Lurking in the Shadows (Completed)

Chapter 15

Edward

After getting some sleep I put on my old gear that I thought I’d never put on again. I had put it away deep in the closet not really wanting to look at it again. Mud brown pants, a mud brown hooded cloak, shoulder guards, gauntlets, gloves, a forest green thick leather body armor, belt, boots, and of course my weapon of choice a crossbow and a handgun as my secondary.

“This is your former life, dear?” Nyx smirking at me. She had never seen me in my old uniform before.

“Yeah, it was… hard to believe it was only months ago that I wore this. Feels longer than that.”

“But it’s better now? Right?” She’s still smirking at me. Remembering how this whole fight started in the first place, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.

“Of course it is.” I give her a quick kiss. “Now to get you ready? Do you have anything besides dresses?”

“Not really? Mom came from a time when day dresses and ballgowns were normal and liked it.”

“Well, if you want to make it easier on yourself you’re going to have to find something easier to move around in than a corset. Even if I do like taking it off you.” I let out a low laugh as I kissed her again. “So before we go meet with my friends at the Old Hill Inn, we should go to the local shops and see if they got anything. I know just the shop.”

“Great, just let me change into something simple for now and I’ll change into whatever we get when we get there. Just let me tell my parents before we go.” She goes off to do that and I meet her by the front door. When I get there, I see a hooded figure going through the garden.

“Hey stop!” But it just keeps running! “I said stop!” We hop on the fence and head toward town. “Sorry, Nyx…” I mutter under my breath and I’ll explain to her when she gets to me. I finally catch up with the hooded figure and swing the person around.

“Mina?! What are you doing?” She was the last person I’d expect.

“What does it look like, I’m going to get some hunter clothes too.” She looks at me with a serious look. She didn’t seem like a hunter type. From what Nyx described her she was the shy and innocent one out of the three of them.

“Oh, you’re serious?” I tried to hold in a chuckle.

“Yes, I’m serious! Father said I could last night after you left.”

“Luckily for you, I was going there with Nyx, anyway. You could’ve just asked to join us instead of leading me on a wild goose chase!” I hear footsteps behind me and I almost draw my handgun from my side. “Nyx… you scared me.”

“Did you not think I’d come looking for you? Mina, what the heck are you doing here?”

“I’ll explain on the way to the shop. Let’s go.” I explained what happened, and we finally made it to my shop of choice, the Wandering Cloak. “After you.” I let the ladies go first, and I let them look around. They had everything a hunter would need. I look around at the weapons area just to see if something fits my fancy. Nyx comes out in black matte armor with subtle black satin decorative designs, a black hooded cloak, and a mask that covers her nose and mouth that has the same decorative design as the armor.

“Good thing it's matte. Shining in your armor will make you noticeable. It looks good on you.” Mina comes out of the changing room and both Nyx and I are surprised. She came out in a forest green scarf and dress, leather armor and gauntlets, gloves, a leather belt, and boots.

“Dang Mina… you’d be a good archer.” I walk my way over to the bows and quivers. When we look around, I hear other footsteps and it's the shopkeepers.

“Well, don’t you fit in with this section, young lady?” The guy’s polite and I saw a middle-aged woman by the front as we came in. Maybe a husband and wife duo. “I’m Cassius, my wife Jael and I run the shop. What can I help you with?”

“A beginner's bow for this young lady.” I point to Mina.

“Well, I know just the one, but it may be for when you’re more advanced.” We look around at the bows and they’re all made with beautiful craftsmanship. Bows of every wood, stone, and design. “Considering your onyx necklace, I think this one would be the right fit for you. This first-rate compound bow has been constructed of sturdy onyx. The string is made from fine wolf sinew which luckily for us is a very common material. The limbs have been decorated with animal scales and end in points ornamented with arrowheads. The handle is wrapped in ivory and decorated with gilded decorations. The quiver is modestly made from woven vines around some leather and is supposed to be worn around your belt.” He ties it around her belt and it's a perfect fit for her. Like she was made for it. “In the hands of an expert, this bow can go about 106 meters/348ft and still be lethal.”

“I’ll take it.” Mina pipes up. Nyx and I stare at each other shocked.

“Are you sure? Maybe something in the beginner section?” Cassius seems nervous too about this.

“I don’t want a beginner one. I want this one.” Grabbing the bow from the shopkeeper and making her way to the front.

