1. James

JAMES

Chillingham. Dark, dank, and where all the fun happened. I hadn’t been back at Vampire Intelligence Agency’s training headquarters in probably a couple hundred years. I was no newb.

But when Gabriel gave an order, I followed. It was even stranger that we were both here in the training simulation room. What did we have to train for? He was the team leader, and I was one of the most experienced operators on the squad. Probably some whim of an Immortal Royal.

He’d have to fill me in on it later. The room hummed with tension as we crouched behind a makeshift barricade, eyeing the holographic representations of cunning vampire hunters prowling just meters away.

“Three on the left, two on the right,” I whispered, barely audibly even in the quiet room. The thrill of adrenaline rushed through my veins, and I used that to focus solely on devising a plan to outmaneuver our opponents.

“Got it,” Gabriel replied, flashing his fangs in a confident grin. “Piece of cake.”

I rolled my eyes at his cockiness. Gabriel and I were the team’s odd couple–him, the charismatic leader who wore his confidence like a suit of armor, and me, the brooding strategist with a penchant for overthinking.

“Alright, we’ll split up. You take the three on the left, and I’ll handle the two on the right,” I instructed.

“Roger that,” Gabriel agreed, then paused for a moment. A mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes as he looked sidelong at me. “You know, if you’d get laid, maybe you wouldn’t be so tense all the time.”

Good try. He’d never try to throw me off my game in a live op. But here in the Castle, we were constantly competing for that top spot.

“Focus, Gabe.” This exercise was being observed by the princess and he was trying to get in my head so I’d fuck up while he made himself look good, just for shits and giggles.

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that,” Gabriel chuckled. “We’ve got plenty of time to strategize how to get you laid before these amateur hunters figure out our location.”

“You have a one-track fucking mind,” I muttered, my lips curving into a wry smile.

“Hey, it’s got at least three. Fucking, sucking, and blowing up bad guys. In that order.”

That was a lie straight from the pits of hell. He cared about our team and keeping the immortal royals from getting their dumbasses murdered more than any woman or pint of blood. Both of us did. We’d both gone way longer than we should have without blood while on a mission so we could protect some king, queen, prince, princess, or someone else who couldn’t keep themselves safe.

“Look,” he twirled a dagger, spinning it up and down over his knuckles. “All I’m saying is that there’s no shame in letting someone in, you know?”

It made my teeth ache that he was being both serious and teasing my ass at the same time. I clenched my jaw and flipped him off.

“Rooftop.” Gabriel pointed out the hunters approaching to the left, putting me straight into mission focus.

“Got it.” I tapped into my supernatural speed to scale the side of the building and take out the first simulated enemy.

I let just enough of the hunting frenzy push into my blood, awakening the beast within. This was only a simulation so I didn’t need to go full on dark side.

Golden Boy and I faced off in the dimly lit training room, on the same team and yet still competing to be the star of the show at the same time. The rhythmic thud of our fists and feet against the padded walls filled the air, the ting of daggers flying at our faux opponents, punctuated by the occasional grunt or sharp exhale as we struck down our enemy. Our every movement was precise and calculated, a testament to our years of rigorous training at the Vampire Intelligence Agency.

The exercise raged on as if there was no end to the number of hunters lying in wait for us. This whole thing was designed to force us to take full advantage of our supernatural powers.

I was only half as old as Gabriel but had worked hard to develop almost as many tricks as he had.

I shifted into my bat form and swooped down right behind a pair of hunters, popping back into my full body to snap one’s neck, and sink my teeth into the carotid artery of the other, ripping his throat out in a blink.

Gabriel’s mind control didn’t work in a simulation, but his ability to move so quickly he became practically invisible did. It was damn fun to watch him corral a group of the dumbasses, then run a circle around them so fast only another incredibly old vampire would see him slit their throats one by one. I barely caught his actions myself.

We worked in tandem to vanquish foe after foe. Our vampiric strength and agility make us a formidable force against our enemies. But Gabe wasn’t wrong, this was a piece of cake.

Why were we even doing it?

“Come on, James,” Gabriel teased, his grin broadening as he dodged a stream of stakes shot at him from crossbows. “You’re getting slow in your old age.”

“Old age?” I snorted. “You’re the one who is as old as the godforsaken First Vampire, oh ancient one. I was just pacing myself, unlike your overeager self.”

“Ah, is that what you call it?” Gabriel launched himself into a series of swift kicks that took out two of the hunters I was about to attack myself. “Speed up that slow-ass pace. And same goes for your love life too.”

First fucking Vampire above, but he was an arse. “Shut the fuck up, Golden Boy. You can’t fight and distract me at the same time.”

“Hey, I can multitask,” he replied with a wink, just before pivoting and landing a solid punch to the chest of a hunter about to stab me with a quite poorly simulated carved stake. He ripped the man’s heart out and tossed it over his shoulder. “Seriously, man, when are you going to let yourself be happy?”

“Enough,” I growled, frustration bubbling within me. Gabriel meant well, but the thought of opening my heart and letting someone rip it out like he just did to that poor, pathetic simulation of a human? Nope. No. Not gonna happen.

