| |
––––––––
EDEN’S BREATH FROSTED when she climbed out of the carriage. Just over five weeks had passed since the catastrophic events on Halloween. Fall had packed its bags and had fled from Nox and it was now officially winter. Soon, it would begin to snow and the city would be blanketed in white powder.
The succubus had been given another mission in the Shifter District. Business was booming for the Assassin Guild, not that they got paid to do their jobs. Having a mansion to live in and the illusion that they had a small amount of freedom was their only reward. It was better than being kept under lock and key in the Immortal Triumvirate’s secret prison and only being let out to kill.
Her target this time was another shapeshifter who was trying to cause dissent among his people. He wasn’t an alpha, but he was gaining a following. Lord Graham had stopped wiping out rival alphas. There were far too few left now and he’d realized that some of them needed to remain alive to keep control of the alpha-less packs.
Eden was dressed in a dark green dress and matching boots instead of her usual stilettos. The heel was still four inches high, but at least her feet weren’t freezing. She wore a dark green coat for warmth and had a matching purse slung over her shoulder. Just because she was an assassin didn’t mean she couldn’t be stylish.
The streets were almost completely dark in the suburbs where the worker drones lived. Smog from the industrial area permeated the Shifter District. Magic was too scarce to power all of their factories. They’d taken to using coal that came from a mine that had been dug somewhere to the north of their District near their woods. It had only been in use for a few years and it was only used in some areas. It was slowly catching on, though. Coal would probably begin to be used in the other Districts soon.
Eden made her way to the factory where her target worked. She wasn’t lucky enough for him to be having a night off. She would have to lure him away from his job. The smog thickened and she could taste the coal in the air long before she reached the factory. Tiny specks of ash filtered down like gray snow to coat the ground and buildings. In a few more years, the Shifter District would become even filthier and drearier than it already was.
When the assassin neared the factory, she could feel her target on the first floor deep in the heart of the building. She circled around to a back alley and found a fire escape attached to the back wall of the huge brick factory. After the fire elementals had caused so much damage a few weeks ago, it had become obvious how necessary the fire escapes were. The creatures had only targeted empty buildings, but they could easily choose ones that were full of people next time they broke free.
Eden hadn’t brought an umbrella along, since it was a rare cloudless night. She leaped upwards and grabbed hold of the bottom rung of the ladder and pulled it down. Shifters had exceptional hearing, but the noise of machinery would have masked the screeching sound it made. She quickly climbed up, then pulled the ladder up after her.
Several windows faced the back alley and could be accessed by the fire escape. She tried each one and the third one slid open. Someone had used it in the past and had forgotten to lock it again. Their lapse of memory was her good fortune. Now she wouldn’t have to break the glass to get inside.
Offices were on the second floor of the factory, but the one she climbed into didn’t look like it was used very often. The desk against the wall to the right was mostly bare and the room smelled stale and musty. Eden crossed to the door and quested with her succubus magic. She sensed a few shifters in the offices nearby, but hundreds of workers bustled about on the first floor. Their energy grew weaker each year after they were taxed by their leaders. It was a wonder they could still function.
Eden quietly left the office and made her way around to a bank of windows that overlooked the factory floor. A huge furnace to the left burned coal to power the plant. Shifters shoveled the black lumps into the baking heat with sweat pouring off their bodies. Their faces were gaunt and lined with exhaustion and they were too thin. Soot covered them from head to toe. They wore cloth masks, but the smell would still be nauseating to their kind. It wasn’t all that enjoyable to her either.
Her target stood next to a machine that was manufacturing products for the Shifter District. While he wasn’t an alpha, he was larger and stronger than his colleagues. It was impossible to tell what color his hair was beneath the layer of soot, but his eyes were dark brown. Eden was willing to bet he was a werebear from his sheer size.
