I went through my mental status checklist. Door, locked. Kahina, behind it. Me, too stupid to know the unlock code. My own lack of foresight hardly felt surprising at this point.

Maybe I could go back outside and look for someone with a security code. That would mean exposing her hiding place, not that it was extremely hidden, just secure. Should I reach out to Kahina through my abilities and hope she mumbled a pass phrase? That was clearly a plan without flaws.

Daniel had gone, Keeper vanished, and Ann probably wasn't allowed down here. Sensei might be. Leaving would basically be admitting I was a failure as Kahina's protector.

Maybe I could get mad and rip the door out. Superhuman strength was a perk. I doubt even a vampire or wolf could break down this door. That was the point. Had Kahina snuck my fingerprints into the little security panel? I should at least check. One eye scan and fingerprint later and the door opened with a whoosh of noise.

It was unexpected. What exactly had Kahina been doing all this time? Better yet, when had she snagged my fingerprints and a retinal scan? Probably during one of my many hibernations.

Inside felt heartbreaking. Not from things looking bad, but because Kahina was unconscious on the bed. Her face appeared serene in a detached sort of way. The thought was morbid since she might never wake up. Was it only last night that we had been using a bed for something much different?

"Kahina?" I moved closer to the bed.

Perhaps she was just nearly unconscious. It was difficult to admit that I needed to talk to her. To hear something more, a way to know that she would be okay.

"Kahina?" Two fingers were placed along her smooth neck. For almost a minute, there was no pulse. Then one single beat that I might have imagined. Another minute passed and an even fainter heartbeat came. Then nothing.

"Too soon." I echoed her previous words. This, this was far too soon.

I had no clue what to do. During the last four months, she should have made plans with me. Given me an idea of what to expect after the change. Of how I was to guard her. Most of our interaction involved sex. Other than that my understanding boiled down to: stand there, look intimidating, punch the right people, and let the household do their job.

They were the ones that made plans, trained, managed all the day to day activities. Yet after months I didn't have a clue what to expect. Nothing more than a single looming thought. She might die during this process.

When would I know? Right away? An hour from now? Tomorrow? I closed my eyes and looked for Kahina in my other sight. There was still a faint halo of life about her that dripped upwards, away from the body.

I laid down on the bed and stared across at her. The sheets weren't even that high in quality, being far more coarse than her normal bedding. Not that she could complain. If only some of her apparent calmness would rub off on me. My eyes closed only for a moment before they reopened. Now was not the time to be sleepy.

Eventually, I looked beyond Kahina to the rest of the room. Everything was set up like a bedroom, but items were missing. No dresser, mirrors, or nightstand. There was a television mounted into one of the walls. Maybe it got cable? Nothing else here but a doorway and the mildly fancy bed frame. No food either. Sooner or later I would have to venture outside this room.

As a man, my next choice was whether to turn on the television or not. I could at least keep Kahina company until dawn. The TV power button was hidden on one side. My resulting screen looked nothing like the local selection of channels. Words were plastered across saying 'For Jay' and gave me a play or exit option.

I didn't want to seem desperate for guidance, but it was difficult not to grow a little frantic while searching for a remote control. Finding it turned out to be easy since the room was fairly desolate. Moments later my finger hovered over the button.

For a brief second, I glanced back at a motionless Kahina. How much had she planned? How had she found the time? More questions than answers and it was beyond time for some answers. My finger pressed play.

"Hello, Cat-nip." Kahina's face showed up on the screen. The smell of peppermint had slowly filled the room. It almost felt like she was actually talking to me and not some recording. I tried to place the scene. Wrapped around her was a blanket from the bed upstairs. In the background, I could see myself sprawled out, clearly asleep.

"This message should be in my first stage safe room. There are two other rooms on the property, and another two off-site. Ann will know their locations." She said while I wondered how Kahina had set up five different safe rooms without my knowledge.

"If you already know this, then perhaps I no longer worry-" her pause drug out for a moment before she pushed through "that you'll leave. Maybe you’re watching this because you want to stay."

