Megan watched as Gabriel fell back to sleep. She shook him. He mumbled and rolled over. She slipped from the bed and exited the apartment and left the door on the catch. She walked along the hallway and down the stairs. The lobby of the Towers was deadly silent. She heard footsteps.

"Kat, is that you?" she whispered. "Hello. Who's there?"

Alvin walked from the end of the hallway with the mop and bucket in his hand. He was surprised to see Megan, although his brain was a little foggy from the lack of sleep.

"What are you doing up again?" he asked.

Megan squinted her eyes. "A migraine. I need to find some pills."

"Maybe the kitchen. Follow me. I've now finished cleaning that mess up, shocking, that's what it is. God knows who did it." Megan tutted and followed Alvin.

God might not know who did it… but I do. It was me. A good sex session always makes me very, very hungry.

"Have a look around. I'll be out back, slopping this bucket out," he said as he propped the door to the yard open. Megan quickly glanced from the door. Alvin was stood by the drain at the far side of the yard. She pulled open the drawers. She needed to find some pills, and also a— Megan was interrupted by Kat. A knife was the other thing.

"What the hell are you doing in here? I said to meet me downstairs," Megan whispered.

"No need to be snotty. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't be able to get Kelvin's blood."

"Why don’t ya shut your damned mouth and get in the basement. Alvin's going to come back any second."

Kat sighed and made her way from the kitchen. Megan found a small bottle of aspirin. Alvin walked back in through the door and closed it. "You find any—” He smiled at her. "I'm gonna head off before I get a headache of my own."

"Thanks!" Megan said as she walked along with Alvin. He was tired and he hadn't noticed the carving knife that Megan now held in her hand. "Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams," he replied.

You have no idea how sweet mine are.

Megan waited until she heard the catch click on the other side of the door. She dropped the pills in the pocket of her robe and slid the knife up her sleeve. She descended the stairs. Her heightened senses listened and smelled the air. Ever since the tall, blue-eyed character had turned her, she had been different. As Gabriel said, she seemed like a different woman.

I am a different woman, a much better woman in every way, and soon it will be like that… forever."

She walked past the freezer room. She heard the faint hum of the freezers that were no longer full of meat for the pack. They now stood emptied as the humans possessed no need for freshly-killed wildlife. They had fridges of their own.

Megan's attention was grabbed by the shadow that moved in the basement. She readied her hand and felt the cold steel of the carving knife rest against her forearm. She pushed the door with her free hand.

"Megan, you have come," Kat said.

"We don't have long. It's nearly time, and I’m sure they’ll see we aren’t there," Megan added.

"What will we tell everyone?"

"I have my excuse, already. I have said that I’m having bad migraines. I'm not sure what you’re going to come up with!" Her words were piercing.

"Thanks a bunch. If he were here, he wouldn’t take too kindly to that tone," Kat replied, using a tone of her own.

"Well he isn't, and who do you think sent me here?"

"It was the same for me. He told me he had a special job I needed to do," Kat commented.

"Yeah! And you haven't done it, have you?"

"How was I going to know that Kelvin wouldn't let me into the meetings with them? I did everything else he asked. I ripped my shoulder to bits with my own fingernails to make it look real."

"That was the easy part. You were supposed to drug him and get his blood without them knowing. Now they’re on full alert." Megan stormed around the basement. She looked at the narrow window at roof height. The sun poked its head over the buildings that were opposite. Beams of first light shone into the sky. Soon they would angle down, and she’d have to make sure she was out of the sun’s rays to prevent death. "He has tasked me with an extraordinary job to make sure they’re none-the-wiser about what’s going on. He chose you as a diversion, and nothing more."

"I don't believe you, he wouldn't do that to me. He said I was his special one."

Megan threw her head back and laughed. She backed Kat against the wall and ran her hand over her shoulder. "How naive of you, my darling. Did you not know it was me who told him to tell you that?"

