The Yellow Sun.
By Elizabeth Darker.
For Alistair, you"re the light in my life.
To Tasha, who is a constant source of creative energy.
To Carolyn, without whom this book likely would never have been finishedathanks for cracking the whip.
To my family, for their love and support.
Chapter One.
It would have been the perfect night for a late night stroll. A perfect seventy-five degrees with a gentle breeze wisping past now and then. Stars and one large, nearly full moon spotted the beautiful navy sky. A few blotches of clouds were scattered across the sky like bits of giant cotton tossed on an even larger table, and off in the distance, crickets chirped a soft lullaby.
Amara was sure that was what the victim must have thought as she left her house for a midnight jog. Unfortunately, the sweet perfume of the magnolias blossoming not far off was overpowered by the smell of blood and worse things. Amara took a moment to let her senses adjust when she heard another car coming down the small, secluded road. She a.s.sumed it would be her partner, Stephanie.
Amara was the first "investigator" on the scene. Of course, she wasn"t exactly a detective or a police officer. Amara was a sort of mercenary. She did the dirty work. Her job was to look at clues, to track down, and kill whoever was responsible for the gruesome scene laid out in front of her. The police never liked to get their hands dirty when it came to someone being disemboweled or hacked apart by something not human.
That"s where The Administration and its professional hunters came into view. For the right price, hunters like Amara would chase and exterminate any sort of paranormal pests hiding under your toddler"s bed-or eating the neighbors.
Just as Amara predicted, her partner slowly pulled up in their red Prius Hybrid. Generally their employer paid for most of their on-job needs, including their vehicle. When the two were told to choose a new car after their last one was run off the interstate by a group of rowdy, high speeding vampires, Stephanie demanded their vehicle from The Administration be some sort of "green car.".
When she first suggested it, Amara thought she meant the color. When it came to saving the world, working for The Administration and killing vampires was enough for Amara. Her apprentice needed to do more than that. Green cars, organic food, and environmentally safe cleaners. Amara had just about all she could take when Stephanie demanded an eco-safe car. At least Amara got to pick the color.
At the moment, there were more important things to worry about. Lights flashed red and blue over the park gra.s.s, but there were only two police cars and a little bit of yellow police tape. For unusual deaths like this, The Administration generally helped the police cover things up. The deal went both ways, if a vampire hunter got hurt or killed in public, the police helped keep things quiet and found an excuse for it. It was an exchange that kept the general public- -as well as most of the police- from knowing there really could be a monster in the closet or under the bed.
Amara put the car into park and unbuckled her seat belt. As she got out of the car and walked toward the crime scene, the smell grew stronger. The police stopped her from crossing the tape. One, the larger of the two men caught her arm as she tried to duck under the yellow barrier. He was tall, probably close to seven feet, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. His salt and pepper hair was just starting to recede back.
"Excuse me, but this area is closed off," he said, sounding a little unsure of the situation himself.
Amara held up her badge for him. Not a police badge, but her identification through the organization. "Amara Parson," she said her name, and that was enough for the officer let her keep moving forward. When he stopped Stephanie, she already had her badge out with a large smile. The officer returned to his post like a giant watching a castle gateway.
As the two girls walked up to the scene, they were greeted by another hunter. Jeremy was out on patrol when he stumbled on the body. Amara had already been given minor details over the phone and shared them with Stephanie. "I found a girl cut up" didn"t really sum up what they were staring at. The girl"s throat had been ripped out so deeply that the white of the bone gleamed through the ma.s.s of dark clumps and blood. Various parts of her body were missing. Areas of her lower back, her leg, and her entire rib cage had been torn out.
"I thought you said she was cut up?" Amara asked him sharply.
"She is," Jeremy said with a glare as he walked closer to the body with them. Jeremy knelt down beside the corpse. He already had a pair of surgical gloves on for his protection. Amara put her own on as she followed him over.
"Her throat was ripped out by some sort of animal," he pulled a flap of skin aside to show the ragged edges of skin and muscle, then he moved down to her ribs. "The bones here were cut by a knife. Look at the smooth edges. Not cracked or broken; just cut." He moved down lower again. "Even the tissue in her back is in nice clean strokes. Almost surgical."
"Then why were we called here?" Amara sighed deeply. "This looks like a human could have done it with a pet dog."
"You"ve seen a dog with a mouth that big?" Jeremy gave her a condescending smile.
"Okay, okay. I get it. We"re looking for a lycanthrope who will likely have a doggy bag. I a.s.sume there"s already a team out searching?" Amara looked over the girl"s throat again and sighed.
"All you need to do is check out the body for reference, double check my findings, and they"ll contact you if we don"t find the big bad wolf by morning," he said with a nod.
"Cute, Jeremy. Very cute." Amara couldn"t help but smile. Jeremy had an elegant way with words. She stood up and took her gloves off. "Well, I agree about the cutting, and about her throat. Anything else I need to see?"
He shook his head and looked around to check on the other Administration investigators. Jeremy wasn"t the supervisor, but he was on his way to quickly becoming one.
"Did you manage to I.D. her?"
