I was kicking myself in the head for being so overly dramatic. It wasn’t like the hunters were going to take me captive and keep me from ever seeing my family again, but I knew that the choice I was making was going to break my family’s heart. My next stop was my parents’ bedroom. I snuck a peek at them cuddled in their bed, a reminder of how in love they still were with each other after all those years – something I felt I could never have now that Sofia had left me. I slipped through the door and snuck inside the room, careful to be as quite as I possibly could. I saw my dad’s car keys above their drawers and took them. I took one last look at my parents and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

I then headed off to the car and made the drive to the airport. I had no idea where to go or what to do. All I had was a name and a number and I was prepared to fly to any destination I was asked to go to.

Once I got to the LAX airport, I headed for the nearest coffee shop and ordered an overpriced cup of coffee. Seated on one of the plush couches, I finally found the guts to call the number that Eliza gave me.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I dialed the number.

“Hello?” A deep, gravelly voice answered.

“Hello. Is this Reuben?”

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m Ben Hudson. A girl named Eliza referred me to you.” I paused, wondering to myself if I sounded crazy saying my next sentence. “I want to join the hunters.”

“Eliza?” There was a pause on the other side of the line, the only sound I heard was that of his heavy breathing. I thought it was going to be the end of our conversation, so I was relieved when he said, “Perfect. We’re looking forward to meeting you, Ben. I was hoping you’d get in touch with us.”

He was hoping? Why and how would he even know I exist? To that, I didn’t know how to respond, so all I ended up saying was, “Great.”

“Where are you?”

“At LAX.”

“That won’t do. One of our men will have a private plane waiting at Van Nuys Airport in three hours. Does that suit you?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Of course.”

“See you soon, Ben.”

He hung up and frowned, confused by the conversation I just had. I took a sip of coffee and set it on the table before returning to the car. It didn’t take long for me to reach the city limits of LA and get to Van Nuys, where private, chartered and small commercial aircrafts flew.

I had arrived early, so I was waiting a while before a tall, lean man approached me. Tattoos crawled up his arms and his head was completely shaven.

“Are you Ben Hudson?” he asked.

“That would be me.”

“I’m Fly. Ready to go?”

I nodded and he motioned for me to follow him to the tarmac where a private plane was already waiting. I was impressed upon seeing the jet’s comfortable interior; white leather reclining seats, a large flat screen television and a small bar were the first things to catch my eye.

“We’ll get cleared to fly in a few minutes or so. Make yourself comfortable.” Fly told me before motioning to go to the cabin.

About three hours into the flight, I walked up the cockpit to ask Fly where we were headed for.

“All you need to know is that we’re going to Hawk Headquarters. Anything beyond that will be revealed to you in time.”

I returned to my seat and looked out the window. We were about to land. On the ground below I could make out a large private estate somewhere in the country. Acres upon acres of orchards lined one side of the estate, while a vineyard lined the other. Rows of various villas lined one area of the estate while what looked like an interconnection of buildings with one big dome in the middle represented what I assumed was the center of the hunters’ headquarters. It wasn’t long before we touched down on the the estate’s runway.

The moment I got off the plane and stepped onto the tarmac, I was greeted by a petite young woman with short, blue-streaked black hair and a wide smile.

“You must be Ben Hudson!” she exclaimed. “We’re so excited that you’re finally here! I’m Zinnia Wolfe.”

I immediately noticed the small scar on her left cheek as we shook hands. I thought to ask about it, but decided not to. I was still somewhat bewildered by the warm welcome. Why are they expecting me? Why do they even know me? “I’d introduce myself, but it seems you already know me.”

“Well…” she shrugged one shoulder. “Who doesn’t?”

I motioned to get my bags but she shook her head and waved the notion off.

“Don’t worry about your luggage. We’ll have them brought to your room later.”

We began walking side by side out of the runway toward the ‘Hawk Headquarters’. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the responses I was getting from her.

“After Vivienne Novak was captured, you and Sofia have been the talk of the town.”

