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CHAPTER ONE

ZAND

M y phone vibrated against the coffee table, a harsh intrusion into my quiet evening at home.

I ignored it. This was my time with my girl.

Chanel was beside me on the sofa. Her head was nestled against my shoulder as we watched some action movie she picked.

It was something with explosions and car chases.

We took a break from the vampire movies we usually watched together.

Chanel said, now that she knew vampires were real, the movies weren’t as exciting as the real thing.

The incessant buzz of my cell continued. When Natasha’s name appeared on the screen, I knew it was urgent. She would never call on my day off at this late hour unless something was amiss.

“I need to take this.” I said, shifting away from Chanel’s warmth.

She made a small sound of protest but sat up, pulling her knees to her chest. Her eyes followed me as I answered the call and walked toward the kitchen.

“What is it?” I kept my voice low.

“You need to come to The Castle.” Natasha’s voice was controlled in a way that signaled danger more clearly than shouting would. “Now.”

“What happened?”

“Not over the phone. I have something you need to see.”

The call ended with a click. I stood frozen for a moment, my index finger hovering over the darkened screen.

“Zand?” Chanel’s voice pulled me back into the present. She was standing now. Her perfect face etched with concern. “What’s wrong?”

I strolled to her in three long strides.

I cupped her flawless face in my hands. “I have to go to The Castle. Natasha has beckoned me.” I press my lips to her forehead, inhaling the scent of her cocoa buttered brown skin.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Lock the doors, stay inside.

Josh is downstairs. He’ll come up if you need anything. ”

“You’re scaring me.” Her tiny fingers wrapped around my wrists. They were warm against my skin.

“Nothing scary to report. Natasha didn’t tell me what she wanted. You know she’s top secret about everything. You don’t have to worry. You’re safe here. Josh is just a precaution. I’ll call you when I know more.”

I kissed her quickly on the lips, then grabbed my car keys. At the elevator door, I paused for one last look at her. The urge to stay nearly overwhelmed me, but Natasha wouldn’t call without reason.

“Chanel, I love you.” Something I said often but now felt different and more meaningful with all the threats we were facing.

Her warm smile spread to her cheeks. “I love you too.”

The elevator descended too slowly. I nodded at Josh in the underground parking garage.

I was relieved that he had been training Donté for combat.

I really didn’t want to teach a former gang member how to fight, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

Almost all my people had combat skills. It was a rule that Natasha implemented a few years ago.

Guns didn’t work on vampires. But guns were the only way he knew to defend himself when he was a human.

My old Chevy started with a growl. I needed an oil change soon, and I didn’t own an autobody shop.

I should probably ask Layla to homework buying one.

I didn’t normally drive recklessly, but I pushed it to the limits of city driving, weaving through late-night traffic with the precision that came from decades behind the wheel.

My thoughts raced ahead of my vehicle. What could Natasha have found? Whatever it was, it was significant enough to warrant this late-night summons.

The Castle’s exterior loomed against the night sky.

Strategic lighting illuminated its Gothic facade.

I wanted it to have an eerie feeling when patrons saw it in the darkness of night.

I wanted it to appear grand and out of place in our current time.

I always bypassed the main entrance. I pulled into the alley parking lot, using the private access door.

The back hallways were quiet tonight. We were closed three nights of the week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Unless someone bought the place out for a special event.

Natasha met me at the elevator. The doors opened to her stone face. Her expression revealed nothing but professional concern.

“Come.” she said, leading me to her security command office down the hall. The room was a technological fortress, walls lined with monitors displaying every angle of The Castle and the outside surrounding areas.

But it wasn’t the security feeds that dominated the room tonight. Six screens in the shape of a horseshoe that sat on her desk were on. The center display had on what appeared to be the local Channel 7 news report. The monitor was paused on the female news anchor.

“What am I looking at?” I asked.

Natasha sat in her chair behind her desk. Her red nails flew quickly over the keyboard. “Five women murdered in Chicago over the past nine days.” She pulled up the first report. “All with the same name.”

I leaned forward with my hands gripping the back of her chair as the headline filled the screen: “Local Nurse Chanel Taylor Found Murdered in South Side Apartment.”

