by Jamie Davis
They all seemed to be waiting for something or someone. Quinn figured it was either Clark, Joshua, or maybe both of them. She grabbed her phone and swiped to open the messaging app. Then she saw the notification at the top —No Signal. She couldn’t warn Clark to stay away, or even give him a heads up as to what he could expect.
She started running down a list of options but stopped when the elevator chimed. A tiny elderly man in a dapper suit and bowtie stepped into the area. It had to be Joshua. He looked precisely like Clark had described the keeper.
Joshua Dalton carried a slim black wood cane with polished silver metal at both the tip near the floor and forming a stylized L-shaped grip for his hand. He tapped on the tile floor with each step but didn’t appear to need it other than for show. He walked farther into the room, to the glassed-in area. Joshua opened the door and entered, stepping up to the large table inside and sitting down. If he noticed the four people standing around the room, he gave no indication.
Was she wrong, and the presence of the others was coincidental? She brought her hand to her chest and rubbed the scar. No, she thought, the warning had been real. There was something about them. Calling up her huntress abilities, the HUD appeared, along with the ever-present headache. Ignoring the pain, Quinn engaged her tracking ability, which enabled her enhanced sense of hearing, smell, and sight.
The distinct odor of wet dog greeted her, and her nose wrinkled. At least some of the newcomers were shifters, probably werewolves. While that didn’t automatically make them evil and working with Handon, it gave her a reason to be careful. If they were friendly and here at Clark’s bidding, he would have warned her. Maybe Joshua had hired local muscle for protection.
One of them, the woman, glanced her way. Quinn quickly returned her gaze to the anatomy book on her desk while she tried to come up with a solution that wouldn’t scrap Clark’s meeting with the keeper. She needed the information from Joshua.
Quinn stole a glance over the top of the cubicle. The female shifter had returned to pretending to scan the titles on the shelf beside her while she watched the elevator foyer. There was something oddly familiar about the woman, although Quinn was sure she had never seen her before.
Shaking off the feeling, Quinn thought about trying to sneak away from her spot and work her way to the stairs. If she could get to the first floor before Clark got there and stepped on the elevator, she could warn him.
She started to rise but stopped when the elevator chimed again. All four of the watchers moved at the same time, stepping back between the bookshelves to hide from whoever was coming.
Quinn reached into the backpack and gripped the hilt of her Bowie. Pulling it free but keeping it near the surface of the desk so no one could see it, she craned her neck to look around. She couldn’t see any of them anymore. The wet-dog smell had grown stronger, though. To her, that meant only one thing. They’d shifted form in anticipation of what was coming next, and that made them enemies, not friends.
She stood as Clark appeared from the opening elevator. He stepped into the entry and turned toward the glass room. Joshua rose from his seat and nodded at Clark.
Quinn waved to get the hunter’s attention, but he kept walking toward the meeting room’s entrance. Realizing he couldn’t see her, Quinn ducked out of the cubicle into the nearest row of books and started toward the room’s perimeter.
Before she reached the wall, a large partially shifted werewolf in jeans and t-shirt turned the corner, nearly bumping into her. It was hard to say which of them was more surprised.
The huntress was prepared for him and ready to fight. He’d clearly expected to find the harmless little girl still seated in her cubicle. Quinn stabbed up with her blade. She aimed to bring it up into the hairy belly of the beast, angling the long knife up under the ribs to the vital organs beneath.
Surprise was in her favor, and the Bowie plunged into the creature’s heart. The only sound he made was a soft sigh as he collapsed to the floor.
Quinn didn’t wait to see if the others heard. She kept moving to the wall and began walking around the perimeter of the room. The stupid skirt kept her from going as fast as she wanted. Quinn considered pausing to cut the sides with her blade to free her legs, but she opted to continue around the wall rather than take the time to fuss with the skirt.
As she moved, Quinn tried to remember which row of shelves held the next closest werewolf and slowed as she passed the last few rows.
Peeking around the bookshelf to check each row, she spotted one of the werewolves crouching and trying to peer between the bookshelves to see the front of the room.
Quinn held her knife in front of her and whispered “mist” as she started forward. The hazy outline around the edge of her vision indicated her shadow-hiding ability had engaged.
She snuck up behind the werewolf and yanked his elongated snout up, exposing his throat. At the same time, she plunged the Bowie in from the side, burying it to the hilt in the beast’s neck until the tip protruded from the far side. The silver sizzled as the shifter’s blood poured from the wound, spraying the books in front of him.
He struggled to clutch his throat for a second, then went limp as Quinn twisted the knife, severing the spine. She lowered him to the floor, careful to avoid the spreading pool of blood as she stepped away.
That took care of the two on the right side of the room. She was about to try to work her way around to the far side when an earsplitting snarl ripped from the front of the room. Quinn jumped over the werewolf’s body to see what was going on so she could lend Clark a hand.
She miscalculated her hop over the body, in part because her tight skirt hampered her movements. She landed on one foot, stepping in the edge of the bloody puddle she’d created. Her ankle twisted as her foot slipped out from under her, and she fell over the body of the shifter. After death, he changed back to a man.
