Chapter 3

Freddie

F reddie was stalking his prey in King's Cross when he felt his master's Call. He'd watched silently from an adjacent rooftop as a rogue vampire drifted through Granary Square, looking for a victim. The sun had set just a few minutes ago, and the rising moon illuminated the fountains below in a liquid, pale white.

The vamp slid in and out of the shadows, searching for an easy mark among the locals and tourists that gathered in the square. Some sat and drank wine, chatting with their neighbors, while others wandered, taking pictures or sight-seeing. The vampire must have thought he had gone completely unnoticed.

He was wrong.

Freddie had been watching him for days, ever since the grizzled, gaunt-looking American had stepped off the tube into King's Cross. He actually envied the guy's deep tan and dark brown locks. Freddie's bright red hair and pale skin made him stick out more in the moonlight.

Not that the man's coloring had kept him hidden. Freddie had spotted him almost immediately, the powerful scent of a newly made vampire drawing his attention, a rich bouquet of embers and ash.

There was something about the smell that brought out a melancholy in Freddie. It reminded him of the turbulent years after he'd been turned.

He didn't have a problem with rogue vampires. Some vamps weren't cut out for life in a coven. But you couldn't waltz into a new city and start feeding without checking in with the ruling power. If you came to London, you had to talk to Freddie's boss. That was just the way it was.

His master's Call tugged at him, filling him with an urgency to return. Freddie spoke an answer into his mind.

Soon. Dealing with a rogue.

Coven Master Hughes didn't respond in words, although Freddie felt a sort of amused grumbling come from him. Freddie's master knew he wouldn't keep him waiting without reason. Master Hughes trusted Freddie, as he should. Freddie had been the head of security for the Hughes Coven for decades now. He was devoted to his master and to his fellow vampires.

Freddie wasn't good at a lot of things. Small talk. Smiling. Making friends or, god forbid, finding lovers. But he kept people safe. Even if he often felt like an outsider among the other vampires, he would protect them until the last drop of his undead blood had been spilled. The Hughes Coven was his home, and he was its guardian.

A shift in the shadows, and the rogue was on the move. A tall, thin man in jeans and a ratty t-shirt, he was tailing a young blonde woman, probably college-age, as she made her way down the steps to the canal.

As the vampire closed in, she shivered and wrapped her jean jacket tighter around her, walking faster as she took the turn onto the path parallel to the waterway.

Despite his ragged appearance, the rogue vamp followed smoothly and confidently, sure of his ability to take down his victim.

He shouldn't have been so confident. Freddie moved like a ghost through the shadows, keeping just enough distance to stay unnoticed. He was in his element. He thrilled at the excitement of the hunt, filling with satisfaction that he was keeping the people of King's Cross safe, vampire and human alike.

"Slow down, little girl." The American stepped in front of the woman, and she jumped and stumbled back. Freddie had seen him coming with his heightened senses, but the rogue had moved too quickly for a normal human to follow.

"Who…what do you want?"

"Just to walk you home." The vampire closed the gap between them. Frozen in place, the woman's eyes darted around, searching for anyone else, but she was alone. The path was empty, a pale line running along the dark canal.

As the rogue vamp reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward himself, Freddie was already there, his hand around the predator's neck.

The woman wrenched herself out of the rogue vampire's grasp.

"Go," Freddie growled at her. With a gasp, she took off running. Freddie didn't love to scare humans, he'd rather not be seen by them at all, but in situations like this, fear was a better motivator than some attempt at a logical explanation. He needed her gone so he could deal with the problem vamp struggling to escape his grip.

"Stop." Freddie glared at the rogue, letting his fangs drop. He lifted the vampire up by the neck. The interloper might be tall, but he couldn't compete with Freddie's six-foot-four frame and long limbs. The vamp squirmed as he kicked the empty air underneath him, clawing at Freddie's muscular arms and hissing.

Freddie's eyes narrowed. He preferred not to kill, but he would if he had to. The demon inside Freddie was moving under his skin, pushing for violence and blood. He didn't want to give into the urge, but he wouldn't have an intruder feeding in King's Cross.

