Chapter Thirteen: The Ambush

Veronica had always loved the night. The fact that she was a vampire may have had something to do with it. But there were other reasons too. The biggest one for her, was the freedom that came with the darkness of the sky. At night, the whole world became free. There was nothing to hide in the darkness. There was no need to hide anything. The night accepted all. No wonder most humans choose that time to engage in whatever dastardly habit they possessed. There was no one to judge them. No one to control them.

The thought brought the night's events back to the front of her mind and her anger surged up again. The Hunters had always fascinated her since her childhood. She had spent a good deal of her time in her family's library reading up every piece of information there was about them. The fact that there was so little available always aggravated her to no end. Most of what was written about them were their exploits. Thus when she had gotten the chance to meet them and study them up close, she had all but jumped at the opportunity.

Then her dumb father had to go and ruin it. She loved him dearly of course, but his constant overprotective attitude was extremely irritating. Even back at the castle that had been her home for the past two decades, he had almost never let her outside, saying it was for her safety. She believed him too. There was no doubt that her family had enemies. Her father's rise to leadership had not been very peaceful and vampires were not known to be forgiving.

Not even now that she had finally been allowed to leave the castle was she given her freedom. Her father had forced her to take her personal guards with her. Aiden and Caen had been her guards since she was little and she trusted them with her life. They were her best friends even though they were far older than her. It was for this reason that she had complied when her father had compelled her to take them along for the exercise.

But this? This was too much. She was aware that the Hunters were powerful. Having read so many of their acts, she knew they could easily obliterate everyone involved in this project and be none the worse for it. It was not like anyone would be able to do much about it. After all, the Hunters have been killing witches and vampires and a whole lot of other creatures for generations and no one had ever been able to stop them before. Those who had tried, well, she had visited some of their gravestones in the past. That fool Dorerra would have joined his ancestor in an instant if the Hunters had not been so lenient.

But that did not mean she would be forced to accept this. She had trained her whole life to get strong enough to escape the chains of her father's shadow. Yet he stooped so low as to ask for help from their age-old enemies to take care of her! As if she was a child!

The sound of blaring disco music made her look up and she grinned at the night club sign overhead the building. Striding forward boldly, she pushed open the glass doors and entered. Behind her, Aiden and Caen exchanged knowing looks and sighed. Years spent knowing this girl and her antics had not made them any less troublesome.

Veronica swept her dark eyes through the crowd before her and grinned. This was her kind of environment. The absolute carefree behavior of the partying humans coupled with the multicolored lights flashing down relaxed her nerves. Making her way to the bar, she ordered a cocktail and sipped it languidly as she observed the patrons of the club.

Her guards were gone. They knew she did not like them hovering over her on night clubs. Unfortunately, with her natural vampire charm, that meant it was only a matter of time before attracted males flocked her way like drones after a queen bee. By her third sip, one such drone appeared beside her and ordered his own drink. When he began to talk with her, Veronica resisted the urge to roll her eyes behind her glass. Instead she ignored him in hopes that he would leave. He did not do that rather he continued to pester her with questions until her patience finally wore out.

"So, do you wanna dance?" he asked for the umpteenth time that night.

She glared at him from the corner of her eyes. "Do you not know how to take a hint?"

He smiled slyly, "Playing hard to get, huh? Alright I can work with that. Tell you what, why don't we ditch this joint and go see a movie together?"

Veronica had had enough. She placed her glass on the counter and made to leave. The man started after her immediately.

"Hey where're you going-"

His outstretched hand was held in place by another in an inescapable grip. The man followed the hand up to its owner and was met with two pairs of stern black eyes bearing down on him.

"Can't you see she doesn't want your company?" the one holding his hand said in a calm yet strong tone.

"Fine, fine, jeez I just wanted to talk, " he retreated back into the throng of dancing bodies.

Aiden turned to Veronica, "Are you okay Lady Veronica?"

She continued to watch the man until he was out of sight. There had been something a bit off about him but she could not put her finger on it. "Yeah, I'm alright. Let's head back."

"As you wish."

They departed from the club and began to navigate their way through the dimly lit streets. Before long, Aiden frowned and Caen did the same beside him. Someone was following them. He met Caen's eyes and an unspoken decision was reached between them. They guided Veronica around a corner that led into a long alley that was a dead end.

The presence quickened its pace and soon it rounded the corner as well. With superhuman speed, Aiden grabbed the person and slammed then against the wall hard. On a closer look, he saw it was the same guy from the night club.

"I thought I told you to back off," he all but growled at the man.

"Hey I was just worried for her," the man responded quickly, pointing at Veronica's scowling form. "I mean the whole thing seemed a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

Aiden released him after a moment and stared down at him intimidatingly. "Leave. Now."

"Alright, I'm leaving. Although for people who're supposed to be bodyguards, you guys sure are lame," the man says and grinned wickedly towards Veronica.

Aiden and Caen heard it before she did. The whistling of two projectiles streaking through the air directly at Veronica. The two guards moved in an instant to catch the missiles in their hands before any could touch the princess. Mocking laughter reached their ears and they saw the stalker looking at their hands which held the launched projectiles.

Realizing they had been tricked, they let go of the wet sponge-like object. But it was already too late. A silvery liquid coated the palms of their hands and they could do nothing but watch as it was absorbed into their skin instantly. A rush of weakness overtook both of them and they buckled to their knees on the ground.

Veronica moved to grab at their hands and her eyes widened in shock at their rapidly blackening blood vessels.

"This is silver poisoning," she muttered.

"That is correct, vampire princess," the stalker called out and Veronica froze. Her eyes rose to watch as two figures jumped down from the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. They looked to be normal college students except for the maniacal grins on their faces.

"It will be with honor that I will purge the Earth by slaying an abomination such as you."

'They abhor your kind. Your existence is an annoyance to them...'

Vincent's words flashed across Veronica's mind and she realized what she was up against immediately. In front of her, the three men ripped away their shirts and grew in size rapidly. Animal pelts materialized over their bare backs as tattoos spread all over their darkening skin. Their eyes narrowed and they spread out to block the only exit out of the alley.

"Skinwalkers," Veronica hissed venomously. She was at a severe disadvantage with her guards crippled and fighting for their lives. She would have to protect them while simultaneously holding off three skinwalkers alone.

This was going to be a long night...