Chapter 4: The Surrender The vampire smiled at her. Alexia tightened her grip on the stake. Her mom screamed again from somewhere behind the shelving units. The sound cut through Alexia's concentration for half a second. The vampire noticed. "Drop the stake." He gestured toward where her mother stood. "Or my associate kills her right now." Alexia couldn't see Elena anymore. The fight on the other side of the warehouse had gone quiet, which probably meant someone was unconscious or dead. She shifted her weight, trying to maintain balance while her mind raced through options that all ended badly. The thin vampire appeared from behind a support column, holding Alexia's mom by the throat. His other hand had claws extended, pressing against her jugular. Blood already trickled down her neck from where the points broke skin. "Your choice is simple." The broad-shouldered vampire took a step closer to Alexia. "Surrender now and your mother lives. Keep fighting and watch her die." Alexia's hunter instincts screamed at her to attack anyway. Her mom had sold her to these monsters. Watching her face consequences for that betrayal made a certain brutal sense. But twelve years of living with her, eating breakfast together, watching television on the couch, all of those mundane memories made the idea of standing by while she died impossible. The stake slipped from Alexia's fingers. It clattered on the concrete floor. The broad-shouldered vampire moved faster than she could track. He grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back with enough force to make her shoulder joints scream in protest. His other hand clamped around her throat, not choking but controlling. "Smart decision." His voice came from right next to her ear. Alexia tried to pull away. His grip tightened until she stopped struggling. Across the warehouse, the thin vampire released her mom, who collapsed to her knees gasping for air. "Where's Elena?" Alexia managed to get the words out despite the pressure on her throat. The thin vampire walked toward them, wiping blood from a cut on his cheek. "The other hunter is unconscious. We left her alive with a message for her network. They should know better than to interfere with coven business." Relief mixed with frustration. Elena was alive but couldn't help. Alexia was on her own with two vampires who could break her apart without much effort. "New orders came through while we were traveling here." The broad-shouldered vampire pulled something from his jacket. Metal handcuffs that looked too heavy for normal police equipment. "The lord wants you alive. He'll decide your fate personally." The cuffs locked around Alexia's wrists with a solid click. She tested them immediately. The metal didn't budge. Some kind of reinforced restraint designed specifically for containing enhanced strength. Her mom got to her feet, still holding her neck. "You said the deal was fulfilled if you took her. You said I'd be free." The thin vampire nodded. "Your obligation is complete. You delivered the hunter bloodline as promised. Go home and forget this happened." "I can't just forget." Her mom took a step toward Alexia. "She's my daughter." The broad-shouldered vampire pushed Alexia toward the warehouse exit. "Then you should have considered that twelve years ago before making deals with vampires. Your maternal instincts are no longer our concern." Alexia looked back at her mom, trying to figure out what she actually wanted to say. Accusations felt pointless now. Forgiveness seemed impossible. She settled for something in between. "You could have fought them." Alexia kept her voice level. "You had twelve years to learn how. Instead you just waited for this night and hoped it wouldn't actually come." Her mom's face crumpled again. "I'm not a fighter. I never was. Your father had all the courage in our family." The thin vampire laughed. "Your father was a fool who died screaming. Courage doesn't matter when facing superior predators." They pushed Alexia through the warehouse door into the night. A black car waited in the alley with tinted windows and an engine that barely made any sound. The broad-shouldered vampire opened the back door and shoved her inside. The interior smelled like leather and something else Alexia couldn't identify. Chemical cleaning products maybe, or blood that had been scrubbed away imperfectly. The thin vampire climbed into the driver's seat while the broad-shouldered one sat next to Alexia. "Where are you taking me?" Alexia tested the cuffs again with the same result. "The lord's estate outside the city." The broad-shouldered vampire pulled out his phone, typing something. "It's been prepared for your arrival." The car pulled away from the warehouse. Alexia watched through the tinted windows as they drove through familiar streets that suddenly looked completely different. She'd walked these blocks dozens of times going to school or meeting friends. Now she was being transported through them like cargo. Her mom stood in the alley outside the warehouse, watching the car leave. The last thing Alexia saw before they turned a corner was her mother collapsing against the brick wall, sliding down until she sat on the dirty pavement with her head in her hands. "Your mother will recover." The thin vampire