There was no moon. The stars were barely visible. Without Vampire sight, you would not have detected us as we stood outside the abandoned warehouse. We received an anonymous tip that four rogue Vampires had, supposedly, taken up residence.
The door was slightly ajar. Peering in, we saw a young woman sprawled on a table. She was slender, attractive and naked. She looked to be no more than twenty years old. Around her stood four Vampires, three male, one female. That they were busy with their prey helped us remain unnoticed.
It was obvious that these were fledglings, probably not more than a few weeks changed. They were clearly not weak which meant their maker was not either.
That was concerning.
Two of the males were feeding from a thigh each. The other male was feeding from her neck. The female was feeding from her breast. Of course she was. You could hear their sucking noises above the woman's faint moans. Her head was moving slowly side to side, her eyes glazed. She was trembling, an early sign of shock due to blood loss.
"Leave the female fledgling for interrogation. We'll kill the males," I whispered.
It had been nearly two months since Colleen had changed me and I had become her mate. I was a day shy of being one of only four pureblood Vampires and three days shy of officially being announced as second in line of succession in the Vampire family.
I had been training the past two months in defensive and offensive techniques with a variety of weapons, as well as hand to hand combat.
Queen Helena, whom I was now comfortable referring to as Mother, decided I should be the Director of Security. Thus, my skills training had taken precedence over my other potential duties. That had caused me to miss the meeting Colleen held with Francois to discuss finances, and, more importantly to me, my chance to reunite with Dani.
Colleen shuttled back and forth between our Paris house and Helena's villa, fortress really, in Genoa, where I had become a temporary resident. I was disappointed at not being able to see Dani and, of course, I missed my mate when she was gone. But, I had to admit, I was enjoying honing my new skills. It felt good to have a purpose other than simply being Colleen's mate and newly created Vampire Princess. Bonus, it gave me more time with Helena and Diana, her mate.
For tonight's mission, I was accompanied by our bodyguards, Bridget and Victor. Colleen stayed behind at the villa.
Rogue Vampires are rare these days. Bridget advised me that, every now and again, the family would hear about one and have to hunt it down and kill it. The sudden appearance of four unsanctioned Vampires was hard to imagine. That many, she said, so close to the date of a major Leadership Committee meeting, would be unprecedented. Still, we came prepared to act, if necessary.
We were dressed in black leather pants and hoodies, skin tight, naturally, with soft-soled leather boots. I liked the ninja chic look, if I'm honest. Bridget and Victor had sidearms. I relied on my pureblood speed and my kukris. They were razor sharp with black blades.
We each picked our target then moved. I had fed Bridget and Victor prior to leaving on this mission, so they were at their peak. Before any of the fledglings realized there was someone present, we had raced from the doorway and gained control of the three males. I grabbed the one who was feeding from the woman's neck by his hair, pulled him from her and removed his head with my blade as easily and smoothly as if his neck was tissue paper.
Bridget and Victor, with three silenced shots each, destroyed the heads of their targets beyond any Vampire's ability to repair. The female released the woman's breast and lunged at me. Had she decided instead to flee, the result would have been the same. I physically subdued her until Bridget and Victor finished their executions. As I held her down, they bound her tightly, painfully so, it seemed. Bridget, I learned, is as ruthless as she is efficient.
I looked at their victim and immediately began to cry. She was in terrible shape, bleeding heavily from her wounds, especially her neck. I was so furious, I kicked the female fledgling in the face, breaking teeth and bones, and knocking her out.
"We have to help this woman," I sobbed.
"We can't, Katherine. She's so close to death, she won't survive long enough to get to a hospital," said Victor.
"I can change her," I responded.
"NO! You CAN'T," yelled Bridget.
"I can. I'm Princess Katherine."
"Yes, you are," said Bridget. "But, no one, not you, Colleen nor Diana can create a Vampire without the permission of the Queen herself. Making an unsanctioned Vampire can result in a family member being ended, even you. I thought you understood this.
"How would you change her? Drink her blood to make her? That would dilute your pure blood one day away from locking in your DNA. If you did that, you might as well just walk up to the Queen and say, 'thanks for all you've done for me', then piss in her lap.
"Would you feed her, then cut her throat and let her bleed out? Might work. Say it did. She's not even aware enough for you to ask her if she wants to live. Are you seriously suggesting making her a Vampire without her permission?
"Think about it, Katherine. What would you do with her then? Take her home? Keep her as a friend, a sister, a servant, a pet? She couldn't return to her human life. Newsflash. Not everyone wants to be a Vampire. How do you know she's even someone we would want in the family? There are as many problem humans as there are decent ones. Which is she?"
"What if I just let her drink from me? My blood would heal her." I said.
"Probably. But, consider this. If she lives, her story will eventually reach the ears of Hunters. Suppose she dies in the coming weeks in some accident while your blood is still active in her system. She would wake up a Vampire, with no one to guide her or even explain to her what she was. Then, bloodlust would make her attack the nearest human. How many men, women and, yes, children would die before we found her and killed her anyway? Do you want to take that risk? I don't.
"You haven't seen what an uncontrolled Vampire can do. We have. That's why we hunt them and kill them. Just like tonight. The fact is those fledglings have killed this woman as surely as if we had let them finish their feast.
"Katherine, you're too smart to be acting like this. You're letting your emotions overwhelm you. I get that it's your first hunt and your first time seeing a human killed to satisfy a Vampire's thirst. It's a shock. I understand that you didn't have all the facts about Vampires before you chose to accept Collen.
"You've been groomed to be second in the line of succession after Colleen. You're slated to be appointed Director of Security. You'll be expected to not only know the rules that govern this family, but to know why they exist, to follow them and, when necessary, to enforce them. You can't ignore them or bend them just because you want to save one human you know nothing about.
"You need to come to grips with the simple fact that you're a Vampire, not a human. You are not JUST a Vampire. You are one of the most powerful Vampires in existence. Your training has made you a lethal force the likes of which no Vampire alive today, save the Queen, has ever seen.
