Night Valley,

Blood Mansion -

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"Sire, the Secret Guards are waiting for you in the hall." Ralph notified his Master as he entered the dimly lit study room.

While Irene stayed behind in City - A to look after Miss Alessandro, Ralph and Lauren had followed their Sire back to the Night Valley.

Looking at the serious expression on their Sire's face, everyone in the Blood Mansion was aware that whatever their Lord was planning, he was dead serious about it.

"Let's go," Shadow said as he put away the ancient book of spells that he had been reading.

The two men walked out of the study and made their way towards the underground tunnels that eventually led to the cold and dingy hall room where three hundred special trained secret guards of the Blood Mansion were waiting for them.

The Secret Guards, also known as the Blood Guards, was a team of supernaturals who had spent over a hundred years in the training grounds where only the best out of bests were allowed to live, and they were loyal to only one man - the Supreme Sire.

As soon as Shadow stepped inside the hall, all the guards kneeled on the floor to greet their Sire. Their heads were bowed in respect to the man who could rule the entire world of supernaturals if he wanted.

"You all can rise," Shadow told them and watched silently as all the guards stood up before putting their entire focus on him.

"Today, I have called you all here because it's finally the time that you all should put your hundred years of training into practice. Your task is very simple, spread around the globe and collect all the information about the current activities of the rogue groups."

"Find out how many humans or human governments are helping them. Which of the Supernatural councils are also mixed in the web and which are the main locations of their activities. You need to find every single and minor detail without leaving out everything."

"Your task is to collect this information safely and pass it to Ralph and his team. They will take over from there and simple out the information retrieved by you all."

Shadow addressed the guards and briefly explained the mission to them. He had already discussed all the details with Ralph and his team. If everything went according to the plan then within two months, he would have all the required information in his hands.

The meeting went on for nearly half an hour where they discussed how the teams would be divided and which team would be taking over which city or region.

-

"Sire, Lauren, and Corey are here." Ralph notified his master as he entered the room where Shadow was currently working on a few documents.

Shadow didn't speak for the next few minutes as he continued to work on the important documents and account books that his butler had smartly placed in front of him as soon as he found him free.

The three men stood silently against the wall near the entrance as they waited for their master to complete his work.

After ten minutes or so, Shadow finally finished his work and after closing the last file, he focused on his men.

"Lauren and Corey, I have very important jobs for the two of you. Let's start with Corey." Shadow said as he signaled towards the Fae who moved forward to stand in front of his desk.

"Master."

The fae said while bowing his head and waited for his Sire to speak.

"You will be heading to the Royal Court of Faes. I want you to bring this letter to your Crown Prince. Tell him that it's time for him to repay what he owes to me and there are no negotiations this time." Shadow told Corey as he pushed an envelope towards the man who received it and after giving another bow, returned to stand next to Ralph against the wall.

Lauren moved forward to stand in front of the desk as he bowed to greet his master and waited to hear the mission that he had to carry on.

"Head to City-X and see who is ruling the slave market there. Most importantly, I want you to find out about the ranked masters who were sent to look after the slave market around nine years ago. Find out everything about the person who was given the rank of the Fifth Master at that time. Don't miss out on anything. Every single detail is important." Shadow sounded even more serious this time as he informed Lauren about his task.

The seven hundred-year-old vampire bowed his head and was ready to return to his position against the wall when he was stopped in his tracks by the next words that came out from his Sire's mouth.

"Don't return if you failed."

"Yes, Master!" Lauren accepted and went back to his position.

"You all can leave now. Prepare to leave for your missions by the end of the day." Shadow told his men who immediately bowed and left the room, leaving him alone with the silence and darkness.

"Sire, you have been staying away from all these matters for the past few hundred years. Are you sure you want to do this? It will probably bring a lot of unwanted problems to the Blood Mansion and the Night Valley." A silhouette appeared in the room, reminding Shadow of the consequences that his actions would bring.

"There is no other option anymore. I'm not afraid of anything as long as I can protect her." Shadow answered in an indifferent tone as he stared at the woman who was inspecting the shelves lined against the wall.

She stopped in her tracks, probably surprised by his answer. A small smile appeared on her lips as she turned to face her master.

"If that's what Master wants, then I'll follow your command. I'll start the preparation for tonight's meeting. I just hope that whatever decision you will take tonight, it won't be based solely on her." Saying that she bowed her head and left the room.

The woman was completely oblivious to the surprises that were waiting for her.