"I'll break your neck," Freddie threatened. The vampire stilled, staring at him with arrogance and fear. Freddie loosened his grip enough to allow him to speak.

"Let me go." His words came out in a hoarse whisper.

"Where's your sire?" Freddie pitched his voice low, ensuring no humans further up the embankment would hear him.

The rogue pressed his lips together into a thin line, the tips of his fangs peeking out. His eyes narrowed. He didn't answer.

Freddie pulled him closer, their noses almost touching. "You smell, what, six months old?" he snarled. "Where's your sire?"

"He abandoned me," the vamp said. "In Tampa."

"You need to learn the rules." Freddie tossed the rogue to the ground. He gasped and forced air into his lungs. "Don't feed in King's Cross."

The vampire rose slowly from the earth, wiping off dirt and collecting himself. "Fine. Can I go?"

"No."

Freddie spun around and started back up toward Granary Square, gesturing for the vamp to follow.

"Where…where are we going?" The vamp's voice trembled. Freddie would have had more compassion if he hadn't just tried to feed on an innocent human.

"Come." Freddie took the stairs two at a time. Now that he'd captured the rogue vampire, he needed to get home. Master Hughes was waiting for him.

There was no sound of footsteps behind him. Freddie came to a stop. Why wouldn't rogues ever follow his instructions? If they did, they could travel freely through London. Check in with the coven house, refrain from feeding on humans. It was that simple. But no, they always had to run.

Freddie turned to look, and sure enough, the rogue was gone. He scowled in annoyance. Why would a baby vamp think he could hide from a multi-centenarian like Freddie? They tried his patience.

At an inhuman speed, Freddie flew down the path next to the canal. No infant vampire could outpace him. Even traveling that quickly, his eyes still spotted the flicker in the nearby copse of trees.

The rogue was on Freddie then, but he had lost the element of surprise. He let out a ferocious growl, his fangs and claws out, a whirlwind of movement, but Freddie was calm. The vamp had barely gotten a scratch in when he buried his own claws in the rogue's stomach.

He collapsed inward, Freddie's arm sticking rather grotesquely out of his guts as he rooted around inside. The rogue vampire screamed, high-pitched and desperate. Freddie's head began to throb. Why couldn't this ever be easy?

"Shut up." He pulled out his claw from the creature's bowels, bringing out his stomach and a good ten feet of intestine with it. The blood and viscera flowed down his forearm as he presented the vamp's organs to him. "We can keep going, if you want."

The vampire took one look at the bloody mess and passed out cold. Poor kid. Not that Freddie felt sorry for him, but he remembered what it was like to be so new, before violence and gore became a mundane part of daily life.

He let his trophy drop to the ground and hoisted the vamp over his shoulder. Everything about this had been inconvenient, but he was lucky it wasn't more serious. The rogue would heal up in a day or two, and hopefully, he'd be humble and compliant.

That's assuming that he had been planning to feed on the woman and not kill her. They'd find out once he was awake, and if tonight was to be the start of a killing spree, the outcome would be less pleasant for him.

There hadn't been a human death perpetrated by a vampire in London in decades. Freddie knew that was thanks to Master Hughes. It was one reason he admired him so much.

Once around the rooftops of King's Cross, the body of the vamp resting easily on his shoulder, and Freddie headed back to the coven house in Knightsbridge. The gold tips of the wrought-iron fence glistened in the moonlight, and the antique sconces on either side of the front door cast an amber glow over the white facade.

This had been Freddie's home for almost fifty years. He'd felt horribly out of place, joining a coven and moving in with so many other vampires. That hadn't fully gone away.

He recognized the strength of the community and worked to protect it, but he saw himself as an outsider. There was a camaraderie there that he couldn't seem to take part in. He had given up trying. Better to be the loner that's good at his job.

When he reached the main door, he nodded at Archie, an eager young vampire who'd joined only a month ago. Although Freddie hoped his puppyish enthusiasm would eventually wane over the ensuing decades, he would always have the face of a twenty-three-year-old grad student. Archie waved Freddie through enthusiastically.

"Welcome home, Lord Grosvenor."