Kat tried to push away from the wall. Megan pinned her around the throat. "Let me go. I’ll tell Kelvin what has happened, it's all been a big mistake." Megan laughed again. It had been a mistake, a huge one on Kat's behalf.

Megan leaned forward and brushed the hair from Kat's neck. Her sensual brown skin was so inviting. She pulled at the robe, and her eyes fell over her cleavage as her chest heaved with seductive panic.

"Are you scared little rabbit?" Megan asked.

"A little, what are you going to do with me?"

Megan kissed Kat on her neck. She pushed the tip of her tongue against her skin and ran up her neck and across her cheek.

"Mmm, you taste good little rabbit. If we had longer, I would savor every last drop of you. I could take your body to places it has never been before."

"Mmph." Kat stifled her arousal. "What’re you going to do with me?"

Megan pushed her finger against Kat's lips. The steel of the blade slipped back toward her elbow. With her other hand, she slid it inside Kat's robe and stroked the silky-smooth skin of her inner thigh. Kat groaned and spread her legs as Megan brushed her fingers over Kat's most-private place.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

Megan shook her head and never uttered a word. Her inner vlad senses listened for the footsteps that would come. It would be soon. She needed to keep Kat unaware of what was happening. A sacrificial lamb to the slaughter. He’d told her what to do in the office, and there, deep in the mine. Take one of their own to safeguard the mission. Megan relished the task. It was all about timing. She had no intention of being found out, and especially not from a scared little rabbit, like Kat.

Megan flicked her tongue over Kat's lips. She felt them tremble. Kat arched her body and pushed her back away from the wall. Her breasts pushed against the baggy nightshirt she wore. Megan saw that Kat’s nipples had budded with excitement. Soon it would be time. She cocked her head to the side. Thud—thud—thud… she heard the noise from upstairs. A faint voice shouted. Megan heard Kat's name being called. It will be soon.

Her fingers pushed deeper into Kat as she groaned out with pleasure. Her eyes closed, and she tilted her head back. “Megan's gone,” she heard from the lobby.

They were coming. She dropped her arm. The knife slipped down the sleeve of her robe. The blade edge brushed against her fingers as she fumbled for the handle. She started to raise her arm while she waited for the footsteps outside the basement door.

"Hey Kat," Megan whispered, seductively.

Kat opened her eyes. "Yeah!" she replied, grinding her hips against the palm of Megan's hand.

"You wanna give me something?"

"Oh—okay, tell me what I can give you."

Megan raised the tip of the knife under Kat's chin. "A kiss before dying."

* * *

Dustin made his way to the rear yard and checked the van. They had a long drive ahead of them to put some miles between them and the vlads, before sunset. He wanted to make sure there was no chance of a breakdown, regardless of the fact he’d already given the vehicle a final check, and on several occasions. It was a simple thing he’d learned in the forces, and it was beaten into new recruits. You can never be too prepared.

He looked at the sky. It looked like it was going to be a good day.

As he turned back to the van, he heard a bang from up above him. Kelvin hammered his fists on the glass. Dustin shrugged his shoulders and pointed to his ear. Kelvin got the message. Dustin couldn't hear what Kelvin was shouting. Kelvin tugged at the window frame. He gestured it was stuck solid. He vanished from view.

Minutes later, he appeared at the back door of the Towers. He panted. "Kat's missing."

Dustin closed the door to the van and jogged to the rear steps. They walked briskly to the lobby as Gabriel and Maria descended the stairs.

"Megan's gone missing," Gabriel called over the handrail.

"You don't think they’ve been killed, do you?" Kelvin said.

"Didn't you notice she’d gone?" Gabriel asked in a derogatory tone.

"Fuck you Gab, didn't you know Megan had gone?"

"Boys, will you calm down! Anything could’ve happened," Maria said.

Dustin checked the bolts on the entrance. They were bolted from the inside, so no one could have left the building. He had been working in the rear yard before daybreak, and no one sneaked past him there. They looked at each other. The only place they could’ve gone was downstairs.