"Please stay." She looked back behind her to where the other me was laying on the bed.

It was weird to watch a recording of myself shift and mumble while sleeping. Thankfully I wasn’t snoring. I didn't answer her recording, but I did look at Kahina again on the bed behind me.

"I can't explain too much. Dwelling on what will happen may tip off those against me. During the day..." Now she was chewing on her bottom lip. That was an action I never saw in real life. It was startlingly cute. "During the day our thoughts are not entirely our own."

Her statement didn’t make much sense. What did she mean by saying her mind wasn't her own? Was that some clever way of saying that vampire instincts controlled her?

"My sire, Keeper, advised me the change takes anywhere from four to seven days. He warns that it is not the change that brings death, but the others." Kahina kept speaking. I remembered hearing from Daniel how dangerous the transition process was.

"There is a good chance that I will be gifted, powerfully so, when I transition." She didn't use the word 'if'. At least one of us was confident. "That perhaps their constant threats may be changed for those that follow. First though we need to make it through this and to do that I need an anchor."

"I've always wanted that to be you, Jay, from the day you came into my life." She was speaking and the words didn’t connect. Me, an anchor? Even before the thing with the blood? What exactly did she mean by anchor?

"It was difficult to let anyone know my plans. Difficult to trust, but Ann...reminds me too much of Julianne." And Julianne had been like a sister to Kahina. Combine that with a vampire's inability to adapt easily and you had trust by association. "I always trusted Julianne, so I feel compelled to trust Ann."

Daniel had said don't trust anyone. It would be difficult to say who was right. Maybe I should only trust myself.

"I can't help it. I must believe in someone. I hope there is still a we, Jay, more than this." Her words were growing shorter, in the background I could see myself starting to wake up. A wobbly handheld camera panned outward to show where I lay flopped on the bed. "Not that I don't enjoy it." She tried to play off the words like a placating joke.

Then all I could see was her face and a single careful red tear falling slowly down her cheek. Maybe there was more going on but nothing else was in focus. Just her. I was such a sucker when it came to crying women.

"Please stay, Cat-nip. I need to see you when I wake up." Kahina said.

The video clicked off leaving only silence in the room. It was weird. That was the longest speech I had heard her make. For as long as we had been together she focused on giving short orders and doing something. Action over pleading.

I wanted to stay in here with Kahina, but that didn't seem feasible. It was hard to believe that Kahina trusted that tiny brunette. I easily understood being distrustful of Anthony. Especially after Keeper's other partial, Mister Janns, shot Julianne.

There was little choice but to go out and find Shaggy. I carefully pulled the covers over Kahina and walked through the door back up the hall. The secret panel opened into the main office. Now I knew where the resting place was. I could make it back without much hassle.

Where would Shaggy be? She and Anthony had charged off. No one was in the outer hall. All former businessmen, guards, and housekeepers were absent.

An alarm’s low hum filled the empty rooms. The noise was new and difficult to hear from my location. Either the alarm wasn’t serious, or it had been triggered near here. Maybe a leftover from Keeper’s test?

The second-floor hallway had a good view of the outside. Darkness was pushed back by lights scattered from windows and a streetlights over the wall. No one sat in the driveway. Cars were absent along the street.

Directly below me was a side entrance to the first floor. People gathered in so close that I had overlooked them. Three people, all well dressed, were in calm discussion over a dead body. The deceased looked like it belonged to one of our house members. It was difficult to say who from this angle. At least the three standing over the body were ours and not someone else's.

I knocked loudly on the window to get their attention. One knelt down to the body, the other two looked back up towards me. The man known as Sensei, according to Daniel he was ex-Sector, stared up for a moment then motioned me down. A minute later we were all standing over the dead body.

"Ours?" I asked.

"Oh. Sure is. Cause unknown, probably vamp. You see anything up there with Miss Rhodes?" One of Kahina's many employees responded then sighed heavily.

"Nothing unusual." I responded. Aside from a drunk and flirting Daniel and a vanishing vampire. Oh and that video from Kahina.

