Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 1

Hi!

Time to get this book started, for real! I read all of your comments, and I'm beyond excited and ready to do this - get down to work and write write write...

Here's chapter one. I hope you like it! :-)

Lara

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Chapter 1

Another attack, right out in the open. I wondered when and if I would have heard of it at all, if I hadn't walked into the Circle headquarters this afternoon.

New York City was in a state of chaos that faintly reeked of anarchy and violence, the kind of fabric dark apocalypse novels were made of. The Inri Brotherhood's infamous leader, Raphael Medici aka the Raven, died over two weeks ago, but his ghost was still haunting the city like a poisonous plume of smog. Rogue witches attacked a night club brimming with customers two days ago. The magical bomb detonated at midnight, taking with it three dozen people – most of them members of the supernatural community.

The Circle's claim that they found and captured the last faction of Inri Brotherhood members three days ago was a prefabricated lie – obviously. Add to that the growing rumors that Raphael Medici was still alive and you had your proverbial clusterfuck. Maybe that was the reason why I was able to enter the headquarters without anyone making a fuss. The fact that I was still under suspension should have made entering more difficult for me. Brown had made it very clear that I wasn't supposed to go anywhere near the Circle or the TF3 headquarters.

Looked like they were all too busy tracking down Inri Brotherhood members and convincing the public the city was back under control again. No matter if Raphael Medici was alive or not, and I was starting to believe it was possible he was still out there, there was one thing the Circle was unaware of – a flaw in their logic that would remain so as long as they didn't know the ugly truth.

The Inri Brotherhood wasn't only made up of dark witches and rogues. The organization ran far deeper and reached into those parts of society that were more and at the same time less than practitioners of black magic. In fact the Inri Brotherhood's arm went as far as the Circle itself. And I was the only one that knew.

I peered into the barely lit space in front of me with wary eyes – a cemetery of sleek metal and steel. The headquarters' parking lot looked forsaken and bleak. I shivered. The nightly silence had an oppressive and hostile feel to it. The air was cool as silk, the soft wind like a set of feathers brushing against my face – the only hint of movement in this dark stillness.

I touched the pendant my godmother Giuliana gave to me before she left New York. I started wearing it after the Raven incident. Maybe because it belonged to my mother a long time ago. Maybe because I wasn't going to deny my past – not to me, not to anyone in this city.

It felt warm against my fingers, a pinprick of magic rubbing against my senses. I had no idea what kind of spell it contained, but I'd felt it frequently enough. I was positive that somewhere in the blue stone there was some sort of magic. Whatever it was, it wasn't enough to calm and reassure me this night.

I shook my head and picked my way through the handful of cars slowly, approached my Ford without the soft-footedness of someone who didn't have a care in the world. I expected someone to jump out of the shadows pointing an accusing finger at me, identifying me as the head vampire's human servant. Exposure was hanging over the top of my head like an invisible sword of Damocles.

It was not a matter of how, it was a matter of when. Brown would figure it out. And then... yeah, and then what? Years and years of training and that one thing I'd been working for, gone to waste.