middle of the day while they slept in their home, but sometimes you didn’t have that luxury. The royal family had multiple secret hideouts and offices, much like our society, and tagging one of them usually meant the kill needed to be in public. Public kills meant you couldn’t take as many weapons. Liv and I had only packed one six-inch, thin hunting stake each, which we’d tucked into our knee-high boots, and one silver razor wire which would take a vampire’s head clean off. That was tucked into the side of my barely-there skirt. Because the vampire’s body started to disintegrate right after you killed it, the razor wire was coated in a special serum to preserve the head for identification.
As a failsafe, I had stakes built into the heels of my stilettos, I only needed to uncap them.
Luka Drake was going down tonight.
Supernaturals had been around since the dawn of time, and Maz and her family had been tracking vampires and killing them for generations. If a werewolf or witch or any of the other supernaturals got out of line, it was up to the other hunter houses to take care of them. House of Rose was strictly a vampire hunting house, and I was proud to be a part of it. We were God-ordained to expunge the demons from this earth and protect human life at any cost.
In order for a vampire to pick you as a feeder, you needed to basically be dressed as a prostitute. My plan was to hopefully get picked as Luka Drake’s feeder and just kill him in the feeding room, but if that didn’t work, I had plan B and C lined up.
My purse had the little waterproof, lined burlap sack we’d use to transport the head to Maz after the kill; it was shoved inside, folded into a tiny ball. This was minimal hunting at its finest, though I still longed for my well-equipped hunter duffle bag with all of its fancy crossbows and metal spikes.
When Liv and I stepped out of my car, every male’s head turned in our direction, causing Liv to smile. She loved that kind of attention. I, however, wanted to shrink into a ball and disappear. I didn’t like skeezy men staring at my bare legs.
We waited impatiently in the long line, and finally got in after forty-five minutes. I didn’t want to tip any suspicions by pulling strings to get on the list. Vampires were very aware of hunters and how well connected we were. Anything like that might blow our cover. Liv and I had just turned nineteen, only two months apart, but we had the best fake ID that money could buy, so tonight we were twenty-two.
Once we made it inside, I was assaulted with loud music and flashing lights. The bass thumped across my chest as a frantic rhythm echoed across the dancefloor and we beelined it for the VIP section. Because of vampires’ super sensitive hearing, I had to talk to Liv in code.
“If I find a guy and you can’t find me, just meet me at home, okay?”