spoke without turning around. "Humans are resilient when it comes to betraying their own children. She'll rationalize her choices and move on with her life." Alexia didn't respond. Anything she said would just give them satisfaction. The city gave way to suburbs, then to rural roads lined with trees. The car's headlights cut through darkness that seemed heavier out here away from streetlights and buildings. They drove for maybe thirty minutes before turning onto a private road marked only by a small stone marker. The estate appeared gradually through the trees. Old architecture that looked like someone had imported a European manor and dropped it in the middle of nowhere. Stone walls, narrow windows, grounds that stretched into shadows the headlights couldn't penetrate. The car stopped in front of massive wooden doors. The thin vampire got out first, opening Alexia's door from outside. The broad-shouldered vampire pulled her from the vehicle with less care than before. "Walk or be carried." He gestured toward the entrance. "Either way you're going inside." Alexia walked. The doors opened as they approached, revealing an entrance hall that belonged in a museum. Marble floors, paintings that looked centuries old, furniture that probably cost more than her mom's annual salary. Everything about the place screamed old wealth and older power. A figure waited at the base of a grand staircase. Male, appearing maybe mid-thirties though age meant nothing with vampires. Dark hair, expensive suit, and an expression of mild curiosity as he watched Alexia being escorted inside. "The Thorne descendant." He spoke with an accent similar to the thin vampire's. "I've waited a long time for this meeting." The broad-shouldered vampire pushed Alexia forward. "She surrendered to save her mother. Elena Reeves from the hunter network was at the warehouse but we left her alive with a warning message." The figure at the staircase nodded. "Elena will tell the others that interfering with coven business has consequences. Good." He walked closer to Alexia, studying her face. "You look like your great-great-grandfather. Same bone structure around the eyes. He nearly killed me in 1847 during a raid on our London sanctuary." Alexia stared back at him, refusing to look away first. "Then I guess my family has good taste in targets." He smiled without showing fangs. "Defiance suits you better than surrender. I'm Dominic Ashford, lord of this coven and the one your ancestors tried to exterminate for three centuries." The name meant nothing to Alexia. Her crash course in vampire hunter history had been limited to discovering she was one approximately six hours ago. But the way he spoke about her ancestors suggested he remembered them personally, which meant he was old even by vampire standards. "Take her to the cellar." Dominic gestured toward a door beneath the staircase. "Make sure the restraints are secure. I'll speak with her once she's had time to consider her situation." The broad-shouldered vampire grabbed Alexia's arm again, pulling her toward the door. It opened to reveal stone steps leading down into darkness. He pushed her forward, and she almost tripped on the first step before catching her balance. The stairs went down much farther than seemed reasonable. Alexia counted thirty steps before they reached the bottom and entered a hallway carved from solid rock. Electric lights had been installed at some point, but they were dim and spaced far apart. Several doors lined the hallway. The vampire opened the third one, revealing a room that looked like a medieval dungeon updated with modern amenities. Stone walls, a cot in one corner, a bucket that served some bathroom purpose Alexia didn't want to think about. Chains hung from metal rings embedded in the wall. "Sit on the cot." The vampire pointed. Alexia sat. He attached the chains to her handcuffs, leaving enough slack that she could move around the small room but not reach the door. He tested the connections with several hard pulls that would have dislocated her shoulders if she'd resisted. "The lord will come down before sunrise." The vampire stepped back toward the door. "I'd suggest using the time to think carefully about your options." The door closed with a heavy thud. A lock engaged from outside. Alexia was alone in a stone room beneath an estate owned by vampires who had every reason to kill her slowly. She tested the chains immediately. They held. The cuffs on her wrists didn't budge no matter how she twisted or pulled. Her enhanced strength made no difference against restraints designed to contain it. The room had no windows. No way to tell how much time passed. She sat on the cot and tried to think through what happened next. Elena was unconscious but alive. Her mom was free but traumatized. The hunter network knew where she'd been taken but might not risk confrontation with an entire coven. Hours crawled by. Maybe. Time was impossible to track in the windowless cell. Alexia's body started reporting exhaustion from the day's events. Adrenaline could only sustain enhanced abilities for so long before crashes happened. She must have dozed off at some point, because the sound of the lock disengaging snapped her awake with her heart racing. The door opened. Dominic Ashford