Mara let the fading sunlight filter across her body, its heat still warm against her cool skin. The wind kicked up the ocean spray from the rocks below, creating a fine, salty mist. She smiled as it danced against her face. The sun set and she watched the salt crystals shimmer in the shadowy twilight. She sighed. Time to go. She climbed up and over the so-called barrier preventing pedestrian access to the cliffs and slid into the driver’s seat. The simple sense of peace and serenity that brief stop had given her dissolved, leaving instead the unmistakable vibration of danger coming, and coming fast.

Mara slammed the door and turned the key. She headed toward the rapidly darkening skyline as the threat closed in behind her. Damned if she would make it easy for these two, and she knew there were two of them. She kept an eye glued on the rearview as she navigated the treacherous curves, rewarded finally by the appearance of headlights. She smiled grimly. Right on cue. 

Her brow furrowed. She’d hoped for a little more distance. Either these guys were really good or worse, really determined. If the latter, lots of troublesome questions needed answers – fast. She tried to sort it out as she snaked along the deserted highway. They shouldn’t have expected her to isolate herself like she had by cutting through the mountains. Most mortals would have reached for the illusion of safety in public, so her choice of escape should have at least confused them. Unless . . .

Damn! 

What if her actions had backfired and she’d somehow inadvertently revealed something about herself or her intentions, increasing their desire to obtain her at any cost? She groaned in frustration at her arrogance. She’d believed she could enter the city undetected. She was certain her mortal camouflage hadn’t failed her, but how had they caught her trail again so quickly? She needed to lose them, and quickly. 

She clutched the steering wheel. This was going to suck. She needed to disappear, but to do that she had to ditch the car. She swore to herself. She’d really been looking forward to putting it through its paces. Worse, this wasn’t going to be a crash she’d walk away from unscathed. 

Focus! 

She shook her head and concentrated on the occupants of the car behind her. If the high-octane gas tank didn’t explode on impact, she could easily ignite it spontaneously. The trick would be escaping in one piece. She only hoped she wouldn’t be so badly hurt that it would compromise her ability to disguise her presence. To top it off, she’d have to project a reasonable semblance of fear or surprise to accompany the illusion. Few of her kind were able to pull off something like that successfully, but she could. 

She grabbed her backpack. The next curve. That was the one. She poured more power into the image she sought to project and let it envelop her, then her car, expanding it to include the vehicle behind her and the surrounding area. She didn’t attempt to contain its limits. Better too much than too little she figured. Neither one of her pursuers saw her roll out of the open driver-side door, smashing and bouncing off the pavement, nor did they see the door close behind her of its own volition as the car took flight over the cliff. 

It would appear to anyone who might investigate the crash that she’d simply taken the curve too fast and lost control. By the time anyone got down to the wreckage and discovered the lack of remains, she’d be long gone. True, the fire would only temporarily keep her pursuers from discovering her escape, but if she was lucky, it just might buy her enough time to learn something about them as well. 

She winced as she heard her beautiful car smash into the rocks below, flames and smoke exploding up into the now ink-black night. 

Tires screeched to a stop, forcing her to move. She grimaced as she propelled bruised and sore limbs into motion, silently crossing the road and ducking out of sight of her trackers. She heard car doors wrenched open even before the car came to a complete stop. The occupants emptied the vehicle and stared down at the burning wreckage. The one who’d been driving leaned over the rail and looked curiously at the charred remnants before spitting over the edge.

“What are we going to tell them?” his companion asked. His high-pitched voice echoed across the distance separating Mara from her pursuers. Even in the gathering darkness, enough light remained to see him clearly. He was slightly built with weasel-like features. His eyes darted back and forth between the crash and the driver. “They said you could track her and bring her in. They aren’t going to like this.” 

Mara heard the whiny accusation in the man’s voice, and her eyes were involuntarily drawn to the driver’s face as he turned toward her. His emotionless face transformed into a menacing smile as he walked toward the smaller man. She braced herself for the onslaught of violence she felt building. 

