Soul Bound (2 page)

Things didn’t go so fairy tale for me. At least at first. Not only did I lose my chance to become a vampire, but our drama teacher, Mr. Teifert, suddenly informs me that I’m destined to become the next vampire slayer. Yes, the girl voted most likely to go vamp has now been charged with slaying them for a living. Bleh!

Luckily, as you know, Slayer Inc. is usually a pretty upstanding organization. They only ask us to slay the bad
vamps, not the upstanding ones who play by the Vampire Consortium rules. For my first assignment, I teamed up with Jareth, the Blood Coven general, to infiltrate a seedy blood bar and stop its owner from spreading a nasty blood virus. Jareth wasn’t so happy at first to be teamed up with a slayer—after all, his whole family was killed by slayers back in the day. But in the end, he came around. We saved the day and fell in love. And I finally got my wish, too! Remember that day last spring when I was completely dying of a mysterious illness? And remember how I was miraculously cured? Well, wonder no more. That was the day I became a vampire! And thanks to a weird mutation due to the blood virus in my veins, I became one of the very few vampires not allergic to the sun. Which is useful in carrying out my Slayer Inc. duties.

Anyway, you pretty much know the rest. How you and Dad sprung the news that we’re not mortals at all, but actually fairy princesses and how we had to hide out at Riverdale Academy, a school for slayers, while the two of you went off to talk the Light Court into letting us live “normal” lives. (Ha-ha! If only you knew!)

Unfortunately, Riverdale had some deadly secrets of its own—namely, a fringe group of slayers called the Alphas, who were determined to take over the world. They captured me and planned to drain my fairy/vampire blood to create a powerful hybrid army of “vamshees” (their word, not mine). If it wasn’t for Sunny’s bravery during a showdown in Tokyo, I’m pretty sure I’d be dead—and they’d be in charge. You’d be proud of her, Mom. Really proud.

Sadly, not everyone shares the sentiment. The power-hungry leader of the Vampire Consortium, Pyrus, was furious at Sunny and Magnus for going against his orders and infiltrating the Alphas without permission. (He wanted war, not a peaceful solution, so he could reinforce the Consortium’s dominance over the world.) Now he’s given orders to have them “brought to justice”—which I think is a fancy way of saying executed for treason. Sunny and Magnus had to escape in the dead of the night and I have no idea where they went.

I’m worried about them, Mom. Really worried. Please let me know if you hear anything… 

With love, your daughter,

Rayne

C
harles Teifert looks like your typical high school drama teacher. He’s got wild black hair, thick glasses, and appears to have the inability to button his shirts correctly. (And don’t even get me started on his wacky ties.) He walks around life with a slightly frazzled look on his often unshaven face. To the common passerby, he appears to have nothing more on his mind then how his students will perform on the opening night of the senior class production of
Camelot
.

Certainly no one meeting Charles Teifert for the first time would ever guess that beneath that carefully structured, stereotypical, nutty drama teacher facade lies one of the top protectors of our generation. But indeed Charles Teifert is that and more; he serves as vice president of Slayer Inc., an international conglomerate with a mission to keep the world safe from vampires,
fairies, werewolves, and other supernatural beings. (Including, but not limited to, leprechauns, Sasquatch, and even jolly old Saint Nick, should he ever decide to start dropping bombs instead presents down his constituents’ chimneys.)

Charles Teifert is also my boss. He’s the one who first told me I was destined to become a vampire slayer last spring when his former star slayer, Bertha, had to retire to fat camp due to her inability to stop supersizing her McDonald’s French fries. I didn’t exactly welcome the guy with open arms at first, but somehow he managed to wear down my resistance and train me to use a stake to kick vampire (and other supernatural creature) ass. Since then we’ve had our ups and downs—can’t say I’ve always been an A+ pupil. (Heck, I’m lucky if half the time I deserve a C-!) But over time we’ve managed to develop a sort of grudging respect for one another.

In any case, today I’m meeting him at the back room of the L.A. Sports Club in Vegas. He promised me a little sparring before he heads back to Massachusetts, where he lives and teaches. But when I push open the door to the small yoga studio he told me to meet him at, I realize he’s not wearing his workout sweats, but rather a stiff, three-piece suit.

