What can I say? A drug addicted Vector who is happy with his lot in life? Doesn't want to change? What could be more fun to write about

PROLOGUE AND CHAPTER ONE - NEW BEGINNINGS

Adan pulled his black cloak tighter about his lithe frame.  His breath frosted in the cold, dank air of the dark alleyway.  The moon was high but shed little light on the lands below. Perfect, thought Adan.  His gaze shifted toward the streets beyond the alley.  Soon, it would be soon.  He could feel it.  The taverns were closing up. The intoxicated patrons would be disgorged like so much vile waste, to sully the streets and dark alleys until next eve's revelry.

A shudder ran through Adan, but it was not from the cold.  The tremors always got worse before they got better.  He knew that.  He lived with that.  And he could fix that.  He just had to have patience.

His keen hearing picked up the sounds of footfalls, echoing dully against the tall, wooden structures on either side of him.  He remained still, waiting, blending into the darkness surrounding him.  In a moment, a young man stumbled down the alley, muttering softly to himself.  Adan drew a deep, slow breath, reaching out with his Vector magic.  Yes, this man had just recently taken a dose of hack, the drug Adan craved, the drug Adan needed.  He waited until the man was almost past him, before he stepped into his path.

The man stumbled to a stop with a gasp.  His gaze lifted to study Adan's face.  Though he was not a small man, Adan, at well over six feet, towered over him, and the man staggered backward to get a better glimpse, blinking rapidly, eyes obviously blurred from drink or drug.

"Good eve," Adan said quietly.

The young man frowned, as if unsure how to respond. He shrugged, and attempted to pass Adan.

Adan stopped him yet again, gripping his arm. 

"What do you want?" the man slurred.

"You," Adan answered quietly, and pulled the man toward him. His bite was vicious, his feeding more so, his lust brought on by his need for the drug in the man's blood. It had been too long since he'd fed. Lost in the euphoria of the hack that now coursed through his body, Adan released his grip on his victim. The man sprawled to the cold ground. Adan stared down at him for a few moments, then, snugging his cloak, he turned and melted into the darkness.

Chapter 1

Baris looked up from his journal at the sound of voices. Voices he knew.  A surge of joy coursed through him as his wife, Anika, led a tall, dark haired man into the study.  Baris rose, extending his hand.  "Jaeger!  What are you doing here?  It's been a long time."

The man smiled, accepting Baris' forearm embrace.  "It has."

"Did you bring Rhiannon?  And the children?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't." He paused. "I...I need to speak with you on an important matter."

Anika tipped her head at Jaeger. "I'll fetch you a drink, then leave you two to talk," she said and quickly slipped out of the room.

Baris smiled and motioned Jaeger to a chair beside the desk, then lowered his towering, lithe frame back into his own chair.  "So, what's wrong?  Something with Rhiannon?"

"No, Rhia is fine." He let out a heavy sigh. "I came at the request of Darius."

Baris drew back.  A momentary surge of panic swept through him, and his hand reflexively moved toward his left arm.  "Darius?" he whispered.  "What does he want with me?  What have I done?"

Jaeger smiled, his gaze moving momentarily to Baris' arm, though he said nothing. He reached out to give Baris' shoulder a reassuring grip. "Old ways die hard. Do remember that Darius is not Cardiss. He does not have the same punitive rule as Cardiss did. Besides, you have done nothing.  Sovereign Darius only wishes your expertise, shall we say."

"My expertise?  What could I possibly know that he doesn't?"

Jaeger started to answer then stopped as Anika returned with two tankards of cold ale.  She sat them on the table, cast a quick glance at Jaeger, and left as quietly as she had come in. 

Jaeger looked at the closed door thoughtfully.  "Doesn't she like me?"

Baris was startled by the words.  "Of course she does!  I think she's a bit intimidated by you is all."

It was Jaeger's turn to be surprised.  "By me?  Why?  I'm not even full Vector."

Baris managed a small smile, despite the fact that his heart was doing double time. "Perhaps intimidated isn't the right word. Embarrassed might be better. She's still a bit unsettled about all that occurred between her and I almost two years ago.  I have to admit, I'm highly embarrassed over that whole incident myself.  I wish I could erase it from my past, and my memory."

Jaeger took a sip of his ale and fixed his dark gaze on Baris.  "Well, actually, that's exactly what I'm here to discuss with you."

Baris felt the color drain from his cheeks.  "I thought you said that I'd done nothing wrong. Why would Darius –"

"I told you," Jaeger interrupted.  "He needs your exper – assistance with something.  It seems that there is another Vector who has fallen prey to the ravages of hack.  He is refusing to even acknowledge his pledge to the Sovereign.  He has basically gone his own way.  Darius would like us to intervene.  He doesn't want this to become a nasty state of affairs."

Baris digested the words slowly, trying to drown them with a large swallow of ale.  Just the mention of hack set his skin crawling.  He'd had enough of that torture.  The days he had spent under the influence of the powerful drug were only a blurred memory, but he could still clearly see the dead body of the boy he had taken as his consort during that time.  A boy who had died because of him. He had used the boy as a food source, but more than that, he has used the boy as a way to ease his own cravings for the hack. Even now, he could remember the euphoria that had swept through him each time he had taken the blood of a person high on hack. It was a euphoria not met by simply ingesting the drug in its leaf form. A shudder ran up his spine and he took another long pull on his ale, only wanting to distance himself from any more conversation.  "I...I don't see why Darius just doesn't take this Vector into the Lair by force.  It's his right as Sovereign."

"That has been the right of the Sovereign in the past," Jaeger agreed.  "But do remember that when Darius assumed the position of Sovereign, he gave the Vectors freer rein to pursue their own lives."

"Then why does he care what this Vector is doing?"

"Because this Vector is giving us all a bad name, Baris.  I don't need to tell you how tenuous our acceptance into this human society is.  One Vector out there doing ill deeds affects us all. We certainly don't want to get back to the point of being hunted and killed simply for who we are.  At least, I don't. And I don't wish to jeopardize my family either."

The words startled Baris.  "You think that would happen?  All of our spouses are witches.  I don't think common folk would dare to –"

"Think, man!"  Jaeger interrupted.  "Rhiannon's clan were hunted and killed for years.  In fact, it's only their association with the Vectors that has brought them any peace at all."

"Then perhaps the common folk having a fear of Vectors is a good thing," Baris returned.

Jaeger sighed. "To a point, I agree.  But only to a point.  I would much prefer that we were respected, not feared.  And I certainly don't like the fear this particular Vector is spreading about him. He has done a lot of killing. And he's not been too particular about his victims either.  From the reports, he's killed men, women and even children."

Baris drew a deep breath and rose, gripping his tankard with both hands.  He went to the window and peered out, though he focused on nothing beyond.  His mind's eye again saw the body of the boy he had commanded.  He couldn't get rid of the image despite the fact that he had been assured that Antyn's death was not his doing.  It had been an overdose of the hack that had killed him, something that probably would have eventually occurred with or without Baris being involved.  Still, the boy wouldn't have been attacked, nearly beaten to death, if it hadn't been for his relationship with Baris.  And he wouldn't have tried to calm that pain with more hack than his frail body could endure.  Baris felt almost as if he owed it to Antyn to stop this other Vector from claiming victims. Almost.