ELEVEN YEARS LATER
The acrid scent of smoke hung thick in the air as whatever monster Malivore spat out this time to try to bring himself back terrorized the area. Hope leaned back in her seat, staring at Agent Burr as she waited for the command to go.
"Send in the asset!" Mrs. Greasley finally screamed into Burr's headset.
How many times had she heard that command since they realized exactly what she could do? How many lives had she stolen because she had no where to go and Triad no longer had anywhere to put their monsters?
It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered now about now was the next mission, the next take down, the next kill.
Nameless and alone, just like they wanted her to be.
"You're up, freak."
Agent Burr shoved her towards where Veronica Greasley was holding down behind a truck.
Hope found her boss lying on the ground, hiding from the monster, near two men, one older with lighter hair, and the other appeared to be in his mid-twenties with dark curly hair. With them was a pair of teenage girls, one dark haired, one blonde, along with a boy in his mid to late teens with dark skin and dreads.
"So we're bringing in civilians now?" she asked as she pulled out her bow.
"Just do your job and keep your mouth shut."
"When I do kill you, Burr, I would consider sending a heartfelt apology to your family, if I did in fact have a heart."
"That's a little rude to say to your comrades." The dark haired stranger smirked as he spoke, the quirks of his lips sending a quick spark of… something down her spine.
"Comrade is a bit much, and if you get in my way, I'll have you for dessert." She found herself unable to resist looking him up and down. He was the perfect male specimen, tall, lean, and too pretty for his own good.
"Don't make threats you can't follow through with." He bit his lower lip and his smirk deepened.
"What's the situation?" She raised an eyebrow at the bold man as she addressed Veronica. If she kept this conversation going, she just might do something stupid to wipe that expression off his face, like bite his lower lip.
"Dragon. As we suspected."
"How do we kill it?" the boy with the dreads asked.
"Witches and vampires working together, and a whole lot of courage between them," the dark haired man said. Glancing at the girls and the boy with the dreads, he added, "And generally, those who've actually faced combat."
"So, they're not just civilians, they're green civilians. I'm surrounded by idiots."
"You think you can do this better than we can?" the blonde girl demanded.
"Of course. It's why I'm here. Because I never lose," Hope said as she double checked her weapons.
"Here's hoping you die, finally," Burr muttered.
"Don't tell me you won't miss me." She stood up and pulled the bow out of its sheath on her back and nocked an arrow.. "If I'm dead, it means I won't be around to save your ass while you claim my actions as yours."
The dragon roared and more flames shot out at the surrounding woods.
"That's my cue," she said as she she took off running towards the sound.
As the dragon spread its wings, she sprang into the air.
No fear. Nothing. This was an assignment, just like any other, and when the dragon was dead, she would hunt for the latest portal that Malivore created. No one in Triad was aware that Malivore was creating new portals or that they were where these monsters were coming from and since they didn't ask, she didn't feel like she had to tell them. If they knew, they'd start throwing people in again.
Running along its side, she shouted a spell, forcing the dragon to twist in the air, so that its belly was facing the sky It opened its mouth, it's throat glowing with the flames and she fired her arrow into the roof of its mouth. The dragon fell out of the sky and hit the ground with a heavy thud and she rolled, catching her feet as she nocked another arrow.
The dragon shuddered as it transformed into his human body. It turned to stare at her, blood dripping from his mouth and she shot two more arrows into him. The dragon stumbled and she raced to his side and yanked her knife out of her boot to stab it twice in the neck.
All too easy. Malivore should have learned by now that she wasn't just a hybrid any more, but a full fledged tribrid and he hadn't changed tactics.
Brushing off her clothing, she straightened up and walked towards the people staring at her.
"You've got a humanity free vampire in your ranks with only guns to protect yourself from her?" The older turned to Veronica, shock on his face.
"She's useful."
"I don't care how useful she is, she's a ticking time bomb."
"She's a fighter, unlike any I've ever seen before. We can't turn her loose just because she's a little cold."
"Humanity free vampires doesn't feel fear or loyalty. The only reason she's still with you is because it's convenient. As soon as it's no longer beneficial for her, she will turn on you."
"She's been with us for eleven years now and hasn't turned on us yet," Veronica said, her voice so arrogant that Hope almost wanted to snap her neck just to prove a point.
"She will. Once she gets what she wants, she'll either just walk away or she'll kill you."
"She doesn't want anything. She just does her job and goes home."
