CHAPTER ONE

“Now?”

“Not yet.”

That was the only conversation that happened between Raz and his comrade in the last hour—not that it was much of a conversation to begin with, and not that Vladimir could exactly be considered an equal comrade. More like a higher-up, really. Vladimir was the vampire clan’s first-in-line, aka the one who would take over in case anything happened to their clan leader, Lucinda. Raz was the second-in-line, meaning he was the go-to-guy when both the leader and the first candidate were no longer around or otherwise unavailable.

It was a prospect he didn’t even want to think about. Unlike most vampires, he wasn’t that power-hungry, though there was no denying that Raz liked power. However, he liked the position he was in, following orders when need be, and doing whatever he pleased the rest of the time but had no intentions of moving up in the ranks.

Tonight’s mission was spying, with Vladimir taking the lead. They’d been on enough missions to last a lifetime, from spying on an important figure from the enemy camp or ridding the world of rogues, aka vampires who lost touch with their humanity and control and turned into monsters.

But missions together were rare. Only really important missions warranted the participation of both the first-in-line and the second-in-line, and apparently, this one was considered important.

There were others with them, of course. There was Michael Thomason, who was one of the few vampires who dedicated his life to becoming a soldier for the clan and had been honed throughout the years. There was Wilson Matt, who was a rookie and was tagging along on this mission to experience more. Then there was Finn Jackles, who was flying somewhere in the sky in his dragon form and waiting on standby. Finn was basically the only shifter that their clan trusted to help out on a mission like this, considering the vampire clan leader herself was his mate.

Raz didn’t get that, not really. He never could figure out how any vampire could be attracted to and even love those that weren’t in the same league as them. He himself planned to partner up with a fellow vampire in the future, one who was powerful enough to help him maintain his position.

He glanced to the side, where he found Vladimir kneeling quietly. He supposed the same couldn’t be said about the first-in-line—but then again, nothing was certain with Vladimir. While he tolerated other creatures more than Raz did, he was also the type of vampire who didn’t tolerate much of anything else, wanting swift, harsh punishments for anyone who fell out of line. Raz knew it had to do with Vladimir being a cold-blooded assassin before he’d been bitten, toughening him up.

As for Raz, he’d been a wealthy heir of a business empire before he messed with the wrong vampire businessman and got bitten as revenge. That was years ago, in another life.

Beside them, Wilson visibly perked up, making Raz frown. Sudden movements like these could be costly, and he was going to have to admonish the rookie when this was all done. He turned his gaze to where Wilson was looking and found two men going in the castle they’d been watching for a good two hours now. More men went in, indicating that these people slacked off in their guarding past midnight.

Perfect.

As if on cue, Vladimir raised five fingers. Wilson perked up again, while Raz and Michael merely watched the movements. They’d already discussed how they were going to infiltrate the area earlier and rescue the vampire heads trapped inside by forces that were more demon than anything, and once was enough. They watched as Vladimir’s fingers slowly started disappearing until only one was left behind.

Somewhere, somehow, he knew Finn was watching from the sky, too. The man had the most fantastic eyesight for a non-vampire.

Vladimir’s last finger disappeared. In unison, they all silently filed away from their positions—Michael from behind a tree, Wilson from the tall grassy area. Vladimir nodded once at Raz, his dark features serious and already in the zone before he disappeared. Then it was Raz’s turn, watching as they stayed still in their new positions before he stood up from his and walked straight towards the castle gates.

He thought he would need to make some kind of commotion, but it looked like the men had some kind of detection device as they slowly slipped out once he was within a few meters from the gate. Raz let his lips form into a smile, one that was harmless and friendly.

“Good evening, gentlemen. I come in peace and would like to talk to the one in charge.”

His tone was deliberately pleasant. Meant to give a false sense of security, and he added to that by holding out his hands to show them he had no weapon with him. The men—guards—weren’t fooled, as they looked at his raised hands before looking at each other.