"No, but we"re working on it." Jeremy shook his head again. "At least the police are. Let them do their job. We"ll keep doing ours."
Amara nodded as she walked away from the body;, the smell was starting to get to her. She made it back to the tape where Stephanie stood and ducked under, followed by the two other hunters. As soon as she was away from the body, she took a deep breath to clear her head. The summer heat hadn"t done the body any justice. She looked to Jeremy again as she tried to keep her mind off the body.
"Any idea what sort of lycanthrope did this? You said the *big bad wolf," but knowing you, that could be a very general statement."
"We"re thinking werewolf," Jeremy answered. "We can"t be one-hundred percent sure until they match up the bite with our records. If we"re lucky, we may even be able to figure out who it was. The odds of one of the werewolves who came in to be identified for our files doing this are slim to none."
Amara nodded again. It wouldn"t make sense for one of those wolves to murder anyone. They came in voluntarily to get things like their jaws measured and to give impressions of their teeth . It was the way to fingerprint a werewolf.
"We"ll just have to wait until morning for the results," Stephanie finally chimed in as she casually pulled the hair tie out of her long, light brown hair. With a quick shake of her head, it spilled over her shoulders.
"Stop flirting," she muttered to Stephanie and rolled her eyes as she opened the car door. "Thanks for the call, Jeremy. I"ll see you tomorrow."
"I"ll see you later, Jeremy," Stephanie called out to him with a smile as she got in on the pa.s.senger side.
Jeremy laughed and waved a good-bye as he walked back to the police officers to help them clean up.
Amara pulled out and headed back to the hotel the two stayed at. Generally, if they were away from home, the company paid for their hotel arrangements. It was one of the more cushy aspects of their job. The girls were still forced to share a room, which gave them time to argue. Amara never wanted to be buddies with Stephanie. She never wanted a partner to begin with let alone one so worried about saving everything. Stephanie was a genuine white witch. She knew everything there was to know about witchcraft and was bent on saving the world one aerosol canister at a time. Amara would spray her hair for a few extra seconds with hair spray just to spite her. This was going to be a long visit-for both of them.
When the girls finally made the long drive back to the hotel room, Stephanie collapsed onto the overstuffed bed. Nothing like staying in one of the luxury hotels in the city.
"I remember when I first started," she recalled. "Like, my first mission, I was sent out of town for. They put me in this two-bit flea bag hotel. I swear there were roaches in the walls, and the beds were really cement."
Amara couldn"t help but smile at that. Everyone had to start somewhere, even those hunters who had family in the company for lifetimes. It was a way to keep things even and "fair.". No one could be born into a higher rank because their parents were good hunters.
Stephanie"s entire family had been a part of The Administration. Amara"s mother and father had. Amara"s family had a long line of vampire hunting history, but they never belonged to any sort of organization before "The Admin,", as most of the hunters called it. They were rogue slayers who fought vampires freelance and for the joy of the kill. When Amara"s parents discovered the protection The Admin graced its hunters with, as well as the ability to learn new techniques and keep on top of where each vampire was, they joined in a heartbeat.
Amara had been too young to join when they were killed by a vampire killed them in their home. Even The Administration"s protection wasn"t always enough.
"You"re moving up in the world," Amara finally said to Stephanie as the two unpacked a little. They didn"t bother putting their clothes in the dresser drawers. As vampire hunters, they never knew when they would need to make a quick escape.
"Moving up in the vampire hunting world," Stephanie almost sang the words, then laughed. "I"m movin" on up. To the east side. To that great-"
"Stop it," Amara snapped at her. She tucked her trunk to the side of her bed and went to put coffee on. The coffee maker sat on the counter top of the bathroom sink. Even in the more expensive hotel room, they weren"t allowed to get too cozy. No suites for the top vampire hunters.
Black streaks raced through the white marble countertop, which gleamed under the light positioned just over the mirror. The girls set up for the day before when they first arrived. All their toiletries were placed in the areas they would need them. Toothbrushes, combs, makeup-all of it was around the bathroom sink neatly.
When the coffee trickled down into the pot, Amara went back to sit on her bed again to wait while the warm aroma of the coffee filled the room. She lay back on the fluffy brown comforter and smiled as she stared at the white ceiling.
"There"s a certain charm to hotel rooms," Amara commented as she relaxed.
"What would you do if you weren"t a hunter right now?" Stephanie rolled on her belly on the other bed and nodded. "Would hotels still hold that familiar feeling of home?"
"Probably not. I"m not sure what I would do. My family died when I was ten, remember?" Amara shifted her chocolate eyes over to Stephanie.
"At least they didn"t force you into anything," she rolled onto her back again and sighed. She folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the ceiling. "I"d be a doctor. A d.a.m.ned good doctor too. I"d much rather heal than hurt."
"Even vampires?" Amara questioned her skeptically.
"If they came to me," Stephanie answered casually, and Amara cringed.
"Vampires do not deserve to be healed-or helped. They"ve never helped any of us."
Stephanie rolled her eyes and turned over onto her side, facing the mahogany curtains rather than Amara.
