Set To Start (Morningstars) (5 page)

Cia couldn’t help her breaking heart. She had calculated with one, maybe two weeks to find someone to fill in, and then the same amount of time to train him or her. “Uh, okay,” she whispered.

“You could always keep your job,” her boss offered, but Cia just shook her head.

“No, I can’t. This is just happening a lot sooner than I thought,” she admitted and then hugged herself.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t tide anyone over who’s just half way there. It’s only a question of time before something serious happens,” her boss remarked and Cia yawned, not being able to suppress the tiredness she was feel.

“I’m so sorry, you are not boring me,” she rushed to say, but her boss just gave her a look to point out that this was exactly what she meant.

“If you ever should reconsider taking this step, come back. We’ll happily take you back in, but for now you should maybe leave early, sleep some and then hopefully you’ll be back more awake tomorrow,” her boss suggested and Cia nodded.

“Thank you. I promise I’ll make my last days here as good as I can,” she assured her boss and then turned, grabbing her stuff. One week … that was nothing.

“Something’s brewing,” Ryder, one of Kaden’s best friends, announced, placing a map on the table in the common room. Other bases most likely were covered in computer screens, boards and whatnot, but their base was … almost outdated. Kaden didn’t mind, but sometimes he thought they could be better organized if they had just a little more idea about technology. The only thing they really had was a laptop.

“I figured as much. I doona want to scare anyone, but more of those fuckers have come into the city since the beginning of September four weeks ago,” Devon, their Scotsman, said and Kaden sighed. For once he didn’t like that announcement since they weren’t talking Hellraise. He could deal with the blood-crazed minds of those vampires. Devon and Ryder though talked about pure, stupid scumbags.

Like every society they too had vampires that just were plain evil, living the thug life instead of doing honest work and being a productive part of their environment. As if those suckers even knew how to work. Kaden didn’t mind lazy people, but those guys took what they wanted when they wanted and left the bodies everywhere. It was hard enough covering up an accidental death by a newly changed vampire, but this? Nope, they weren’t doing that any longer.

“The MSP can’t get them all, so we need to help out. I’m thinking groups of three,” Colbin announced and Kaden leaned back, looking at his brothers-in-arms.

“So, are you coming with us, or will you stay home with your little lady again?” Jaden sneered and everyone looked at his twin.

“Shut up, Jay,” Ryder snapped, but Jaden still held Colbin’s gaze.

“You’ll be able to do just fine without me because each of you get two Morning Star Police officers patrolling with you. I’m going to stay here to coordinate,” Colbin replied calmly and Jaden just snorted.

“You sort groups, we wait outside,” Kaden ordered, pulling his reluctant brother out of the room before he could say any more stupid things.

“You don’t know when to shut the fuck up, do you?” he fussed, pushing Jaden away from him. He was ready to beat him into a pulp because he feared that Colbin wouldn’t put up much longer with his attitude, leaving the warriors was no option whatsoever.

“What’s your damn problem, huh? You are the golden twin, they won’t make you go, no matter what I do,” Jaden snapped back and Kaden pressed his teeth together, taking a deep breath to stop himself from reaching out.

“I am your twin. If they make you leave, I’ll leave. I’ll forever hate you for it, but you are my blood. I’d go with you,” he finally said, lowering his eyes because he hated the indifference he saw on his brother’s face.

Silence spread among them for a few minutes. “I’m not gonna get us kicked out, Kaden. This is our home. This is our life. No matter where we’d go, we’d still be warriors and acting as such, but again, I will not get us kicked out.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Kaden gave back, smirking at his twin. “I like all the money we can access. And the cabin, too.”

“I’m glad you still like it. For a while there, I thought you’d leave it and move in with this chick you’ve been having. Thankfully you stopped seeing her eventually.”

Kaden swallowed. He and Jaden hadn’t talked about Cia since the fight they’d have back when. Obviously, he finally had gotten sneaky enough so no one noticed him slipping out. It was a feat, that much he admitted, because he needed to leave Cia earlier than he wanted just so he could shower and change before ‘officially’ sleeping in his own bed. It was impossible for him to stay away for a whole day, but he couldn’t help but wish for that chance. Just once, he wanted to be with her for longer than a few damn hours.

Thank the Creator that the days finally grew shorter again and the nights longer. He would be able to spend more time with Cia then … at least that was what he hoped.

The door behind them opened and Ryder came out. “We will corner some of those idiots, question them, and then the officers will imprison them. You hear me?
No
killing.
Just
questioning,” he announced and Jaden rolled his eyes.

“Can we at least beat them to a bloody pulp for being assholes?” he asked and a twinkle entered Ryder’s emerald eyes.

“No one said how to do the questioning,” he grinned, then gave Kaden a look. They both knew that there was no real use in beating up a vampire unless you killed him in the end, but maybe the ever-healing wounds would be a great way for Jaden to lose some of his aggression.

They left and met up with their assigned officers about ten minutes later. One of the perks of being a vampire was that you were faster running to places than taking a car. Now, if only myths were true and they could fly … Kaden would love that.

The little group started walking, surrounding one of the agents. Kaden hadn’t gotten his name and he didn’t care, either. Dealing with the Morning Star Police was not his favorite past time. They were arrogant bastards and only half as good as they considered themselves. Someone had to watch their dirty vampire-trash though, and for that, they were pretty good.

“They seem to be hunting the run down parts of Helpston, and even though they usually come in pairs, there doesn’t seem to be a definite goal. We do not think that this is random though. We just need to find the right hint so we can guess the prize,” the dude explained.

“It’s money. It’s always money. Or blood. This is a waste of time,” Jaden said, sounding bored. For once Kaden had to agree with his twin. He could be spending the night with Cia instead of being out in the street, but no, they had to rally all forces.

The guy turned to his twin, giving him an annoyed look before focusing on the rest again.

“Two streets apart. Max. We need to be within hearing and hunting distance. Let’s get it started.”

The twins went with the second officer while Ryder took the leading douche with him.

“Look, boys, you can go ahead and take charge all you want. I just want to get through the night without trouble and go home to my girlfriend, okay?” the officer announced and Kaden looked at him. He wasn’t as tall as the twins and definitely not as muscle-packed, but he wasn’t exactly small, either.

“What makes you think we’d hurt you?” Jaden asked, raising a brow.

“You know, you are warriors. You have a reputation. You are brutal and don’t take shit from no one. I’ve seen the guys being brought in after you lot deal with them.” Kaden could hear fear and awe in the guy’s voice. Was there a little bit of hero-worshipping underneath the terror his shaking body portrayed?

“We just aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty,” Kaden replied and the guy swallowed, looking down at his own hands.

“Yeah, I bet …” He shut up as Jaden and Kaden tensed simultaneously as they both caught sense of something.

“This is the best part. Looking for the next whore. The one who has the golden blood. We’ll be rich. And free.” The words were accompanied by sucking noises and slow moans of the victim.

“Finish so we can get going. I haven’t had a trace of that golden blood in my nose in weeks. Someone else will find it first and then we won’t have nothing,” a second voice hissed out and Kaden popped his knuckles, knowing that it would draw the attention of the guys around the corner.

“What was that?”

“That would have been my fingers,” Kaden announced just as he stepped around. It was a perfect set up since this was a dead-end-ally. These scumbags had nowhere to go as the others followed him around the corner.

“Rich and free. We’ll be dead,” the second voice snarled and Jaden leaned casually against the wall. Kaden couldn’t help but grin. If someone was able to pull off the bored act, it was his twin.

“Nah, boys. Who would kill charismatic guys like you?” he asked and the officer between him and Jaden looked from one twin to the other, obviously fully out of his comfort zone.

“You’ve never been out on the street, have you?” Kaden asked, just then realizing why exactly the guy was so tense.

“I have a desk job for a reason,” the guy snapped and Jaden started laughing while Kaden shook his head. Someone was really trying to piss them off good and proper.

“Okay, how about you step back and we take care of that? Then you can take them in and be the glorious hero?” Kaden offered. He’d feel better knowing that the dude wouldn’t get hurt.

There wasn’t a second invitation needed and the twins focused back on the vampires in front of them instead of the weakling behind. “Anyways, questioning, remember?” he said and Jaden shrugged.

“My fists question well,” he said, making Kaden groan.

“No questions. We are dead if we answer them.”

“We won’t kill you. That’s what we brought the coward for. He takes you in.” Kaden ignored the weak protest coming from behind him while the two in front of them moved ever so slowly, a weird determination on their faces. They were vampires alright, but they smelled like stray dogs after a night of heavy rain. One was blond, the second almost bald. They were ready to fight them to the end to either escape of die. They weren't afraid of them, yet feared whomever was their boss.

“We never said you would. But the one behind sending us here would. And no matter where we are, we will be found and killed. Brutally so. Painfully so,” Baldie explained.

“You cannot imagine the length someone will go through in order to protect their secret,” Blondie added.

“Oh please. You have no idea what we can do to make you hurt. And why should someone send you? For what?” Jaden asked, but the two just laughed maliciously.

“You won’t find anything out from us,” the bald one promised.

“Oh, but we will,” Kaden assured.

“Good luck,” the blond vampire laughed and before anyone could say anything more, the two nodded and then pulled swords, beheading the other one. Frozen in surprise, Kaden stared as the clothes fell to the ground, puddles of blood now flowing to the body of their last victim. Almost mechanically Kaden went forward, checking the human for a pulse, but there was barely one to be found.

“What the fuck? I didn’t even get to beat them! This wasn’t fun! Can we please go back two minutes so at least
I
can kill them?” Jaden fussed, nudging the clothes away with his shoe before picking up the swords.

“You go and bring her wherever you bring those victims. She may or may not survive. And we go and meet the rest.” In fact, Kaden didn’t want to meet the rest. He wanted to go and see Cia, pretending that nothing was brewing in this city, because whatever was coming, he had a feeling it would keep him from Cia for good.