She blanched. Oh my god, he was a Vampire! She literally had only seconds to learn why they were after her before he killed this mortal stupid enough to have confronted him. She wasn’t confident her skills would let her touch the Vampire’s mind without him noticing – not yet. There was way too much to lose if he discovered her probe. She lightly touched the weasel’s mind instead, surprised to discover it was somehow protected. 

Oh crap! She hadn’t expected that. She didn’t have enough time to unravel the lock without giving herself away either. Quickly, she used her powers to push around the edges of the barrier protecting his mind from her and extracted as many partial memories and details as she could. The driver’s name was Claudio and the weasel was afraid of him. They’d been given a mission to find and capture her, but she couldn’t learn why or for what purpose. Did they know who and what she was, or was she just a random target? Mara struggled to sort out the confusing jumble of fragments and images. 

Before she could discover anything more, Claudio spoke. “There was nothing we could do. I’m sure they will understand.” 

His words were spoken calmly and his voice conveyed sincerity and trust as he closed the distance to his companion. Mara’s eyes widened at the horrible incongruence between his words and what she’d picked up about his intentions. She heard the immortal persuasion in his voice. It was an extremely effective tool against mortals and even occasionally against the unwary immortal. 

The small man hesitated, clearly confused, as he looked down at the crash burning brightly below him. It appeared that whatever protected him from her mind penetration also limited the seductive influence of Claudio’s voice. Limited it, but didn’t completely eliminate it.

Claudio attacked before the mortal realized the danger, smashing a fist into his victim’s stomach, doubling him over, and leaving him gasping for air. He yanked him upright by the collar and brought him within inches of his face. Mara could see the saliva gleaming from lengthened fangs in Claudio’s mouth as it dripped onto the man’s face. 

“Stupid mortal” Claudio hissed as he lifted the younger man off the ground using only one hand to hold him in place while he shook him. “You have no idea what is, or is not, important.” He sneered, his disgust transparent at the weasel’s feeble attempts to protect himself. “I don’t understand why we bother with your kind at all.” 

Mara froze as he sank his teeth into his terrified victim’s neck. Within seconds the man’s struggles slowed then stopped completely. After he drank his fill, Claudio callously dropped the lifeless body over the cliff and wiped the remaining blood from his mouth. Mara saw him lick his fingers, and she fought down the bile that rose in her throat. 

The complete disregard for life the Vampire species seemed to have was something she’d never understood. Life was precious to her kind. Perhaps it was because they didn’t prey on mortals, or maybe it was simply the way they lived their lives. 

She was a Viajante – a traveler – an ancient immortal species that lived hidden among the humans, or more accurately, on the fringes of human society. Throughout history they had occasionally been identified by mortals as nomads, gypsies, or tribes, their true nature hidden, suspected of nothing more than a curious desire to limit contact with outsiders. 

Their one natural enemy was the Vampire, another ancient immortal species existing among mortals like themselves. As far as Mara was concerned, immortality was where the similarity ended. She could only guess what strain of stupidity – or insanity – had inspired this particular group of mortals to align themselves with Vampires voluntarily. 

She brushed her hair back from her face with shaky fingers and shook her head slightly, saddened by the irrational desire for power and wealth among mortals that typically led to such a senseless loss of life. She strengthened her shields as Claudio scanned the area for witnesses and, more significantly, any trace of her. He didn’t seem as convinced about her demise as his companion had been. 

He stretched, flexing his muscles, and grinned into the darkness where she lay hidden. He couldn’t find her now, but she had no doubt he would keep trying. The game wasn’t over yet. He sauntered back to his car and left, not wanting to be discovered by the sirens becoming discernable in the distance. 

Mara didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until that moment. She gulped air into her lungs. That had been too close. She stepped deeper into the shadows and pulled her hoodie and favorite ball cap out of her backpack and put them on before slinging the pack over both shoulders and taking off east at a light jog. 

She crossed a field leading toward deeper woodlands. She moved as if in full sunlight, easily avoiding obstacles at a run that would have made walking difficult for mortals. The darkness was now her ally, hiding her presence and preserving her anonymity. 

