The back alleys and cluttered streets of Budapest were as unsightly in the middle of the night as they were when the sun was shining, sometimes even more so if Eliza Wrath couldn’t see what she was stepping in. She’d spent enough time here now to distinguish urine from blood, even without the smell, but that didn’t make her any happier to get either on her expensive boots.
In the past two years, she’d been transferred more times than she could count. From KC to Cali, to Siberia, to Hungary, to Canada, a few stops on the way, back here. She never bothered to question the reasoning anymore, not since she’d learned to keep her mouth shut. Unfortunately, that was a hard-learned lesson, one that had taken at least a year and a half too long.
The alley up ahead of them was dark, but using her IAC, she could cut through most of the shadows. It didn’t appear as if there was anyone up there, though it was possible someone might be crouched behind a group of garbage cans, up on the left. She signaled to the other team member with her, a tall Hunter named Sergio who blended right in with the natives, even though he was originally from Georgia—not the state, she’d found out after asking if he liked the Braves—and slowly approached the obstacle.
It was clear, only a few discarded trash bags and an old blanket maybe one of the homeless people had been curled up on earlier. She took a heat reading and saw that it was cool now, so even if someone had been nearby, they were gone now. “Clear,” she said through her IAC and walked back over to where her tall, dark-haired, partner stood waiting.
“Maybe we should cut a few blocks over. He’s hit this area several times, but not in the last week.”
Eliza agreed and took another glance down the alley before following Sergio. They’d had several sightings of a tall Vampire with nearly translucent skin in the area, lots of reports of people going missing, mostly homeless people who didn’t show up at the soup kitchens or overnight shelters where they often slept, although there had been a few tourists and even a couple of locals who would definitely qualify as Innocents and shouldn’t have been claimed who’d gone missing as well. KC headquarters had been vague with their orders when Eliza had reported to Mila a few weeks ago, and she knew there had been a lot going on with Aaron and Cadence’s wedding, but she thought these missing persons were significant, especially since it began ramping up recently, right after Holland’s demise. Mila, the Area Leader, agreed and had put some teams together to start patrols.
Walking along behind Sergio, Eliza let her mind wander to Aaron a little too long. She hadn’t gone to the wedding. Part of that was because she hadn’t been invited. Who invites their ex-girlfriend to their wedding? But then... even if she had been invited, she wouldn’t have attended. That whole situation had been such a mess; every time she thought about how she’d handled it, her stomach began to churn. Not only had she blown any chance she’d ever have with Aaron by manipulating too much too soon, she’d also ruined a pretty sweet gig in Cali because she hadn’t been exactly forthcoming with the information Aaron needed from Laura. The ex-Hunter had never come right out and told Eliza she was planning to take Cadence out, but she’d hinted at it enough that Eliza could surmise that was the plan. In the end, Laura had pulled one over on her as well, trying to obliterate the whole team. If it had been Aaron who had died instead of Elliott, Eliza would’ve probably found a way to follow him.
But it wasn’t. And even Elliott wasn’t dead anymore. So the only thing Sierraville had really cost anyone was Eliza her role as Area Leader. She’d earned a little bit of her good standing back on that trip to Philly, though she probably shouldn’t have threatened to shoot Zabrina while she was holding Cadence’s sister Cassidy in front of her. Still, she’d been commended for how she’d handled the situation before the rest of the team arrived. That had gotten her transferred to Canada. When Mila asked her to come back a few months ago, about the time whispers of unusual numbers of Vampires in Budapest began to hit their ears, she’d agreed to come because she wanted to feel wanted again.
Searching for Holland had occupied most of her time until the Vampire Queen was ended, and Eliza and the rest of the team in the area assumed they’d be going back to twiddling their thumbs. But when Holland was destroyed, the carnage didn’t stop. In fact, it had picked up quite a bit recently. If anyone had any idea who the new ringleader was, they hadn’t told her. For now, she was searching for a Vampire fitting the description a few of the witnesses had given. Not that she wouldn’t be happy to end any Vampire she happened to come across.
“Any luck?” Mila’s heavily accented voice came across her IAC just as Sergio ducked down another alleyway. Eliza followed, something in the distance catching her eye.
“Not sure,” she replied. “Give us a moment.” Up ahead of them, a high pitched laugh echoed off of the sides of the brick buildings on either side of them. The alley dead-ended into a similar brick façade.
Sergio turned to look at her as another giggle filled their ears. Now, Eliza could see two forms huddled close together near the end of the alley, over on the right side, pressed up against the wall. A fire escape ladder hung twenty feet to the left, almost as many feet above their heads. If one of them happened to be a Vampire, getting to the bottom rung would be no problem.
