Chapter One
The sunset painted the sky in rich, golden tones above towering evergreens. The world seemed to be ready to settle in for a long night. A basket full of spring’s first flowers and herbs resting against her hip, Alice made her way down the foggy path towards her cottage, determined to reach home before day slipped completely into night. Pulling open the door to her small shop and home, she went inside and pulled her damp cloak from around her shoulders, allowing a cascade of curly chestnut hair to fall down around her shoulders.
“You were out an awfully long time,” a velvety voice drawled from the corner of the room. Sprawled out across a stack of books on Alice’s disorganized desk was a slender black and white cat, who stared back at her with a pair of bright yellow eyes. “I figured you would hurry home, what with the new moon tonight,” he continued, licking his paw with a nonchalant look on his face.
“If I was concerned with the townsfolk taking advantage of my temporary weakness I would have hurried, but since I no longer serve as a mercenary I am not worried. Thank you for your concern, Talon,” she said, setting her basket full of goodies on a table and starting to sort them out to let them dry.
Talon had been her companion for almost a hundred years. She had adopted him after finding him in the crumbled ruins of a town destroyed by one of the many warlords she had been hired to fight against. He had been just a kitten, and after so many years of exposure to magic he had not only gained immortality but a place at her side as a familiar. He was her dearest companion and, for the longest time, had been her only friend.
“I found a fantastic little flower patch just past that stream we came across the other day, and I was finally able to locate that feverfew that I need for the shield spell I wanted to enchant my talismans with,” she continued, separating out the flowers before moving over to the stove to start warming up water for her tea.
“I remember it. You let me fall into the stream when I went after that mouse, wicked woman,” Talon huffed, glancing up at her with a glare when she snorted and sat beside him at her desk with her cup of tea.
“You wouldn’t have fallen in if you had listened to me and left the poor thing alone,” she hummed, flipping open one of her journals and starting to scribble down the directions to the feverfew. She tended to be a bit forgetful with so much information in her head. She wasn’t 140 any longer. “Anything interesting happen in town while I was out? I assume you were spying on the locals.” She smiled when the cat glared at her.
“I was not spying, I was merely observing, but, yes, I did notice something strange,” he said, stretching with a yawn before continuing. “I saw a group of newcomers, a rather suspicious group. They were lurking around the inn. Pale, red eyes, I’m sure you understand my intrigue at their arrival.” Alice’s silver eyes flashed with interest.
“Oh? Vampires this far north? Now, that is strange.” She frowned, spinning around in her chair to snag a book off the shelf. “I didn’t think they ever left their territory in the west, not since they lost territory to the shifters twenty years ago,” she mumbled, opening her book and examining the map in front of her. “Ostende mihi,” she ordered, swearing when the page slowly started to light up before it went dark once again.
“New moon, dearest. You won’t be able to use divination until at least tomorrow,” Talon reminded her with a knowing little hum.
Glaring up at the cat with an irritated look on her face, Alice closed the book and leaned back in her chair. The last thing that she wanted to hear about was vampires lurking anywhere near her town. The sweet townspeople had been under her protection since the end of the last Great War that had pitted humanity, the shifters, and the Fairy creatures of the forest against the creatures who ruled the night.
“Do you suppose I have enough juice to put up some warding spells around town?” she grumbled, rubbing at her round, sun-kissed cheeks with a slender hand.
“I suppose that depends on whether you took my advice and actually stored away some of those spells or not,” Talon grumbled, glancing over at his mistress and letting out what she could only assume to be a mocking laugh when she groaned and shook her head.
“Guess we’re doing this the hard way then,” she huffed, moving to her feet and changing quickly into the uniform she had not worn in years: a pair of magic-infused breeches and a matching tunic that hugged her full form a bit too snugly. “I’ve put on a bit of weight since my fighting days. I need to let these out,” she complained.
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Talon hummed, sliding down onto the floor beside her as she strapped a nasty looking knife to her hip. “Are you really going to fight these things? That seems ill-advised.”
“Fight them? I hope not. I just want to gently remind them that this a protected territory, and they aren’t allowed to be here without proper documentation,” she insisted, pulling back her unruly hair into a tail before pulling on her cloak once again and moving out of the door into the misty night.
Glancing up at the sound of a soft little grunt of exertion, she sighed when a sudden weight formed on her shoulder and Talon wrapped himself around the back of her neck lazily.
“You don’t have to come with me, you know,” she pointed out. “And if you are, I think you can walk.” Yet, he just shook his head and rubbed his nose against her cheek.
“Can’t let you face a bunch of vampires alone. You’re out of shape and out of practice.” His voice was teasing, but also held a hint of seriousness. Vampires were dangerous alone, let alone in a group. He knew as well as she did what they were capable of. “And I could walk, but the ground is muddy. I don’t want to get my feet dirty.”
“You’re such a spoiled brat.” She rolled her eyes, feeling a surge of comfort at the knowledge that her best friend would be beside her. Facing a group of vampires when her powers were at their weakest could mean that she might not make it home tonight. Still, she had a duty to the townsfolk who had taken her in and made her part of their family. She wasn’t going to let them down.