"Joy," Sensei spoke with a flat tone. "Has it started?"

"She's started, yes," I said.

"My contract’s over then. You, Rays, and Myers will be in charge." Sensei looked back at the body and crossed both arms over his chest.

My raised eyebrow was clear enough.

"Part of the deal. Sector can't get involved unless it's inter-species. Being retired doesn't change that. I was on retainer to train the household until her final transformation started." He said while narrowing both eyes at the dead body.

"Alright." Arguing with Sector was useless. It meant that our side had even less chance than before.

"What did Danny say?" Sensei asked.

"Danny?"

"Agent Crumfield." Sensei clarified. Now I knew Daniel had another nickname that would be funny to use. My brief moment of mirth vanished as the whole reason for this situation popped back to the forefront.

"That we missed something." I responded.

"What?" Sensei's pitch still didn't change.

"Would it do any good to tell you?" I asked while frowning. The man’s contract was over. Not being paid usually meant minimal assistance.

"Officially, no. I'll go over the preparations again, though. Maybe there's a gambit I missed." Sensei started looking around the grounds while one finger rubbed against his beardless chin.

"And then?"

"And then you won't find the answer waiting for you on Myers’ PDA."

I tried not to smile. Sensei managed to succeed, keeping an emotionless expression. Maybe it was a trick of his training. Smirks naturally found their way to my face.

"I'll need to report to a Sector officer as soon as possible. Keeper won't take long to file his end of the paperwork, and if I'm too far behind that I can kiss future contracts goodbye." There was a tone how he said paperwork that implied a deep dislike.

"You're leaving?" I asked.

"I am," He answered while still flat-voiced. His thoughts must have occupied reviewing the plans. The finger was rubbing in overtime now.

The other two, both female and male members of the house looked worried at that.

"Officially, I’ve done what I can. The rest is on you all. Good luck." Sensei didn't waste time hanging around and headed back inside. Ann’s voice surprised me with an abrupt appearance.

"Sir, I'll have him escorted out," She said. I asked myself how the gun toting woman had managed to sneak up on me. "You two, go." Shaggy motioned to the other employees.

Sensei actually smiled at that one. "Good girl. Someone paid attention during training."

"I always pay attention." She responded.

"You'd have to for this job." Sensei was talking about Ann making it into Kahina's household.

For a moment, I saw Ann pause and bow to Sensei then turn back to the dead body. The two employees she'd motioned at escorted Sensei off the premises. That left me, Ann, and a dead body.

"Who is it?" I didn't really know all the names yet. Then again I hadn't gone out of my way to know anyone here. Shaggy had been forced on me.

"Henry Mcintyre. His sister will be upset, but they signed the paperwork like the rest of us." Ann plopped down onto the ground next to Henry and stared into vacant eyes while I tried to remember the rules.

Once someone signed onto a vampire household they were covered by Tribunal law. As long as these attacks were initiated by another vampire, Sector Agents wouldn't get involved. The one concession was if a person passed away a household life insurance would kick in.

The exact value of it varied by each house. Judging by Kahina's set up Henry's sister would be perfectly fine. Once she got over the missing family member. If she got over it. The idea that a life could be measured by dollar signs had always perplexed me. Though it was only a step away from beating someone senseless to collect a debt.

"Kahina is..." I tried to figure out the next word. Unconscious? Dying?

"We'll have to move her from position one to two today." Ann barely skipped a beat. "Hopefully if we do it during early dawn the scent trails will fade before nightfall." Fledgling vampires, those still undergoing the process, might be able to taste where Kahina was and had gone. Or if a pack was involved then they might smell it too.

"Is it always this bad?" I asked.

"I've heard rumors, but two attacks in two days?" Shaggy shook her head and kept staring at Henry's lifeless body. "Doesn't matter, we both have a lot riding on this."

"We do?" I didn’t really hear her question and muttered a response.

"I do, an entire career. What about you?"

"Just her." Kahina was the only thing that mattered. Mine, she was mine and I'd protect her. It had been a promise. "What's the plan for now?"

