Insatiable Thirst

Chapter 1: Factions

POV CIARA

Have you ever wondered what it is like to actually have a “normal” life? Well, I have and, for some reason, I don’t think I will enjoy it. Boring.

I know, I know. How can I say that? Well, let me start from the beginning.

*10 Years Ago*

“Ciara, you’re up. Choose a faction and what you will be the rest of your life,” called Master Bettina.

Sighing, I walked up the wooden steps to the old stone stage with four different burning pyres. Each pyre was a different color and would be what I would study and train in for the next four years. I slowly walked up the steps, wallowing in my confusion of what to choose. I know that I was good with animals, but I knew that I could not train them for the rest of my life. I was not great at cooking. Well, honestly, I could burn cereal, at least so I have been told by my best friend Nina. Yeah, I could not cook to save my life and was glad that the school I have been at since I was twelve had three meals a day. That left me with science and lab work or becoming a soldier. So they say anyway.

This school wasn’t normal. Our extracurricular activities were not just sports. We had lacrosse and volleyball and soccer, normal ones. Then there were the self-defense classes and shooting and hand to hand combat and swords and knives and… yeah, so not normal.

I was always good with my hands and weapons. I was the top in my class and excelled immensely. I should be though. I am the oldest and will graduate two years older than everyone else, I thought to myself. I couldn’t help that. I didn’t start until I was 12. My parents held me back because of my size. I am 5’3” and lean. I mean I have an ass and my breasts are proportionate to my booty, but… why was I held back? I don’t think that it was just my size. I think my parents never told me.

I finally stepped onto the stone stage. It was cold underneath my bare feet. The gray flecks in the white stone were glowing slightly as I walked forward. It was as if the flecks were calling to me and glowing the further I walked. I stopped in the middle of the pyres and stood there staring at each flame. One was green, one blue, one red, and one black.

Oh right, the blue one was business associated and I wanted nothing to do with pencil skirts and running a conglomerate.

As I stood in the middle of the pyres and looked at each one, I noticed the black fire flickering and spitting more than the others. Was it calling me? Am I destined to become a trained killer?

Present Day

I sat at the small round metal table outside the cafe with a book, my latte, and a chocolate croissant. My latte has always been my guilty pleasure. It has an extra shot of espresso, sugar-free vanilla, cinnamon syrup mixed and sprinkled with nutmeg and raw sugar on top. I like the crunch of the sugar when I take a sip of the hot drink. The buttery softness of the croissant paired perfectly and was half gone already. Same with my coffee. The book sitting on the edge of the round table was just for show. I had read it so many times in school that the pages were turning brown and soft. Not to mention, the cover and binding had so many creases and starting to fade that I am surprised that it is still in one piece.

I am across from a swanky hotel with unmarked police cars outside and a couple of cruisers. Most of the other vehicles had driven into the garage to be unnoticed. I tracked my target there and found the dead bodies. I called it in after canvassing the room. The male was brutally murdered and then drained of blood, and the woman, untouched. Dead, yes, but otherwise untouched. That was his MO. And the only thing missing that the police would not find for a while, if ever, was her promise ring she wore on the middle finger of her right hand.

I had been following this vampire for a while now. I had yet to have a chance to make him answer for his crimes. The thought of what I would do to this vampire when I got my hands on him, boiled my blood and made me giddy with anticipation. I was ruthless when it came to my targets. It was why I was hired by the Supernatural Council as their personal "assassin" I think was what they called me. I was a mercenary for hire and was very good at tracking and killing. I was almost always the one hired to take care of the "rogue" supers.

Being small has its perks. That, and I was fae.