Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

thirty-six.

We drove in silence as we reached his office. I grabbed my bags, and we took the elevator to the top floor of the building. I put my bag on the chair and as he headed for his desk I cleared my throat. He backed away from his desk and I sat down behind it.

"Th-that's my desk. And my chair."

"And I'm your Magister. So...?" He headed to the seat on the other side of his desk and sat down as I crossed my arms and leaned back. "What do you know?"

"There's a-a group of humans that the human authorities have dubbed 'vampirists'."

"Humans that are obsessed with vampires. Yes, you told me that. What else?"

"Well, th-they're trying to make it look like vampires are killing humans. I-I don't let my vampires kill humans. They know better. I usually don't have vampires younger than fifty as the sun is too strong for most newborns... The coroner that got hold of these bodies, Kevin, he says there's no way the 'bite marks' are from vampires. The marks don't look like vampire fangs."

"Where is Kevin? Can I speak with him?"

"He – he should be here shortly."

"Okay. And have you told Reid Baker that I requested a meeting with him?"

"Yes. But he wanted to know why."

"Oh? That's none of your concern. I need to speak with Reid..." He huffed as he realized how frustrating it was to not know something. There was a knock at the door of his office. His assistant told us that Kevin was here to see us. He let him in, and I stood up to shake his hand.

"Madame Magister, how are you?" he said with a deep voice. He had a short military cut, about six and half feet tall, broad shoulders and tan skin. Even through his dress shirt, I could see his muscles bulging as he shook my hand.

"I'm well, you?"

"I'll be better when we can figure out what the hell is going on with these stupid humans..." I nodded.

"I say it's best if we just kill the lot of them," Morgan said, bluntly. I turned to look at him as I sat back down in his chair.

"Excuse me?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I – I – I think we should kill the humans responsible for this."

"Did I say you could do that? You know how hard it will be to kill however many humans are responsible without alerting their authorities? Especially if we're already on thin ice and about to be found out?"

"Well, w-what would you suggest?"

"I suggest we find the humans responsible and compel them to focus on something else."

"Oh. Y-yeah, that works too." I gave him a side glance and went back to Kevin.

"So, Kevin, what can you tell me about how these humans are making it look like a vampire is killing people?"

"So, from what I can see they are using a tool that is very sharp and pointed like our fangs, but essentially acts like a straw to the human vein. The problem here is not all of them are doing it in a good location – most of them are aiming for the jugular vein and the victims are bleeding out pretty quickly."

"What do you know about the tool?"

"Not much, none of them have ever been left behind, but all of the wounds look exactly the same and there is no saliva left behind so that's why I assume it works like a straw." I nodded. "The human authorities don't believe vampires are real... but if they keep digging into this, I'm concerned that they will discover just how real we are."