Chapter One

“WE NEED TO do an exclusive, and we need to do it before anyone else jumps on it.”

With that one sentence, Kana knew he should have cast some sort of forgetting spell on the speaker. He wasn’t at all surprised the assignment had fallen in his lap. The newest hire always got the crappy jobs, and his undergraduate degree in journalism was still warm from the printer.

After years of fighting to get hired for this job, Kana wasn’t exactly in a position to say no. He had stayed on the run from his old coven for two years, covering his tracks and making fake trajectories all over the country. He had felt safe enough after that to try settling down, but four years had flown by while he tried to get his feet back under him. Over those years, he had worked hard to go from homeless, to living in a crappy apartment, where he was just thankful to have a roof over his head, to slowly saving every penny so he could go to college. Four more years in college, studying full time while working two jobs to pay for everything, and finally, finally, Kana could say he had made it.

Except, a vampire coven had just moved in, and the cities of Albany and Schenectady were collectively losing their minds.

Humans couldn’t look at Kana and immediately pinpoint him as a witch. To his coworkers, he was a human with emotional support cats. Which meant his supervisors had chosen to send a young, untried, and unprotected human into the den of monsters, all in the hopes he could somehow convince said monsters to agree to an interview.

Kana couldn’t turn down the assignment, not as new as he was. At least he was only visiting the vampires once to conduct the initial reconnaissance. He would gauge the vampires’ willingness to be interviewed, ask some basic questions to get all the baseline facts solidified, and hand over his notes to the big guns. The guys who wrote the story for the website and the newspaper, and who put together the interview plan for the TV reporters would do the rest, but only after Kana had already paved the road for them.

And with vampires, his coworkers were very, very happy someone else got to be the guinea pig first.

The bus slowed to a stop and the doors popped open. Kana hurried outside and looked around to get oriented. He was on Route 7, a four-lane thoroughfare connecting Albany and Schenectady, the two neighboring cities that made up the Capital Region of New York State. On either side of this section of Route 7—which was closer to Schenectady—were residential neighborhoods, each one fancier than the last. The largest and most majestic house in those neighborhoods had remained empty for the last seven years. According to Kana’s research, the previous owner’s deteriorating health had forced him to move to assisted living, but he had refused to sell the house he had lived in for fifty years. Only after his death had his children been able to put the house on the market, and the vampires had bought it.

After moving in, the vampires had solidified the house’s fortifications, building a ten-foot stone wall around the perimeter of the six-acre property, a huge gatehouse, and who knew how many other improvements inside. Kana knew the defenses were necessary for their protection; humans weren’t exactly welcoming to creatures above them on the food chain, and humans were often the least of a vampire’s worries. Yet, vampires had to live in urban areas if they wanted to eat. They didn’t have a choice about where to live, in the same way as Kana didn’t have a choice about this assignment.

Kana glanced at the setting sun, glad to see he had enough daylight left to get to the house, but he wouldn’t arrive so early as to be insulting. He settled the straps of his small backpack into place on his shoulders—just big enough to hold a notebook, some pens, and one cat—and headed into the neighborhood in the direction where the vampires were waiting.

The sidewalks petered out after fifteen minutes of walking, and Kana had to, instead, walk on the road next to carefully mown lawns. Old growth trees blocked any view of the house as Kana approached the driveway with a massive ironwork gate. As he approached, a door opened in the wall next to the gate, and a man stepped outside.

“Can we help you?” he asked, and while he sounded cordial enough, something in his voice had Kana hesitating to take those last few steps forward to be within comfortable talking distance.

Wolf, Mika said.

Werewolves? There were only supposed to be vampires here, not werewolves too. Kana let some magic drift from his fingers to surround his bag and felt the spell circle he had meticulously stitched into the side of the bag take hold. Mika’s scent was now masked, so he would be protected, at least. Kana, on the other hand, still had a job to do.

“I called ahead,” Kana replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his work ID to show the wolf. “I’m here to interview the household.”

The wolf studied the ID, then glared at Kana’s face as if memorizing the placement of every pore.

“This way,” he finally said. He didn’t quite turn his back to Kana as he led the way to the door and inside the guard building. They walked through a dozen twisting hallways, and Kana suspected he was being taken in circles. There weren’t any decorations on the walls. Everything was painted beige, the floor was tiled white, and it all looked pristine, so he didn’t even have a smudge of dirt to let him know he had passed this way before. Eventually, they walked through a doorway to a staircase that led downward. The werewolf jumped down the stairs, skipping every other step, and Kana continued to follow. The hallway below was the same beige and white, but there weren’t any more turns or side halls. Kana guessed they were finally heading to the house.

