Charlotte & Sebastian

Charlotte shoved wooden stakes into the loops on her belt, three in total—you never knew when you might lose one—and then picked up two Beretta’s. She checked the ammo clips on both; they were full of silver bullets. Good for werewolves and vampires alike, along with a few other paranormal creatures. She slid them into the holsters at her thighs.

“Expecting trouble?”

The darkly delicious voice of Sebastian Hawcourt had her tensing. “From you: always.”

He laughed, the sound deep and husky, making her insides clench. “My dear, you should know by now, after the past year, that I wouldn’t dream of biting you; unless you asked, of course.”

Grabbing the stake from her belt she spun on the spot, her hand flying towards his chest. She stopped with barely a millimetre separating the stake from his heart and said, “I’d rather kill you than be anywhere near you.”

Seb smiled, showing her his fangs. “Then it’s too bad we’re working together on your latest mission, isn’t it Charlie?”
He knew she hated that nickname so he used it regularly to wind her up. Charlotte bared her teeth at him in a snarl.

He was the only paranormal working for the Agency and none of the lower level agents, including her, knew why.

If she’d known about him before she joined she wouldn’t have bothered, not after discovering her family, including her young nephew, dead with their throats ripped out by a vampire in the throes of bloodlust. She’d stared at him in horror and he’d vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving her with five corpses and a broken spirit.

In the aftermath with the police, news crews and neighbours milling around her and the house, a man had approached looking serious and out of place. It was he who had introduced her to the world of the Agency and allowed her to get revenge against the monster that killed her family. He’d also introduced her to the many other paranormal creatures that roamed the streets too and how to defend herself against them by teaching her how to fight.

It was two years today since she’d lost her family; and to a vampire no less.

The stake was shoved harder into his chest. “Don’t wind me up today. You might just find yourself turned to ash.”

Sebastian raised a mocking brow. “What’s got into you today? You’re normally miserable but today you’re more so.”

Her lip curled in distaste. “I can’t believe they paired me with you for this. Why not Mitchell?” she asked, thinking of the efficient thirty something who’d been with the Agency for ten years.

“So it’s just me you don’t like?”

Charlotte growled and shoved him away with her free hand before turning from his pretty face and shoving the stake back in its loop. The guns went into the holsters on her thighs and she securely strapped the fastening. Next she grabbed her set of engraved daggers and ran a finger along the blade to check its sharpness. It bit into the skin and a sliver of blood formed.
She cast a glance over her shoulder at the vampire.

Seb rolled his eyes. “If I wanted your blood, Charlie, I’d have had it by now.”

She knew he was right. He could control minds and make people do things they wouldn’t normally think of doing. A shudder worked its way down her spine as she recalled him making a feral werewolf kill itself by ripping its own heart out.

Charlotte wiped her bloody finger on her black fatigue trousers and then adjusted her stab vest into a more comfortable position and slotted the knives into the modified armour.

They were going after a group of werewolves who had been preying on the homeless. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they were changing the humans but they were doing much worse—eating them; leaving an arm or a leg or some other body part behind. Police were warning the public of a large wild animal on the loose and to stay in at night but the Agency knew the truth and tonight was the night they would meet their doom; courtesy of one Charlotte Bevill.

Finally ready, she turned to face her partner for tonight. Sebastian really was rather attractive with his black hair styled fashionably, smooth pale skin and bad boy piercings and tattoos. He knew he was good looking too which made for one cocky arse vampire.

Cocking her head to the side, she asked, “You ready?”

He used his fang to toy with the ring in his lip as he looked her over, his blue eyes starting to glow faintly. “As always. After you, Charlie.”

“So you can check out my arse? I don’t think so. Vampires first,” she said sweetly, her fingers hovering over the stakes at her hip.

Sebastian laughed as he preceded her from the room and led the way to the garage where they would pick a ride for the evening’s events. It would have to be something big so they had something to ferry the corpses of the dead werewolves back here to dispose of.

“What are we taking?”

Charlotte headed for the black Hummer H2 as answer. It was large enough for all the bodies of the werewolves. She shot a glance at Seb. And so she didn’t feel too close to him.

It really did take an effort not to give in to his flirtatious behaviour sometimes and she hated herself for it. He was a vampire; the same breed that had cruelly murdered her family so why did she secretly want him? She should hate him!

Right?