"Sir." Ann acknowledged my question. "Now the fun starts." She wasn't smiling, though. That's fine, neither was I. After a heavy sigh she started tapping on her PDA.

I stared into the darkness surrounding the house.

"Make yourself useful," She said.

"What should I do?" I had no idea which action to take.

I should have paid more attention to Sensei's plans, or gone to the training drills. My few months working with her amounted to nothing against these employee's years. Kahina spent a lot of money on this household during my long absence and the results were clear. She was ready for a war.

The cost of this made me shudder, but if she succeeded then she would get hundreds of years to rebuild everything. Not to mention contacts with the other fully turned vampires. She would be a member of their elite.

For a moment my concentration slipped. Thoughts sought out Kahina in the bed back underground. I could feel her through those extra senses. No breath, cool but not chilled, eyelids closed. There was a soft tingle of fabric from sheets resting against her skin.

"Sir?" Shaggy was talking.

"What should I do?"

"I told you already," She said slowly.

My blank look must have been enough of an answer. I had been elsewhere in my thoughts. Ann tried to suppress a sigh and stood up from the dead body.

"You should do a lap and then report in." Ann grabbed a walkie talkie from Henry's dead body and spoke into it. Her phrasing focused on asking when someone would come round up the body. Not soon enough, but it wasn't like we had a large enough group for a medical staff. Only a few people trained in first aid and field triage.

"Why patrol?" I asked. What good would doing a lap do? I should go back and stay with Kahina.

"You're the Lady’s enforcement arm. The rest of us are part of it, but she's painted you as her personal hound." Right, like I did any real tracking in the last few months. "If you're a half decent wolf you might pick up a trail and follow it back to the breach."

"Yeah." Maybe someone had left something laying around for me. If there was something and I used it right then we could figure out who killed Henry. Not that my skills included detective work.

"Do we know who this was?"

Ann shook her head back and forth.

"Do we know anything?" I tried again.

"It gets worse before it gets better." Ann summed up the story of my life in one sentence. Getting better hadn't happened yet.

Shaggy stayed behind with the body, and I strove to beat my personal record for a lap around the compound. Even then it took thirty minutes. I had forgotten how far back some of the land stretched. By the time I returned Henry was bagged up and gone. Almost like they had everything ready somewhere on the property and had been waiting to see who was first.

My own goals were a pure failure. Nothing remained to track with, no fur, blood, or anything from the invaders. Maybe it was like Shaggy said, and everything I did was merely for show. Maybe I was only useful when following someone else's lead. Stand here, intimidate them, find this, punch him. Simple orders were best.

I drug my feet more than necessary and slowly headed towards Kahina’s office, it should be our rally point when at home. Ann was nowhere to be seen so far. For once my own footsteps didn't echo down the hallway to announce my presence. Or Shaggy and Anthony were so involved in their conversation that they didn't notice.

"I can't believe you expect me to buy that bullcrap." That had to be Ann. It was also quite possibly the loudest I had ever heard her be.

"Girl, remember who you are talking to." Anthony’s voice responded. I could hear a hint of teeth and snarl to it.

"Someone who I thought knew what they were doing!" Her voice went up an octave.

"Little girl." Anthony was irritated too.

"Don't ‘little girl’ me, you're only two years older than I am and clearly incompetent."

There were more than a few gawkers in the side rooms. They didn’t stand right in the hallway but were off in other doorways whispering among themselves. Some of the men and women had confused looks on their faces. Anyone in their position had a right to be worried. None of this was a test, there were no more drills, it was Monday morning on finals week and failure meant death.

"We've got to figure out how they got inside the walls."

"Keeper told us there was a breach, and that he'd taken down the security on the western side." Anthony managed to sound reasonable. I hadn't expected him to be the calm one and Ann the angry one.

My last few footsteps were a little louder than I expected. The noise was enough to startle some of the others in the hallway. At a glance there were about six out of the fourteen that should be alive still. Anything these ones overheard would be passed to the other.