Freddie grunted as he walked past. He hadn't been a Grosvenor in over two centuries.

"Grey, Archie. Freddie Grey."

No Grosvenor alive had any clue who he was. Archie was trying hard to impress. That wasn't an undesirable trait in a new coven member, as much as it might annoy him.

"Do you…do you want me to deal with that?" Archie scrunched his face in disgust, gesturing to the unconscious vampire slung over Freddie's shoulder.

"Please." In one easy motion, Freddie flipped the guy into Archie's arms. Archie held the rogue vamp away from himself like he was a rotting fish. Freddie nodded in thanks.

Freddie made his way up the stairs to the fifth floor, where Master Hughes' office and living quarters were located. The floorboards creaked as he ascended the levels of the old Georgian house. When he reached the top, he stopped in front of the heavy wooden door.

A jolt of anxiety kicked up, even after all these years. When Master Hughes first found him, Freddie had been a desperate, uncontrolled mess. He'd shown Freddie a different way to be, given him a home, and since then Freddie dearly wanted to prove that his trust had been well-placed.

He raised his fist to knock.

Come in, child.

Freddie hadn't been a child for centuries, but it wasn't condescending when Coven Master Hughes called him that. In many ways, he had taken the place of the biological father Freddie had lost when he became a vampire. And he'd certainly been more of a sire and guiding hand than the asshole that had made Freddie.

Freddie turned the brass handle and opened the door to the coven master's office. The furnishings had been carefully chosen, expensive but not over the top. Upon entering, your eye automatically went to the large mahogany desk that Master Hughes currently sat behind.

A handsome man who appeared to be in his early fifties, Master Hughes had perfect hair and a well-trimmed salt and pepper beard. He was fastidious about his appearance, and Freddie had never seen him look messy or disheveled.

Nearby, in a high-backed armchair, sat Daniel, the master's American husband. A lithe, blonde man, he bore the strong iron-and-ash scent of a new vampire.

Freddie didn't know Daniel very well, but he'd been impressed with how quickly the American had formed connections with the other vampires. Honestly, Freddie was jealous at how easily it came to him. There was a difficult contradiction between the wide-eyed overwhelm of a baby vampire and the authoritative presence needed to be coven master's mate, but Daniel had navigated it with grace.

It was unusual for him to be there. Freddie turned back to Master Hughes. His face was a still mask concealing a deep undercurrent of rage. The air crackled with it. Freddie couldn't recall another time he'd seen him so angry.

"Thank you for coming, my son. I have a job for you."

Freddie waited for more.

"It's the Azarians. They've threatened Daniel's nephew, Anthony."

Freddie frowned. The Azarians were all the way in New York, and there'd been some strain between the covens. They hadn't been willing to set down a proper treaty. Still, the Atlantic Ocean was wide. Freddie didn't understand what an American coven had to do with London vampires.

"Why?" Freddie asked.

"Anthony is an up-and-coming opera singer, a star tenor. He must have gained enough publicity to attract their attention, and they traced him back to Daniel and myself."

Freddie cocked his head. This still didn't make sense.

Master Hughes' eyes hardened. "The Azarians have been making veiled threats for some time now, blustering about the illegitimacy of our coven and attempting to forge alliances against us. They may be across the pond for the moment, but they have plans for expansion. Their imperialistic tendencies remind me of the dark times, back when the ancient ones used all as their pawns. I remember being caught between the armies of Enolf the Brute and Gabriela de Aragon. Charles Azarian seems to model himself after them."

"That's daft."

"It is, but ambition doesn't require intellect. Anthony needs a bodyguard until we can sort this out. I'd like you to do it."

Freddie hated the idea of being away. He could protect his coven-mates better than anyone, and he worried about leaving that job to someone less intelligent, or less ruthless. But if his master required it…

"Where?" Freddie asked.

Master Hughes glanced toward Daniel, who smiled, although it didn't reach his eyes, which were lined with worry and exhaustion.

"Anthony travels for his work, and his schedule is hectic. He's wrapping up in Chicago now, and you can meet him at his next engagement in San Francisco."

