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Night Vengeance
Chapter One
On light feet, Raelynn ran, keeping to the shadows. She knew the tall one was not like the others she'd destroyed. She'd felt the push against her shields like the vampire had tried to do, but this one was different. She silently thanked her uncle for teaching her how to block all others from entering her mind. One glance behind her, told her the tall one had not followed, the poisoned shuriken had incapacitated him, for how long she didn't know.
She veered into an alley, donned her hand claws, and with expertise and long practice climbed the side of the building to the roof. She jumped from roof to roof until she reached her own. She dropped down, opened the sliding doors of her home and entered. She pulled off her concealing hood letting her long, shiny black hair cascade down to the middle of her back.
She walked into her bedroom, sat down at her vanity and stared at her reflection. Her clear blue eyes were courtesy of her white father but her hair, small stature and complexion came from her Japanese side, from her mother.
Her gaze unerringly homed in on the photograph that was pasted in the upper right corner of the mirror, a photograph of her parents. How they had loved each other, Raelynn could still remember the affectionate smiles they gave each other over the breakfast table, she missed them, she admitted to herself.
Sighing sadly, she stood and removed her weapons, and stored them inside the false bottom of her chest, covering them with her ninja garments. She closed the chest, pulled on her lacy nightgown and slipped between the sheets of her bed, within minutes she was asleep.
Justin suddenly staggered and swore. He looked down at his wound and swore again. White foam pulsed out of the wound; the shuriken had been dipped in poison, not enough to kill him, just enough to stop him from following her. He immediately went seeking into his own body expelling the poison through is pores and healing his wound from the inside out. He returned to himself and smiled ruefully, she'd gotten away this time - but next time - and there would be a next time, he would stop her. His plans to destroy the vampire thwarted, he dissolved into mist and streamed across the sky searching for prey.
He landed in the park a mile away and called to him three young men dressed in gang colors, waiting for prey of their own to come by. Though usually he didn't need to feed on so many, healing his body had taken enough energy that it was now necessary. He drank deeply from all three, one after the other, expelling the drugs that were in their blood. He planted memories of being afraid to cruise the park after dark again and sent them on their way.
Justin left the park and began walking the streets, hands in his coat pockets, his thoughts centered on the woman who'd destroyed the vampire. Who was she? Where did she come from? He'd been in the city for months now and this was his first encounter with her. Well, he'd find her on the next rising and this time she wouldn't get away.
The phone rang, waking Raelynn from a sound sleep. She groped around the nightstand and grabbed the phone.
"H'lo," she mumbled in the mouthpiece.
"Where are you?" said a strident voice on the other end. "You're late for the meeting. Parker is on the warpath, yelling your name every ten minutes."
Raelynn's eyes popped open and went to the clock. Oh lord, 10:15am, she was late.
"Sorry Luce, tell him I'll be there in half an hour, have coffee waiting," she said and hung up. She got out of bed and quickly dressed, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a logo that said, 'Women Are The Power', she brushed her teeth, her hair, grabbed her purse and was out the door in 20 minutes.
Ten minutes later, she walked in the door of Parker & Yakomura Advertising, waved to Luce, the receptionist on her way to the elevators. She pushed the button to the third floor. The doors opened and she sailed down the corridor to her office, dropped her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk, grabbed the coffee cup and papers sitting on her desk, and briskly walked out the door to the conference room.
"Sorry I'm late everyone," she said as she sat down at the head of the table. "Let's get started. Frank, what have you come up with for the soap campaign?"
Raelynn drank her coffee as she listened to Frank and looked at his design board. But her thoughts were not on soap, they were on last night's encounter with the tall one.
His hair had been as black as hers, flowing freely around his broad, well-defined shoulders. When she'd gazed into his deep set, black-fringed gray eyes, she'd felt a sudden connection she didn't understand. She knew he wasn't human, so what was he, she wondered. While battling the vampire, she'd felt his presence and, as she'd destroyed the undead's heart, sensed his slight movement and felt threatened, so she'd thrown the shuriken, its tips carefully dipped in poison, at him.
Her mind returned to the present just as Frank finished his presentation.
"That's good Frank," she congratulated him. "The soap people will love it I'm sure. I like the two scents you're offering but you should also have an unscented one for those with allergies and sensitive skin," she said and Frank nodded enthusiastically. "Anything else we need to discuss?"
The five others around the table shook their heads. "Okay, that's it then, good job everyone. I'll call the soap people and schedule a meeting for…" she checked her date book, "a week from today alright with you Frank? Can you have everything ready by then?"
Frank nodded, "I can have the presentation ready for next Friday," he said.
"Next Friday it is," agreed Raelynn and she penciled it in her date book. "I'll call them and set up a time for 10:00 am."
Everyone stood and walked out the door except her partner, Parker, he stayed seated and stared at her.
"Why were you late this morning Rae?" he asked. "Usually you're the first one in."
Raelynn shrugged as she stood and gathered her things. "There was an old Charles Bronson movie on last night that I watched. I went to bed late and overslept. I'll be in my office until five if you need me," she said and quickly left.
Raelynn entered her office and dumped her papers on her desk then dropped tiredly in her chair. She sighed and looked out the window. She didn't see the blue sky dotted with clouds or the pigeons flying by, but the face of the tall one. She couldn't get him out of her mind. His face was like an artist's carving; wide forehead, and square jaw, high chiseled cheekbones, he was beautiful in a rugged sort of way.
She shook her head to dispel the image and turned back to her desk. She read ad proposals, had lunch at her desk, called the soap people and cleared her desk of all paperwork. At 5:00pm she locked everything up and went home.
©2006 Romance at Heart Magazine.
©2000 Angel Young.
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