My stomach dropped. The woman in the photograph was not my Chanel, but there was a slight resemblance. She was a Black woman with dark hair, a curvy build, and looked to be in her mid-twenties.

Natasha clicked to the next screen. It was an image of a police file with an attached photo. “There was a second woman named Chanel Taylor killed in Bronzeville.”

A very different Black woman with the same name as my love.

Screen by screen, the sick pattern unfolded with horrific clarity. Five Black women, five murders, all the victims named Chanel Taylor.

“I talked to my contact at the CPD. They have connected the murders, but they’re keeping all the victims’ names off the news, so no one puts the killer’s modus operandi together and assigns the murders to a serial killer.

” Natasha explained. “Different neighborhoods, but they were all killed the same way— violently. And as you can see, all victims’ names are the same. ”

My jaw clenched so hard I felt my fangs might descend and crack my lower jaw.

“Teresa.” I said her name, but it was barely recognizable through my clenched teeth. I recognized her signature kill, the theatrical cruelty, the message meant specifically for me. She was killing women who shared Chanel’s name as a countdown, a sick promise of what’s to come.

“Yes, boss.” Natasha pulled up another screen showing a map of Chicago with five red points marking the murder locations. “The pattern moved inward, closer to the club with each killing.”

“And Marisol?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“They are likely working together. But Teresa could be doing these murders all on her own. The latest victim was found this morning, less than ten blocks from The Castle. She was killed somewhere else, but her body was dumped in a gangway.”

“Harlen mentioned a college student that Teresa savagely killed in a dorm room a few days ago.”

Natasha looked me square in the eyes. “Yes, the student’s name was Chanel Taylor. She was victim number four.”

“Fuck! This has been happening right under our noses.”

“Yes, boss, but we didn’t know how vindictive your ex would be. Killing strangers for sport. It’s very childish. It’s very human.”

“I should’ve known she would do something deplorable. If something happens to Chanel, it will be my fault. I’m the one that came into her life and brought this baggage I can’t seem to escape.”

Natasha patted me on my shoulder. “We’re dealing with it now. I will assemble the security team and your employees in the conference room and fill everyone in on our new directive.”

“Thank you, Natasha.”

“Thank me when both of those bitches are ash.” She spewed.

“How many of those guns have you made?”

Natasha’s invention would normally be my last option, but I had to use her new toy. With this new revelation, I didn’t know if Teresa and Marisol had raised an army of vampires to come after us.

“I have ten prototypes of the Cripo Glocks. I’m ready to train as many men as you need to use them.”

“This weapon is very dangerous if it gets into the wrong hands.” I stopped myself from thinking of the worse possible outcome. “Are they locked away?”

“Yes, how many should I disperse?”She asked.

“I don’t want them in everyone’s hands. Me, you, Josh, Matt and Marco.”

“What about Harlen, Viktor, and Donté?”

“I don’t know if I can truly trust Harlen. And Donté is my son, but he’s too new to this vampire life. Viktor will be next in line. Let’s wait to let them in on our secret weapon.”

“Oh, course. I will call the others in one at a time for extra training. I will have everyone locked and loaded within twenty-four hours.”

“Very good.” I groaned. “I’m going back to the loft. I have to explain this new development to Chanel.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It would be better to hear it from me. Some rogue journalists or whistleblower could have this story out in the Times tomorrow. I have to tell her.”

“You’re right.” Natasha agreed. “She should know to watch her back.”

I hated I had to give Chanel this news. “I’ll send Josh back here to get his gun and train.”

“Are you leaving now?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“Boss, I want to arm you first.”

I watched Natasha as she left her sanctuary. She disappeared into a small room at the rear of the office. She returned with a gun case.

“So, this is it.” I looked as she handed the case over to me with my name engraved in gold on the top.

“The case only opens with your blood and your blood only. No other vampire can use your weapon. The trigger only works in your palm and fingers.”

It seemed complicated, but she had already shown me how to use the gun. “How will the other Cripo Glocks work for the others if you need blood to unlock the case?”

“I have blood, finger and palm print samples from every vampire that works for you.”