Chapter 8: A New Project

A sharp buzz brought Kai awake fast. Grumbling he realized his cell phone was vibrating. Grabbing it off the bedside table, he answered it.

"Hello?" he said blearily.

"KAI?!" a voice screeched with excitement, making Kai pull the phone away from his ear. "You're fucking alive! Where the hell have you been? I've been calling and searching for you for WEEKS!"

Riker Callyn Phoenix-Fire was a fiery as her name suggested. She was a member of his graduating class, a member he was responsible for as class squad leader.

"Hey Cal. Yes, I'm alive. Call the squad and meet me at Shadowed Soul tonight at eight. I'll go over everything then. I'm meeting with the council in," he cast a tempus charm and sighed, "four hours."

"I can arrange that. Merlin Kai, we were so worried, everyone was on edge. And the rumors of Voldemort's involvement..."

"Were true."

"The shit was about ready to hit the fan down here."

"Don't worry, it still will."

A cold laugh echoed from the phone, one of vicious anticipation.

"Anyways, Cal, I'm going back to sleep, I'll see you tonight, all right?"

"Alright, boss."

Putting the phone away he leaned back against his pillow, hoping someday soon he wouldn't feel so ruined physically.

For once, the assassin welcomed the blackness.

Almost four hours later, Kai strode through the gates of Riker Academy. The campus was huge, with each branch of magic getting its own specialized buildings, bloodmagic being the biggest to contain many ritual rooms.

The Citadel held the dormitories, common rooms, assembly hall and gymnasiums. Most importantly, it held the council chambers.

Kai remembered the first time he stepped through these doors, just barely 11 years old.

The large doors were heavy against his small hands but a push of wandless magic opened them with ease. He took a deep breath, the next few hours would be some of the most important in his school life and he knew it.

Kai, not yet Shadow, strode into the hallway. On his right thigh was a red band holding a red dagger. This band and colored dagger signifying he was an apprentice bloodmagic practitioner on the verge of journeyman status. It would be extremely rare, even at Riker, to be so qualified in bloodmagic before even beginning classes.

Crystian had focused primarily on bloodmagic and mind magic when preparing Kai for Riker. The first was the fount of his mage power and the second was to keep others, mostly vampires, from trying to take that power.

The young mage kept his eyes forward as he walked towards the assembly hall.

"Fresh meat, the firsties are arriving," he heard faintly to his right.

'Two Lycans, three magical werewolves, one of them pack Alpha at 2:00,' his sensed said. 'All above average power.'

Ignoring them the best he could he continued on. He heard many whispers as he walked the hallways, commenting on his age, bloodmagic power; no one knew anything about him yet.

His luck ran out though, just outside the Hall. Three vampires, appearing about fifteen, blocked his path. Kai subtly prepared himself for a fight.

"Fresh blood in our ranks, hmmm?" one purred, bright yellow eyes flashing.

"He's the first of the little newbies to arrive. Tiny little thing isn't he?" two of the vamps moved out, surrounding the mage.

Kai spread his senses, keeping track of all three. He repressed a vicious snarl, 'tiny my bloody are, ' he thought. Kai knew he was small, two years of proper care couldn't make up for seven years of neglect.

Annoyed as he was, he kept his face impassive, knowing that his apparent lack of regard for them would annoy them more.

A crowd was starting to form. Good. He needed to make a statement about his power now to be left alone. Sure, he was powerful, but many here had more experience. A solid 'don't mess with me, I bite back' message should keep the target on the other new students until he was ready to fight to the top. These vamps were probably second years trying to get some notoriety by picking on new entries.

"Listen up, pipsqueak, we're in charge of welcoming all you newbies to this fine academy," he smirked, extended fangs visible.

"It's an initiation of sorts."

The newest Riker raised an eyebrow in a nonverbal, "Oh really?"

While the leader was talking Kai felt one behind him lunge. Quick as a cat Kai sidestepped and the attacker was met with a devastating roundhouse to the solar plexus, bending him double. A sharp chop to his exposed nape and he was done. Kai cast a wandless binding charm on the fallen vamp while watching the other two circle him.