About a thousand internal warning alarms went off at that statement and I found myself stopping on my tracks before we could reach a block section of the estate. It had steel gray exteriors and large glass windows from floor to ceiling. I gave the building a wary glance, no longer certain if I wanted to be there.

Who are these people? What have I gotten myself into?

“How do you know about Sofia?” The mere mention of her name caused an inescapable ache to settle in my chest.

Zinnia smiled, long dark lashes fluttering over her big hazelnut brown eyes. “I think I’ve said too much…” Her pupils rolled to the edge of her upper eyelids as she chastised herself. “I do that a lot.”

“Well?” I asked, unwilling to let her off the hook.

“All I know is that you and Sofia Claremont have been on our watch list for quite some time now.” Her hip swayed to one side, her weight falling on one leg. “Especially after you disappeared and magically showed up again, some of our best hunters were deployed to keep you under surveillance twenty-four seven.”

“Why?” I stepped forward, fists balled, brows furrowed. I found the idea of being watched disturbing. “How did we even get on your watch list?”

“I honestly don’t know. Good thing you are both on the watch list though, because we never would’ve caught Vivienne Novak if you weren’t.” She had a way of talking about issues as if they didn’t matter and that the best way to tackle all of it was to laugh about it. She reminded me a lot of myself – my former self.

“So if you were keeping Sofia and me under your watch, you know where she is right now?”

She froze and shook her head. “Unfortunately, we were too preoccupied with getting Vivienne here. By the time we got hunters to go back to keep an eye on you, Sofia was gone and you were already driving for LAX…”

I gave her my most menacing stare, annoyed that she was unable to give me more of the information I needed to hear from her.

“Are you always so serious and intense?” She playfully chucked a fist over my jaw. “Relax, handsome. Reuben will answer all your questions later.”

Serious and intense. I never thought anyone would ever describe me that way. Ease up, Ben. You got this. “Fine,” I relented, one side of my lips curving up in a smile. “So when exactly will I meet Reuben? I get the impression he’s the hunters’ almighty leader?”

“I wouldn’t say almighty but yeah… he’s pretty close,” she chuckled. “And yes, he gets to call the shots. Here at US headquarters at least.”

“US headquarters?” I asked. “So there are other headquarters? Outside the country?”

Zinnia’s nose wrinkled as she gave some thought about answering my question. “I think I’m going to get myself in trouble if I keep on answering your questions, so please… stop asking them. I’ve already told you too much.”

“So what exactly are you for, Zinnia?”

“I’m your welcoming committee,” she said. “I’m going to take you to your room in the dormitories. And until Reuben’s ready to see you, I’m the person you go to in case you need anything.”

“Anything?” I squinted one eye suggestively at her as glass doors slid open in front of us, allowing us entrance to the large private estate.

She gave me a curious look as we headed for a door that required a key combination or a card swipe to unlock. She came up with a metallic card and swiped it over the lock. A beep followed and we were through. “Something tells me that you’re a lot of trouble, Hudson.”

“You have no idea.”

“Then we’re going to get along just fine.”

We took turns past several corridors before leading to one that showed a massive glass-covered atrium. From the ground floor, I could see several men and women wearing identical black jumpsuits undergoing martial arts training.

Judo.

“The atrium basically serves as one of the academy’s many training areas. Those are some of the new recruits.”

“Academy?”

“Everyone who wants to become a hunter has to go through the academy first. Aside from basic combat training, it’s the organization’s primary way of allocating recruits. Your skills are evaluated and after you go through at least a year’s training, you are assigned to a position within the organization.”

I was stunned at the level of organization the hunters had. At the back of my mind, I always pictured the hunters as some clandestine group of thugs who lived in dark underground basements, randomly hunting and killing off vampires. What I got instead was what seemed like a worldwide organization of highly trained vampire killers.

Zinnia and I stepped into an elevator, with large glass windows that still allowed us a view of the atrium. I held the metal banister that lined the walls of the elevator as it rose three floors above ground. We walked out of the lift and Zinnia led me through a maze of corridors and walkways connecting one building to another until we reached the dormitory.

She stopped in front of a door that had a brass number eight identifying the room.