Chapter 17 - Mirror

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Warnings:

So-so pictures!

Photoshop could've been better!

My computer was in a rebellious mood and didn't cooperate at all!

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Alex sat on her bed staring out the window. It had been 4 days since she was last send on a job… and almost the same time she last saw Chase. She missed him; his touch… She had it so bad even she couldn’t deny it anymore. The nights were steadily growing colder and they constantly made her think of the warmth his body generated after feeding from her. At first she hated it, being seen as just a food-source, but lately she enjoyed being fed off by him. Only him… She let out a groan and closed her eyes.

Charlotte knocked on Alex’s door one time, before opening it and letting herself in. She was in uniform, suggesting she had just come from a job… something Alex would kill for right now… just to distract her from Chase. ‘Get dressed! Lillian called for an urgent meeting in 10 minutes!’

‘Urgent?’ Alex frowned sliding off the bed, ‘Why? What happened?’

‘You’ll know when you get there!’ Charlotte said before closing the door behind her, leaving Alex to change.

She quickly grabbed a change of clothes from the drawer. Her mind racing about the meeting… Why was Charlotte so cryptic? You’ll know when you get there… Was it about her? Did they find out about...Chase? A shiver went up Alex’s spine at the thought. She was almost afraid to leave her room, but not attending the meeting would raise questions. Questions she did not know how to answer. She closed her eyes at shook it all off and made her way to the office. Why dwell on such things when it wasn’t she had no idea why the meeting was called for.

Never before had the way to Lillian’s office felt never-ending. She had to admit she was dragging, but she had this uneasy feeling in her gut that she couldn’t seem to shake. Alex opened the glass door to Lillian’s office and took a seat on the sofa next to Brenna. She was the last one there and it didn’t help her gut-feeling when she thought about them having to wait for her to start.

‘What’s going on?’ Alex whispered.

‘The Vamps have infiltrated HQ’ Brenna whispered back, just as Lillian opened the meeting.

‘What? Is that even possible?’ Alex whispered back, both astonished and relieved it wasn’t about them finding out about Chase. When Brenna didn’t answer, she turned her attention to Lillian. Needless to say she wasn’t the happiest person in the room.

‘What I need to know is ‘who’, because I’ve already had the building turned from the bottom up and there are no bugs. It’s definitely a person. 5 jobs gone to shit and no one knows anything… I find that hard to believe’ Lillian scowled, folding her perfectly manicured fingers. She turned her attention to Charlotte leaning on her desk.

‘Who knew about that job you were on?’

‘You, me, Kat… and I remember bumping into Alex before I left…’

The minute Alex’s name was mentioned Lillian’s gaze shifted to her immediately. Alex became very uneasy by the weight of her stare and she shifted a bit uneasy on the sofa. Lillian held her gaze for a while, before continuing with Charlotte. ‘What about the second one?’

‘Everyone in the building; It was one of the level 6 jobs on the board’ Charlotte said sitting down on one of the chairs.

‘Same here’ Kat said when Lillian turned to her, ‘All on the board! But then again, those have been unattended to for almost 3 days. Maybe we waited too long and they moved…’

‘No! I had scouts on all of them. They were cleared out only moments before any of you got there. It might have been a coincidence if it was one or 2, but 5? With 2 of my best hunters no less? No, there’s a leak and we need to find it…’ Lillian’s eyes moved back to Alex when she said the last sentence, ‘No one does jobs alone for a while. You don’t talk about your job or where you’re going. Not even to your friends…’

Charlotte and Kat shared a brief glance before nodding. It sucked they weren’t able to talk, right when Kat had half-forgiven Charlotte for burning her bike, but it was perfectly understandable. If no one talked about their jobs, no one could sabotage.

‘… Brenna, you’re with Charlotte. Alex, you and Kat will be going on a job tonight… The ammunition you made’ Lillian addressed Kat, ‘how long will it last?’

‘Well, most of it is bullets, so maybe 6 months… give or take! It’ll be more if we refrain from American style shooting; hoping one bullet hits’ Kat answered caressing her aching neck. All those days spent hunching over, looking into a microscope, were taking it out on her body.

‘Alright, you heard her- Don’t waste ammunition. If it’s an impossible shot, simple, don’t… take… it!’ Lillian’s face grew hard as she spit out the last words, pausing between them, ‘Meeting adjourned’

She waited until the room had cleared out to give Kat and Alex the job info and then retired into the bedroom next to her office.