With practiced ease, the mage drew his dagger of power. Of all magic, blood magic was the most effective against vampires. Lightning fast he could call balls of sunlight or his personal blood magic flames. The flames were unique to every blood magic practitioner, like an animagus form.

Thankfully he had already done the full ritual to connect himself to the Apollo the god of light and they had a very good relationship. This meant he only had to shed blood and call for him if needed.

Palming the blade, he cut his right hand, keeping the action hidden.

Kai grabbed his blade in his left hand as the pair attacked. The blade lit with vicious green fire harmful to only those Kai chose.

It was over quickly. You'd think that in a school with elementals and veela they'd charm their clothes to be non-flammable. This pair had obviously had never fought a competent bloodmagic user before.

After binding them, he dispelled the flames, clearing any of his blood from the area.

A slow clap drew his attention to the audience, whose faces held reluctant respect. Another vampire stepped into his path, this one was tall, powerful, at least 20. This was a fight he would not win.

Immediately, he whispered to Apollo, "Apollo, hear my call, darkness blocks my path, help me stay in the Light," he whispered.

Let the light of the new day shine upon you, mage, a voice caressed his mind.

Showing expression for the first time, Kai smirked, knowing what that particular phrase gave him license to call, "Sunrise blade," a sword of pure light appeared in his right hand. Looking like it was made of glass, the blade shone with the rays of the rising sun. The blade was harmless to mortals but would cut through vampires like a hot knife through butter.

Kai felt the drain of his magic from the spell. It was all about intimidation now, his 'I bite back' loud and clear.

The older vampire surprised the mage by holding both hands in front of him and bowing his head just slightly in the sign of 'I am not challenging you.'

Kai nodded sharply but did not dispel the blade, knowing he could not call it again if needed.

The silvery blonde vampire strode to the leader of his welcoming committee. Grabbing him by the throat he slammed him into the wall.

"Are you a fucking idiot Leander? I believe last year I made the judgment that you were not entirely brain dead; are you trying to prove me wrong?" he snarled in Leander's ear, trying to keep others from hearing. Kai heard though and just held back a snort.

Yes, the asshole was indeed Leander.

"Have I taught you nothing? What did you see when you looked at him?"

Leander gritted his teeth, "A human child."

The blonde looked at Kai and saw his slightly annoyed expression, understanding that the human could hear him. He gave the mage an apologetic look; Kai inclined his head to say it was not the new vampire's offence.

"Any vampire worth the name would know not to screw with him. Firstly, he's got no blood scent," Leander's eyes bugged out, "That suggests powerful bloodmagic; second, that's a master apprentice bloodmagic band on his right thigh. Thirdly, that's no ordinary bloodmagic dagger, that's a Power Dagger. You just attacked a bloodmage."

Leander's eyes glared knives at Kai as if it was Kai's fault he picked the absolute worst first year to attack and embarrassed himself.

Dropping the younger vampire, the blond approached Kai and offered his hand, "I am Demetrius, head of the vampires at Riker."

Kai dispelled the Sunrise Blade and casually cast a silencing ward around the pair.

"Kai Boudreaux," he replied, taking the hand.

"I respect your control. I would likely have killed them."

"That was not the statement I was looking to make."

"No. Be careful here, Mage. With powerful blood like yours, every vampire in the school is going to want a taste. Whatever you did to mask your blood scent was good. Without it, the vampires' bloodlust would have been uncontrollable and neither you nor I would desire ourselves to be in that situation,"

Kai was unmoved, "I was aware. That was, of course, why I did it," he turned towards the hall again. "Oh, and Demetrius, warn your charges that any attempt to take my blood will be met with death and I will not promise that it will be quick."

'Oh, those were the days…' Kai thought. In his first month he killed 10 lower to mid-level vampires that came for him before everyone got the message.

Walking the halls of Riker now was both very different and very much the same.

People still moved out of his path, but now, when they stepped out of his way it was with a sharp salute and friendly greeting of "Musha Kai!" The students were always excited to see the youngest council member.