"Figure it out, Anthony. Figure it out or we're all..." Shaggy’s words were lost as I took action.

I couldn’t let these idiots fall apart in the face of conflict. If there was one thing I understood it was a fight. My giant hand clamped down on the employee nearest me and spoke up. Hopefully, this would drown out whatever nonsense Shaggy was going to say next.

"The building should be on lockdown. Make sure it is." I stared right at the man, Kurt, I believe, was his name. A brown haired brown eyed man. He only hesitated for a moment before nodding. "And dawn's coming. Be ready for humans or wolves. Follow your training.”

I had no idea what the actual plan was beside murder those who tried to screw up Kahina’s transition. There had to be something more specific. At least wolves and humans didn't move as fast as vampires. Even a partial vampire would be over the walls before half the compound noticed.

"But, sir-" Kurt spoke up finally. I stared directly at him and cut off whatever nonsense was about to be spouted.

There's a look that years of beating people up for a living can provide. It's best delivered from a larger mass, taller stature, and a face that looks used to assaulting people. He flinched first.

"Get going!" I grunted. My gripping hand twisted the man around then shoved Kurt down the hall. Thank goodness he was distracted enough not to fight back. I had seen Kurt take down others quite easily in hand to hand.

"Sir." He herded the other five away. Maybe they needed direction too. Ironic that it came from me. Or maybe that's the way orders worked, the person on top spouted whatever seemed right at the time.

"Better come in, sir." Ann cracked open the door. She looked like hell. Arguing with Anthony could add years to anyone's face.

"Ah, there you are, little puppy dog." Mockery tainted his voice. I wanted to rip the cross out of my pocket and castrate him with it. The idea was shelved for personal entertainment later.

"Anthony's an idiot, but you too, Shaggy?" I didn't even look at him.

"What?" She sounded startled by my accusation. I guess Ann hadn't expected to be put in the line of fire.

"You two are yelling. The others were listening. What does that tell them?" Better yet, why did I have to be the one to point it out? My job description shouldn’t include this sort of thing.

"Who was it?" Shaggy said while grinding her teeth.

"Kurt, and others," I said.

"Where are they now?" Anthony asked.

"Following their training. Where’s the other partial?" I said while trying not to grumble.

"Right behind you." Another male said with a soft voice. I turned slightly to see the vampire come out of a shadow. How long had he been standing there? "And please, I prefer Lennon."

At least I hadn't actually charged Anthony, with his buddy behind me things could have gone downhill. He slid over to Anthony's side as if declaring his allegiance.

"Gang's all here," I muttered.

"Kurt and the others should be notifying the city council to reroute traffic from this area. Then we need to figure out who got to Henry, which I was explaining to Mister Rays." Her voice was extremely strained and it was easy to tell how she felt about dealing with the partial vampire.

"Anthony, my dear."

"First it's little girl, then you call me dear?!" With one comment, the tension in the room shot up another notch. Ann had her gun out and locked onto Anthony in the time it took me to blink. Needed points on the shooting range my ass, her draw was frightening.

"Shaggy." Maybe I shouldn't be using nicknames at this point. That seemed to be what was getting Anthony in trouble.

"Not, now, sir." I could actually hear her teeth grinding

together and her finger tensing on the trigger.

"Ann." I dared use her real name. "We need to stay calm."

"And I need to put a bullet in his head." She leveled the gun at Anthony. Anthony was probably having flashbacks of her practicing at the shooting range.

"We need him."

"We're all on the same team," Lennon said. A very slight smile slipped onto his face. It felt like he wouldn't care either way if Anthony got shot.

"What he said." I stepped closer to Ann.

"You need to calm down." Lennon's voice was mellow.

"Fuck." Ann holstered her gun almost as quickly as she'd brought it out. "I wasn't actually going to shoot him. Even if he deserves it."

"Well." Anthony started to talk, but Lennon shook his head. Thankfully they both understood that now was not the time to rock the boat.

"Sunrise is soon. You two get to ground, we’ll move Kahina." I said while standing between the short-tempered female and both partial vampires.