“Dude, what’s with the outfit?” I ask. “Doesn’t look like something you’d want to get blood on when I kick your butt!”

He doesn’t laugh at my joke. Instead, he motions to a set of nearby chairs. “Sit,” he instructs, without even saying hello.

Worry worms through my insides as I follow his instructions. “What’s going on?”

He pulls out a manila envelope from his briefcase. “The
Consortium has sent out a request to Slayer Inc., an official commission from Pyrus himself.”

I make a face at the House Speaker’s name. “What does Mr. Tall, Dark, and Slimy want this time?” I query.

Again Teifert doesn’t laugh. “They’ve got a rogue vampire on the loose and are asking that Slayer Inc. track him down and deliver him for trial,” he explains. “And they’re offering a great deal of money to the slayer who does the job.”

“Money?” My eyes light up. “Are you saying I’ll actually get paid for this gig?” Usually I’m required to do Slayer Inc.’s dirty work all in the name of “destiny” instead of cold, hard cash. Could I really score an actual paycheck this time?

“If you were to bring in this vampire and his companion,” Teifert says carefully, “you’d get ten percent of the commission.” He looks down at his clipboard. “A sum of one million dollars.”

My eyes widen in excitement. One million dollars? Under the table? No taxes required? “Dude, I’ll take it!” I cry, grabbing for the envelope. But Teifert’s fingers lock on and refuse to let go. For an old guy, he’s still got a killer grip. “What?” I ask, making a face. “Don’t bogart my newfound fortune, man.”

“Maybe you should take a closer look before you start racking up any credit card bills,” he suggests in a strange voice that hints that he knows something I don’t.

“What?” I ask indignantly. “Don’t think I can handle the big bad this time? Come on, Teif, you know by now I’m super slayer. Able to stake evil vampires in a single bound.” I try again for the envelope.

Teifert raises it out of my reach. “Trust me when I say I would never doubt your abilities, my dear,” he says slowly. “I simply think you ought to look before you stake.”

I sigh loudly. “Well I’d be simply overjoyed to look, if you would let me see the envelope in question….”

He nods, finally tossing it in my direction. I grab it eagerly and rip it open. Two black-and-white photos fall into my lap.

“Okay, let’s see which naughty little vampires need a talking to this time arou—”

The words die in my throat as I pick up the first photo. I look over at Teifert in horror, my gut wrenching.

“But… there’s got to be some mistake!” I cry.

“No.” He purses his lips. “No mistake.”

“But… but…” I pick up the other photo and a mirror image of my own face stares back at me. “They want me to slay
my own sister
?”

T
eifert gives me a grim look. “The official commission,” he corrects, “simply asks that you track down your sister and Magnus and extradite them back to the Consortium for justice. So that the two of them can face the charges that have been brought against them and be judged by a jury of their peers.”

“Right.” I roll my eyes. “In other words, Pyrus doesn’t want
me
to slay them. Because he wants to have all the fun of killing them himself.”

My mentor doesn’t answer. Instead, he slowly rises from his seat and walks over to the yoga-studio door. He turns the lock, then heads over to a small radio sitting by the mats, cranking up the volume to eleven. My ears are suddenly assaulted by Justin Bieber.

“Um, Teif?” I try to shout over the noise. “Though I truly,
completely respect the fact that you’re secure enough in your masculinity to rock out to the Biebs, I really don’t think it’s the time or place to—”

“Lower your voice!” he admonishes, returning to his seat.

I reluctantly clamp my mouth shut, staring at him expectantly.

He glances around the room with nervous eyes, as if to make sure it’s empty save the two of us. Then he turns back to me. “Pyrus has spies everywhere,” he informs me in a hushed voice. “You need to be completely careful of what you say from this point out.”

Right. I swallow hard, nodding my head, now taking my own inadvertent glance around the room. I knew the vamp was bad news. I just had no idea he had such a far reach.

But at least Teifert seems to be aware of it. “So you know then,” I whisper back, once satisfied the room is empty. “You know what a tyrant he is. And what he’s reduced the Consortium to.”