The students still whispered but it was with respect instead of jealousy.

The vamps would, well, always be the vamps.

Obviously, all had asked. Just as obviously, he had also said no. Except Hitomi. Hitomi was an adorable, though extraordinarily dangerous Japanese vampire. The two casually dated on and off for a year before she graduated. The entire time they were sleeping together she never once asked for his blood. She graduated two years ahead of him, Musha of her grad class. At her graduation party, he congratulated her and kissed her deeply before pressing a vial into her hands and moving away.

"Kai, what is this..." her eyes had went wide, "Is this what I think it is?"

He had only smiled.

"I almost can't," she had whispered. "It feels like a holy artefact."

He chuckled, "You have 10 seconds to drink it before I destroy it. Either way, I'm not leaving that lying around."

She downed it before he was finished speaking.

That was how Kai knew his blood was like the most potent ecstasy to vampires. The blood high coupled with the temporary magical power surge made it highly addictive.

Kai smiled viciously when he realized Leander would be in withdrawal.

Hitomi had withdrawal equivalent to a vicious hangover the next day from just one dose of about four ounces. Leander however, drank about half a liter of his blood every two days for almost three weeks.

He wouldn't be brewing anything for the Dark Lord for while. That on top of Kai's escape stealing his other potion master with him, probably left ole Lord Rigormortis in a bit of a snit. Kai would have paid almost anything to see the look on his face.

Standing before the council chambers, Kai released his glamours and stepped in. The chambers had powerful charms on it that would strip any glamour off. It didn't matter though, as there were no secrets amongst the council, no jealousy, no pretense, they were family. They had to be outside of the school's competition or the council would crumble. The stronger the council the stronger the society. He was looking forward to telling them of his latest project. That's exactly what it was to him, a project, if a relatively extensive one.

He was swept into a powerful embrace the moment the door shut behind him.

"Shadow, it's so good to see you safe," Musha Melanie Rain was the current Headmistress of Riker Academy and loved Kai like a nephew. She was tall and powerful, with white appearing in her short brown hair.

Released from her, he was pulled into consecutive embraces by the remaining members of the council.

Musha Christolph Flint was in charge of recruiting. At the age of 45 he still looked in his prime, with sandy blonde hair and amber eyes. This werewolf had welcomed his wolf.

Musha Damien Eagle-Eye was in charge of the society finances. The academy had no tuition fees, as every graduate donated sizable amounts back. Kai himself gave 50,000 galleons back to the school every year without even denting his earnings.

Kai was the alumni coordinator. That was why he ran Shadowed Soul; it was part of his council responsibility. He also knew the name, designation and magical signature of every living Riker.

Last was Musha Marcus Black-Sunset. He was cold, hard, he was The Judge. The Judge was the one who Rikers answered to outside of the law. Those deemed unworthy by their instructors would be brought before Marcus before being Obliviated and sent home. Serial killers and traitors would be brought before him for judgment. Soon Leander would face his judgment before being given to Kai for justice. The council was going to be furious.

Marcus gave him a once look over, "So it was true, you were captured by Voldemort. You look awful."

Kai nodded before explaining the capture, bar Leander.

"Take off your shirt, Shadow; let me see what I can do."

Rain was an excellent healer and thought she could perhaps help the scars. She grimaced at the hundreds of lines crisscrossing his body before frowning at the vicious whip marks on his back, "I can probably erase some of this on your back."

"Thank you Melanie," Kai said quietly as he felt her hands moving across the scars he hadn't dared look at yet.

Marcus stepped forward, his hand ghosting along the scars on his long neck, "You've been bitten. Who dares?" Marcus was a Master vampire, one of the Elders. Kai had been declared off-limits and bore a small runic tattoo on the back of his neck that said so. Someone had gone against his orders.

"It was Leander," Kai told them of Leander's involvement.

They were stunned to silence, all except Christolph, "That bastard, I knew he was bad news. I told you all that he needed to go years ago and now…"

"Now he's a traitor that will be caught and brought to me for judgment," Marcus interjected, face like ice.

