Engulfed

Azlynn lay in bed later that evening, staring out the window without even blinking. Her mind was racing. She didn’t know if Tedantrios had set the wards to go off so long after the crime scene was discovered because he wanted the entire team present when it blew up, or if he knew that she would find it and simply wanted to send a message. Either seemed plausible with him, although her money was on the latter reason. Dante had gone out drinking with Drew and Will after the excitement had died down, and Azlynn was feeling restless. Cursing softly, she swung her feet over the side of the bed. She wasn’t going to just sit around here alone while Dante was out with the guys.

She changed clothes, dressing in black jeans, knee-high black boots, and a black leather jacket over a black silk tube top. After weaving her raven hair into a French braid, she slid two wicked-looking daggers into her boots, and glamoured herself so that her eyes looked normal, she had no fangs, and the rose and snake tattoos on her face and neck were invisible. She slipped two more flat, incredibly sharp blades into her sleeves. Why should the boys get to be the only ones having fun?



It didn’t take Azlynn long to find trouble. All she really needed to do was find the shadiest part of town, and walk through it alone. While she was covered in her glamour, she could easily send off a vibe of being lost and innocent. And that was exactly how thugs and monsters liked their victims. On this particular night, Azlynn happened across a small cluster of young rogue vampires. They weren’t particularly powerful; their sire must have been a bottom-feeding nobody. But they were drunk on their new vampish abilities, and they were eager to flaunt them and scare whoever they could. They had all been criminals before they were Turned; the bloodlust and newfound strength and speed made them even hungrier to hurt others.

A slow smile crept over Azlynn’s ruby lips. The vamps would get a taste of fear tonight, that was for certain. She painted a nervous look on her face, flicking her eyes back and forth as though she were lost, and jumping at every shadow and noise. The vamps noticed her right away, and she saw hunger flash in their dark eyes.

“Hey there, little girl, you lost?” one sneered, his Brooklyn accent thick around his cigarette.

“No,” Azlynn said, hurriedly lowering her eyes and trying to walk past them.

“What’s the hurry, sugar lips?” Another vamp’s hand shot out, locking around her wrist. He was tall and lanky, with dark blond hair falling to his chin. His eyes were such a dark blue they almost looked black, except they were lit form within with a dark desire. Azlynn struggled, carefully monitoring her strength so that her squirming felt feeble in his grip.

“Leave me alone,” she gasped. “I-I’m meeting my boyfriend here any minute! He’ll kick your asses!”

The vampires laughed.

“Is that right, sweetheart?” the blond vamp grinned. “Well then we better make this quick.” He leaned forward, pressing his face near her neck and inhaling deeply.

“You smell…interesting,” he said. She knew his fangs were extending. She braced herself, palming the silver knives she’d hidden in her sleeves. As the vamp’s fangs brushed her skin, Azlynn moved. She jerked her head away from his probing mouth, bringing her hand up and slicing his cheek with her blade. He stumbled back, hissing and clutching at his face. A faint trail of smoke rose from where the silver had scorched him. The other three vamps with him moved to his aid, baring their fangs and making raspy hissing sounds at her.

“Bring it on, boys.” Azlynn twirled the knives through her fingers. She could easily crumble them all to dust with a flick of her wrist, but she felt hand-to-hand combat was more fair. If only just so. The vamps circled her, looking wary. But they were young, too stupid yet to know that when a woman dressed in black is wielding silver knives it’s best to cut your losses and run. The Brooklyn vamp pounced first. Azlynn dodged him without a thought, suddenly appearing behind him. He staggered in surprise, spinning around to search for her.

“You’re fast, blood boy, but not fast enough.” Azlynn burned the symbol of the cross into his cheek with her blade. He wailed. The other vamps all tried jumping her at once this time. Azlynn twirled away from them as gracefully as a ballerina, and they whirled, fear suddenly flickering in their faces.

“You should know better than to take blood from an unwilling donor,” Azlynn chided them. She’d read all their minds the moment she saw them, and she knew every dark, terrible thing they’d ever done. Their bravado was gone now; the four of them turned and sprinted up the sidewalk. Azlynn followed them, quick and silent as a shadow. They were vampires. They were fast. They thought they could outrun her. They paused in front of a bar, glancing around almost frantically.

“I think we lost her,” one said in a hushed tone.

“Let’s go in and get a drink,” Blondie said. “That bitch really did a job on my face.”

“Just a little something to remember me by.” The vampires jumped and stared, trembling faintly, as Azlynn strolled casually out of the shadows. They practically stumbled over each other in their haste to get into the bar. Azlynn followed, slipping her knives back into her sleeves. The four vampires backed away from her, stumbling into other drinkers as they went. This earned them a good many curses and insults, but they ignored everyone around them, focusing their wide-eyes gazes on Azlynn as she dogged their steps.

The boys finally slammed into some people at the bar, and Azlynn was taken aback to find Dante, Will, Drew, and their incubus friend Rico sitting on the stools. They seemed equally as surprised to see her there.

“Azlynn?” Dante said. “What are you doing here?”

“She’s a crazy hunter!” one of the vamps blurted. “She’s insane, man! She attacked us!”

Azlynn scoffed. “I attacked you? Hardly. You were going to take turns stealing my blood. I simply acted in self-defense.”

“What are you?” Blondie snapped. He raised a shaking hand to his scarred face. The mark would never heal, vampire or not. The other boy she had slashed would have a long scar on both cheeks for eternity.

“Your worst nightmare,” Azlynn said glibly. She palmed the knives again in a flash. They shimmered in the dim light, and the vampires flinched back. “You four better go find a coven, and start abiding by the rules,” Azlynn went on.

“Or what?” Scarface demanded, apparently feeling braver now that he was in a more public place. Azlynn didn’t reply. Instead she swung into a brutal roundhouse kick that snapped the vampire’s neck. The crack resounded through the room, cutting through the din. Everyone fell silent, watching the vamp’s body hit the floor. It took nearly a minute, but then he gasped and sputtered, his neck bones mending themselves.

“Or I’ll track you down and do that over and over again until your head just falls off,” Azlynn said calmly. “Now get out of here, all of you.” The vampires fled. Azlynn took a seat at the bar and ordered a martini from the startled bartender. Noise returned to the bar as people resumed whatever they had been doing before she walked in.

“What in the hell was that?” Drew asked, staring at Azlynn like he’d never seen her before. Azlynn stirred her martini, shrugging. “I was out for a walk, they tried to jump me. I saw what they had planned; what they’ve done almost countless times in the past. I decided to teach them a little lesson.”

“Well I’m sure they’ll never forget it,” Dante muttered.

“Just like I’m sure no one will forget what happened to Craig Morrison and Director Walden,” she said evenly. Dante opened his mouth, closed it again. “Touché.”

“I’m actually glad you’re here, Azlynn,” Will said. “We were just going to call you.”

“Oh?” Azlynn nibbled at the olive in her glass.

“There’s been another murder. Vancouver, Canada. The children of a werewolf pack there were found slaughtered.”

The sinister rush she had felt fighting the vampires disappeared, a cold hole in her chest replacing it.

“The alpha of the lead pack up there wants answers, and fast,” Will continued. Azlynn nodded.

“We leave tomorrow morning.”