“Bravo, agents.” A commanding voice echoed through the room, halting our simulation. Gabriel and I turned to see the Immortal Princess standing at the entrance, her regal bearing demanding our full attention. Her eyes were the unfiltered golden glow of an Immortal Royal, unhidden in her true form and absolutely direct, no more hooded than the eye of a snake, and her skin was so perfect and pale it seemed to float above the white and gold dress that held it miraculously upright.

Fuck. Princess Mary of Orange.

I was beating the shit out of Gabe later for not telling me she was the one observing.

“Impressive work. Your skills have not gone unnoticed.” Her voice was a sharp discordant note.

When she spoke, the words seemed to come from somewhere that was enormous and yet smaller than the back of our minds.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Gabriel and I said in unison, bowing our heads in respect.

She approached us, looking me up and down, measuring and weighing me with her eyes. I was used to being ignored by the Immortal Royals that we safeguarded. Her focused attention on me was disconcerting. Not that I thought I was lacking in any way. I knew how to do my duty and do it well. What the hell was she searching for so intently?

The silk of her sleeves caressed my arm as she brushed past, the softness of the fabric and the delicate scent of roses mixed with the musk of newly burned ashes imprinted on my skin. I was going to need a long shower to get rid of her.

“James, I have a special assignment for you,” she announced, her gaze fixed on me in a way that required me to look her straight in the eye and hold it, so she knew I wasn’t intimidated by her or her station. “I need you to escort a talented young human woman named Rose from America to Scotland for an important event I’m hosting.”

She meant her birthday party. How was she hundreds of years old and still wanted lavish parties thrown in honor of a day no modern person even remembered? She’d faked her death hundreds of years ago to join the Immortal’s underground society. Most humans had no idea who she even was, unless they were some kind of British monarchy history buff.

“A human?” Despite my disdain for her party being called an important event, my curiosity was piqued about why she would risk bringing a human woman among us. Even the immortals usually brooked the rules of secrecy.

What a pain in the ass this was going to be. I was a highly trained special ops elite agent. Why the fuck was I being put on human babysitting duty?

“Yes,” the princess confirmed, eyeballing me as if she expected me to protest. This was definitely another test. “She’s a gifted fashion designer who has caught my eye. I believe her presence at this gathering will be mutually beneficial, but she requires protection during her journey and, of course, the utmost of discretion.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” I masked my surprise and disdain with curt professionalism.

I knew better than to question the will of the Immortal Princess, even if this was a poor use of my skills. Protecting her and her ilk was my sworn duty after all.

“Very well.” The princess nodded. “You are to leave tomorrow morning. Do not let anything happen to her, James. She is important to our cause.”

Was she now? That was either a ploy by the princess to eliminate questions about why she was bringing a human into our midst for her own gratification, or a hint at something well above my paygrade.

“Consider it done, Your Highness,” Gabe interjected.

As the princess swept from the room, I turned back to Gabriel, who wore an amused grin.

“Looks like you’re going to have some up-close and personal time with a lovely human.” Gabriel waggled his eyebrows at me. “Better watch out, or she might just fall for you, and then what are you going to do?”

“You could have fucking said this was a dog and pony show for Princess Mary of Orange, you bloody asshole.”

Gabriel flicked some simulated brains off his blood and guts covered BDUs. “I may enjoy fucking with you to no end, but I wouldn’t have kept that from you. I didn’t know. All I was told was we were going to be observed by an Immortal Royal who had an assignment, and to pick my best agent.”

Even though he was the team leader, I wouldn’t put it past any Immortal Royal to play games with us. It was stupid and juvenile.

“Do we even have a dossier on this human?” I suppressed the tiny flicker that there was something hinky about this mission. Why me and why a human woman?

“Nope.” He narrowed his eyes to where Princess Mary had taken her leave. “And you’d better get your ass in gear.”

Morning was only a few hours away and I had some prep and packing to do if I was going to be ready to escort a human woman all the way from the States.

I shucked my gear, returned it to the quartermaster, and found a package waiting for me from Fleming. He’d provided me with a week’s supply of serum of sun. Shit. Humans and their damn daytime hours. I checked my watch. Yeah. I’d be in the US in the next five hours or so, and that put me there right in the middle of their day. I dowsed myself with one of the bottles and pocketed the others.

In minutes I was in my Aston Martin, racing away from the Castle and toward my flat. I didn’t slow down until I was stood in front of my wardrobe, methodically selecting items for the trip. I couldn’t shake the feeling this assignment was FUBAR before it even started.

I muttered to myself while throwing my go bag together, “You’re an agent of VIA, fucker. Get the girl, get her to the princess, and get her back home safe. That’s it. Stick to the plan.”

I zipped up my duffle, the sound echoing through the minimalistic empty room. Then I grabbed a bottle of O-neg from the fridge and headed to the airstrip reserved for VIA special ops. The earlier I hit the air, the sooner I could do some research on this oh, so special, human woman. If I was right and she was nothing more than a princess’s whim, I was going to be working double-time to keep both her safe and the secrecy of vampires and the Immortal Royals intact.

What a shit show.