by Lola Gabriel
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2020
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
1
Raina Delaney bit her lip as she felt tears filling her eyes. She shook her head and smiled to herself. It was funny, really, that she was so sad to leave Noah after she had almost been forced into marrying him, but somewhere along the way, Noah and his mate Chessa had become Raina’s best friends, and leaving them was hard. Especially with Chessa pregnant and Noah the newly appointed alpha of the District 175 region.
Noah and Chessa had both reassured Raina it was fine, but she still felt a pang of remorse, a ball of guilt in her stomach. Never in her two and a half centuries on earth had she ever put herself and what she wanted first, yet she knew the time was right to spread her wings and do what fate was calling her to do.
She had been friends with a vampire, Harvey, for a long time, and Harvey had made it his life’s work to track down Matchmakers and stop them from their barbaric trade in human flesh. Raina had always felt like it was good work, and now she knew her calling was to follow in his footsteps and hunt down Matchmakers. The thought of it made tingles run across her skin and gave her a warmth that indicated her bear agreed with her. This was her destiny, her life’s work.
Raina’s fate had been thrown into her lap when Noah’s rightful mate was taken by a Matchmaker and Raina had found herself in the middle of it all, helping Noah free Chessa. It had shown Raina that she was made for this. Her instincts had kicked in, allowing her to help take down the ferocious demon Matchmaker, Freya, and she knew she could do it again if she just listened to her animal instincts.
“Those Matchmakers aren’t going to know what’s hit them,” Noah grinned as he hugged Raina. He had called her that morning to let her know everything was in order and she was free to leave whenever she was ready. Not wanting to wait another minute, Raina had her flights organized and her things packed. She would be leaving that afternoon. She had word on a Matchmaker in District 96, in New York.
“Oh, they’ll know alright,” Raina said, sounding fiercer than she felt in that moment. “I’ll make damned sure they know.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Chessa laughed. “Those things deserve the worst punishment imaginable,” she said with a shudder. “Give them hell, Raina.”
Raina knew Chessa was remembering her own time with one of them. Freya had been a demon, one of the most ferocious Matchmakers. She liked to torment her victims before she sold them on, getting into their heads and mentally breaking them. She enjoyed their misery, their pain, feeding off the fear that came off them in waves. Remembering this gave Raina the strength she needed to give her friends one last tight hug. There was no going back now. Not while there were people like Freya still in the world.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Noah reminded her, walking her to the gate. “Call, text, Skype. And come home whenever you’re ready. Remember, there will always be a place for you here, Raina.”
“Thanks, Noah.” Raina smiled. “You take good care of Chessa and that baby, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear,” Noah said, giving her a salute.
Raina laughed and walked away before she changed her mind. She knew Noah would allow her to change her mind. He would probably be glad. But she couldn’t just turn her back on her destiny. Someone had to make a stand against the Matchmakers, and why not her?
She had already said goodbye to her father, another hard job. She only had Harvey to get to, and then she would be on her way to the airport. She had purposely left Harvey until last, because she thought he would be the easiest goodbye. Not that they weren’t good friends, but Harvey got it. He understood the pull to go after the Matchmakers. She also wanted to quiz him one last time and see if he had managed to get any further intel on the Matchmaker she would be hunting down in New York.
Harvey had connections, the kind Raina could only dream about. If anyone could get her some more information, it was him. At least one last time. Raina had made her decision on that, too. Once she left the district, she wouldn’t allow herself to rely on Harvey anymore. She would develop her own research skills, find her own network of connections. It was the only way she could be a successful hunter rather than just a pawn in someone else’s hunting missions.
She made her way to Harvey’s place, taking in one last look at the familiar streets as she walked. She reached Harvey’s home and rang the doorbell. He smiled when he saw her and invited her in. She stepped inside and followed Harvey through to his large living room. It was tastefully decorated, light creams and fawns with a color pop of red from the intricate artwork hanging over the ornate fireplace. Harvey sure didn’t live like a bachelor.
“Do you want some coffee or anything?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I have to get going,” Raina said. “I just dropped in to say goodbye.”
Harvey raised an eyebrow. “You’re really doing this?”
“I’m really doing this,” she confirmed.
“Good for you, girl,” he said. “This world needs more people with a few morals. And those who are willing to be a part of the solution instead of ignoring the problem and hoping it just goes away on its own.”
Raina laughed. “Yeah, I guess it does. So, do you have anything for me?”
“Honestly? Not really. All I’ve been able to find out is the Matchmaker’s name. Chester.”
“Chester what?” Raina asked.
Harvey shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got. Look, why don’t you stick around for another week or two until I have more for you to go on?”
Raina perched on the arm of the nearest chair and shook her head. “Because this is something I have to do alone. I need to find my own methods of gaining information. Besides, you have enough to do keeping our district safe without starting on the others.”
