Charlie rounded his desk. “We have to go. Now, Lance. Get my gear ready.”
“Yes, Sir.” Lance ducked out the door.
Charlie hurried after him, but I stood and grabbed his arm. “I want to help.”
He shrugged it off. “Not now.”
I wanted to say more, but he was already down the hall, walking quickly away from me. I blinked. Then blinked again. For years, I’d been holed up in my own prison, doing nothing to atone for the many sins I’d committed against others. Now finally I have a chance. I may not be ready, but I couldn’t just sit on the sidelines anymore. Too much of my life already had been spent doing nothing.
Without any further hesitation, I hurried after Charlie, but when I reached Sarah’s desk, I couldn’t find him anywhere. “Where did Charlie go?”
“One sec.” Sarah lowered a cell phone from her ear. “Um, he didn’t really say, but I bet it was the second floor.”
I turned to my right and pushed open a stairwell door. Just as I did so, a door closing echoed below me. He was close.
I bounded down the stairs, but stopped when I reached the door to the second floor to peer through an elongated window. Just on the other side was a large, gym-like room, the floor covered in blue mats. Hanging punching bags and all kinds of weight lifting equipment were on the left. On the right, at least a dozen people were pulling on black vests and grabbing weapons from off of the wall. Their movements were hurried, almost panicked as they prepared for what looked like some kind of police raid.
But these people weren’t police or any kind of military. They worked for the Deific, restoring balance to any one group or person who might be a threat to mankind. That’s what Charlie had said, anyway, all those years ago.
Near the front of the pack, Charlie was in a heated debate with a tall and broad shouldered man with red hair. I quickly slipped inside.
“You should’ve told me!” Charlie yelled.
The man with red hair shook his head. “We need them alive. I can’t trust that you will have the restraint to make that happen.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Charlie said and shoved past him to exit through a glass door.
While the rest of them continued to dress, I took my place among them as if I was meant to be there. I removed a black full-body suit from off of the wall and pushed my feet through the leg holes. The leather-like material was thick yet felt incredibly light. I wondered what we might be encountering to need something like this. Maybe I was in way over my head.
“Who are you?” asked a woman with dark skin. She was standing a few feet away, her feet shoulder width apart.
I pulled the sleeve over my arm and zipped up the front. “Charlie asked me to join.”
“Are you from the Seattle office?”
I nodded and held out my hand. “Name’s, Eve.”
“I’m Kelley.” She shook my hand.
“So what are we up against?” I asked her.
“Vampires. A whole nest of them living right under our noses.” She motioned me to follow her. “Is there a weapon you prefer?”
I looked them over, knowing exactly what I wanted. I skipped over the guns, knives, and daggers, stopping only when I found a crossbow near the bottom of the wall. I picked it up. “This will work nicely.”
“Good choice for vamps. Wooden arrows are over there on the shelf.” She nodded toward a few rows of black shelves a good head taller than me. “Personally, I’ve never liked them. I prefer the Colt 45-70 Peacemaker. No matter what kind of bullets, it always brings the peace.” She smiled and patted the side of her hips where two handguns were holstered.
While I found the arrows, Kelley explained to a few of the others who I was. None of them questioned my presence. Maybe people came from the Seattle office often? Still, it confused me how they could be so trusting.
The glass door opened, and the redheaded man Charlie had been speaking to earlier stuck in his head. “Let’s move!”
I finished placing the rest of the wooden arrows into the quiver on my hip and followed the others out, keeping my head down in case Charlie saw me. Our footsteps echoed as we descended all three flights of stairs. My heart pounded, and I could barely catch my breath. It wasn’t the fear of danger I was about to put myself in, but more the fear of using magic. I hadn’t used it in years and didn’t want to, but what if I had to use my abilities to save my life? I gripped the bow tighter, hoping that time wouldn’t come.
Outside, three black SUV’s were parked on the curb, their engines idling. Charlie was sitting in the passenger seat of the first one, staring straight ahead. When told, I climbed into the backseat of the last vehicle with two men. As soon as the doors closed, the driver—a woman—pressed on the gas. Kelley was sitting in the front passenger seat.