stepped inside, closing it behind him. He'd changed from the expensive suit into something more casual. Dark jeans, a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The outfit made him look younger somehow, though the way he moved still broadcast centuries of experience. "You slept." He pulled over a wooden chair that had been against the wall and sat down, keeping several feet of distance between them. "That's good. It means your body is adapting to the stress of ability activation." Alexia stayed on the cot. "Are you here to kill me now or is there some kind of speech first?" "Neither." Dominic leaned back in the chair. "I'm here to offer you an alternative to execution." The word execution hung in the air between them. Alexia's throat went dry despite trying to maintain her defiant posture. "Your ancestors nearly destroyed us." Dominic spoke conversationally, like discussing history rather than genocide. "The Thorne family led hunter coalitions that tracked down vampires across Europe and North America. They killed hundreds of us. Developed weapons specifically designed to counteract our strengths. Your great-great-grandfather invented a silver compound that could paralyze us long enough for staking. Very innovative." Alexia said nothing. Letting him talk seemed safer than interrupting with something that would accelerate whatever decision he'd already made. "The covens eventually retaliated." Dominic crossed his legs. "We hunted down the hunter families, killed most of them, scattered the rest. Your father was one of the last Thornes with active abilities. When he died, we thought the bloodline was finished. Then your mother made her deal to protect you, and we realized there was still one more descendant to handle." The clinical way he described murdering her family made Alexia's hands clench into fists. The chains rattled slightly. "I could kill you." Dominic watched her reaction carefully. "It would be justified revenge. Your ancestors killed people I'd known for centuries. Friends. Lovers. Fellow coven members who never harmed humans and just wanted to exist in peace." "But?" Alexia forced the word out. "But you're eighteen years old with abilities you discovered today." Dominic leaned forward slightly. "You didn't choose this bloodline. You didn't participate in the hunter campaigns. Killing you for your ancestors' actions seems wasteful when I could use you instead." Alexia's stomach dropped. "Use me how?" "The coven has a problem." Dominic spoke like he was explaining a business proposal. "Rogue vampires who break our rules and threaten the secrecy we've maintained for centuries. They attack humans carelessly, create new vampires without permission, generally behave in ways that draw unwanted attention from modern law enforcement and media." He stood up from the chair and walked to the far wall, running his hand along the stone. "Traditionally, we handle rogue elements internally. But vampires hunting other vampires is complicated. Old loyalties, political factions, personal grudges. It creates instability in the coven structure." He turned back to face Alexia. "A human hunter with vampire-killing abilities has no such complications. You could track and eliminate rogues without any of the political fallout." Alexia stared at him. "You want me to hunt vampires for you." "Specifically, hunt the vampires who threaten our carefully maintained secrecy." Dominic returned to the chair. "In exchange, you live. We provide training, equipment, intelligence on rogue locations. You'd have freedom of movement and access to resources your ancestors never possessed." The offer was insane. Her family had spent generations fighting vampires, and now this ancient coven lord wanted her to work for them. Hunting their enemies while serving their interests. "And if I refuse?" Alexia already knew the answer. "Then I kill you." Dominic said it simply. "Not out of cruelty, but necessity. I can't risk another hunter bloodline building strength over generations to come after us again. Your death ends the Thorne legacy permanently." Silence filled the cell. Alexia's mind raced through scenarios that all ended badly. Working for vampires betrayed everything her father had apparently stood for. But dying in this cellar achieved nothing except satisfying Dominic's desire for revenge. "How long do I have to decide?" Her voice came out steadier than she expected. Dominic checked his watch. "Sunrise is in approximately four hours. I'll return then for your answer. Accept my offer and become a hunter who serves the coven, or refuse and die. Those are your only options." He stood up, moving toward the door. Alexia watched him go, trying to figure out if there was any angle she hadn't considered. Some escape plan or negotiation tactic that would give her more leverage. "One more thing." Dominic paused with his hand on the door. "Your hunter instincts are responding to my presence. I can see it in how you watch me, the way your body tenses when I move closer. It's not just aggression." Alexia's face heated. She'd been trying to ignore the weird reaction her enhanced senses had to him. Something beyond the normal predator-prey dynamic. An awareness of him that went past simple threat assessment. "Your ancestors had similar