Freddie nodded, but he couldn't help scowling.

"I know you don't want to be away from the coven," Master Hughes continued. "You have always kept us all safe and hidden. In my estimation, the threat from the Azarians merits your presence. If they try to take him hostage, or worse, we will find ourselves in a vastly weakened position."

"I understand." Freddie pushed down his instinctual worry. The coven had many capable vampires to assume his duties. He needed to follow his master's wishes.

"Thank you," Daniel said, and lunged forward, hugging Freddie. It took everything in him to tamp down his instinctual, violent reaction. His master just looked amused.

Freddie hated hugs.

"He's like a son to me," Daniel said. Freddie could hear the tears threatening to spill out. Daniel stepped back, bringing himself under control. "He may not be happy that you're there. He's…"

"Self-obsessed." Master Hughes' voice was tinged with amusement.

"Oliver!"

"Let's not beat about the bush, my love. He is good at heart, but he doesn't concern himself with much outside of his own career ambitions. He's got blinkers on for everything else." Master Hughes turned back to Freddie. "He hasn't taken the danger seriously. Daniel didn't hear from him until he'd received a third letter."

Freddie rolled his eyes.

"I know. Not only that, but his first instinct was to get the police involved."

Freddie let out a low growl. Too many unfortunate run-ins with the authorities. Even those who knew about the existence of vampires often only had their own best interests in mind. To say that Freddie was wary of them would be a vast understatement.

"We're in agreement. You'll need to make sure Anthony doesn't involve them. More than that, he doesn't know that his uncle is a vampire. He has no idea about us at all, and we can't risk him finding out. I trust in your ability to manage his feelings as needed."

It was good Master Hughes was confident, because Freddie wasn't. He was at his best when he was alone on patrol, not when he was trying to persuade someone to act rationally. People skills were not his strength. Most days, he'd prefer not to speak at all.

Daniel looked up into Freddie's eyes. "You and I don't know each other very well, but…Anthony and my mother are the only family I have. Please take care of him."

Daniel's love for his nephew touched a deep part of Freddie. It made him think of his own family. The one he lost when he became a vampire, a mother and father that he loved. After the change, they had viewed him as a monster.

They weren't wrong.

"Freddie?" Daniel's voice brought him back to the present. "Are you okay?"

"I will protect him." Not only for Master Hughes' sake, but for Daniel's. He could see why his master loved the man so much. He had a sweet honesty and directness that could cut through any barriers one might erect.

"Thank you."

Freddie nodded and turned. He had to pack and book a flight. There was little time. Any moment he wasn't with Anthony was a moment when the man was in danger.

As he was heading down the stairs to his quarters, his master's voice whispered in his mind.

Freddie.

Sir?

I would have said this in person, but given vampire hearing, I thought it better to tell you mind-to-mind. Bernard is planning to retire as my First, sooner rather than later. You are under serious consideration to replace him.

Freddie stopped in his tracks. He was being considered for First?

I am honored sir…

But?

I'm not good with people. You know that.

I don't know that. What I know is, consciously or unconsciously, you keep yourself at a distance. I believe you can overcome that. Traveling outside of London will be positive for you, I think. Being around humans may teach you some things. Anthony is quite the handful.

That was ominous. Freddie brooded for a moment before Master Hughes continued.

Plus, who knows, perhaps you'll meet your mate out in the world somewhere.

Freddie stumbled as his foot missed the next step. His mate? He couldn't think of anything he would be less suited to than having a mate. Who would want to be saddled with a silent, brooding mess? Who would stand by him as his need for violence overtook him? Hell, with a mate to protect, his demon would be driving him to rampage, to give into the crimson surge at the slightest threat.

I'm not looking for that, Master.

Perhaps you should. You are not a mindless weapon, Freddie. You care about the vampires here. Show me you can be the First the coven needs.

As Master Hughes' presence left his mind, Freddie sighed in frustration. This whole thing promised to be both complicated and vague, two things that Freddie hated. As he reached the door to his room, he took a deep breath.

If Master Hughes believed he had it in him to be his First, then Freddie would do whatever it took to meet his master's expectations.