Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01)

by Jordan, Lanie

  “Maybe,” I said, speaking more to myself than him.

  Linc glanced at his watch, stole another fry from my tray, then stood. “Come on. We need to load up.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Help yourself. Oh, wait, you have been.”

  “Hey, I can’t help you eat so slow.”

  Laughing, we dumped our trays and took the stairs up to the fifth floor. The weapons room was in front of the window that led to the catwalk. When we walked in, four agents—including Peter—met us.

  Two steps in, I turned in a slow circle. My eyes went wide. Holy crap.

  Only the P4s were allowed in the room without a senior agent, so I’d never been inside before. It was somewhat similar to Weapons class, but double the size, and with more weapons and different types.

  A locked metal case lined most of the room. Inside the door, to my right, a portion of the case was filled with knives and swords, and the wall in front of me had guns and rifles. To my left, belts and vests hung from metal hooks, and the wall behind me had bows and arrows on part, and then a blackboard took up the other half (like the ones from our other classes).

  A large glass table stood in the middle of the room, about three feet high. At the end, an open chest filled with wooden stakes.

  Definitely not what I’d been expecting.

  “Hey, Hall. Your eyes look like they’re about to bug out,” a familiar voice said.

  My head snapped up and I found Peter smiling at me. I glanced around again and gave a low whistle. “They might.”

  He tossed something to me, then to Linc. “Put ‘em on.”

  It was a vest with more pockets than I thought imaginable. I shrugged it on and snapped the buckles together.

  Linc put his own vest on. “What are we going after?”

  “That’s what you’ll be telling us,” Peter said. He looked around us, to the door. “Aren’t there supposed to be three of you?”

  Linc and I both nodded, but he added, “Felecia.”

  “Well, if she’s not here in five minutes, we’re leaving—”

  “I’m here,” a voice said.

  I spun around as Felecia walked into the room. Peter barely glanced at her before tossing a vest in her direction. He kicked the trunk of stakes. “Six stakes each, four bottles of holy water, two tasers—try not to lose them, please; they’re not cheap—a net, and your weapon of choice. And no, Linc, that doesn’t mean a gun.”

  Linc made a face. “Come on. I promise to only shoot…whatever it is we’re going after.”

  Peter shook with laughter. “Nice try.”

  “Not that I’m complaining,” I said, pausing in my supply-gathering, “but why are we getting weapons? I thought this was just a ride-along.”

  “It is.” Peter nodded slowly. “But, as you saw before, what should be an easy hunt isn’t always. You shouldn’t need anything you’re going in with, but we’d rather you carry around a bunch of stuff you don’t need than need a bunch of stuff you don’t have.” He walked up to me, tapped a pocket on my vest. “Headset is in here. Just wrap it around your neck and speak when you need to. Once it’s activated, there’re no buttons to press or anything to worry about. Earwig is in the small pocket attached to the headset.” He pulled something from his own pocket. “Mr. Elliot thought you might want this.”

  It was the sword Mr. Elliot had let me practice with in class.

  I started to reach for it, but Peter pulled his hand back lightning fast. “It stays like this—in pocketknife form—unless you need it or are instructed to use it, understand? No playing with it.”

  I nodded enthusiastically as he placed it in the palm of my hand. Carefully, I put it into one of the remaining dozen or so empty pockets I had and prayed I’d remember which one. “Thanks. And I won’t—open it, I mean, unless I need it.”

  This is what I’d signed up for. Demon hunting. It was only a ride-along but still. A real hunt. I probably wouldn’t do much, but I could study Peter and the other agents’ techniques and body language. I could study demon behavior and body language. The books were great, and detailed, but this would be so much better.

  Even if I didn’t do anything, this was definitely a win/win. For all of us.

  I turned my attention to Linc as I finished putting the rest of my supplies in the vest pockets and found him grinning as he pulled a bow from one of the racks. It was similar to my knife, in design at least, so it shrunk down in size. It ended up looking like a barbed piece of metal.