But it didn’t matter.

In a split second, the first man’s head was suddenly dislocated from his shoulders, a sharp move that removed it clean and made the head roll to the grass quietly. Blood bloomed on the second man’s chest, and he was dropping to the ground with barely a grunt.

Raz looked at the mess, wrinkling his nose at Vladimir’s work. More men came out, but they were suddenly being plucked into the air and dropped from a rather high height. Right. The dragon shifter was at work. Raz didn’t waste any time, slipping into the castle and facing more men as they came, shouting now, with weapons in hand—swords. Raz graced them all with a nod before doing what he did best—killing without making too much of a mess.

He had some vampires to save.

*****

It wasn’t until they were already inside and taking the last vampire prisoners out that something went horribly, crazily wrong.

It started with Wilson dying—something that Raz could have prevented, except he was too busy staring at the murderer and trying to figure what on earth made said murderer do it.

Michael stared back, his usually calm demeanor holding one of determination now. He shook his head, holding out his fisted hand in the air as he did so.

“I’ve got a secret, and Lucinda wants it,” he said. “She can’t have it.”

Raz tilted his head, not daring to ask what it was. He kept staring at Michael, who was backing against one of the cells where some vampire council members were still held captive by some sort of demon magic. In a blur, Michael opened his hand, and it was only then that Raz realized what was in it.

The bomb exploded just as Raz made his move to attack. It rang in his ears and had him flying through the air, inwardly cursing when he landed on his back. He felt his skin burning and the excruciating pain that followed, then watched as Vladimir’s face hovered above him and asked what the hell was going on.

“Michael,” Raz grunted shortly before he felt his eyes closing.

When Raz woke up, he was already at vampire headquarters, and they’d lost a total of five council members, plus Wilson and Michael. All the men in the castle were dead, hired helpers trained to kill by a demon that wasn’t present itself. Some demons were too thirsty for power without bounds, and he knew this wouldn’t be the last kidnapping to happen.

Raz looked at the burn marks on his skin, now faint, figuring he’d slept for only a good few hours as they hadn’t fully healed yet. He let himself rest, waiting for the call from his master.

It arrived nearly two hours later, and by that time he barely had any marks on him. Raz faced his master and Vladimir calmly, the latter looking at him with an unreadable gaze. But he didn’t speak, and it was Lucinda who leaned forward, golden blonde hair flowing forward as she did.

“Can you please in detail explain to me everything that happened?”

Raz nodded. Then Raz began to explain what he witnessed and when things had taken a turn for the worst, keeping his eyes on her especially when he got to the part of Michael mentioning about Lucinda wanting his secret. The vampire leader didn’t flinch, merely nodding her head until Raz got to the end.

“You and Michael have been on missions together before,” Vladimir intoned, no hint of malice in it. “Has he shown this side of him in the past?”

That was the puzzling thing. Raz knew Michael—enough to know the guy, despite being a tad bit too serious, was generally a good guy, or so he thought. He also knew as much as anyone who’d been in the vampire clan for long that Lucinda wasn’t merciless.

What kind of secret warranted him to take his own life like that?

Raz shook his head. “He hasn’t. And I apologize, Lucinda, for not stopping him sooner. His stunt shouldn’t have cost us so many lives.”

His hesitation did that, too—something he was well aware Lucinda knew. But instead of admonishing him directly, the vampire leader leaned forward again.

“I want you to find out what Michael’s secret is. If he was that desperate to hide it, it must be something bad for the clan. Can you do that for me?”

It was a clean break. It was basically an out, and if he did a really good job, Raz’s place as second-in-line would be cemented with no question.

But if he failed…the consequences were high.

He looked at Vladimir once more, who had the faint markings of a frown on his mouth. Obviously, the man disapproved. But Lucinda had the only say in the matter, and Raz turned his full attention to the female leader now.

He bowed.

“Of course. Consider it done.”

He was going to find out that secret even if it was the last thing he did.