Turning her fall into a tumbling roll, Quinn came back to her feet toward the middle of the row. The snarling had changed in the other end of the room, and Quinn knew another battle raged there.
She started forward again, drawing on her stamina bar in the HUD to increase her strength and agility. There were still at least two more of them out there. They could be ganging up on Clark right now.
She usually figured he could handle himself in situations like this, but he had Joshua to protect as well. She stepped around the body again, more carefully this time. Blood smeared her tights and skirt.
Quinn had almost reached the last section of shelving when the woman who’d come in with the shifters stepped into the aisle at the end of the row. She hadn’t shifted into a werewolf, which puzzled Quinn until she realized the woman wasn’t a shifter like the others. She was a vampire, which became evident when the woman smiled, exposing her elongated canines.
The woman didn’t advance or move in any threatening way. Instead, she cocked her head to one side and nodded. “You’re the huntress, aren’t you?”
Quinn nodded. “I am. You’ve heard of me?”
She pointed at Quinn and chuckled. “Nice outfit. I went through a Brittney the naughty schoolgirl phase too. It looks good on you, although that blood’ll be hard to get out of the skirt and tights.”
Quinn didn’t answer. This woman’s fashion choices or how she got blood out of her clothes didn’t interest her. Quinn considered seizing the initiative and charging forward, but something told her to hold back. The vampire knew Quinn was dangerous. After all, Quinn had killed at least one of her companions, as far as she knew. Even with that, the woman wasn’t attacking her and didn’t seem to feel threatened. As long as she was here with Quinn, Clark could hold his own against the remaining werewolf.
“Do I know you?” Quinn asked, feeling a vague sense of familiarity when she looked at the woman.
The vampire broadened her smile and shook her head. “Probably not, but I know you. I have to say, you’re not what I expected, based on everything I’ve heard. I expected you to be taller or something.”
Quinn glared at the woman. “What you see is what you get. Anyone who’s complained isn’t around anymore.”
“No offense was intended, Huntress. Despite my misconceptions, you appear to be every bit as formidable as I was told.”
The fighting continued toward the front of the room. The woman glanced in that direction before turning back to Quinn.
Pointing with her knife toward the sound of the struggle, Quinn said, “I’m not going to let you kill the old man.”
“Oh, my dear,” the vampire said with a chuckle. “I’m not here to kill him. Just to make sure he comes home from his little meeting. He’s far too valuable to kill.”
The woman’s answer puzzled Quinn. What did she mean by ‘come home?’
The struggle near the elevators ended in a gurgling snarl.
It was impossible to tell who’d won until Clark’s voice called from somewhere else in the room, “Quinn, are you all right?”
“I’m good,” Quinn replied. “I’m just having a chat with someone.”
The woman shook her head again, the smile not leaving her face. “Looks like the day’s outcome has been decided for me. Do me a favor, would you?”
Quinn wasn’t sure why, but she nodded.
The woman continued, “Tell dearest Joshua that there will be no hard feelings. We know he’s not responsible for what happened here. All he has to do is return home, and all will be well.”
“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Quinn asked.
“Oh, no, dear, I’m leaving. I have no desire to cross blades with you at this time. I would have killed Clark. He has had it coming for any number of reasons, plus, he was supposed to come alone, which proves he still can’t be trusted. That is something you should keep in mind, Huntress,” the woman said as she took a step backward. She smiled as she raised her hand and waved. “TTFN, my dear.”
“What?”
The woman rolled her eyes. “It means ‘ta-ta for now.’ Don’t they teach you kids anything?”
Before Quinn could answer, the female vampire leaped backward, twisting in mid-air to land on the opposite side of the room. Then she bolted for the exit stairs, running faster than Quinn had ever seen anyone move.
Quinn stood gawking at the place the vampire had been just a second before. She considered what fighting her would be like, given how fast she could move.
On impulse, Quinn started after the woman, but she had to catch herself when the skirt tripped her again. Grabbing the nearest shelf, Quinn barely kept herself upright. When she looked up, the exit door was swinging closed, and the vampire was nowhere to be seen. Quinn would never catch her now.
Clark called again, nearer this time. Before Quinn could answer, he came around the corner to stand where the vampire had been only seconds before.
He glanced at the body on the floor and then at her. He pointed at her clothes. “You all right? That’s a lot of blood.”
Quinn nodded. “Yeah, it’s not mine. I’m fine.”
“Why didn’t you come out after you answered me? Who were you talking to?”
She realized he hadn’t seen the vampire leave. “I was talking to someone who came in with the shifters—a female vampire. She said some very strange things.”
“Like what?” Clark asked.
“I’ll tell you later.” Quinn needed to process what the woman had said, especially about Clark. She’d acted like she knew the hunter personally.
Clark shrugged, looked to his left, and cursed. “Dammit, Joshua’s trying to run.” He turned and sprinted back toward the elevators.
Quinn followed as fast as she could, hampered by her skirt as she was. Finally, she stopped and bent down, gripped the fabric in both hands, and ripped the skirt open at the seam running up the side.