Kai's face matched his; he was already planning all the unpleasant things he was going to do to Barracas when he got a hold of him. When, not if. He breathed deeply in relief as pain drained away from his back and muscles under Melanie's ministrations.

Soon they sat around the small circular meeting table, coffee in hand, discussing the ramifications of Kai's capture.

"The alumni were quite upset with your disappearance."

"I'm meeting my squad at Shadowed Soul tonight. Hopefully the news will spread from there and quiet the ranks."

"Make sure it does," Marius replied.

Kai nodded respectfully. While all on the council were technically equals, Marcus was the unspoken head. He had been on the council for near on 100 years. Kai had been voted onto the council just six months ago, to the shock of many alumni. Apparently, most had voted for him, hoping he would win, but not expecting him to because of his age. Nobody had been more shocked than Kai himself.

"The Order," Flint muttered, "I can't believe they pulled you out."

"Neither can I. Still, I formed an partial alliance between them and myself in recompense."

"Shadow, they are at war…" Melanie warned.

"I am aware, Rain, but I'm not going to sit back and let Riddle get away with what he did to me."

Flint made a disgusted sound; his anger at the treatment of one considered pack was palpable.

"I…" the bloodmage hesitated, "I also found out it was him that killed my parents."

Even Marcus' eyes widened slightly at that revelation.

"You finally found them?" Rain asked quietly.

"Yes, and Riddle, or Voldemort, had personally killed both of my parents. He's the reason I'm an orphan."

The council didn't know what to say. Through a grievous error on their part they had found out about 'The Incident', as they named it, with Kai's guardians that had caused his mage powers to awaken. An awakening took an extremely terrifying and traumatic event to call upon the mage's full powers to the surface. Otherwise they go about their lives as an ordinary if powerful wizard or witch.

If Voldemort was the reason why Kai had to live with those people then they knew their youngest member would destroy him. The mage was a vindictive bastard when he wanted to be, which wasn't frequently. Thankfully, he hadn't held their mistake against them.

"I've decided to make Riddle my latest project," Kai announced.

"Think he'll survive longer than your last project?"

The Dark Lord in Italy had only lasted 1.5 months, "Undoubtedly. He's burrowed his way into all of Europe."

"How will you work with that Light Lord? From what I've heard they're incredibly biased over there," Flint drawled, knowing Europe's policies with werewolves.

"He's been surprisingly accepting. I think there will be growing pains, but it'll work."

"How do you find the Order?"

"Weak, disorganized. They've gotten little accomplished in battling Riddle. They seem to be mostly an intelligence gathering organization, which suits me fine. Better to not have them underfoot at the beginning on missions."

"Speaking of members, the infamous Alastor Moody is on the Order. Threw a right fit when he saw me." A malicious glint reached his eyes, "I can't wait for Moody's reaction when he realized I placed a secrecy spell on all those in the meeting so they can't reveal anything about me, even my name, directly or indirectly."

"What about this teaching thing, why tie yourself down to Hogwart?"

"I'll have all the little Death Eaters-to-be under my watch. Imagine when those Death Nibblers get the real deal on blood purity. Including that Riddle himself is half blood. I'll be cutting off the next generation of recruits. Besides that, I can go and come as I please. Hogwarts' wards do not register nor block my shadow-walking and I have plenty of time to do what I need to. On top of it, I'll be at the center of the action and Dumbledore can't actually monitor my going and coming. It's a win-win for me."

"Don't forget that you love to teach," Rain interjected fondly. "Too bad I'll have to cancel your class here for the term. Just the 1 term though - you'd better have this resolved by new year."

The discussion continued over lunch and into the afternoon.

"I approve," Marcus said finally, "I know you can keep Riker out of the war."

"Do I have approval to request occasional help from my squad?"

Flint snorted, "Would our disapproval stop them?"

"Probably not if we're honest."

"Than you have it."

Kai smirked, running his hands through his loose ebony hair, enjoying the feeling of home he felt in the school and especially in these chambers.

'There's no place like home.'

To the casual observer, Shadowed Soul looked would look like any other successful night club: crowded seat area, loud music, packed dance floor.