Alvin walked from his apartment. His jet-black hair looked ruffled as he rubbed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Kat and Megan have gone missing," Maria remarked.

"I saw Megan a while ago. She said she had a really bad migraine and wanted some pills, or something. I told her there might be some in the kitchen."

"Did you go with her?" Maria asked.

"Nah! I was on my way to bed. I'd swilled the mop bucket as she looked in the kitchen for a bottle of headache pills."

"Downstairs, they’ve got to be there."

They quickly descended the stairs to the basement. Voices could be heard as they approached the double-doors. Gabriel kicked them open.

Megan pushed Kat and pinned her against the wall in her wolf form. "Take that bitch,” she yelled as she pushed the kitchen knife through Kat's throat and into the base of her skull. Kat's body fell to the floor in a heap as she tried to howl.

Kelvin stood, shocked.

"Kat was a vlad?" he yelled. "How fucking stupid of me."

"How stupid of us, you mean," Gabriel commented.

Megan stepped away from the limp body as Kat's remains changed back to her human form. She wiped her hands on her robe as she walked back to Gabriel. She waited for the questions to start. Gabriel put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the top of her head.

"How did you end up down here?" he asked.

"By accident.” Megan made sure she didn't look up. “I went to the kitchen for tablets. My migraine was killing me. I saw Alvin. You can ask him. I sat and drank a glass of water, and I heard a noise from down here. I picked the knife up and followed the noise… and Kat was in her wolf form. I think it was her who killed that wolf in the apartment."

Gabriel pulled her close as Kelvin stood over the dead body. "Good riddance, that's all I can say. I understand now, I understand why she appeared to be poisoned. She had all the equipment she needed to drain my blood. Maybe if she’d been in our meetings, things might’ve ended up different. Worse."

Dustin grabbed a blanket and covered Kat's body. Alvin said he’d take care of it later. He turned. "How did you overcome her and manage to pin her against the wall?" he asked.

Megan finally lifted her head. "I was a hunter, don't forget. I have my ways."

"It's true," Gabriel butted in.

The pack had previously been up against Megan, who had stood at Noelle's side on more than a few occasions. They walked from the basement. The large clock on the lobby wall chimed seven.

"We better get going," Dustin said. "We are in daylight now, so we’re safe."

Maria headed toward the staircase and called behind her. She said everyone needed to shower and grab all their gear. They would reconvene at eight, in the kitchen.

Gabriel walked back to the apartment with Megan hanging on his arm. “The moment has finally come," he said as he closed the door behind them.

"It's the moment you've been waiting for," she replied.

"I'm gonna hit the shower," Gabriel said. "You gonna join me?"

"Nah. I'm going to rest my eyes for a moment. I still have this splitting migraine." Gabriel closed the bathroom door. Megan picked up her cell and typed a text.

Kat's dead. They fell for it. Now I have to get into the van with them. Almost there…

Megan kept her eye on the bathroom door. She listened for the water to stop. It didn't.

Her cell vibrated in her hand. She opened the text message.

She read it. Well done, my dear, I did say I had a particular job for you. We will see each other soon in New Orleans.

XXX.

Sanders.

Megan smiled. She deleted the messages. She sat on the couch. Happily, she closed her eyes and waited for the shower.

Eight o'clock arrived, and the kitchen was filled with backpacks. Dustin and Kelvin walked back and forth as they loaded the van. He climbed into the driver seat and started the engine up with a medium roar. Kelvin jumped into the passenger seat as Maria made her way across the yard and climbed into the side door.

Gabriel turned to Megan. "It was great seeing you again, and maybe when I get back we can catch up again?" he said.

"Are you kidding me? You know this is a sign, right?" Megan replied.

"I know, but I have to go."

"That's okay, because I'm coming with you."

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts, make sure you keep me out of the sun," Megan added as she pulled on her shades and wrapped her head in a scarf. "These migraines can be a real killer."

“Aw, I hope it gets better soon,” said Gabriel, rubbing her back to comfort her.

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer."