Axel's POV

"Yes sir, I'll set up the meeting immediately," I said then hung up. "Family meeting," I yelled down the hall.

Marc came stumbling out of his room, rubbing his face. Looks like someone had a rough night, I chuckled to myself. Raven and Corey came down the hall shortly after with Brandon following, grumbling under his breath.

"Morning sunshines," I snarked as they all began inhaling coffee. "We've got a job and it might get messy."

They all gave me curious glances, and Corey asked, "On or off the books?"

"Off. It's vamp related," I said, waiting for them to implode in 3..2..1.

"What the fuck, Axel? I thought you of all people wanted to stay as far away from their drama as possible?" Brandon groaned.

"Da, why we get involved with blood-suckers? Hell, wolves are bad enough," Raven growled. Corey looked like he wanted to pass out, and Marc just gave me a sympathetic look.

"Hunters."

They all fell silent. All the guys knew what I was and what had happened to my mother.

"Who are we protecting - a human or a vampire?" Corey asked quietly.

"She's a vamp, but she's lived among humans for at least twenty years. She's one of the only known vamps to have escaped this particular group of hunters. Ever since then, she's stayed hidden, living as a human." I explained.

"If she's living as a human, then why is she hiring us? Isn't she already pretty safe," Brandon asked.

I let out a sigh. "She didn't hire us. Thaddeus did. He's her sire and he blames himself for what happened to her back then. Guess it was a really big thing. She even left the clan and broke the sire bond over it all. She refuses to return so this is his next best bet to try and keep her safe. He just wants us to keep an eye until he can get the situation under control."

"So when do we meet her?" Marc grinned.

"Tomorrow at eleven. We'll join her for lunch at her offices downtown," I smirked.

Raven gulped, "Lunch?" Poor Russian looked like he was ready to pass out.

I laughed, "Lives like a human, remember? Russian is not on the menu, buddy."

****

A short brunette led us down a hall to a thick cherry wood door. The nameplate read C. Rose. She knocked on the door and a melodic voice called out for us to enter. The brunette opened the door and ushered us inside. "Mr. Toma and his associates have arrived, Ms. Rose. Your lunch order should arrive shortly. Is there anything you need in the meantime?"

Ms. Rose stood from her desk, her dark hair falling in waves around her pale face. "No, Sarah, that will be all for now, thank you." The young woman nodded and darted out the door, making sure to pull it closed after her. "Gentlemen, please come in and make yourselves comfortable. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of ordering for everyone." She motioned to the sitting area near two large windows. There was an L-shaped couch and several overstuffed chairs around a pair of coffee tables. To be honest, it was an inviting space and not what I was expecting at all.

We all took a seat and sat in awkward silence for a few moments until she spoke again. "So I'm guessing Thaddeus has filled you all in on the situation at hand?" she asked, fidgeting with her bracelet.

I studied her for a moment longer, then replied, "Yes, Ms. Rose, he briefed me and I have in turn briefed my team."

"Callie, please, call me Callie," she corrected me softly. "First let me say that I appreciate Thaddeus's intent and your willingness to watch out for me, but I do not expect any of you to place yourselves in harm's way for my sake."

"With all due respect, Ms., um, Callie, if this particular group of hunters is seeking you, then you are most definitely in harm's way," I said plainly.

I saw her body tense as if she wanted to say something, but then she stopped and turned her head to the door. A faint knock sounded, "Ms. Rose, your lunch has arrived."

She quickly rose and moved toward the door, letting the meek assistant enter. Brandon jumped up to help her bring in the food and drinks. I smiled to myself when I recognized the packaging from Sam's diner. At least she has good taste for a vampire, I chuckled to myself. My attention was drawn to Marc when he moaned. "Ax, she ordered me a steakburger - look, it even has mushrooms," he groaned.

"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" she asked quickly.

"No sweetheart, you did something right," he said with a mouthful of burger. "No one ever gets my order right. How did you know?"

She blushed at the nickname, "I, um, didn't. I mentioned Mr. Toma's name when placing the order and Sam said he knew what to send. Considering the man has my soul on a leash with his food, I trusted him."

"You know Sam?" Raven asked, pointing a french fry at her as he spoke.

She nodded, "I've been going there for years." She turned as if remembering her assistant suddenly, and handed her a food container. "Here Sarah, this one's for you. Take an extra long lunch, I'll be busy for a while."

"Thanks," Sarah blushed and once again darted for the door leaving us alone.

"Does she know, does Sam?" Corey asked hesitantly.

Callie shook her head, "Sarah doesn't know. None of my employees do. I've managed to keep my real identity hidden for nearly twenty years now. As for Sam, well, if you know him, then you already know the answer. There isn't a single supernatural within a hundred-mile radius that Sam doesn't know about."

She was right. He was neutral ground and no one challenged him. To be honest, I'm not even really sure what Sam is, but he sure as fuck isn't human. He is, however, trustworthy, and if he knows her and she's a regular, then that's another good reason to see this through.

"I realize this is a bit of an odd situation, so feel free to ask anything you want, gentlemen. I will do my best to answer," she offered as she began to eat her own lunch. I could see each of them assessing her.

"What did you get?" Raven asked, looking at her box.

She chuckled, "A BBQ brisket steak burger with onion rings and a CherryCoke." Raven gaped at her in surprise. "What did you expect, Mr...?"

He shook his head. "Just Raven. And I thought you might drink blood since you are a vamp."

She laughed a bit more, "Apparently, Thaddeus left out a few details. So let's start there." She smoothed her napkin and took a sip of her drink before beginning. "Gentlemen, my name is Princess Calista Leandre Rose of Lyonesse. I was born in 1612, in Lyonesse and was turned by Thaddeus Janvier in 1638, when I was just twenty-six. I was abducted and sold to a particularly vicious group of hunters around twenty years ago. This particular group is seeking female vampires for breeding. They want to create an invincible race of hunters to eliminate the pureblood vampires. I can drink blood but haven't in a very long time. Not all myths are true, and not all vampires require blood regularly. Now, say I suffered a severe injury, then I would require it to heal, but by no means does it have to be human blood." She paused and looked at my overwhelmed team and blushed. "Anything else?"

Brandon spoke up first, "How did you escape?"

I saw a shadow pass over her face momentarily, but she did her best to conceal it. "I went into a blood rage and killed two of my captors before escaping through a series of sewer tunnels," her voice was low and pained. "Sam is the one who found me actually. Apparently, I'd managed to cross several hundred miles as best we could figure. He almost killed me, I was so far gone."

I leaned closer, "What stopped him, if I may ask?"

She shook her head, "It's okay. You have a right to know if you're going to keep an eye on me." She stood and slipped off her jacket then turned away from us. After a moment, she slid her blouse off her shoulder to reveal a marking that looked like a fleur de lis tattoo. I sucked in a breath as the others stared in confusion. She quickly put her blouse and jacket back together and then sat. "I take it they don't know," she asked me.

"It's never really come up before. They know my heritage, but I've never really been part of a clan since I was young," I said, my mind still reeling.

"So what the hell does it mean?" Marc asked finally.

"It means she has a pure soul," I explained as she lowered her head.

"Hold up, I thought vampires didn't have souls," Corey interrupted with a concerned tone.

"That's why it's such a big deal," I replied. "For her, or any pureblood vampire to still have a soul is a miracle of the cosmos, man. She's like the fucking holy grail of pureblood vampires."

His eyes went wide as he turned to look at her more closely. "That's why they want you back, isn't it?"

She nodded her head. "They believe that I can start some crazy new race." She lifted her eyes and met mine, "Please understand, gentlemen, I am not perfect, nor am I innocent, but I would rather die than go back there."

We finished our lunch and discussed her schedule. Ultimately we worked out a rotation that would keep her under surveillance at all times. She seemed pleasant enough and very forthright. She also requested that we keep our distance after today. She felt it would keep us safe should anything happen. By the time we returned to our condo, I was feeling fairly good about the entire situation.

"So what did you guys think?" I asked as we all settled down in the living room.

"She seems nice, I mean, for a vampire. I guess I'm still really confused though. She doesn't seem too concerned and I mean, how are we really protecting her," Corey said.

"Da, what do we do if one of those hunters attacks her - yell at them?" Raven snorted.

I knew in my own mind what I was going to do, but I'm not sure they wanted to hear it. I guess Marc picked up on my thoughts when he added, "Well if this is the group I think it is, we may need to restrain Axel." Thanks, buddy, way to throw me under the bus...

"What's he talking about, Axel?" Brandon asked.

I let out a frustrated sigh and flipped off Marc who just smirked. "It's the same group that killed my mother," I finally said. "That's why Thaddeus reached out to me specifically. He knew I had a reason to help. He also knows I'll kill the fuckers if given the chance."

"Does she know that?" he questioned further.

"She does. It was one of the reasons Thaddeus was able to convince her. That and the fact that we aren't full vamps. She was worried that it would draw too much attention to her and place the people around her at risk." I slapped my knee and stood up, "Alright, we took the job, so you all need to get some sleep. I'm heading to her apartment for the first watch. I'll expect to see you at her office at eight, Raven," I told him then headed to my room to grab a few things.

When I pulled up across from her apartment, I groaned internally as I looked up at her window. Her lights were out, but I could hear the faint sound of her breathing coming from the window. Even as a halfling, my senses were far more advanced than a human. A shift of movement caught my attention. She stood looking down at me, then with a faint smile, she turned and closed the curtain, never once turning on the lights. "This is going to be fun," I muttered to myself as I settled into my seat and began reading the book I'd brought.

Author's Notes:  Now that our background has been established, we need to get things moving...

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