[Victor]I met up with the vampire I sent to where Rock had found the woman. Nikolas, the vampire I sent, was waiting next to a makeshift shelter in the alley. A tarp was draped over two wooden pallets. It had been flipped up and I could see a stack of cardboard with some raggedy blankets piled on it. She was a vulnerable and easily accessed victim. There was nothing here to protect her from any vampire that wanted her. Hell, she wasn’t safe from anyone who wanted her, supernatural or other.“Where is the woman?” I asked. “The troll who found her took her to his home. He said he wanted to give her a safe and warm place to pass. He will take care of her burial and animals, as well,” Nikolas answered. “What have you discovered?” “She was almost entirely drained. The only reason she was still alive was because of the magic that assists in turning vampires. It was keeping her alive so she could be given blood. I didn’t give her any because of the laws. It did mean that we lost the only witness who can speak,” he replied. I had been hopeful that she’d had enough blood that she would just be comatose until her body could replace what was missing. It was clear whoever drained her was thorough. They made sure she wouldn’t be able to speak against them. “What did you smell when you arrived?” I asked. “I could smell something like vampire when I got close to her, but it wasn’t familiar. The animals didn’t want me too close to her. They were frightened and didn’t realize I was trying to help her. In order to keep them from panicking, I did what I could without approaching her.” I frowned. Animals didn’t always understand things like that, but Nikolas should have tried harder. This was only the first drained body we’d found, but goddess only knew how many were out there that we hadn’t found. I didn’t like this. It was like mice or cockroaches. For every one drained body we found, we could assume there were at least two more out there. Leaving a body was a sign of carelessness. Vampires were rarely careless. Though a newly turned vampire without a master would leave a body out, the scene would have been more agitated and shown more signs of a struggle. The fact that the animals were alive meant they hadn’t tried to stop whoever had drained their human. They either didn’t realize the vampire was there, or it managed to mind control them to ignore it. It all pointed to an older vampire, not a newborn. “We’ve lost access to the most evidence we had, but we’ll manage without her. If we can find other bodies, we would get more information. I’ll call in more vampires. We still have hours before the sun rises. I want to find any other bodies before then,” I told him. “Yes, Master Nightshade,” Nikolas said. I pulled out my phone and contacted Silence and Talon. As my supports, they had almost as much power over the vampire population in the region as I did. I told them what I wanted and they started calling people to join the search. Before dawn, we would investigate every inch of the city. Nikolas followed me to the park near the center of town. It was where the vampires my supports called out would be meeting. I would give them the instructions for the search before we set out. As I paced in the bandstand, I tamped down my anger. First, my vampire spy disappears now someone was out there draining humans and leaving them for dead. This would cause serious issues for us if hunters or human authorities found out about it. Just because not all hunters knew how to deal with vampires didn’t mean there weren’t specialized vampire hunters out there. They would know what was fact and fiction when it came to vampires. Unlike the men who showed up at my home last spring, who were working off fictional accounts of vampire weaknesses, these hunters would actually be deadly to me and my family. It didn’t take long before the park was practically filled with vampires. I saw Talon and Silence work their way over to me. This was important enough to call out every vampire in the immediate area. Unless they were working, they were in the park. I saw Dennis and Sybil standing near a tree. With a group like this, I knew we would find what we were searching for. The crowd was already quiet. Vampires didn’t get terribly chatty when they’re called to work for their master. It didn’t matter what they thought, they would do what they were told or they would suffer. “Tonight a drained human was found in an alley. Some investigation revealed the scent of an unfamiliar vampire. I want this city searched for other drained bodies and unfamiliar vampires. We will find whoever is endangering us and the humans in our region. Contact me, Silence, or Talon if you find anything relevant,” I announced to the crowd. “Go.” They cleared out quickly. In the blink of an eye, the vampires all disappeared. Not a single one was left in the park. I was impressed at how well they listened to me. Pulling out my phone, I called Finn. He was one of the first people I thought of when I tried to figure out who would be most beneficial. I needed someone who could track. “Hey, Vic, what’s up?” Finn asked when he answered the phone.“Someone in my territory is draining humans. They left one out where anyone could find it. Luckily, it was a fae who found the body. I need you to help me find whoever it is. Can you come help?” “Awe, you’re really asking for my help. That’s so cute. What do you know about this person?” “Only that they attacked a homeless woman and might have the ability to mind control animals,” I answered. “Hmm. That’s a rare ability. You might want to talk to Talia about that. She would have a better idea of what bloodline would be able to do that. I can’t come up to your seat, Amelia is having a hard enough time. If I leave her alone she’ll have to deal with these asshole witches on her own and she’s trying to find work. This isn’t a good time for us,” Finn said. I frowned at my phone. Lives were at stake and he was more wrapped up in taking care of his Solus Amor.... Centering myself, I shook my head. This wasn’t Finn’s territory. He was technically only a guest in my territory and he didn’t owe me anything because of how he had helped with relieving the curse last