Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) - By Fionn Jameson Page 0,1
next orders.”
I did not spare them more than a cursory glance. Extermination orders. “You will have me dispose of a vampire.”
He nodded. “Not an ordinary vampire. You have heard of the one they call Noir?”
One of the four vampire lords sharing power within Centennial City. “And he will be my target?”
“Yes.”
And such a target I have never come up against before.
Ever.
“He is quite old, Elder Chang,” I said, choosing my words with care. “Who have you sent before?”
He let out a sigh. “Rammstein.”
I didn’t know what to say. “Rammstein is a…formidable warrior.”
A bear. A living tank, perhaps.
And he failed?
“A modern barbarian,” mused the Elder. “We hoped Rammstein’s bloodlust would carry him straight to Noir.”
“But that was not the case.”
Elder Chang laughed bitterly. “No. The vampire sent him back to us.”
“That was magnanimous of them.”
“Hardly,” he said, voice dry. “He sent Rammstein back in a box. Parts disassembled. Cleaned. Almost as if the man was an automaton that had broken.”
A mental image flashed in my mind and the onion rings did not taste good, rising in the back of my throat. “They were meticulous.”
“That is not the word I would use,” he replied. “In any case, he did not work.”
“Obviously, Elder Chang,” I said. “But if a monster such as Rammstein could not get to the vampire lord, then what hope is there for me?”
He huffed. “I’ve spoken of this earlier. If a battering ram will not work, perhaps a petal will. You are that petal, Hwang. You can slip through his defenses. You are our most accomplished. It does not please me to use you in such a situation.”
In a situation where your death would be the only likely outcome, he might have said.
I suppose I should have expected something like this. I did not have a great deal of influence to spare me from the brutality of the system. There was, after all, only one way to leave the Fellowship. “Then I must prepare.”
“I truly am sorry.” He almost sounded apologetic. “It was not my doing to send you to him.”
“There are plenty such as I, Elder Chang.” I shrugged. “The Fellowship has my life. I will do anything for the Elders.”
He went still and I knew he was not acting.
“I’m sorry you would say such a thing,” he said softly. “It is a shame you have been chosen. But there is no one we can send to do this. You truly are the best. If you cannot exterminate him, then I don’t think anyone else can.”
Time to go.
The chair slid back silently on the polished wooden floor as I stood up. “You are too kind with your words, Elder Chang.”
He scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, girl.”
I bowed low, low enough my hair brushed my feet. “If you will excuse me.”
“You are excused,” he said, back already turned, no doubt occupied with some other matter that plagued the Elders.
When I slid the paper door closed behind me, Adrian stood up from his perch atop a flat buckwheat cushion. “What did they want?”
He seemed mildly peeved. I thought I understood why. After all, most orders were given to the handler. That they had asked me to do this directly meant only one thing: they did not want Adrian to know.
They did not trust him.
It did not bode well for his continued employment with the Order.
And that made me sad, because Adrian was the only person I trusted.
“Nothing,” I said. “Just to inquire as to the status of Henson.”
His pale blue eyes narrowed. “The man you killed yesterday? But I already submitted my report. They must’ve already seen it.”
I shrugged negligently. “I suppose they just wanted to hear my side of it.”
“Hmph.”
“Think nothing of it,” I said as an attendant, quiet and dark with the familiar expression of vapid good humor, handed me my canvas coat. “Let’s go.”
Adrian struggled into his coat while I did the same. “Don’t see why we ought to leave in such a hurry. My mailbox was empty.”
What a surprise. “That’s rare.”
The hallway to the main courtyard was blessedly empty, and Adrian put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure that’s all you and Chang talked about?”
I can do confused very well. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Adrian. Is everything all right?”
His dark Russian eyes narrowed, but I have been stared at by the best. Adrian was scary…but he wasn’t that scary. “You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
I shrugged and pulled away from him. “You’re my handler. You’re the one who knows if I