“Yeah.” Harvey nodded. “I thought when you guys took out Freya, things would calm down around here, but of course there’s always another low life willing to take her place. Good thing is, though, the newbies screw up a lot faster than someone like Freya ever would, so they’re a lot easier to track down. Usually, it doesn’t even come to a fight. Just a few choice words and a threat or two, and they go back on their way.”
“I sometimes think it’s a shame that humans don’t know more about our world. Then at least they’d know to be a little more vigilant,” Raina said thoughtfully.
“And anyone with the Sanmere protein could seek out protection. Or sell themselves, if they’re that way inclined. At least then they’d be making the choice for themselves. But you know what the humans are like. Most of them wouldn’t care one way or the other. It would just bring out the hunters, and we’d end up in a war.”
“I know. It’d just be nice.” Raina checked her watch and got up when she saw the time. “Well, I’d better get going, or I’m going to end up missing my flight. Thanks for everything, Harvey. Wish me luck.”
Harvey hugged Raina tightly. “You don’t need luck, Raina. You have your wits about you, and you have an Ure sword. You’re all good.”
Raina walked back to her apartment and gathered up her bags: a large suitcase, a small carry-on bag containing the Ure sword, and her handbag. She double checked she had her passport and her tickets. She took a last look around her now empty apartment and then smiled to herself. This wasn’t a sad moment. It wasn’t a goodbye. It was a hello to the life she had been destined for. She could feel the pull from New York, and she no longer had any doubts in her mind that this was exactly what she was meant to be doing, exactly where she was meant to be going.
She headed a beeping sound outside and headed for it. Her cab was waiting. The driver got out, opened the trunk
, and took Raina’s bags. She almost didn’t give up her carry on. The Ure sword was her most precious possession. She reminded herself of the enchantment she’d bought from a local witch, knowing she had no chance of getting her weapon through customs. The sword looked like nothing more than a nondescript notebook tucked into her bag between a few other notebooks, a novel she was halfway through, and her laptop.
Noah had organized her documents for her. Being so old, there was no record of the real Raina Delaney, at least not in this century, and she had to have a forged passport. For the duration of her travels, she would be known as Sheila Hamburg. She could live with that. It was just the way for the shifters.
As her cab took her towards the airport, she could feel her doubts slipping away, her sadness at leaving her friends and her father behind fading away. She was happy, excited. This felt right.
Raina was filled with excitement once more as she moved to the window of her hotel room and looked out at the bustling city. Neon signs jostled for space beside giant posters. Everywhere she looked, tourists and locals alike walked the streets. Some hurried, not wanting to miss a single thing. Others strolled, like they had all the time in the world to enjoy the sights. She saw couples holding hands or walking with their arms around each other. She saw families and groups, all of them here for a good time.
It made Raina want to go out and enjoy the bustling streets. She could browse in the boutiques, take in the attractions, maybe even see a show. She wasn’t a tourist, though. She was here with one job to do and one job only.
Regretfully, she pulled herself away from the window and moved back into the main body of the room. It was quite nice. Raina had plenty of savings and investments to live on, leaving her financially secure enough to indulge in a nice hotel for as long as she needed to. She had debated renting a furnished apartment, but she had no idea how long she’d be here, and if she was honest with herself, the luxury of not having to cook and clean appealed to her.
The large king-sized bed was marshmallow soft and pristine white. Matching bedside cabinets stood on either side of it. A large built-in wardrobe held Raina’s clothes; the first thing she had done upon checking in was unpack her things. She’d done her share of living out of a suitcase when she’d backpacked around Asia a few decades ago. The room had a good-sized balcony—where Raina pictured herself dining al fresco with a nice glass of wine after a long day hunting for clues as to Chester’s location—and a large bathroom decked out with all marble counters and both a bath and a shower.
Raina’s laptop stood open on the desk, and she sat down in front of it. New York was a big place, and she had only a first name to go on, but she was determined to find Chester, and when she set her mind to something, she made it happen.
She logged onto the laptop and opened a Tor browser window. She smiled to herself. What was it the humans called this part of the internet? Oh, yes, the dark web, the websites where nice, normal people don’t browse. The true purpose of the dark web was actually a secure place for supernatural creatures to store their data, their histories, and use social media and chat rooms specifically designed for the supernatural. The humans had never been meant to be able to find it, but hackers had managed it, and stories began to circulate. It attracted the darkest of humans and became a safe haven not only for the supernatural, but for the criminals as well. The alphas at the time had discussed shutting it down. In the end, however, they decided against it, taking their sites deeper into the web, to places where no one, not even the most skilled hackers, would find them.
Raina bypassed the standard onion sites and moved to the homepage of the supernatural internet. She tapped a fingernail on the desk as she thought about how best to start. She started by going to a search engine. Sometimes the most obvious solutions were the right ones, and it was worth a shot.