To keep her mind off her injuries, she replayed the night’s events. What had just happened? Granted, her experience with Vampires was still limited, but why hadn’t she detected Claudio’s presence immediately? And why had that mortal had a mind block? Was it possible he didn’t know he was dealing with Vampires? No, the presence of a mind block made that unlikely. So it must be that they didn’t trust the Vampires. No shocker there. But the more troubling question was whether or not the block was deliberately directed at her species as well. As for why she hadn’t detected Claudio, she must have been careless. She wouldn’t let that happen again.

She estimated she’d only come about ten miles or so. The next bus depot was still about forty miles away. She picked up the pace. It was going to be a long night.

Mara awoke to sunlight peeking into the darker recesses of the bus, streaming through half-closed curtains. She heard the driver call out their arrival in San Luis Obispo. So far so good. She scanned her fellow passengers once more, easily erasing the vague memories they had of her before switching buses again, this time bound for San Francisco. 

Once she had settled into her seat, she pulled her laptop out of her backpack. She was still amazed it had survived the roll out of the car. She imagined some ad exec using crash resistance ratings to boost sales. Probably not much market for that in the mortal world. She laughed silently to herself and fired it up. By the time she arrived, her new identity was firmly in place. She cleaned up at the bus depot before hailing a cab for the airport where, with a few subtle ‘pushes’ she slipped through security onto a commuter flight to LA and her planned hunting ground.

A few hours later she pulled into the secluded estate nestled in a still expansive forest area. The property provided both privacy and a reprieve from the sensory overload such a large city would cause her. She punched in the alarm code and waited impatiently as the enormous gate groaned and lurched open. She’d have to do something about that. After verifying it closed securely behind her, she continued up the drive. 

The real estate agent had gushed about the view of the San Gabriel Mountains over the phone. She grinned wryly in remembrance. There wasn’t much the woman hadn’t gushed about. She must have been trying to sell the place for a long time. At the price she had been asking, Mara wasn’t surprised she’d had few takers. Looking at the view though, she conceded that the agent may have been on to something.

That sense of unease she’d gotten as she had stepped off the plane hadn’t dissipated. No matter how much she tried to forget it, she kept returning to the moment of her arrival. It was almost as if something recognized her. No one – mortal or immortal – had ever seen through her disguise before, yet she had the distinct impression that this time something or someone had. And now, it hunted her. Not her kind, but her specifically. 

Her close call outside the city must be making her paranoid. She was just tired. She stared out the window and tried to relax. The deepening red horizon stained the afternoon sky and highlighted the jagged mountain peaks silhouetted in black. It really was beautiful. She was still trying to convince herself there was nothing to worry about when she finally succumbed to sleep.

* * *

He’d sensed her presence the instant she entered the city limits. She was young, but she’d hidden well, he grudgingly admitted. Her presence remained undetected by his kind, save himself. A remarkable feat, all things considered. He wondered how she was able to conceal her presence so successfully. He smiled in anticipation. He looked forward to finding out. Looked forward to finding out that and a lot more.

Did she yet realize how much of her journey was of her own volition and how much because he’d summoned her? He reflected on how that scene might play out once she realized exactly what he’d done and who he really was. His eyes narrowed. That battle of wills he also looked forward to.

“She’s here at last.” The soft voice to his left startled him. He grinned. At least he came by his stealth honestly. “The one who called you back. Your soul. You’ve been waiting for her a long time.”

“She’ll fight me. She won’t want to accept the truth.” He stopped, unwilling to share everything he’d learned about her and the reasons why she’d fight him. He needed a plan she couldn’t escape from – one that gave her no choice but to accept what he already knew to be inevitable. That she was his.

The woman with him frowned. He could tell by her expression that she knew he wasn’t telling her everything. Her visions might reveal what he wished to remain hidden. She stepped forward, touching his arm so that he turned to face her. “She hides things from herself as well.”

He acknowledged the statement with a nod and looked up at the night sky, savoring the evening sounds. “You have no doubt though, she is the one I’ve been seeking?”

“Yes,” his companion said. “You have doubts?”

“No, all will come to pass as planned.” He spoke nonchalantly, but the plans he’d put in place to guide her course to him were anything but.