The long hallway ended in a wide room. A fireplace was burning merrily to the left, two long couches were centered around a wooden coffee table, and two overstuffed armchairs filled the rest of the space. The right-hand wall held one closed door.

“Sit. They’ll come soon.” The wolf pointed at the couches briefly before spinning on one heel and walking back the way they had come.

Kana swung his backpack around and sat in one of the armchairs with the bag in his lap. He opened an outer pocket and pulled out a small notebook with a pen jammed down the metal spiral spine, then carefully placed his bag on the floor between his feet.

Only a minute passed before the door swung open and another werewolf walked into the room. This wolf was tall, at least six foot five, and his light blond hair was cut tight to the sides of his head and an inch long at the top in a very military style. His eyes were deep brown as they studied Kana, and his shoulders were…yum. Kana had to look away before his eyes betrayed his thoughts.

How yum? I wanna see! Mika demanded. Kana bumped his heel against his bag to tell Mika to be quiet.

“Can I get you some coffee or tea?” the werewolf asked, and his voice was low and rumbling in a way that sent a happy shiver up Kana’s spine.

“No thank you,” Kana replied, glad when his voice didn’t waver and betray the gutter his thoughts kept falling into. “I’m just here to conduct the preliminary interview.”

The wolf’s nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath, and Kana hoped his spell hiding Mika held, but all the wolf did was nod.

“They’ll be here in a moment. Let me go see how much longer.” He left, but the door didn’t latch firmly behind him, and Kana could hear him talking to someone on the other side. “Tell them to eat first. This one’s no good.”

Damn. Kana let out a breath and forced his fingers to relax from where they were clutching at his notebook. He didn’t know if the werewolf had already figured out he was a witch, but he knew something. At least Kana wouldn’t have to prove he had power by fighting off a vampire looking to turn him into dinner.

However, that wouldn’t save his coworkers if the vampires decided to snack on them when it came time for the big interview.

Five more minutes passed before the door was pushed open again. The wolf led the way, followed by a man and a woman. Both were pale white, their skin almost translucent. The man had a beaked nose like a hawk and wore a vest, jacket, and cravat over embroidered pants. The woman’s black hair was pulled up high on the top of her head in some sort of updo that matched the wide skirts and corseted bodice of her equally embroidered dress. Kana didn’t need magic to know they were vampires. Despite the fancy clothes, a heavy air seemed to emanate from them.

“You requested to speak with us,” the man said. “My advisor informed me it would be in our best interest to agree. So speak.”

Kana swallowed but obeyed. “I’m from the Herald. We’re a local news agency, but we’re also part of a larger media conglomerate. There has been some concern that vampires have moved into the neighborhood, so we’re looking to do a piece to help alleviate those fears.”

“They fear we will kill them to harvest their blood,” the man said. “They need not fear such. A dead human can no longer produce fresh blood, so it is of no use to us to kill our prey.”

Kana, nodded, focusing on the content of their words rather than the phrasing. “The people need to know they have nothing to worry about, which is why the Herald and Channel 7 are looking to produce a piece.”

“A number of humans would come to our territory to interview us?” he asked. It seemed like a rhetorical question, but Kana couldn’t help noticing the pointed look the two vampires shared: hunger and eager anticipation.

Territory, Mika hissed. It’s always about territory.

Of course. The vampires were forced to behave outside of their castle. Vampire hunters and other supernatural species forced them to obey society’s rules. However, there was no one to stop them from misbehaving inside their own territory.

“I accept this proposition. It will be interesting to learn whether the new technology allows our visage to appear on film. Set it up, Ember,” the male vampire added to the wolf.

Ember nodded. “It will be done.”

The vampires stood and walked from the room without so much as a glance at Kana, let alone a goodbye.

“What else do you need today to be prepared for the interview?” Ember asked.

Kana looked away from the closed door and over to Ember, who had finally sat in the other armchair. His deep brown eyes were looking at Kana as if he were trying to read Kana’s innermost thoughts. Given one glance at Ember sent Kana’s innermost thoughts into the gutter, Kana really hoped Ember couldn’t actually read them. Kana forced himself to look down at his notebook where he had some questions scrawled.

“I need to know their names,” he began and then recklessly added, “and I need some assurance my coworkers won’t become lunch.”

Ember’s lips quirked slightly, as if he found Kana funny, but he didn’t actually smile. All of a sudden, Kana wanted to see that smile, to see what Ember’s face looked like if he lost his seriousness.

