Disclaimer: L J Smith owns the Nightworld and The Chosen inspiration. I own Flame and most of his witty comments, and Ririka owns Cassia. :) And we're only saying this once so this is it for disclaimers folks.

A/N: This is co-authored by Redaura and Ririka. We have tried to avoid the clique but you gotta have a bad vampire, and you gotta have a vampire hunter. (No, they aren't soulmates. Ririka: Yet). We hope you like and please, please leave a review. Constructive criticism is good as well. Flame and Cassia are fighting over how gets the flamers. Make their day if you dare. ;) This is one of those fics that starts out as a vague character sketch, then leaps into a full on epic in our minds. But *everyone chants along* in reality it's probably just long. ;) Enjoy people. :)

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Prologue

Cassia Edwards stalked the shadows of Washington Square Park, senses alert and movements' silent, like that of a cat. Any sweet, ordinary teenage girl would know better than to go wandering in the park after sunset. But since Cassia was neither sweet nor ordinary that excluded her. She walked with purpose through the stretch of trees just east of the miniature Arc de Triumph.

The park had been unusually quiet for the past couple of weeks, and it was uncharacteristic for the Night World scum to change feeding ranges this early in summer. Even if there were vampire hunters pursuing them, they wouldn't be willing to surrender the yields of young healthy humans the park supplied regularly for their consumption. That meant the parasites were planning something. That piece of knowledge should have unsettled her but instead what she felt was the beginnings of grim satisfaction. The fact that they found her to be a danger to their population meant that she was having some serious impact on their society, if that's what you could call it.

Cassia sighed; she toyed with the dagger in her hands smiling as the moonlight glided across the blade. It was no ordinary dagger, at first glance an untrained hunter would mistake it for a plane silver knife. Only a veteran slayer would know that it was in fact a substance comprised of molten silver and Oak wood bark. The perfect tool to kill either vampire, witch, shifter or werewolf. Always be prepared, the good old boy scout motto. Quoting the boy scouts! She scolded herself. It was a clear indication that the latest foster creatures were having a bad influence on her. Not that they were actual creatures, they just behaved differently to what Cassia perceived as the norm, therefore she had labelled them as being different species to herself.

A rustle of leaves underfoot brought Cassia out of her reverie with a short sharp shock. She chastised herself silently for being careless enough to allow someone to sneak up behind her, a skilled vampire hunter like herself should know that even one tiny lapse in attention could be your death. Cassia repressed a laugh as the clumsy vampire at her back made another whoopsie; she could hear his footsteps. It had to be a newbie; an experienced vampire would never have made such sloppy mistake when stalking its prey. A rush of wind alerted her that the vampire had pounced, and she barely had a fraction of a second to dodge to the left before its hands clamped down on her shoulders. She moved smoothly to its back while it was still trying to figure out where the hell its meal had gone and executed a crippling roundhouse to the back of its knees. Taken by surprise the vampire collapsed to the ground on its back, in a fluid practised motion Cassia drove her dagger down piercing the vampires heart. She withdrew immediately, even slain the leech was still a potential threat.

Cassia didn't bother to watch as the corpse slowly mummified she had seen it countless times, and frankly it was nothing special, not anymore. Instead she took a packet of matches from her pocket; picked one out struck it and watched detached as it burned. It was satisfying to watch the 'immortal' monsters meet their down fall. Only the bones were left. Bloody Black Bones, as Jonathan liked to call them. The blackened bones would be treated as a dead body that the lab sciences failed on. The police would think it was arson to cover up yet more gang murders and the Nightworlders would know...

Not many of The Inferno bothered to burn the body, but Cassia felt the uncalled for destruction satisfying. Leaving the body mummified would have the same affect, for the Nightworld and the cops, but Cassia was known as a pyromaniac, a reputation she'd have to be careful with. But now, she had an... appointment. Cassia replaced her dagger in the sheath around her back and slipped from the park unnoticed in the dark. To be late for this important date would be just plain unprofessional and her professionalism was something she prided herself on.