  “Copy cat,” I muttered to him.

  He smirked, shrugged, and put the bow in the pocket over his heart.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Felecia. I hadn’t seen her pick a weapon. She was leaning against the gun case, wearing her usual grumpy and/or disinterested look.

  Putting Felecia out of my mind, I watched Peter. He was talking with the other three agents.

  Peter glanced at me. “How about some intros?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  “This is Adam Easton,” Peter said, pointing as he listed off names. “Dale Poole, and Harry Purcell.”

  Adam was the tallest, with dark blue eyes, mahogany hair, and an easy, kind smile. Harry was a bit shorter, lanky, and bearded with a kind of biker look. Dale was the shortest (only an inch or so taller than me), with light brown eyes and blond hair.

  “Hi,” Linc and I said at the same.

  Peter pointed to us next. “This is Jade Hall, Linc Stone, and Felecia Fitzgerald. And now that that’s out of the way…” He walked around the table and pressed a button underneath the edge. A holographic keyboard appeared above his hands and a small screen image next to that. A large portion of the wall in front of him lit up. He typed something and a map appeared on the wall, looking as crisp as an HDTV. Picking up a pen, he started to draw on the screen next to the keyboard. At the same time, a small circle appeared over part of the map.

  I moved to the side of the table to get a better look at the image.

  “We know what we’re looking for,” Peter said, “but since you don’t, it’s why we had each of you collect various weapons that work on Class-One demons.” He tapped the middle of the circle. “This is the edge of Colebrook. What we’re looking for is in this six-block area.” He started to draw again. Four different colored lines appeared on the wall map over the roads. “Harry, I want you to cover the yellow road with Felecia. Linc, I want you with Adam, the red line. Dale, you’re the green. Jade, you’re with me—we’re picking up the blue line.”

  I stepped closer to the map on the wall, studied it for a second. “Residential?”

  “Yes,” Peter said, “so we need to be careful. Greene wants the demon, or demons, contained, if possible. Termination as a last resort.”

  “Abandoned houses or occupied?” I asked.

  Peter walked over to me. “Occupied.” He raised an eyebrow. “What are you thinking, Jade?”

  Frowning, I faced him. “Odds are it’s vampires, right? Short of the Class-Ones that are harmless, like Burrowers, vampires or hybrids are typically the only ones that live close to their food supply.”

  Linc walked over and stood beside me. “She’s right. Other Class One’s stick to abandoned parts, even if they’re still within a few miles of residential areas. They don’t mind traveling. Vamps like to hide in the open—killing the house owners and taking up residence.”

  Peter smiled at us. “Very good. Your assessments are right—we’re after what we believe are vampires. But when we get there, it could be something else, so don’t jump to too many conclusions.”

  After a quick check of his and our belts, he looked to the rest of the agents. “We’ll meet you at the van in five.”

  One by one, they nodded and filed out.

  “I know Greene went over the ground rules, but I’m going over them again. Under no circumstances are you to engage whatever we find. If there are civilians, do what you can to help or keep them out of the way. You do not leave your designated team member for any reason. If we say
jump, you jump. Tell us what you think we need to know but don’t mess around. This isn’t a game. If we mess up, someone could die. That someone could be one you.”

  “We get it,” Felecia said, rolling her eyes.

  Peter fixed her with a hard stare. “Let me make this clear. If you don’t follow orders, or you do anything to jeopardize the team, you don’t come back and get yelled at. You don’t get detention or privileges taken away. You leave. Period. Do you get that?”

  Linc and I both nodded immediately. It took Felecia a bit longer, but finally she relented and nodded.

  Peter started out and motioned for us to follow. “Let’s go hunt some demons, shall we?”

  CHAPTER 15

  We went down to the first floor and out the front exit where Adam, Harry, and Dale waited for us in front of a dark van. It looked identical to the one I’d seen my first day here. I walked around it, looking for dents or signs that a demon had tried busting out of it.