"I do want something. I'm just waiting for the opportunity for it to show up," Hope cut in, finally bored with Veronica's assumption that she could be controlled if she didn't want to be.
"What do you want?" Veronica glanced at her, fear ghosting across her face before she schooled her features once more.
"If I wanted you to know, I'd tell you." She smiled and walked towards the woods.
"You're not with them just out of convenience, are you? They have something you want and you're playing the long game to get it," The smirking, dark haired man fell into step beside her, though his eyes were serious this time.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"As if."
"Will you at least tell me your name?"
She stared at him for a long moment before saying, "Mikayla. My name is Mikayla."
"Liar."
"It's what I go by."
Hope inhaled, searching for that scent she knew so well, but what reached her nose had her glancing at the man beside her. He was connected to Malivore. Though his scent was different enough that she knew he wasn't the monster who'd erased her from the collective consciousness, he smelled enough like Malivore for her to know, they were the same species. What did he know about the monster she wanted to destroy?
Pushing her questions to the back of her mind, Hope turned away from the man beside her and continued her hunt. She didn't have much time before Malivore realized the dragon failed in its objective and another monster would be required.
"If you could tell me what we're searching for, I might be of more help."
"What I'm searching for." Hope rolled her eyes.
"I might be more useful to you than you think I am."
"I've been fine without you this long."
"I've been around for a while, so you never know just how helpful I can be."
"Will you be quiet? You are beyond annoying."
"I thought that humanity free vampires were supposed to feel nothing."
He smirked again when she looked at him and shrugged.
Drawing a deep breath to keep from doing something that would cause her trouble later that she wasn't in the mood to deal with, she walked a little faster, following her nose towards the scent of the monster that took her life.
"Seems like you're not as certain about your decision to abandon your emotions as you want people to think."
"You have a lot of opinions you have to right to have."
"If you say so."
Suddenly, she drew to a stop. There it was. The portal.
Lifting her wrist to her mouth, she bit down, then allowed her blood to flow into the slime. It bubbled and glowed for a moment, then disappeared.
"That was unexpected." He caught her arm, turning her to face him.
"What?"
"What are you?"
"I'm no one." Hope headed back towards the truck waiting to take her back to Triad HQ.
"Because you know what it's like to be trapped in the endless darkness?" he called after her. "To be all alone and no matter how loud you scream, no one answers because no one is there? And then to be thrown out, only to find out no one remembers you?"
"How do you know anything about it?" Hope paused.
"If you tell me your real name, I'll tell you my story," he offered, that smirk back in place.
"Pass." If he didn't shut up, she was going to slap him on principle.
"Maybe one day, you'll change your mind."
"Don't hold your breath."
"Not like it'd kill me if I did."
Hope found herself wanting to know more about this strange man, but the habit of keeping quiet about her family sealed her lips. If the worst tortures that Triad could inflict on her kept her silent, aside from nearly giving them her last name, which is where the name they called her now came from, what power did a pair of pretty, dark eyes have?
"You know there's more to life than bowing down to Triad and being their slave, which is all you are to them. You know this," the man said, his voice soft, serious.
Hope studied him for a moment, then turned back towards the trucks.
She didn't need him making her question her goals now. Except he seemed to know about the pit, far more than anyone involved in Triad and that's what she wanted, to know more about the pit and how to destroy it for good.
But could she trust him? No one else she'd encountered that had been in the pit had proved to be worth investing her time in cultivating them as an ally. So why think this one could be? Except this one had friends and allies, unlike the others.
When Hope climbed into the jeep across from Veronica and Agent Burr, they both stared at her.
"Is there something on my face?"
"That man tonight, you let him go with you," Veronica said, her accusations clear.
"And?" Hope raised an eyebrow, then leaned her head against the back of the seat.
"You never let anyone go with you on your little side missions."
"And you think it means something? The fact that I let a hot guy go with me? Maybe I was hoping he'd screw me up against a tree."
"You're planning something," Burr growled.
"If I was planning something, you'd be the last to know." Hope peeked at him from under her lashes and then closed her eyes again.
"We saw you two talking, Mikayla when you came back. And you expect us to not think there's nothing going on?"
"It sounds like you've been listening to Burr too much and we both know he hates me." Turning her attention to the other agent, she added, "Keep dreaming, Burr. Maybe one day you'll actually get something right."
Even as she spoke, she knew that the damage had been done. Burr was going to try to kill her, for real this time, and Veronica would likely help him, since those strangers had put it into their heads that she was going to kill them sooner rather than later.