“Well, ok then. And what are you looking for, young lady?” Cassius seems to know his stuff which I’d be worried about if he didn’t.

“Crossbow please.”

“Interesting choice for a beginner. Right this way.” We follow him to a different part of the store and just see a wall full of neatly organized crossbows.

“Given your choice of outfit… I’d say this one.” He pulls down a nice one and puts it in Nyx's arms.

“A little heavy, but I guess I’ll get used to it.” She lets out a nervous laugh and looks at me.

“This is a pistol crossbow which has been admirably made of blackwood. The string is made from decent-quality polyester, luckily for us, it is easy to find. The limbs have been decorated with glowing ruins and end in curved shape ribbons. The stock is wrapped in obsidian with some painted decorations. The long quiver is made from rare fur and hide and is supposed to be worn on your back.” He put it on her and man, she looked good. “The outer side has been decorated in clan paintings.” It looked familiar, and I realized I had seen these around her house. I think it’s her house crest. “In the hands of a skilled archer, this bow can throw arrows at 101 meters/331ft and can still be lethal.”

“I think the clan paintings should be painted over so targets don’t recognize them.” They were kinda noticeable.

“Yeah, fair point let me get some paint and I can fix that.” He goes back to the backroom and we’re left with his wife by the front. “Here we are, let me see your quiver, my dear.” She takes it off her back and hands it to him. He paints over the crest in black. “There, that’s better. Now it should be of better use to you.”

“Thanks, Cassius, you’re very… informative.” I try to make polite conversation, but man, did he like to ramble.

“How will you be paying us?”

“Oh silly us, here.” Nyx hands him some of her family money and both of them are shocked.

“You’re a part of the house of Mortem??”

“Yes, we are. Nyx and Mina Mortem.” She points out to her and her sister.

“Then this is on the house.” Mina and Nyx look at each other and the stuff in front of us. Realizing that this is probably worth a lot of money to them.

“Are you sure? It’s no trouble to pay with lunar dollars and coins.”

“It’s an honor and privilege to have you two here. Please, from us to you.” Cassius smiles at us and while they still lay the money on the table, they smile back.

“The honor is ours. Thanks for helping us.” We leave the shop and still give them a nice tip. He did like to go on and on, but he was informative.

“Now let's get to this meeting.” Mina is in a rush to get there.

“Whoa, what’s the rush?” I grab her shoulder pulling her back. “Rushing leads to mistakes which could be costly.”

“Fine…”

“Besides, do you know where you’re going?” I’m getting annoyed with her attitude like she has a chip on her shoulder.

“At the Old Hill Tavern.”

“Ok, you know where you’re going. Do you know who you’re meeting?”

“Some friends of yours along with Jasper and Father.” She crosses her arms and looks annoyed with me. “Are you done interrogating me?”

“Yes, I suppose we can get going.” We all start heading towards the tavern walking in awkward silence. Once we get there I can see Azrael, her father, and Jasper.

“Ah, I was wondering what took you so long.” Father looks at his girls “Guess your mother’s clothes wouldn’t have fit the assignment, anyway.”

“Father, can we get on with this meeting? The sooner we can get this biter the better.” What is going on with Mina?? Dyrk looks at me and then Jasper with confused looks.

“Well, I’d like to but we have one more joining us.” The door opens and a young man around my age comes in and Mina looks at him in shock.

“Father, what is Victor doing here??” She asks him in an angry whisper.

“I figured you’d want your mate with you.” Oh, snap Father brings in the big guns. Maybe he can help with this weird attitude.

“Well… I guess that’s considerate.” She guesses!? Who wouldn’t want their mate?

“Edward my friend!” He hasn’t changed one bit. His platinum blonde hair was in a ponytail hidden in his hooded cloak. His metal armor has been well used after being on missions with me for a while. His sword sheathed and just gave me a brotherly hug.

“Azrael, my brother from another mother! Good to see you.” I had to admit I had missed him.

“So what’s this about working with vampires?” He gives me a confused look about this assignment.

“Ah, yes the whole reason we’re here. Come, let us all sit down at this big table in the back.” We all head back and we all take a seat at our wooden table.

“So we’re here for a reason… but before we get into that, Azrael Therron let me introduce to you some new friends. The Mortem family who run the town minus mom and another sister, council member Jasper Thorne.”

“Hello everybody. Still doesn’t answer my question. Not every day that vampires need help from hunters.”