She tried typing in ‘Chester, New York.’ The hits she got back were in the hundreds of thousands, and with no idea what Chester looked like, she had very little chance of getting anything she could use from such a wide search. She tried adding ‘Matchmaker’ to the search, but even as she did it, she knew it was pointless. Matchmakers survived by being subtle. They wouldn’t exactly have a website advertising themselves.
How the hell does someone who wants to use their services find them? It wasn’t the first time Raina had asked herself this question, and though it wouldn’t be the last, she was still no closer to finding an answer.
She tried again, using the search term ‘Sanmere.’ This brought up a fair few hits, but Raina quickly saw that they were articles from the science community, discussing the fact that a human with Sanmere in their blood was able to safely become an immortal and produce female children, which immortal females had been unable to do for more than 200 years. There were articles discussing the possibility of harvesting the Sanmere and transfusing it into immortals to allow them to produce female children, but Raina knew the community was nowhere near the point where they could make that happen.
She tried various different keywords. She found some other interesting articles, including some on how and why Matchmakers operated, but nothing that could help her in her search for a specific one. She had to be missing something. Matchmakers often approached single immortals and offered their services, but she knew there was a way to request a certain type of mate, so there had to be a way to find them. She just didn’t know what it was.
Was it something they taught immortal boys as part of their schooling? Something the girls weren’t privy to? Raina dismissed the idea. Noah would never have bought into the old boys’ club mentality. If he knew how to find Matchmakers, he would have told her. It had to be some sort of word of mouth system.
Although she was beginning to think this was pointless, she couldn’t just give up so soon. She kept searching, changing her terms, narrowing and broadening her search, until her head hurt. She looked at her watch. She had been online for almost three hours, and she still hadn’t found anything even remotely useful to her. She’d tried several chat rooms, using a fake name and subtly hinting she was looking for a Matchmaker in District 96. The reactions varied from interested to outright disgusted, but one thing never changed: no one was able to point her in the right direction. It if it was a word of mouth system, it was more covert than she’d assumed. It must be a face-to-face thing; an immortal knew someone who knew someone and so on.
Her plan to get to Chester had been simple: pose as a potential client so Chester exposed himself and then take him down. But how could she do that if she couldn’t even find out how to contact Chester?
She did have one contact in the district who might be able to help her—Keeley, a witch whom Harvey had introduced her to years ago. She decided to contact Keeley, and rather than telling her what she needed entirely, she would just say she was looking for a Matchmaker going by the name of Chester and ask Keeley if she knew where she might be able to find him.
Raina reread the message. She hoped Keeley read between the lines and saw she was trying to find Chester to stop him rather than do business with him. Although she didn’t know Keeley well, she was one of Harvey’s contacts, which gave Raina confidence that she would at least keep the message to herself and not run to Chester if she did indeed know where to find him. Raina hoped that her alliance with Harvey would tell Keeley that she was one of the good guys.
She sighed and shut down her laptop. Her head was pounding, and there was only so long she could stare at a screen without getting any answers or even getting any closer to finding them without going mad. She got to her feet and paced the room for a bit, her mind working overtime. It didn’t help her any; it just gave her more questions. How the hell did Harvey make it look so easy?
That was a question Raina could answer. Harvey had been tracking Matchmakers for a long time. He had learned tricks and ways in. It probably helped that he was male, so he could easily pretend that he wanted to find a Matchmaker to use their services. Obviously, that wasn’t something Raina could do, bu
t she hopefully would learn some tricks of her own in time. She wasn’t in the mood to be patient, though. Every day she wasted looking in the wrong places was another day Chester could continue to sell unwilling women to willing immortals.
Who the hell could do that? Who wanted to take a mate that didn’t want the life they were being offered? Who wanted to spend eternity with someone who resented them and probably even feared them?
Raina had never understood that side of the Matchmaking process. The thought of forcing someone to marry you wasn’t her idea of a happily ever after. She had always dreamed of love and romance, of finding her soul mate. That was part of the reason she felt such empathy towards the victims of the Matchmakers. They were being denied their chance at finding their soul mate.
It didn’t matter to Raina that the girls who were bought were usually showered with gifts and given a life more privileged than any they could have hoped for. It didn’t matter to her that most of the girls came to embrace their newfound status. What mattered to her was that their choice was taken away from them.
When she couldn’t stand the unanswered questions swirling around her head any longer, she decided it was time to get out of her room. She didn’t want to get pulled into the tourism lifestyle, but she decided a drink or two in the bar of her hotel wouldn’t hurt. Maybe she’d get lucky and find Chester hanging out there, looking for customers. She knew the chances of that were slim at best, but the hotel was owned by the alpha wolf of the district and was a known hangout spot for supernatural creatures, so it was at least possible. In any case, that was what Raina told herself, because it was better than admitting that she was out of her depth here. She had fallen at the first hurdle.
She grabbed her purse, ignoring the taunting voices in her head. She made her way to the elevators and down to the ground floor. She went to the bar, sat on a bar stool, and ordered a beer, sipping it while she looked around the room.