  Peter caught me studying the van and grinned. “It’s not the same one.”

  I made a face. “How many are there?”

  “A dozen or two.”

  “Cheaper if you buy in bulk?” I asked as he helped me into the back of the van.

  Everyone—save Felecia—chuckled. “That’s about right,” Adam answered.

  I took a seat next to Linc. Felecia took one on the opposite side, near the front, putting herself as far from me as possible. I didn’t mind one bit.

  When Greene had said we were all going together, I’d almost asked what he was thinking and why he’d put us together knowing we didn’t get along. But since he’d mentioned wanting us all to work together, I hadn’t. Maybe the hunt was more than a test for our Tracking class. Maybe he wanted to see if we could work together. If our grades were dependent on that, I wasn’t sure I’d pass.

  I spared Linc a scathing look. He could work with anyone, I thought begrudgingly.

  Peter pulled the van doors shut once everyone piled in, then moved to the plexi-glass panel that separated us from the driver, and gave it two solid thumps.

  All the agents leaned their heads back and closed their eyes. Peter, with his eyes still closed, said, “Might as well get comfortable. It’ll be about two hours before we get there.”

  ‘Comfortable’ wasn’t happening. The driver hit every possible pothole, and sometimes, it felt like he was running over logs or maybe dead bodies. My head smacked against the paneling more than once. Note to self: next time, bring a pillow.

  After a particularly rough spot, I opened my eyes on a growl and studied the others. None of them seemed bothered by the bumps. They were demon hunters, so I figured they had to have hard heads, but this was pushing it.

  There was another hard bump, and this time it made me bounce up and hit my head on the top of the van. I let out a curse that probably should’ve gotten me in trouble, but no one said anything.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam’s lips curl.

  “Jerk,” I muttered.

  Someone—or someones—snickered. I glared at them, though it was useless since they still had their eyes closed.

  Finally, after what seemed like the bumpiest two hours of my life, the van rolled to a stop.

  “We’re here,” Peter said, opening the back doors.

  I was the first one to jump out, alternating between rubbing the top of my head and the back. Linc and Felecia followed next, and all three of us started to glare when the others jumped out with smiles on their faces, yawning like they’d all had a peaceful, non-bumpy rest.

  Two of them studied us, then Harry said, “Nice ride, eh?”

  “Jerks,” I muttered again, louder this time. I wanted to slap him. Technically, it wouldn’t have been breaking any rules, but since they were our protection, I decided to let him get by with only a dirty look. He caught it and the grin widened.

  I rolled my eyes and looked to Linc. “We can hit them, right? I mean, they’re not teachers. They did say we couldn’t go after the vamps, but no one said we couldn’t attack them, did they?”

  Linc tucked his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Nope,” Linc agreed easily. “I don’t remember that rule.”

  “Good thing to remember,” I grumbled.

  All the agents heard us and laughed.

  “Is everyone ready?” Peter asked, his tone serious. His demeanor changed dramatically in the span of seconds.

  Everyone nodded. Mostly. I wasn’t sure if what Felecia did was a nod or shrug, but Peter took it as confirmation. “You three just remember the rules. Let’s find our nest and all get back in one piece.”

  “We will,” Linc and I answered at the same time. We didn’t hear Felecia chime in.

  Linc sent me a small smile. “Good luck.”

  “You too.”

  Peter pulled out his headset and put his earwig in place. “Get your headsets ready. We’ve got ours on already, so we can communicate with each other, but you three don’t need to worry about yours until we tell you.”

  I wrapped the headset around my neck and put the earwig in as I glanced around. Adam was standing only a few feet away, looking in Harry’s direction who was standing across the street. After a second, I heard Adam say ‘testing’ and saw Harry nod.

  Peter pulled Dale to the side and said something to him. After a minute, they clasped hands, then Dale walked away.

  Adjusting his vest, Peter turned back to us. “Radios in place, earwigs in?” When we nodded, he said, “Good. Let’s move out.”

