Page 2 of The Wentworth Vampire

“Be safe, and I'll get back with you shortly." Rowen closed the call and returned to the scene, hoping to pick up some clue as to those responsible.

Pascal Lacrosse was patrolling the Plaza of the Hadden Center when he received the call from the Second in Command, Josef McQueen, to go to the lowlands and check out a location for magical influence. With his background and lineage, he was considered a specialist when it came to identifying magical influence.

It was a background that his previous Coven saw as a problem and something that needed to be feared and controlled, but which Master Hadden viewed as advantageous. Pascal had petitioned the Hadden Coven for membership at the time Master Hadden had sent out the call, and he was accepted.

Pascal was born into the Revere Coven of Frederick, Maryland, and had been trained as an assassin. He was considered unsuitable for anything else, considering his mixed parentage. Assassins worked alone and in the dark, and his Coven believed that was where he belonged.

Master Hadden thought otherwise and saw Pascal as useful in so many ways. His life truly began when he joined the Hadden Coven, and he would be forever grateful to Master Nikolas Hadden.

He met Det. Dalhousie, the cat shifter, in the lowlands at the abandoned building. “Come, I’ll show you where we found them.” He said and led the way to a dark and inhospitable backroom filled with the sounds and scents of sadness and pain.

They’d kept him drugged for days now, and Mateo was not sure where he was or what they planned. He'd become lucid while in that horrid, rotting building and nearly escaped, but those bastards had magics at their beck and call. He fucking hated magics, and someday he would make them pay all of them for the pain and degradation of his brothers and his people. He would not die, and he would not forget.

Forcing his eyes to open, he noticed he was once again in a cage, but he was alone this time. There were no other captives in the room. Suddenly, someone slammed the cage, making him jump.

"Time to wake up, pretty boy.” Then the cage was slammed again with a rod of some kind. Mateo was slowly coming awake and pushed himself to a sitting position. Glancing around, it was clear he was fucked, totally fucked.

The men standing around were paranormal. The one who spoke to him was a cougar shifter, not particularly strong, but Mateo was in no condition to be able to challenge. The drugs they had used on him were powerful and lingered, making his mind foggy and his reactions slow.

The two by the door were wolves, and the one seated staring at him was a shifter, but also something else. He had an aura around him that was dark and beguiling. This man was a mystic like Claud. Claud was evil and dangerous, but no one would listen. He had everyone believing that he had the best interests of the Coven at heart. He only cared about his own interests and gladly killed anyone who got in his way.

"Wake up!" The man yelled again, pulling Mateo from his demoralizing memories. He rolled his eyes up to look at the man standing next to the cage, but remained silent. Words wereuseless. “There you are.” He mocked with a chuckle and then turned his attention to the man in the chair.

“He’s in good shape, even with being starved and isolated for months. He isn't broken, but I'm sure you can take care of that issue easily enough." Mateo listened and realized he was being sold again.

CHAPTER TWO

Both Thayer and Marek traveled immediately to the derelict building and brought Pascal Lacrosse with them at Master Hadden’s request. Pascal was part of the new recruits, having joined the Hadden Coven during the battle with blood magics and the curse. Several hundred new members were accepted at that fateful time in their history, and all had the strength, courage, and skills necessary to help defeat the darkness that had overtaken them.

The new members had settled in well, some had already risen through the leadership, and some had even found their mates and their beloveds. Master Hadden was pleased with the new reinforcements and valued their honor and loyalty.

It was rumored that even Master DuCane of Michigan, an extremely isolated, old-world vampire, was considering opening up his membership with an eye on expansion based on what he saw happening in Pittsburgh.

Pascal was a special addition to the Coven, bringing a combination of skills and strengths that set him apart from the average vampire guard. He presented as a vampire, tall, dark, and mysterious, with the usual traits when in his shift. But healso was blessed with additional attributes due to his mother having been part Mage and part Dark Fae.

This combination gave Pascal sharp intuition, vision, and an array of alternative skills in witchcraft, voodoo, alchemy, sorcery, and the list went on and on. There wasn’t a persuasion out there that he hadn’t touched in some way.

The Master and Josef were hesitant at first, but once the Master Hadden held Pascal's hand and read his thoughts and his life, he knew he belonged at the Hadden Coven. His ability was an amazing resource for the Hadden Coven. Pascal was a deep river; no one knew him well apart from Master Hadden, but everyone accepted and respected him.

Pascal was already at the site when Thayer and Marek arrived. “Did you find anything?” Thayer asked abruptly.

Pascal was crouched down by the cage and had his left hand covering the scratch marks on the floor that spelled out Mateo. “The man who placed these marks here was overwhelmed by magics. Arcane basic manipulation with a focus on mind control.”

“Psychic magic," Thayer questioned, but seemed to already know the answer. Pascal nodded and looked up at him.

“It’s a bad combination in this room.” Pascal realized that the Cyprian Knights knew full well what they were dealing with because it was apparent in their expressions. “It’s evil and I don’t use that word often," Pascal explained further. "This man," he pointed at the scratched name, “along with the others,” he waved his arms indicating the other cages in the room, “have been exposed to awful and destructive powers with the purpose of breaking them down and hollowing them out.” He stood and took a step back from the cage.

“It’s Mateo Wentworth," Marek stated, and the others nodded. Pascal knew the name. His birth coven was not far from the Wentworth Coven of Baltimore. He didn’t know anyone from there, but he knew of Mateo Wentworth, the second in line to leadership, and heard that he was to take over as Master after his older brother was killed, and then suddenly he too disappeared.

The Wentworth Coven has been in flux ever since, with several people under Master Hadden jointly leading. It was a large and very profitable coven and seemed to be holding its own so far, but the lack of a stable leader had shaken it a bit.

"This is terrible, and yet I'm so glad we finally have a lead. Teo worries so much for his brother. I want to bring him home." Thayer wanted to give his inamorato peace.

“They covered the magic's trail with an enchantment, and I believe they did not use magic exclusively when moving him. They may have simply transported him by vehicle.” Pascal hit a dead end at the door, not feeling anything more regarding the man.

“These people are using spells that hide and dissipate. They weren’t professional; their magic felt like a student or even a hack. They caused undo suffering unless, of course, suffering was the point.” Pascal said, and then added. "But there is something else here as well, something in the air perverted and vague.” He couldn't get any kind of read on it, so he left it there. "It might be nothing."

“We’ll check the area and try to pick up his direction. We have Mateo's scent, and we'll put our focus there.” The Cyprians looked at one another and then disappeared. They were powerful and touched by the light, so it was likely they would find him. Pascal wondered in what shape they would locate this man, Mateo Wentworth.

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