Deadly Habits

Chapter 1

 Dani checked their phone for what felt like the 100th time during this pack meeting. If it hadn't been about impending doom they would have fucking dipped.

Constance Hexum, vampire royalty of New York, had gone and gotten herself kidnapped. Vampnapped? How did she manage to let that happen?

And Newark was getting all the blame.

The Kingdom of Vampires and the Wolf Collective had been at odds since time immemorial. Just in the last couple hundred years have they found a tentative peace. When the Kingdom acquired territory in what would be New York, the Collective had already established packs all over what's now New Jersey for several hundred years and refused to budge.

In more recent years, the events of 9/11 had rocked the entire country, and the Kingdom had been grateful when the Collective came to the city's aid. The New York City Vampires and the Newark Werewolf packs had enjoyed relative unbroken peace since then, maybe a few scuffles here and there, but that was usually one individual bloodsucker being a prick on their own or a young pup getting too cocky.

Imagine Dani's surprise when they got a text saying to get to the Council House ASAP because of a declaration of war. All because someone went and got herself vampnapped.

A kick to their leg got Dani's attention. Shit.

"The Vampires are allowing us to come in and investigate, so I'll be sending a team of you there. Dani, you'll be on that team since you've met her before, you'll still have her scent."

Have I? Werewolf finally looked at the picture on the table of a smiling woman. A selfie with other girls before some formal event. Flaxen hair falling over one pale shoulder, golden eyes twinkling with merriment, even in a picture.

Now they remembered; they'd been leaving a meeting, walking outside when the first Tower fell. Constance had just been a child. Human Lore was wrong in that vampires just combusted into dust in sunlight. They were like any object with mass, just a little more photosensitive. Dani had seen Constance in the sun, was looking down at her when they'd both heard the great and terrible rumbling. Had watched as the plume of ash and dirt had started to rush at them. Dani yanked the girl close as people started to scream and ushered her inside. They remembered that they thought she was a tiny thing, and if she hadn't been holding onto them just as tight they would have dropped her. Dani would just have to take the time later to try and remember her scent later.

Guiseppe, the current Pack Leader, steepled his fingers and looked at them, "Dani, do you remember anything about her that might be useful?"

They leaned back in their chair as eyes turned towards her. Instantly uncomfortable. God dammit, Guiseppe. "No, sir. She was just a child when I met her." Dani noticed Guiseppe's's wife Aoife, an oracle, looking at them strangely. Of course she looks strange, she's a few cards short of a full deck nowadays.

Guiseppe nodded and stood, meaning everyone seated stood at attention stiffly. His dark, almost black eyes swept over them, "The investigation team will be leaving tonight, report to Rod at 0600. Everyone else, keep an eye out for any retaliatory behavior. You're dismissed."

Dani walked out of the Council House to their car, thinking back to the day they met. Constance had been smiling at them in the sun.

"Daaaaaanielllaaaaaaaa", came a sing-song voice from behind them. Dani looked and saw Aoife smiling up at them, "How are you, sweetie? You should take a nice hot bath when you get home, you look like you need to relax."

Dani smiled, "Hi Aoife. I don't have time. I have to pack, remember?" Dani pulled her into a gentle hug. They'd known Aoife since they were little, and knew her visions sometimes popped up at inopportune moments, making her memory a bit iffy.

Aoife was lucky she found Guiseppe when she did. Oracles didn't live very long unless they found what they called their 'grounding'. If they never found it, they'd be driven mad by visions until they found a way to make them stop. Guiseppe had found Aoife homeless in Baltimore, and her visions had saved him from a hunter attack. He'd kept her by his side and called her his 'lucky charm' ever since.

With a nod, Aoife waved her hand, her wild golden eyes looking around so much that if Dani didn't know better they would have assumed Aoife had nystagmus. "Irrelevant. Just remember, the magic isn't weak, just underdeveloped. Help it grow." She smiled before skipping back to Guiseppe's waiting arms by the door.

Dani shook their head and slipped into the driver's seat of their car. Aoife's predictions were something you could set your clock by if they made sense...