Kai stood on the balcony, surveying his club. He had made some notable renovations to the hotspot since his rise to the council, but contrary to what was told new graduates, he had not renamed it.

The assassin was startled by the cheers and greetings he received upon entering, everyone jumping up to see him. Squad members called squad leaders, announcing the news that he had returned. He told them to spread the word that he was back and that a formal statement would come out later.

He smiled warmly as he escaped the last of the well wishers and immediately had to grab a stack of paperwork and head up to the VIP to catch up on three weeks worth of unfinished work before his crew arrived.

Callyn arrived first in a blaze of action. No sooner had he seen her and gave her a welcoming smile he found himself slammed against the wall, razor sharp blade at his throat.

"Who are you, intruder? Shadow disappears for three weeks then suddenly reappears, seemingly fine?" she hissed.

"Cal, it's me. What do you want me to say?" he breathed shallowly, aware of how close his neck was to the blade. Kai knew he could repel her easily but didn't want to further her mistrust.

"Tell me something that only Shadow would know."

"Hmmm…you have a cute heart shaped birthmark on your left butt cheek?" Kai chuckled softly at the reminiscence.

"Damn, it is you," she stepped back slowly before punching him hard in the face. "That is for not calling me as soon as you were safe. Since you went missing I've been calling that damn phone twice a day hoping you'll answer."

Kai gritted his teeth and pushed down the anger at the strike; he had deserved that. He was so caught up in resolving things at Hogwarts he hadn't thought of those that may be worried for him.

She met his stare evenly.

Tobias was next, a werewolf with very dark skin and almost glowing amber eyes. His strangely lit eyes were set in a cold face, though his eyes held a spark of affection for his commander as he shook his hand. Tobias was always in control and almost never showed emotion. He was one of the only bitten non-magical werewolves to have mastered the inner beast. He could transform on command and benefited from the enhanced werewolf senses and reflexes in his human form. Incredible emotional control was required to keep him from transforming in anger.

Tobias and Callyn were his closest friends by far. He did, however, have a good working relationship with most members of his squad. They would come to him for help or help him out, but they weren't the type he'd invite to have a beer with him.

The other four, all men, arrived shortly after and the interrogation began with a single word.

"Spill."

"Well, the rumors were true, I was set up by Voldemort," he spent the next half an hour explaining the setup for the second time today, though in less detail as his squad wasn't required by oath to keep his secrets as the council was.

"The craziest thing was the sheer effort that was put into it. From the nonmag hating pureblood securing motion sensors and a camera system to the fact that the Malfoy Lord must've spent the past two weeks sleeping in his clothes and sword. The only time frame I gave Rookwood was that he'd be dead within a month."

The group nodded in agreement.

"You've done what Dumbledore's Order could not: destroy members of his inner circle," Tobias said blandly. "He feels threatened. A man that fears death to such a degree he literally names himself 'flight of death' does not like to be threatened."

"So, this Riddle fellow is going to be your latest project, isn't he?" Callyn smirked, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She liked Kai's projects, they amused her.

She wondered if he'd let her help out on this one, the possible political payoff would be enormous.

Kai chuckled, "You know me too well."

"Oh, where's Leander?" Nicholai queried. "He'd find this amusing."

Kai's face darkened to such an extent that the others unconsciously leaned away from the mage.

Seeing their reactions, he took a deep breath, "Leander is no longer a member of this squad. In fact, he is no longer considered a Riker and is to be captured on sight, using whatever force is necessary."

Normally expressionless faces stared at him when he dropped that bomb. Except Tobias of course, he just hit the nail on the head, "He was there, wasn't he," he asked, voice ice, "with Riddle?"

The bloodmage nodded bitterly, holding back his true rage, "Not only did he trade council secrets for power with Riddle, he assisted Riddle in keeping me captive.."

"Christ…" one of the boys breathed.

"That bastard."

"Well I for one am thinking of exactly how bad I'm going to fuck HIM up when I see him," Nicholai snarled.

Kai smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "I'll get us some drinks and we can brainstorm on that."