"I"m getting some sleep. I sense a long day tomorrow."
"Your horoscope tell you that?" Now Amara was just pushing b.u.t.tons.
"No, the girl with her throat ripped out was a good hint though."
Chapter Two.
The diner was a welcomed change from the long night before. The delicious smells of cooking food blended together and drifted through the air. The hot smell of burgers sizzling on the grill in the back mixed with the smell of fresh fries and seasoning. The mix of scents floating around them and the bright white lights made even that dreary day seem bright. Amara and Stephanie sat near the window nibbling at their breakfasts and watched the raindrops stream down the foggy gla.s.s.
As Amara sipped her coffee, she noticed a familiar figure walking through the door. It was one of her contacts. The man walking toward her was tall and lean. His short, auburn hair was messy, but styled that way. As he walked over to Amara, Stephanie looked a little puzzled. His skin was too pale to be human, his eyes too deep a shade of blue. It took a moment for Stephanie to recognize him.
"You cut your hair," she said as she scooted over in her booth to make room for him and moved the plate and gla.s.s down as well.
"I got tired of it being long," the vampire said with a light smile. "h.e.l.lo, Amara," he added with a nod to the hunter.
"What brings you out here; in daylight hours?" Amara asked curiously. Generally only the older, more powerful vampires could go out in direct sunlight. Then again, with the stormy weather outside shielding him from the sunlight, even a vampire as young as Steven could be out-if one considered one -hundred fifty years young. It was still risky though, if the weather cleared on his way home, Steven could be rather toasty.
"Well, I have important news and didn"t think it should be told over the phone. It couldn"t wait until morning," he said, leaning over to pick up a piece of Amara"s bacon from across the table and took a bite.
Amara lifted her eyebrow invitingly, urging Steven to continue.
"An old friend of an old friend of yours is in town. He"s looking for his cousin. I thought I should let you know, because wherever he goes, he has that...special talent to destroy things. Kafele flew in about a week ago."
Amara paused for a long moment and her eyes widened at the news.
"Kafele? You mean Alexander"s cousin?" She shook her head. This was bad news.
Alexander was the vampire who killed her family. Kafele had been his right hand man for as long as the two were dead-and probably while they were living as well. As far as anyone knew, they weren"t insane serial killers while they were living. Thousands of years later, Kafele and Alexander split up, although no one she had ever spoken to knew why, or they wouldn"t tell her. After a while, things died down. Kafele disappeared, and Alexander started making business investments and work through other vampires rather than do any dirty work himself.
Years of killing people established him enough power to control the vampires younger and weaker than himself. Sure, they were apart for nearly one hundred years, but a reunion didn"t seem like it would bode well for humanity either way.
"Who is Kafele?" Stephanie asked when she saw the unsettled look in Amara"s eyes.
"It"s too long of a story for right now," Amara said to her quickly, "I"ll get you the file later. Any idea where he"s staying?"
"I"ve been trying to find out, but so far, no one is willing to give anything away." Steven shook his head. "Not even for a price-which I a.s.sumed you would reimburse me for."
Amara nodded. Of course she would. He was her outside contact, her leak into the world of dangerous vampires.
"I"ll keep looking then. Watch yourself. I don"t want to see anything happen to you," Steven said. Oddly enough Amara believed he meant it.
As a general rule, she didn"t trust vampires. Steven was one of the exceptions. He gave her information and kept her alive more than once by covering for her. Amara would likely do the same for him at this point. Likely. Not definitely.
"Thanks," she said and watched him get up, then called out to him again as a thought occurred to her. "Steven, Kafele"s animal to call, the form he can take. What is it?"
Steven thought for a moment before he responded. "A hyena."
"Thanks. You"re a world of help." Amara wasn"t at all surprised by his answer.
"Glad to hear it," he smiled to her. "If you get tired of it here, a friend of a friend of mine just opened a new diner across town. You might want to check it out rather than eat here breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
He disappeared back out into the rain and to his cab.
"Why"d you ask him what animal Kafele can become? Are you even sure he can transform? Not every vampire can," Stephanie asked and continued eating.
"Absolutely." Amara nodded and sipped her coffee. "He"s a master vampire, nearly as powerful as Alexander. If the bite comes back to match a hyena, we know who we"re looking for."
Stephanie nodded and looked to Amara"s purse. The high- pitched beeping of Amara"s generic ring tone filled the air. Amara answered the phone while Stephanie continued to eat. When Amara hung up the phone, she looked at Stephanie and nodded.
"Back to the H.Q. Apparently they haven"t located the thing responsible for the murder last night, but they have a few other things they want to go over with us."
"Maybe some exotic jaw impressions?" Stephanie asked as she sipped her orange juice.
"It"s possible. Finish eating so we can get there. It sounded like they have an abundance of information to go over with us."
Stephanie continued eating at her own pace. Amara watched her and decided Stephanie must be thinking if they still hadn"t caught the monster, then a few extra minutes in the morning wouldn"t make a tremendous difference. A monster out that late killing people would probably sleep during the day.
Chapter Three.