MAYA

A WEEK OF INTENSE SEARCHING flew by. Maya had scoured the whole of London for Ben and the Black Mamba Clan of hunters. The word on the street was that the clan had disbanded and merged with the Irish Tarantula Clan. The old way of gathering information was taking too long, so she beat up an Irish hunter who got cocky and was hunting by himself.

As she towered over his quivering and defiant form in the shadows of the night, she knew her irises were glowing red. It worked great to instil terror in the useless hunter.

Serves him right for ditching his partner at a bar.

Every hunter knew that working in pairs was key to fighting the supernatural creatures. He didn't get the memo, it seemed.

The hunter spat out blood on the floor and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his leather jacket. "Ben ran away like a little girl! He didn't deserve to be one of the leaders."

Maya kicked him in the side, harder than she meant to. She didn't want to kill him, only to question him. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him instead?" he snapped back.

Maya crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently. This situation made things a lot harder for her. She had been feeding on human blood to relieve the vampire hunger that her vessel craved, but her main craving remained to be a soul's life energy. As much as she pretended that she wasn't a monster, she knew she needed to eat a soul soon if she wished to continue looking for her old partner. Without him, taking on Tanatos was an impossible task. In a one-on-one fight against an Archdemon who could have consumed hundreds of souls by now, she would be easy pickings. And without the Arcanae Mortum dagger in her possession, she wouldn't even break his pinkie.

"Damn it!" Maya growled, narrowing her eyes on the hunter. "What happened after the Black Mamba joined up with Tarantulas? Did any of them stay loyal?"

He snorted, resting his head against the fence. "Why do you care about such details?"

"Answer the damn question and you can walk away. If not, I'll finish your off here and leave your head on the doorstep of your partner as a reminder of how big of an idiot you were for ditching her."

The hunter glowered at Maya. His grey eyes reflected his desire to cut off her head. Well, he would get nowhere. She was faster, smarter, and knew exactly how the hunters fought and operated. Being an ex-hunter helped.

"Fine!" He spat out. "Six or seven seasoned hunters left with him. They didn't like Sean Quinn enough to submit to his leadership or something. Those losers chose to go with Ben, wherever that was. Now can I go?"

Maya waved her hand in dismissal and watched him use the fence behind his back to get up. He staggered away from her, wobbling from side to side and clutching his chest. She may have broken a couple of his ribs in her rash need to get information fast.

Letting out a prolonged sigh, she looked up at the overcast sky. The weather in London was terrible. It rained more than it did when she was in Germany. She missed her old home, her hunter friends, and Ben.

"Where on earth did you go, Ben?" she asked no one in particular.

Unsurprisingly, no response came. She turned on her heel and sauntered in the opposite direction of the wounded hunter. He would inform the others of a vampire roaming the streets, looking for Ben. It would draw out more of the old Tarantula Clan members, giving her more opportunities to question them.

*****

She was reaching the second week of being in the Human Realm and in her vampire vessel. It was hard to think without eating souls. Her eyes kept focusing on the glowing light orb inside each mortal that walked past the café she was in. Her stomach rumbled. Her vampire side also needed to feed. She was getting sick and tired of feeding on mortal blood. Since she hadn't mastered the vampire ability to influence people and their memories, she was stuck with punching their lights out and then taking her fill. She was beginning to see reports of her strange assaults in the newspapers. After taking their blood, she felt bad for knocking them out. So she didn't bother stealing their money or jewellery to make her attack look like a mugging. People in London thought she was some angry woman with severe mental issues. They aren't far off.

She left some money on the table next to her half-finished coffee. As much as she wanted to see Helena and make sure her friend was okay, Maya couldn't drag her into another demonic mess. She had to deal with Tanatos problem and soon. The longer she spent wasting time looking for clues, the less chance she had of taking him down for good.