“You met Master Octavius and Mistress Penelope. They will likely be the only vampires you will encounter while you are here. As for your coworkers, I make no promises. Perhaps knowing they might get fed on while they’re here will convince them not to come. Any other questions?”

Kana looked at his notes again to double-check, but his duties as the initial contact were simple: find out who was being interviewed, any interesting tidbits the interviewee should ask, and set up the date and time for the formal interview.

“When would it be best for us to come?”

Ember stood and pulled a card out of his pants pocket. He held it out for Kana to take. The card read, Ember Maxwell, Security Chief, and included a phone number.

“Talk with your people and call this number with a couple of days and times. I’ll let you know which one is best, but I still recommend them not coming at all.”

Kana tucked the card into his notebook, slid the pen back down the spiral spine, and put it all back into the outer pocket of his backpack. He stood and carefully swung his bag onto his back.

“I will mention it to them,” Kana replied, wishing he could sound convinced he would be able dissuade his supervisors. They wanted the next, best, newest scoop, and they wanted it before anyone else had a chance to swoop in and snatch it from them. The vampires in town were the hot topic, and Kana wasn’t sure even a threat to their lives would stop his coworkers from moving forward with the story. Well, he would have to try anyway.

“I’ll show you out.” Ember led the way back to the long hallway, then up the stairs and into the maze.

Kana was pretty certain by the time they reached the door that he had been taken in circles again, but that wasn’t a question worth asking. He was just glad to step outside again.

The door closed with a thud that made Kana jump, and he hurried onto the street and back through the neighborhoods so he could find the bus to take him home.

They might be trailing us, Kana pushed down the bond he shared with Mika and Sora.

Mika grumbled at having to stay hidden in the bag for longer. Sora just snorted in amusement from where he was following, hidden in the grass of the front yards Kana was walking past.

You wanted to go inside, Mika, Sora teased. That’s what you get for your curiosity.

You’re just disappointed you didn’t speak up first, Mika replied, his voice cutting, yet still teasing.

Kana was happy to listen to their playful banter for the rest of the walk through the neighborhood and back to the main road to catch the bus. A touch of magic kept people from noticing Sora took the bus too, and it wasn’t long before they were getting off at the stop a few blocks from Kana’s apartment.

He didn’t live in the best part of town, but it also wasn’t the worst. The building was old, but the brick facade was well maintained and the front door locked firmly behind him when Kana let himself inside. Sora scampered up the inside stairs ahead of them and Kana felt the pull on his magic when Sora changed from his house cat sized form to his human one. He was waiting, completely naked and not caring, when Kana caught up outside the door to his apartment.

Kana opened the door quickly, hoping his neighbors didn’t come out and see Sora naked…again…and then locked it behind him once they were all inside.

Mika squirmed his way out of the bag before Kana had a chance to take it off. He leapt from Kana’s shoulder as a house cat, but when he reached the ground, he had also assumed human form.

Mika and Sora were completely identical in basic features—the shape of their nose, eyes, chin—but their coloring was opposite. Sora’s skin was beautifully dark, but all the hair on his head, arms, legs, and groin was white. The contrast made him look ethereal. Mika had pale white skin, but all his hair was the deepest black, so he seemed to glow from within.

Despite their similar looks, they weren’t related by blood. Familiars were formed in the ether, in the power beyond which Kana tapped into with his spells, and when Mika and Sora had chosen their human forms, they had decided to choose similar features.

They were gorgeous, and they were all Kana’s.

Sora padded over and hugged Kana from behind.

“I don’t think they know you’re a witch, but they definitely know you’re something,” Sora said into Kana’s neck where his nose was pressed. “Otherwise, they definitely would have tried to take your blood.”

“Which means my secret is still safe,” Kana replied. He bent his head to give Sora better access, and Sora obligingly nipped gently at the exposed skin. Kana let out a groan that was halted when Mika took his mouth, tongue rubbing deep and swallowing any noises Kana made.

“I’m more interested in your handsome wolf,” Mika said, pulling away briefly to start on the buttons of Kana’s shirt. “I didn’t get a good look at him. Is he really that pretty?”

“I liked his eyes,” Kana admitted, his voice gasping and airy as Sora’s hands pressed and rubbed against his skin as Mika revealed it to the room with every unhooked button.

“And his shoulders,” Mika added, his voice and his grin cheeky. He sank to his knees in front of Kana, his fingers fumbling with the button and zipper on Kana’s pants.

Sora’s strong arms held Kana up, his rumbling purrs echoing in Kana’s ears even as his length pressed against Kana’s butt, while Mika worked with his mouth.

Kana sank into the dual sensations, letting the magic of their bond and their love draw him away into oblivion.