  Harry and Adam took off in the lead, followed by me, Linc, and Felecia. Peter stayed behind us all. As we neared the first block, the group split off into three. Adam and Linc went to the right, Harry and Felecia to the left, and Peter and I kept straight ahead.

  “What do you think?” Peter asked after a few minutes.

  “About the hunt?”

  “Yeah. Not exactly your first, but it is your first official one.”

  “Nervous.” I shot him a quick look. “Kind of scared, actually.”

  “Why? You’ll handle yourself fine.”

  “Maybe.” I hoped so. “But still. Like you said, this is official. The first time doesn’t really count. You did all the work.”

  “And the second time? With Felecia?”

  I groaned. “Did everyone hear about that?”

  “Probably everyone inside the CGE walls, yes.”

  Tasha had said as much, but I hadn’t believed her. Or maybe I hadn’t wanted to. “How’d you find out?”

  “Greene. He asked me to keep an eye on you.”

  “I’ve barely seen you since that first day.”

  “I know.” He winked. “That’s the point.”

  I made a humph sound that made him laugh.

  “Alright, back to business.” He walked over to the sidewalk on the left side of the road. “Radios on,” he murmured.

  I turned mine on quickly, in time to hear two people—Adam and Harry, I thought—respond that their Prospects had their radios on.

  Peter looked down at me and I nodded.

  “Okay, Prospects. What are we looking for?”

  “Vampires,” I heard Felecia say.

  I could almost hear her eye-roll.

  Peter’s jaw clenched. “Didn’t we already establish that, Felecia? Director Greene told you this wasn’t a group assignment, didn’t he? You don’t pass just because someone else provides the answers. I’m not saying you have to provide them all either, but your participation is required if you want to pass. Are we clear?” When a few seconds passed and she didn’t respond, Peter’s tone dropped. “Do you or do you not want to participate in this assignment?”

  “I do.”

  “Good. Feel free to chime in if you think of something constructive to add,” Peter said. His tone was friendlier this time, but his jaw was still clenched. He waved me forward and we started down the road again.

  “How aware are vampires?” I asked.

  “In what way?”
r />   “I mean, they were human at one point, right? That’s what the books said. But how…conscious…are they of their once-human half? The books touch on it, but they don’t really go into a lot of detail. It’s all about tracking, capturing, terminating.” The books could really only teach you so much, couldn’t they? I knew the information, but how different was it to real life experience?

  “Most demons aren’t all that aware, or smart, I guess you’d say. They’re a lot like wild animals or serial killers—no thought, just action. Vampires are like that, too, but they are more aware. They’re not human anymore, at all. Don’t misunderstand that. They’re still dangerous and still serial-killer like in their attacks, but they’re clever too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Ask what you feel like asking. This is a test, but you’re allowed some questions,” he said with a wink.

  I stopped at the end of the next block. “This is a nice area,” I said slowly, looking around. Most of the houses were two-stories, double-garaged, and with perfect lawns. “Nine-to-five homes.”

  Peter raised an eyebrow. “Nine-to-five homes?”

  My cheeks heated. “My mom used to say you could tell the nine-to-five people by their houses.” I pointed to different ones around us. “It’s only a little after ten, but most of the lights are off.”

  “This is Harry. Felecia thinks we’re on to something.”

  Peter and I both came to a stop. Drawing a tablet from his pocket, he accessed a map. I scooted closer and leaned in so I could see. There were seven dots on the screen, each with a name above it. “Confirm your location.”

  “We’re at the corner of Fourth and…Maple,” came Harry’s reply. “We’re going to check it out. Give us a minute.”

  As we waited for Harry and Felecia to check back in, I glanced around. Most of the houses had trashcans out front. Guess it’s garbage night.

  After two minutes had passed, Harry said, “False alarm.” His tone was brisk.

  “What’d you see, Felecia?” Peter asked.