"Are you sure?" Lennon asked with his whispery tone.

"It's best to wait, right?" I asked.

Lennon looked at Anthony and shrugged. Then they both nodded.

"Yes. There should be fewer eyes in the daylight. Also, make sure to open up the entire building to fresh air. It'll mess up the scents. Stay inside the household and double back a few times. It'll spread the smell around and confuse anyone tracking her."

"Done." Ann nodded.

The two partial vampires slipped out of the room and into other parts of the house. Where exactly they slept during the day was a mystery to me.

We ducked into the secret passageway and headed down to pick up Kahina. I'd hoped to see her breathing, even a slow shallow breath, but nothing. She didn't look any different. I felt guilty for leaving her alone down here. No one else was keeping her company.

Ann led the way from the first room to the second. Kahina was draped in my arms, the gray dress on still. It was difficult to maneuver her down the hallway and I couldn't bring myself to sling her over my shoulders.

Skipping to the second safe room seemed odd to me since the first one hadn't been compromised, but Ann insisted this was a good idea. If I had my way we'd put Kahina in the safe location and I'd camp out next to her for a week. If the new room had a microwave and a bathroom then it was doable.

A left, three rights and two security codes later we found a second room. Keeper was right, she had never intended to use the first room. With three other backups I doubt she expected this one to last long.

"You'll have to be out there, looking around." Ann was ahead of me holding open the door into the next room. This place looked far more sneaky than the last room.

"Why?" Why couldn't I stay here and keep watch? I was a final line of defense wasn't I? Inside was a very cramped room. Only enough room for a bed and a chair. At least it wasn't a drab color, it looked a bit more lively.

"You staying here gives away her position too easily. It also shows a lack of confidence in the house’s defenses." Because I had confidence in them to begin with. "It'll keep you busy. We've got days yet before the Lady will wake up."

"What will you do?" I wasn't going to leave Kahina alone with anyone other than me.

"Same thing." Shaggy was walking around the room searching in the cabinets for something. The doors would flip open giving a brief glimpse inside. Ammunition, first aid kits, nonperishables. Almost like a siege room.

"We just leave her here?" I stood in the doorway while Shaggy took up all the spare room.

"Don't worry. My PDA's got a remote feed into the security cameras. Not the greatest quality but it'll be obvious enough if anyone hits this room. The door will hold them long enough for someone to fire a few down the hallway." Ann moved out of my way after finding a few more clips of ammunition.

I slipped Kahina onto the bed carefully. When it came to her my mind fumbled through nothing but worry. "You sure?"

"She was sure. That's good enough for me." Shaggy said.

It wasn't good enough for me. If everything up top was compromised or if someone found their way down here, then what could I do? A few people were easy enough. A lot of people could be handled with the right equipment. Yet, even I couldn’t stop an army.

"Move." Ann shooed me out of the way and started stringing up something above Kahina.

There was a hook on the wall that she snapped a pouch of red liquid into. The other end dripped downward into an IV. She snapped on a pair of sterilized gloves. I almost charged Ann as she slipped the needle from an IV right into Kahina's arm. No preamble, no swiping, barely even searched for a vein. Only a well-angled stab.

"Sir, relax. She'll need blood. It'll keep her body from going completely dormant." She leaned over into another cabinet and fished out some clear tape. In a smooth motion, she bound the needle into place.

"She should go through a single bag in a few hours, according to Keeper's notes it'll serve as a catalyst for some of the changes by exciting the vampiric condition. Like meat in a piranha tank." The image was disturbing but probably fairly accurate. I had felt Kahina's hunger for blood before. It pulled her entire body like a tide.

"There." Ann stood up and yanked off the gloves then shoved them into a baggy. "You ready to go?"

What the hell kind of question was that? Was I ready to go? To leave Kahina all alone down here in such a state? I answered her. "Not yet, Shaggy."

"Too bad, sir." Ann shoved me out of the door. Almost as an afterthought I heard her add "Two."

I guess my count had started over.