Her stomach announced its hunger with another squeeze, and she ran her hand through her wavy blonde hair. She had no choice but to feed again. Getting up from her seat made her lightheaded. She swayed on the spot, clutching the edges of the table for support.

"Miss, are you okay?" the waiter asked.

Maya nodded and managed a small smile. Damn, his soul looks delicious. Shaking her terrible thoughts out of her head, she ran out of the café. She scanned the crowd that had gathered on a Friday night to party at different nightclubs and spied a group of handsome vampires who were chatting to two human girls.

She pretended to get in line for the nightclub while listening to their conversation that involved going back to the guys' place for some fun. The girls seemed enthralled by the vampire influence. Their movements were sluggish and they spoke as if they were learning English from beginning.

The vampires draped their arms over the girls' shoulders, pulling them into the darkness of the nearby alleyway.

Maya ground her teeth together. Without a Vampire Council to control these idiots, they had a free roam of Europe. Her eyes widened with worry. If not controlled, the new vampires would cause havoc by bringing too much attention to their species. It would be an all-out war if humans realised that they were no longer the most dominant and powerful species on the planet.

She used her heightened hearing to gauge how far they had retreated into the alley. The girls' heels kept clicking, which meant that they hadn't become a meal yet. Maya turned into the same alleyway, throwing caution to the wind. She couldn't let them kill the girls. They were young and stupid, not knowing what they were entangling themselves with.

The first vampire pressed one of the girls against the wall. He kissed her neck, and Maya's own fangs came out when he bit into her skin.

"What are you doing here, Amanda?" the second vampire asked her. His short brown hair and young features made him look a bit like that main actor from Twilight. "We thought you died at the Council building."

Maya raked through her vessels memories that she had stashed away once she consumed her soul. "I should be asking you that..." James? Jason? Justin? Shit, I don't have enough energy to search for the right memory.

His blonde friend, though not as handsome as the other vamp, pulled back from the girl's neck. "What's up with those red eyes? Are you reaching a descent or something?"

"Or something," she mumbled and got closer to them. "Were you going to kill the humans?"

"What? You want in on the game?" the blonde guy asked. "The Council hounds are running around killing possessed vampires. They're too busy trying to control the mess the Council made to care for what we do."

"Oh, you like to live on the wild side?" Maya inquired, running her finger down his face. "Is that reason enough to kill these girls?"

His expression hardened. "What the hell, Amanda? If you aren't going to join in, then go fuck yourself."

Maya smirked. "You know, I would, but that means leaving you two alone with these innocent mortals." She punched her way through to his ribcage and ripped his heart out of his chest. "I can't let you harm them."

The girl who was under his influence blinked a few times. Her eyes diverted to Maya's bloodied hand and the shrivelling organ in her grasp. She screamed like a banshee.

Cringing, Maya pulled the girl close and hit the back of her neck to knock her out. It worked. She sagged against Maya's body almost instantly.

The distraction was a mistake on her part. The second vampire had a silver knife pressed to the girl's neck. "What happened to you, Amanda? Why did you kill him?"

"I'm not Amanda." Maya spoke each word with care and lowered the girl to the ground, so she wouldn't become a hindrance later. "I'm a demon. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The vampire staggered backwards, pulling the second human girl with him. His control on her was slipping. The girl began moving her head around to assess the situation. Before she could scream, he sliced her throat. She grasped her neck and fell, suffocating on her own blood.

Maya's red eyes flared with anger. "Now why did you have to go and do that?"

"Why does a demon care? You guys eat souls for fun!" he snarled at her.

"I consume them out of necessity!"

Maya was about to lunge at him when she felt a prick on her shoulder blade. As she reached to check what it was, the vampire's head exploded. She ducked and took cover behind the nearby bins. Momentarily, her vision started to blur. Slight burning in her veins alerted her to the fact that someone had shot her with a liquid silver dart. She jerked the dart out of her shoulder blade. It was too late. The silver was spreading through her system, and she was too weak to fight it. Her body swayed one last time and she collapsed.