Several workers stood at the machine, making sure it was running efficiently. Her mark chatted to them, but the succubus couldn’t make out their words over the din of the machinery. It became immediately obvious that she couldn’t call the shifter to her. His colleagues would be suspicious if he left his post. Eden resigned herself to a long wait for him to either take a break, or to leave for the night. She hadn’t been given his home address, so she couldn’t wait for him there. The skeleton drivers supposedly knew where everyone in the city lived, but she didn’t trust them. No undead Night Cursed being could ever truly be trusted.
The assassin remained hidden in the shadows and kept her senses alert for anyone coming close to her location. After four hours or so, her target signaled for someone to take his place. He and a few other workers headed for the bathroom to take a break. Eden’s succubus magic rose and she sent it after her target. She waited until he was alone in a stall, then her magic sank into him. Instantly ensnared, he finished his business, then slipped away before any of his coworkers could notice him leaving.
Eden followed the werebear’s progress as he headed for stairs that would take him to the second level. She felt him coming closer by the second, then he appeared at the end of the hallway. His mask had been pulled down and now hung around his neck. He was irresistibly drawn to her allure and shambled forward like a skeleton worker after a long night of tending to the city.
Without a word, the succubus led her victim back to the office where she’d entered the factory. She shut the door, pulled the blinds down, then pushed the shifter to his knees. He stared up at her in dazed worship and she bent to press her mouth to his. He tasted like coal and his face was thick with coarse stubble that scratched her skin. The mysterious master vampire’s stubble was far softer than this man’s. She stole his vitality and he became just one more withered husk that needed to be burned to ash.
When the shifter had become a mummified ruin, Eden slung the shell over her shoulder and climbed back out onto the fire escape. She slid the window down, then vaulted over the railing to land lightly on her feet. The alley was devoid of people, so she tossed the dead shifter to the ground and ignited his clothes and remains. She scattered the ashes with her boot until they blended in with the flakes of burned coal, effectively disguising her latest murder.
Eden took off running and the coal dust that had settled on her was whisked away by the wind. When she slowed to a walk, she was in one of the suburbs where the worker drones lived. Her sharp eyes saw a woman dressed in black with platinum blonde hair up in a ponytail across the street up ahead. The staff that was casually slung over her shoulder identified her as Xiara Evora even if her hair and outfit hadn’t given it away.
The assassin hadn’t been noticed by the Guardian of Nox, or the cop she was talking to yet. From the wary glances they were casting around, they were having a private conversation. Eden’s curiosity got the better of her when she saw a balcony two floors above the pair. She backtracked to the corner, then sprinted around to the back of the building and entered through the back door. She raced up to the roof, then hurried over to the edge to peer downwards. The building was only four stories high, so she climbed onto the ledge, then dropped down to the balcony below. She moved into a crouch to listen in to the two law keepers.
“Something weird is going on lately,” Xiara was whispering.
“This is Nox,” the cop said. “Weird is pretty standard here.”
“Very funny, Rick,” Xiara said dryly.
“What have you noticed that’s weirder than usual?” the officer queried.
“Wrath hasn’t ingested a new soul since Halloween,” the huntress informed him.
Eden peered downwards to see the cop looked disturbed. His nametag said he was Sgt. Rick Malone. He was average height, had a stocky build and had sandy blond hair. She noticed his black tattoo was on the back of his left hand.
“Lots of people have died during the past month,” Sgt. Malone said. “If the souls aren’t being drawn into Wrath, where are they going?”
“I have no idea,” Xiara said with a shrug and her staff pulsed several times. “Wrath doesn’t know either,” she added.
“We have to let the others know about this,” the cop said.
“I’ll inform them all during our next meeting,” Ms. Evora promised, then they split up to go their separate ways.
Eden remained crouched on the balcony until they were out of sight wondering exactly who these ‘others’ were. Their memories were supposed to be wiped clean each night, yet the assassin had the distinct impression that this wasn’t the case for Xiara Evora and whoever her friends were.