year. “Finn, I need your ability. I have to find whoever is killing in my territory,” I insisted. “Look, my Solus Amor is my priority. I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks I should do. I lived for too long without her and I’m going to be right here where she needs me.” “She’s a witch. That means she values all life. If she knew about this and the fact that you’re refusing to help me save lives, then she would be very upset with you,” I told him. “You wouldn’t fuсking dare,” he growled. I could practically hear the venom in his voice from the other end of the phone. But I refused to be intimidated by him. “You seem to be under the impression that I care what you want over the lives of vampires and humans in my territory. If you don’t help me, lives will be lost. And that’s on you too,” I said firmly.There was a moment of silence before Finn spoke up again. “I’ll see what I can do from here. But I can’t promise anything. Tell me what you know and give me an hour to focus on it.” I told him everything I knew about the woman and the attack. Finn listened carefully. At the end, I told him I wanted him to find the vampire who drained the girl and I hung up. With that taken care of, I called Talia. She was living with Queen Bellamy, but had come to visit last week to see Echo and bring a lot of baby gifts. Between Marius and Talia, we already had the nursery stocked and furnished. Marius had been the same way when he found out Harmony was pregnant and was sending her gifts ever since the announcement. He was now eagerly awaiting his first grandchild. “How can I help you, Victor?” Talia asked as she answered the phone. “Someone drained a human. I’m trying to find them. I was hoping you could help a little. They may be able to mind control animals,” I told her. “Mind controlling animals? Are you sure?” “There was a dog and cat with their last victim, but the animals didn’t seem to try to stop the vampire. There were no signs of a conflict or struggle. It was the only thing I could think of.” “Invisibility could also be a reason. If the animals couldn’t see anything, they wouldn’t realize that a vampire was attacking their owner. The animals might have been on their guard, but wouldn’t have realized what was going on,” Talia explained. “I didn’t realize that was a vampire ability. I would assume animal mind control to be more likely,” I replied. “Both of them are possibilities. Each comes from a different original vampire line. There is a line who can control supernatural animals, not natural ones. There is also a line that can make themselves invisible, but cannot mask their scent. I’ve met the first vampires who had those abilities, but the originators of those abilities are long dead. That is not to say that their line doesn’t live on. I will contact Phoebe and have her check the files with the Council.”“I appreciate it, Talia,” I told her. “Anything I can do to help, Victor. This could be very dangerous for vampires in your territory. We need to resolve it as soon as possible,” she said, then hung up with me. Talia was concerned. She generally wasn’t as short as that unless something was on her mind. I understood. This was potentially dangerous for all vampires in the area. The reach of the issue could go much further, influencing the world view of vampires. With that taken care of, I went back to the alley where the woman had been found and started searching surrounding rooftops for clues. There were some disturbed areas, but nothing that indicated what direction to head. I would follow one for as far as I could, then go back and follow another one. It almost seemed like someone was watching her over several nights from the different rooftops. It might make sense if they were wanting to find the best time or if there were other homeless who made that alley their home. No new information came from my search and it frustrated me. About an hour after I’d hung up with Finn, he called back. I stopped my searching to answer the phone. I might have seemed like I wasn’t appreciative because I threatened to get his Solus Amor involved, but I was. I needed him, or I wouldn’t have threatened at all.“Hey, Vic, there’s a problem,” he said as soon as I answered. “What sort of problem?” I asked. “I did the search and waited for an answer, but no vampire did this. The answer I get coming through the strongest is that a vampire isn’t the right answer. Whatever’s doing this is either not a vampire, or not a vampire anymore.” “Not a vampire anymore? There is only one way to not be a vampire anymore, Finn, and that’s to die a final death,” I reminded him. “I don’t know what to tell you here, Vic. That’s the feeling I get and I have no reason to lie or exaggerate. Whatever you’re after, isn’t what you think you’re after,” Finn replied. I thanked him for his efforts and hung up. Something that isn’t a vampire or isn’t one anymore.... There were some fae with vampire-like qualities, but nothing I could think of that actually drank blood in a similar way to a vampire. At least, not similar enough for someone to mistake them. It was fairly late in the night. Waking Queen Maeve might not be the best idea. I would be able to reach her before I turned in for the day, though, so I continued my search. I followed every trace of the person who had attacked the human. Several of my vampires called in with leads or locations of human bodies. I set Talon to collecting the humans and he was also marking on a map where the bodies were found. By the time the vampires were finished for the night, they had found five more bodies. This was concerning, because the vampires who found them reported that they weren’t more than a week old. That meant this being was killing at a rate of one person per night. For now, it seemed to be vagrants, but how long before the more vulnerable population thinned and they started going after humans who would be missed?We needed to resolve this quickly, before we became the focus of human interest in this case. I would make sure to dispose of these people’s bodies respectfully. I would not let their deaths go unavenged. They weren’t my people, but the safety of my people rode on finding their killer.