"Mercy! Mercy please!" The voice was pathetic, the desperation grating against my nerves as I slowly, confidently, made my way over to the man. I woke my lungs up, my chest expanding, as I took in the smell of piss and fear. My lips quirk up eagerly, fangs sharp and glinting in the moonlight. "God, please have mercy!" Falling into a crouch next to the older man, his hair streaking with silver, a sign of old age, one I would never experience.

"Now, I've been called many things, but God is a new one." The purring tease leaving my throat only makes him sob harder, choking on his own breath as he struggles to keep himself breathing. "I quite like it honestly, had a good ring to it." I reach out and drag my long black painted manicured nail along his sagging flesh; a mortal. "Do you know why I am here, Conrad?" My voice sounded distracted even to myself as I was nearly lost to the throbbing pulse beneath his flushed skin.

"N—" But before he could lie, my finger quickly dogs into his cheek at an angle that allows the sharper point of the nail to slice his skin drawing blood. A hiss leaves his mouth, eyes wide with terror as I bring the now bloodied tip of my finger too my plump lips.

"What do they call me, Conrad?" Raw fear was all he seemed to be as he knew he'd been caught lying.

"Blood Angel." He whispered trembling beneath me. His words made me smile evilly, eyes no longer blank but filled with murderous intent.

"Why do they call me it?" I waited patiently, feeling his heart increase even more. Any faster and his heart might give out before I have the chance to kill him properly.

"Because your victims are either given the angel's mercy," he trailed off struggling to find the words.

"Or..." I prompt him, urging him once again to finish his previous statement.

"Or the bloody rage of a demon." His whisper was so faint only and Under Species could be capable of hearing him.

"Yes. Now with this information fresh in your mind, how about you go ahead and answer me again." I drawled out lazily spreading his blood across his face, while he flinched away from my cold touch.

"Yes. I know why you're here." He finally states, tears now falling down his face once again. Pathetic.

"Good boy." I purr once more, savoring the little taste of blood I'd taken. "Now tell me. Tell me why I am here."

"Because I l-lied to you." His words were filled with defeat; I reveled in it, in his terror, his pain. I nodded once urging him to go on as I tilted my head watching my prey. We stood out beside his dilapidated house, the stench of drugs and sex leaving it's rotting walls. He was a creep, a hustler, and he tried to hustle me. Wrong move. "I sent you into an ambush."

I grinned viscously at that moment, my hand effortlessly moving to grab his neck and lift the balding man in a sweat stained wife beater up, our noses barely touching. The old fool hadn't expected me to make it out alive, yet here we both were. The mortal was a rare few that knew of the Under Species, Lycans and Vampyres alike; he ran business for them. For the bloodsuckers he provided clubs where they could feed freely on the drugged men and women, but for the Lycans they provided weapons. It was a dangerous thing, aiding two mortal enemies, but he made a living off of it. This particular job also meant he knew lots of people, which is what drew me to him.

I was a monster, that could never be forgotten, however, I made it my life's mission to track down the vampyre that had killed me, then turned me. I would lip him limp from limp before burning his carcass. However he was a tricky man to find, but I was closing in and thought I had had him with the information Conrad had given me only to be ambushed by a Coven of Vampyres. My kind wasn't the happiest with me; I had slaughtered many of them in an attempt to atone my own sins the night I Turned. This meant I had a huge target on my backs Nd was constantly being hunted my own kind, so when they knew I was going to Conrad they'd made him a deal he could resist; I bet he's wishing he'd said no now.

The ambush was well planned, but they'd sent yearlings and lots of them hoping the numbers would win out; they hadn't. Still I had had to feed that night, and finding a nasty criminal to drain was very difficult in the middle of but fuck no where. Luckily I'd stumbled onto a tavern of racist red necks bout to rape a young waitress in a nearby tavern. I'd cleaned the place if the vermin and helped clean up the bar for payment to the owners and employees.

"Yes Conrad, you did try to get me killed but we both can see how that ended up." I leaned in, nose tracing his pulsing neck, smelling the life force my body craved. "Now I'll give you one last chance; make it easy and I'll kill you swiftly, make it hard and I'll make sure your death is slow and painful." To punctuate my words my other hand snapped out and gripped his grubby hand, snapping his thumb back with a harsh crack.

"Fuck!" The screech that left his throat was satisfying, more satisfying than I was anticipating. "Alright, alright, the last place Atticus was seen was in Colorado." His answer didn't satisfy me, so I moved my hand to his pointer finger tugging on it without blinking or moving away from the pathetic mortal. "Shit, God, Weminuche Wilderness. North of Durango." His pants were punctuating every word as he gave up the male's whereabouts.

Atticus. The vampyre that killed me and brought me back, letting me slaughter my entire village. Rage filled me and without another word I release his hand and replace my hold on his neck where I snap it letting his body fall limp to the dead grass beneath him. He was in the states, just as I tracked him.

I walked away from the dead mortal, no remorse for the sick pig. He's lucky I had fed prior to our little meeting otherwise I would drained him dry. Licking my lips, I continue down the street ignoring the hollers of men sitting outside their homes. Most belonged to a gang of some sort, that's how the human survived in this part of the city. I didn't blame them, but that didn't stop me from feeding from the evil ones.