Teifert nods. “We’ve been investigating his leadership for some time now. We know that under his command the Consortium is more dictatorship than democracy. We have reports of the other coven masters living in fear, only going along with the leader’s mandates in order to protect their own covens.”

“’Cause if they speak up, they’ll end up like Magnus,” I add eagerly. “Facing their own so-called trial for treason.”

“Normally we at Slayer Inc. don’t get involved in vampire politics,” Teifert admits, “unless we come to believe their policies may cause harm to humanity. We now feel Pyrus’s lust for
power may have reached that point. And we are considering the need to step in.”

“Perfect!” I cry. “Can I be the one to take him out then?” Man, it would be so satisfying to stake that jerk through the heart once and for all. And then my sister and Magnus could come home and we could all live happily ever after and—

“Not so fast,” Teifert says. “We need to build a case first. And solicit support from the other coven leaders without Pyrus knowing it. If we act too soon and without support from the organization, it could be seen as act of war.”

“Right,” I say, a little disappointed. “I guess that makes sense. But where does that leave me? Even if I did know where Sunny was I couldn’t hand her over to them. After all, she did what she did to save my life. And I’m so not going to enable Pyrus to end hers because of it.”

Teifert gives me a sympathetic look. “I know it’s a tough position to be in. But unfortunately, you don’t have much of a choice. Pyrus knows about the nanocapsules in your bloodstream. If he feels you are not doing your duty, he can petition that we activate them and… terminate your employment.”

I scowl. Terminate my employment indeed. That’s just the fancy way of saying they can stake me from the inside out, thanks to that stupid virus they injected into my bloodstream at birth. It used to be something they did to all potential slayers, back in the day, to keep them in line. A barbaric practice now completely abolished by the kinder and gentler Slayer Inc. of today. Not that it does me any good…

“But why does he want me?” I ask. “I mean,
hello conflict
of interest!
It’s my sister we’re talking about here. Why would I turn her in?”

“Because of all the slayers in the organization, you have the strongest connection to her and the rest of the Blood Coven,” Teifert reminds me. “Pyrus sees you as in insider. Someone who could find out things that he can’t.” He shrugs. “And he believes that like the other coven masters, you will do what he says—in order to save your own skin.” He throws me a wry smile.

“Yeah, well, he’s got another thing coming,” I mutter. “Even if I did have some kind of freaking connection with my sister—which I don’t. That whole ‘Wonder Twin Powers Activate’ crap is just for Saturday-morning cartoons. Sunny and I never had a secret twin language or any hint of ESP. Hell, the guy behind the counter at Burger King has as much chance of knowing where she is right now as I do.”

“And that’s the way we’d like to keep it,” Teifert concludes.

I stare at him for a moment before the admittedly slow lightbulb goes off over my head. So that’s what he’s getting at. “So you want me to
pretend
to look for Sunny…”

“…but have no luck in finding her.” He nods. “Exactly. After all, it’s not your fault, right? You’ve been doing your slayer duty—scouring the globe, racking up the frequent flier miles, following up on every lead under the sun. It’s not your fault your evil sister and her boyfriend are so elusive!”

“And by the time he starts getting suspicious of my loyalties,” I conclude, “you and your team at Slayer Inc. will have gathered enough evidence to bring the bastard down!”

“Now you’re thinking like a true slayer,” Teifert says with a
grin. Then his expression turns serious. “But you can’t mess around with this, Rayne. It’s too dangerous. If Pyrus discovers you’ve been stalling before we can build the case, we will not be able to protect you. If he demands we terminate your employment, we must oblige.”

I shiver at his words, not liking what he’s saying one bit. But at the same time, what choice do I really have?

I square my shoulders. “You can count on me,” I tell him, my voice strong and determined. “I’d do anything in this world to save my sister’s life.”

“I know you will, Rayne,” Teifert says, patting me on the back. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come down to ending your own.”

“
I
need to see Jareth. Now!”

Marcia, Jareth’s secretary (who used to work for Magnus and is decidedly the most annoying vampire in the known universe) looks up at me over horn-rimmed glasses. (I assume she wears them in an effort to give off that whole “sexy secretary” vibe, seeing as even the most nearsighted human gets twenty-twenty vision once they become a vampire.) She frowns.