There, that would enable her to move better if there was any more fighting down here. She straightened and walked over to Clark. He and Joshua were arguing in front of the elevators.
“Who were those people, Joshua, and how did they know we were meeting here today?”
“There’s so much you don’t know, Master Clark. I have long sought to protect you from it. You’ve been through so much over the years. I thought I had shaken off any who were tailing me. I was wrong.”
Quinn jumped into the conversation. “They weren’t following him, Clark. They got here a good fifteen minutes ahead of him. They knew about the meeting and set up a trap to capture or kill you.”
“How do you know that?” Clark asked.
“Because that’s what the female vampire told me before she ran off. She thought you were going to be here alone.”
Clark glanced around. “How many were there? I only saw the werewolf I fought and the one you killed.”
“Two I killed,” Quinn corrected, holding up two fingers. “I got another one near where I was sitting at the back of the room. The woman was watching from the other side. After I finished off the second werewolf, she confronted me. She said some very strange things and then ran off. One of them was that she had only expected you. That worked in our favor.”
Clark turned back to Joshua, who’d paled during their conversation about the woman and the werewolves. “Who’s the woman, Joshua? How did she know about our meeting?”
The old man took a few seconds to compose himself and said quietly, almost to himself, “They must have been monitoring my computer.”
“Talk to me, Joshua,” Clark said. “Who must’ve been monitoring you?”
“My employer, Master Clark—the vampire, John Handon.”
Quinn and Clark stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Clark gathered himself first. “You work for Handon? For how long?”
“Since right after the purges. The clans were gone. I had to find work somewhere. I’d managed to save most of the clan records and salvage some of the financial resources, as you know. I’d not been able to save enough on my own to maintain my role as the keeper. There were no more hunters other than you, and John Handon showed up a few months later to offer me a job. He sought me out and offered to hire me, even to help me maintain the hunter collection in his private library. He’s a well-known collector of rare books and documents.”
“That’s not all he is,” Clark growled. “He was directly involved with the purges, Joshua. Maybe even led them.”
It was Joshua’s turn to be shocked. “I cannot believe that, sir. He’s never been anything but supportive of my role as the keeper of the records.”
“Of course he has, you crazy old man. He wanted them for himself after he killed the original owners. He even added you to his collection. You turned over most of the clan’s financial assets, too, didn’t you?”
“Oh, no, sir,” Joshua exclaimed. “Once I realized someone had started confiscating the clan’s financial resources, I salvaged what I could and moved them to secret off-shore accounts. I was only able to save a small percentage, as you know, but I did what I could. I’ve never told anyone but you about them.”
Quinn’s head spun as she tried to take it all in. This was her best chance at restoring her amulet, and he was working for their enemies. She struggled to find some way they could leverage the information to their advantage, grasping for anything that might help them.
She asked, “What about the woman, the vampire? She had a message for you. She spoke as if you knew her well. She told me to tell you there were no hard feelings and to come back home so all could be forgiven.”
Clark turned back to Joshua. “Who is this woman to you?”
“Mistress Naomi is the one who’s watched out for me over the years,” Joshua said with a wistful smile. “She’s protected me from the rougher sorts that follow Master Handon on more than one occasion. I guess you could call her the keeper of the keeper.”
Clark stared at the old man for a second, then said, “We have to get out of here. We can’t afford to be down here when someone discovers the bodies. Come on, we’ll take you back to our place and finish finding out
what we need there.”
“I cannot go with you,” Joshua said, crossing his arms. “I must return. Mistress Naomi is right. My place is with the collection, and I’m sure Master Handon will understand. He has always given me a certain latitude when it comes to my studies.”
Quinn shook her head. “That monster would kill you without a second thought. You can’t go back.”
Joshua’s sad smile told her what his answer would be before he spoke. “We’re all monsters, young lady. Look at what you and Master Clark have done here in such a brief time.”
“We were attacked,” Quinn replied.
“Master Clark was. Were you as well?”
Quinn didn’t answer. She’d killed her opponents by surprise on both counts. She closed her mouth and looked at Clark, hoping he had an answer that would convince the man to come along.
“Look, Joshua,” Clark said. “We can’t force you to come along, but we did come seeking information, and you can help with that before you leave. Will you do that much?”
Quinn gawked at Clark. If this man left, he was as good as dead. They’d never hear from him again.
“What do you need?” Joshua asked.
“I need anything you have from the records about creating new hunter amulets. Can you give us the information on that, at least?”
Joshua paused in thought and then nodded. “I’ll try. There are several places to look. That is ancient magic, and requires components that might be hard to locate, even if I find what you are looking for in the tomes.”
“You get the information. Leave the rest to us. Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it. As the last of the hunters here, you are entitled to what little I can do as keeper these days.”
“Be careful going back, old man,” Clark warned. “Handon is a monster, and I think you know it. Just because he finds you useful now, it doesn’t mean he won’t kill you on a whim once your utility has passed.”
Joshua just nodded, offering a sad grin as he poked the tip of his cane at the elevator button. He moved over to stand before the doors.
