The Haven -A week later

Sebastian stepped out of his limo and buttoned his jacket. There was a small crowd forming outside the club, people waiting to get in. Cross and Max took their positions beside him and the three of them headed to the door. Cross and Max clearing a path among the crowd. Cross glanced around the crowd, he didn't like the idea of so many people around. His mind flashed back to the warning he received just days ago and he found himself reaching down and fingering his gun, as if ti make sure it was still there.

Suddenly a black wolf emerged from the crowd and leaped at Sebasitan, his large paws catching him square in the chest. He could feel the nails of the beast digging into his skin, drawing blood. The impact knocked him to the ground just as a few gun shots were heard echoing through the air. For a split second – while he lay there, the wolf still on top of him – so close that he could feel the heat resonating from the animal's body – their eyes met. Big yellowish green eyes meeting ice blue ones. A spark of recognition passed through Sebastian's eyes, he'd seen these eyes before – but then the moment was over and the wolf got up and ran down the ally.

People were screaming around him, running for cover, a young woman who was standing right next to him just a minute ago was lying on the ground holding her leg in obvious pain. Cross and Max drew their guns and moved closer to him, looking for the source of the gunshot.

Upstairs, on a nearby roof, way above the chaos of street level, a small built man dressed completely in black, quickly dismantled his rifle and placed the pieces in a shoulder bag. He climbed down the fire escape and into his car.

He missed – that was not something that happened to him often – but he wasn't worried, his contract extended until Sebastian Kane was dead. There will be other times, more opportunities – nobody was safe at all times.

He put his keys in the ignition and started the car.

Suddenly there was a thump of metal and he raised his head to see a black wolf standing on the hood of his car. He smiled for a minute wondering what was a wolf doing in the middle of New York. His smile quickly vanished when right in front of his eyes the wolf transformed and turned into a young dark haired woman.

She smiled mischievously, obviously enjoying the look of utter shock on his face, then she smashed her fist right through the front windshield, shattering the glass with one swift move. She grabbed the man by his neck and pulled him out of the car onto the hood through the shattered window.

The last thing he ever saw was green eyes turning yellow as sharp teeth sank into his neck.

LATER THAT NIGHT – Kane Mansion

"We canvassed the streets… as much as we can with the cops swarming all around the Haven" Cross reported as soon as he came into the large meeting room, taking his designated seat at the council table "Word on the street is – the assassin was human"

"A human assassin?" Dalamar was pacing behind them, his hands deep in his pockets "that's highly unusual…"

"Bobby…" Sebastian said in a menacing voice from his place at the head of the table "If I find out you had anything to do with this…"

"Sebastian…" The Brujah primogen didn't bother to hide his smirk "While I do applaud the thought of trying to kill you… I'm not nearly that stupid…"

"The police is all over the Haven" Cassandra said with a slight frown "They know you were there Sebastian, they have eye witnesses saying you were the target…this isn't good for business, it endangers all of us"

Sebastian nodded solemnly, listening to them all, he was about to declare his decision when Cross cleared his throat beside him

"There is something else, Sebastian…" He said hesitantly "There was a woman, she warned me about this a few days ago… I didn't think about it much until now…"

"A woman?" Sebastian said curiously "Who was she?"

"I've never seen her before…" Cross began to explain but Sebastian rose from his seat and moved over to the window, deep in thoughts. Suddenly everything fell into place – the puzzle was solved. He knew exactly what to do.

"Cross, get your Gangrels together find out anything you can about the shooter… he's already dead, but find out anyway. Gabriel, I need you to search at the city parameters, there will be a kindred there – named Ashton – bring her to me…" Sebastian left the room without another word, leaving the primogens to do his bidding.

Dalamar and Bobby were the first to leave – Bobby with a shrug and a sneer, Dalamar with a sigh of concern. Gabriel gave another nod and went down to the basement, where he lived and from which he had easy access to the web of tunnels that allowed him free movement around the city.

When Cassandra and Cross were the only ones left in the room she rose from her seat at the council table and moved over to the window, mirroring Sebastian's position from before.

"This Ashton woman… you don't want her to be found, do you?" Cross asked hesitantly, watching Cassandra as she gazed through the window, refusing to look at him "Why? Who is she?"