“We need your help.” Jasper sounds desperate, and at this point they are.

“Clearly or you wouldn’t be asking us.”

“We’ve got a serial biter. He’s attacked two out of my three daughters, and he won’t stop until he has all three.”

“This lovely lady, Nyx, is my mate and she’s one of the targets, and her sister Mina who is the original victim of the biter.” I wrap my arms around Nyx and cuddle close to her.

“We want to take this biter down.” Mina piped up, and Victor tried to calm her, but it seemed to do nothing.

“Mina, you need to calm down. I can feel your anger.” Victor whispers to her but I was close enough to hear him.

“I won’t do anything until this biter is gone!”

“Mina you’re on the verge of a frenzy! You need to calm down!” Jasper tries to do something, but nothing. “Mina if you don’t calm down you’re close to becoming a rogue!”

“Then maybe becoming a rogue will take down this damn biter!” Whoa… the whole table went silent. What happened to the shy and innocent girl I met just a month ago?

“Well, by the shocked silence, I’m guessing this isn’t normal.” Oh, Azrael… if only you knew.

“No… not normal. I’ll be right back.” He goes off to the bar probably to get her a drink. “Here…” As suspected, a blood drink in a martini glass. Classy bartender.

“Fine… I’ll take the damn drink.”

“When was the last time you fed, honey?” Her father asks her worriedly. I’m nervous about this answer too.

“Why is that relevant right now? We have a biter on the loose!” Oh boy… that probably means it’s been a while.

“Mina…” Her mentor unspokenly asks her too, and it’s just making her angrier.

“I have the damn drink, are ya happy?” Yeah, it’s in her hand but she’s not drinking it.

“I’d feel happier if you drank it.” That makes two of us. She finally chugs it down in one go and slams it down on the table.

“There! Can we move on!” Dang… even with a drink it did nothing… it must’ve been a while.

“Yes… I suppose we can. Unfortunately, we have little to go on. We have a piece of the attacker's cloak from the most recent attack, a scent and we know that it’s male from the first attack where he left boot tracks in the snow.” Jasper tells him and Azrael gives the look of ‘Oh goodie’.

“So not much to go on, but at least we got something.” Yeah, at least it’s something…

“And what’s the timeline?”

“We have our summer ball in a few months. If history is repeating itself, he’ll probably attack again there.”

“Alright so we got a timeline, so that’s always good. We got our band of misfits, and I presume you have yours.”

“We have a decent security team, but I guess it’s not enough.”

“Again you wouldn’t be asking your natural enemy for help if not.” He has a point. “Well, this has been fun, but we got to fill in our misfits, and Mina… I hope you feel better. You’ve got many people obviously concerned for you.”

“Yeah, I’m ready for battle.” Oh, snap! That’s just a slap in the face to basically everyone at the table.

“Alright then… if it’s alright, I’d like to use your training facility whatever it may be.”

“Of course, you can.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night, bright and early for you. I'm going to bed.” Yeah, he looked tired, but for them, this is their morning.

“Goodnight.” Jasper shakes his hand to keep it professional while drilling holes at Mina. I wouldn’t want to be her right now. Azrael heads out of the tavern and we all let out a sigh of relief that we have my fellow hunters on our side right now.

“Care to explain what that was about!?” Her father growls at her! “This was a professional meeting, and you were absolutely rude!”

“I’m ready to go after this guy!” Yeah, all the newbies think they are I’ve been there.

“Absolutely not and I’m tempted to bench you for this mission! You’re clearly too emotional for this!” Her father growled at her again

“What!? Absolutely not! I will go after whoever this person is!” Dang… I can feel the anger from her coming across the table.

“If you’d keep up with feeding, maybe you wouldn’t be on the verge of a frenzy!” Jasper growled at her. The three of them growled at each other. Mina storms off leaving us in the dust and we’re all flabbergasted. I hope for her sake that she feeds and soon. Her mate goes after her, giving us an apologetic look on his face. We all look at each other wondering what the heck we do and to be honest I have no idea.

“So do we go after her?” Trying to ease up the tension, but I don’t think it was successful.

“No, she needs to learn her lesson, and I hope she does soon. She may not want to embrace this new life, but she has to. I know she doesn’t like how it happened, but it did.” Her father explains to us and I know she has hated it since the beginning, but man I guess all the emotions since then have just spilled over. I would not want to be her mate right now. He’s got some work cut out for him…