“Great, thanks. Oh and by the way, I love your shoes.”
She smiled and wiggled her pink high heals that were sticking out from beneath her desk, then returned her attention to the telephone in her hand. Sarah didn’t know the Deific’s whole truth. Like everyone else in the building, she thought they only sought out individuals on the FBI’s most wanted list or any other people who threatened mankind. She probably would die if she knew how often they were actually hunting monsters. Sometimes I was tempted to tell her, but her life was so normal. I didn’t want to cast a shadow on that.
Downstairs, there were only a handful of people scattered throughout the gym-like room, all of them in the middle of a full workout. Charlie was on a blue mat in the corner, sparring with a man I recognized from one of the cubicles upstairs. Charlie glanced over at me and waved. He said something to his partner and then jogged over.
“How’s it going?” he asked, wiping sweat from his brow with a small towel.
“Good. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to give this back to you.” I handed him the briefcase.
“Set it over there.” He motioned to the wall nearby. “We can discuss it later, but first I want to know if you’ve ever learned to fight.”
“Like punching and kicking?”
He smiled and nodded.
I swallowed. “Without using magic?”
“Especially without using magic.”
“Not once.”
“I think it’s time you learned. In our line of work, one needs to hone all of their skills. We could practice before work.”
“Really? I’d like that.” I’d always wanted to learn to fight. My gaze drifted to the weapons on the wall, specifically the crossbow.
Charlie noticed. “Kelley told me you’re pretty good with the crossbow. You must’ve found my old one in the attic of the cabin.”
“That was yours?”
“My father gave it to me when I turned sixteen.” Charlie stretched his hands high and twisted his torso. “I’m going to be sore tomorrow. Let’s start training when I get back in a week or so.”
“Are you going on vacation?”
“I wish. It’s work related. We discovered the vampire at the bar has been making a bunch of phone calls to someone in Ireland. I’m going to check it out with a few others.” He glanced over my shoulder. “Here’s our team leaders now. I don’t think you’ve met them.”
I turned around. Walking toward us was a tall, well-built man with long blond, almost white hair and hazel eyes. Next to him moved a slightly shorter African American woman with a high forehead and long dark hair. She was extremely beautiful, but the closer they walked, the more I realized something was wrong. I took a step back and then another, my heartbeat racing. These two were not regular humans; they were vampires.
I was about to warn Charlie when I stumbled backwards over a weight bench.
As I fell, the vampires’ eyes widened, and they glanced at each other. Charlie and the male vampire reached to help me up, but I accepted only Charlie’s hand. The female watched it all with a small smile, arms crossed at her chest.
“Are you okay, Eve?” Charlie asked.
“She recognizes us for what we are,” the male vampire said. “Don’t worry, miss. We won’t hurt you.”
I quickly recovered and stood up. “I’m fine. I was just startled is all.”
“I guess I should’ve warned you first,” Charlie said, laughing awkwardly. “Eve, this is Michael and Alana, our team leaders. They’re our best undercover agents. Alana and Michael, this is Eve. She recently joined us about a month ago.”
“Nice to meet you,” Michael said. “We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared. Just surprised to see vampires in a place like this.”
“Judgmental much?” Alana asked, her voice smooth yet condescending.
“Be kind to Eve,” Charlie said. “She hasn’t had good experiences with vampires in the past.”
“And we haven’t had good experiences with witches. That’s what you are, right?” Alana asked.
“Enough,” Charlie said. “We’re all here for the same reason. Let’s not forget that.”
“You’re right,” Michael said. “We will do our best.”
Alana huffed loudly. “This has been fun, but we need to leave in a few hours.”
“Right,” Charlie said. “I better get ready. I have to take care of a few things before I go.”
“Wait,” I said. “I need to talk to you about what I found.”
Charlie began to walk backward toward the door. “Bring the laptop up. I’ll have some time in about an hour.”
As soon as Charlie disappeared, Michael said, “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot, but you must know we won’t hurt you or anyone here.”
“How did you come to know of the Deific?” I asked—or rather, more like demanded.
“Henry invited me, and I said yes.”