OUTSIDE THE HAVEN

The street was flooded with blue and red lights from the police cars parked in front of the building. The entrance was taped with yellow police tape and men in uniform were coming in and out of the nightclub. Special Agent Ryan Clayton looked around at the crowd of curious and frightened people gathered around the perimeter - they should get someone to take pictures of the crowd - he thought to himself - maybe they'll get lucky and the shooter came back to admire his handy work - but he doubted it.

He crossed the street quickly and flashed his badge at the cop standing at the entrance. "Agent Clayton!" a detective he recognized called him over as soon as he entered

"Detective Brooks - maybe you can tell me why the hell did dispatch call me out here in the middle of the night?" He asked tiredly "It seems like you have this thing covered!"

"Your name came up on the computer when we ran a check on the guy who seems to be the target - it said to call you as soon as this guy appears on our radar"

"What was the name?" Agent Clayton asked in confusion

"Sebastian Kane…"

Ryan nodded and took a look around, taking a few steps away from the detective to get a better view of the scene. There was some broken glass on the sidewalk, and a nearby car was slightly smoking from a couple of bullet holes in it's hood. A woman nearby was recounting the events to a police officer in a hysterical voice.

"Special Agent Clayton!" the detective called back his attention "There's something here you should see!"

He followed the detective down the street and into an ally, they were walking further and further away from the club and Ryan noticed that the allies became darker and more narrow as they progressed.

Finally they arrived at a corner of two allies where a few policemen were standing and a spotlight was directed at a lone car.

"We found this guy on the hood" the detective pointed to a dead body already placed on the coroner's stretcher "We also found a special issue rifle in the back seat and the bullets seem like they could match the ones we took out of the wall and cars outside the club"

"So you think this guy is our shooter?"

"looks like it" the detective nodded "the question is - who killed him?"

"Didn't you say that Sebastian Kane was the target?"

"Kane was two blocks away surrounded by his bodyguards when this guy was killed. We have two dozen witnesses saying he was at the Haven when the shots were fired and after… he couldn't have gotten here in time to kill this guy"

"No, Sebastian Kane doesn't get his hands dirty with stuff like this. Someone did this for him…"

"He can organize this on such short notice?" the detective sounded skeptical

"You'd be surprised what a man like Sebastian Kane can put together on short notice" he leaned closer to the body and tried to examine it up close, noticing there were few if any physical marks on the body "What did this guy die from?"

"That's the really weird part" the medical examiner replied "he died of massive blood lose, only there isn't a massive wound to go with it. This guy bled out, but for the life of me I can't figure out where he bled out from. There's nothing except for these two small puncture wounds on his neck."

KANE MANSION

"What makes you think I know anything about her, Gangrel?" Cassandra tried to sound contemptuous, but Cross could sense the underlined hint of fear in her voice – which confused him even further. Cassandra was the Toreador primogen, the owner of the Haven, and the Prince's confidant and lover – there weren't a lot of things in this world that could frighten her.

"When I met her, there was something strange about her, I couldn't tell which clan she belonged to"

She finally detached herself from the window and moved to one of the armchairs in front of the fire, taking a glass of wine and sipping from it slowly. "She's an Assamite"

"That's ridicules – there are no Assamites in New York, or any where close to New York"

"You're only half wrong. There used to be Assamites in New York, they were fierce worriors, devoted to the Prince, they were his army. Can you imagine the power? A whole clan of enforcers at his fingertips? The other clans were frightened, they knew that if a clan war was ever to come, they wouldn't have a chance…"

"What happened?" He came over to seat beside he by the fire, urging her to keep going.

"A massacre. They came with amazing force and took them by surprise. Victor and Sebastian tried to stop it, but by the time they got there it was already too late. Ashton Fitzgerald was the sole survivor and she was barely alive. Victor took her under his wing, nursed her back to health. She and Sebastian became his enforcers… and lovers."

"What happened?"

"Ashton broke kindred law, she killed a human without the council's permission. Victor managed to convince the council not to declare final death but Ashton was banished from the city… Sebastian wanted to leave with her but she simply vanished, left without saying a word. Sebastian looked for her for years… but when an Assamite wishes not to be found…He finally gave up."

"If she was banished from the city and returned, the council will have to declare final death…" Cross frowned

Cassandra drank the last sip of her wine and stood up sighing deeply "If Ashton is back in the city, something big is about to happen and her final death is about to become the last thing we should worry about…"