It merely amused me that they taunted a being able to rip their necks out without them even blinking. I was dangerous, I was born sometime before 862, one of the earliest settlements in the country known as Russia. Before them we were ruled by the Danes, powerful men and women, their savagery and traditions still with me today as I never forgot where I came from. Even my accent, old and ancient sounding, still kept its roots where I was born.

The wind blew by, snapping my deep red coat back. Underneath the trench coat I wore a black cropped shirt, with high rise black leggings allowing me swift movement. On either thigh rests a holster with .380 pistols; one loaded with silver bullets and the other loaded with specially designed bullets that once they make impact, a spark ignite lighting the vampyre on fire within. Basically a mini bomb for the undead. The knives I kept within my ankle boots were iron to deflect any warlock or fae find. As for elves, any metal would hurt and or kill them, you'd just have to get close enough to actually injure or kill them.

Among the Under Species most of the creatures in legends and myths were real, some extinct, but most were real, but the big players were Vampyers, Lycans, Warlocks, Faeries, and Elves. There were other subspecies of course with high populations, but none rivaled those five. The Under Species has their own politics and wars going on; Vampyers and Lycans were at odds, Warlock and Faeries despise each other, while Elves kept to themselves. Elves thought themselves to be above the other species, royalty almost, as they were the eldest race, next came Vampyers, then the Fae, Lycans, and finally Warlocks. Other species were created through breeding between races and humans simply evolving to match their environment.

The political aspect of my world however wasn't my main focus, I could care less what happened to my race or any other, I had one mission and one mission only. Find and kill Atticus.

◾️◾️◾️◾️

"Freya? What in God's name are you doing here?" The nymph whispered yelled, grabbing my jacket and yanking me inside, looking around to make sure no one had seen me. Again, I wasn't the most well liked person within my world. I looked around at the small apartment, it had so many fish tanks filled with so many creatures it was hard to keep up. Her home reflected her in a way, as she was a sea nymph and loved the water so she surrounded herself with things that reminded her of home. "You know the Lord Dominic said if you ever came back to New York he'd burn you alive." She hissed, looking me over with wide eyed confusion.

"Kailani. I wouldn't be here if I didn't need you." It'd taken me a week to travel up to her home in New York; yes a heavily dominated mortal city but the presence of Under Species was overwhelming. Kailani had moved away from her ocean views in Hawaii to serve as an advisor to the Fae council member, acting as an ambassador for other Fae like creatures such as other nymphs, sprites, pixies, and the like. She was good at her job, politics were her specialty.

"Freya." She warned, her bright aquamarine eyes watching me suspiciously. Kailani had down wonders for me in the past, allowed me sanctuary within the Fae Sector of New York keeping Lord Dominic off of my trail as the ancient Vampyre wasn't allowed within the Fae Sector unless given permission, Lady Arabella wasn't fond of the pompous vampyre and therefore agreed to give me sanctuary. This wasn't Kailani's only skill though, her connections were far, and her ability to smooth over a violent situation rivaled my skills to spark a violent situation. And for that, I needed her.

"I need to go to Colorado." I confess, watching her gaze widen almost comically. Colorado was unclaimed territory, meaning the Council has no claim over it. This meant that individual groups of races held their own territories, this meant plenty of turf wars. It's dominating presence presently were Lucan packs, with Vampyre covens hanging on by a thread. Soon it would either fall to one of the species or the Council of Five would step in and claim it as their own, splitting the land up evenly.

There were two types of Under Species, those that fell under the rule of the Council and those that rebelled and declared their own rule. This unfortunately meant often times species were pitted against species; some agreeing with the Council others believed each race deserved to rule by their own right. I didn't give a damn, but I knew that if I went to Colorado, not only would the Lycans be on me but the Vampyre covens would as well. I need Kailani to help wiggle my way within the Lycan's good graces; something she was good at.

"Do not tell me what I think you're about to tell me." She muttered, brushing back her black pin straight hair out of her face. Moving without waiting for my answer she went and grabbed herself a glass and poured herself some whiskey. Not offering me any as she knew I didn't drink anything but blood infused wine.

"I know the reigning Alpha there. Don't deny it. You've been sent there many times to negotiate for the Council. You're an ambassador; it's what you do." I let my emerald green eyes show her the true desperation I felt. "Please. I'm so close to finding him. So close." She knew the importance Atticus' death would mean to me. The peace I believed it would bring. While she didn't necessarily believe it would bring me peace, she understood why. Knocking back the glass of whiskey she cleared her throat and shook her head before releasing a sigh.

"Alright. I'll ask Lady Arabella for some vacation time and arrange for a meeting between you and the Alpha." Kailani smiled at my reaction, which consisted of me taking a breath, releasing it with a shudder of relief.

"Thank you. I owe you." My words were met with a snort as she pointed to the whiteboard hanging on the wall with big letters spelling out "Freya Favors" with six, soon to be seven tally marks. I grinned, allowing a laugh to leave my mouth. Finally, I was closer than I'd been in over a thousand years.

I am coming Atticus. Just you wait.

A/N: unedited! Should I post a picture of who I imagine when I think of Freya? I know some people don't like the main character's given a face as they like to use their own imagination. Below is how I imagine Kailani though.