…HQ infiltrated… Who? ...5 jobs gone to shit…Brenna… with Charlotte…Alex-Kat…the ammunition you made…

Calum could but smile at Lillian’s frustration when Chase told him of their meeting. He knew she would have one after he had sabotaged the one jobs Alex had managed to play into his hands. He would’ve paid to have seen the look on her face.

‘Priceless…’ he muttered before addressing Chase again, ‘Send Gregorio to Brink Street and have him remove the fledglings’

Brink Street… Kat and Alex’s new job… Chase, leaning casually against the wall, sighed without lifting his head. ‘With all due respect… no’

Calum stopped laughing immediately. He couldn’t believe his ears; surely they were playing a trick on him. With a face as astonishing as he felt, he turned to Chase. ‘You wanna run that by me again?!’

‘Master Calum, you can’t remove this nest- you can’t save them all. After the 5 we prevented, we have to sacrifice at least 1 or 2’

Calum was seeing stars ‘SACRIFICE??! I did not create them to have them sacrificed… You are crossing enemy lines Chase!!’

‘I only meant it as a distraction; throw off the suspicion… Lillian waited until the room was empty before handing over the job-description. She only told the two of them. If we clear out this nest, she’ll know Alex is our insider. Kat is the third on her top list, Lillian won’t suspect her and if she deals with Alex, it’s the end… no more water in your well’

A low growl originated in Calum’s chest. He didn’t even want to think about losing that nest. He would be set back another 15 vampires and all because 2 of them went rogue…

‘I doubt that that’s the only reason you want to save her’ Calum muttered, sarcasm laced on each word.

‘Maste…’

‘Get out’

‘What of Gregorio? Do I still send him out?’

Calum didn’t answer, but just looked at him shooting knives from his gaze ‘I won’t tell you again, Chase!’

Choosing wisely not to push any further, Chase retreated from the room leaving Calum to brood. It was true that with the involuntary help of Alex he was one step ahead of Lillian and he knew Chase was right. If he wanted to keep that advantage, he’d have to sacrifice. The thought was unsettling and it manifested into a loud growl that filled the room… But it was better than having nothing at all.

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Lillian opened up the tap again and breathed in the damp that rose from the warm water. Her muscles were tense and recent news of a snitch didn’t make it any easier despite her hot bath. She closed her eyes to shut out the penetrating light. Alex was her prime suspect, but it could also have been Brenna. She hadn’t taken a job in 2 weeks and the board was full of them. Why then did her mind wander to Alex so much?

‘Alex huh… Why her?’

‘Why not her, Cam?’ Lillian answered to the voice.

‘I don’t know? She always seemed weak and a bit lost. Not the profile of someone who can pull-off a double agent thing’

‘Maybe that’s exactly why I suspect her… she’s the least likely to do it… easily overlooked’ Lillian answered, opening her eyes. She flinched at the invasion of the unyielding light needing to get used to it again, before turning her gaze toward the black haired woman leaning against the bathtub.

‘Is that why you divided them into teams?’ Cam looked back at Lillian questionably.

Lillian nodded. ‘I paired them all with one of my best hunters and give each pair the job info right before they leave to do it. That way if another job goes awry, I know who it is’

‘Good strategy, but like you said, she’s the least likely… However it could be that someone else is doing it through her...’ Cam muttered.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Nothing, just rambling’ Cam said putting on a reassuring smile.

Lillian however heard her loud and clearly and with an agitated sigh, she got out of the bath. So much for relaxing… Draping a towel around her she stood in front of the fogged up mirror.

‘Jobs have been thinning out’ Cam said breaking the silence, ‘Have the vamps decided to behave themselves of late?’

‘There are always a few that lose it… make mistakes… even the careful ones. And if they don’t, I MAKE them! It’s not a difficult job, making a vamp lose it… and when they do I will be there!’ Lillian had a sly smile around her lips and a dangerous twinkle in her eye.

‘Oh dear, that’s scary! Someone’s in a vengeful mood… How many vamps do you have to kill before you’ve had your revenge? 1.000? 2.000, oh wait, you’ve already passed that amou…’

‘ALL OF THEM!!’ Lillian bellowed angrily wiping the fog of the mirror knocking over the toothbrush holder. Cam followed the cup to the floor before silently staring at her sister.

‘For what they did to you… I won’t rest until I get them all… every single one of them!’