responses." Dominic smiled slightly. "Hunters and vampires exist on opposite sides of a violent spectrum, but violence and desire often intertwine in complicated ways. Something to consider while you make your decision." He left, closing the door behind him. The lock engaged again. Alexia was alone with her chains and her thoughts and the growing awareness that her body reacted to Dominic Ashford in ways that had nothing to do with wanting to kill him. Four hours until sunrise. Four hours to decide between becoming a hunter who worked for the monsters her family had fought for generations, or dying in a cellar beneath an estate that probably had multiple bodies already buried in the grounds. She pulled at the chains again, achieving nothing except confirming she was completely trapped. Her hunter abilities were useless without freedom of movement. Her newly enhanced senses just meant she could hear her own heartbeat hammering in the silence. Dominic's offer circled through her mind. Hunt rogues for the coven. Live under their control. Betray everything her father had died fighting against. The alternative was death, but at least dying meant not compromising the Thorne legacy any further than her mother already had. Except dying also meant the vampires won completely. No more hunters with her bloodline. No chance to eventually turn the situation around. Working for them temporarily might create opportunities to escape later, to contact the hunter network, to find some way out. Alexia lay back on the cot, staring at the stone ceiling. Her body reported exhaustion but her mind wouldn't shut down. The weird attraction to Dominic kept intruding on her strategic thinking. Her instincts recognized him as an enemy, but they also responded to his presence with something that definitely wasn't just aggression. The hours crawled by with no way to track their passing. She drifted in and out of something that wasn't quite sleep. Her dreams mixed memories of her father's absence with images of vampires and stakes and blood. The lock disengaging brought her fully awake. She sat up on the cot as the door opened. Dominic stepped inside again, this time carrying a bottle of water and what looked like a protein bar. "You haven't eaten since before the warehouse." He set both items on the floor within her reach. "Regardless of your decision, I prefer not to starve prisoners." Alexia grabbed the water, her throat suddenly aware of how dry it had become. She drank half the bottle before speaking. "What happens if I agree?" She opened the protein bar, forcing herself to eat despite her stomach being in knots. "What are the actual terms?" Dominic leaned against the wall rather than sitting. "You hunt rogues when we identify them. Report back after each elimination. Follow coven rules regarding secrecy and discretion. In exchange, you receive protection, resources, training from our own combat specialists. You'd live in a secure location we provide." "Not here." Alexia finished the protein bar. "No. This estate is my private residence. You'd have an apartment in the city, close enough to your school that you can finish your senior year if you want." He watched her reaction carefully. "I understand you expressed that priority to Elena." The fact that he knew about her conversation with Elena meant the vampires had been monitoring more than just her location. They probably had surveillance on the hunter network, informants, technological tracking. Fighting them would mean opposing an organization with centuries of experience and unlimited resources. "How do I know you won't just kill me after I've eliminated your rogue problem?" Alexia needed to understand the actual dynamics. "You don't." Dominic spoke bluntly. "You'll have to trust that keeping you alive and useful serves the coven's interests better than revenge. Which it does, incidentally. Rogues are an ongoing issue. One hunter's death provides momentary satisfaction. An effective hunter under our control provides long-term value." The calculation made horrible sense. Vampires thought in terms of centuries. Short-term revenge was less valuable than long-term strategic assets. Alexia looked at the chains connecting her to the wall. At Dominic standing near the door with complete confidence that she couldn't hurt him even if she tried. At her situation that had exactly two possible outcomes. "I need to know one thing first." She met his eyes directly. "Did you kill my father?" Dominic's expression shifted slightly. "No. That was another coven lord who's since been destroyed by rogues. Ironic, given what I'm now proposing. But your father's death wasn't my doing." Whether that was true or a comfortable lie didn't really matter. Alexia had no way to verify it. She was trapped in a cellar with a vampire lord offering her a twisted version of survival. Her hunter instincts still responded to his presence with that weird combination of aggression and attraction. Her body was aware of him in ways that made no sense given the circumstances. Violence and desire intertwining exactly like he'd described. "If I agree, I want some conditions." Alexia spoke before she could second-guess herself. "I finish senior year. You provide training but I choose what weapons I'm comfortable using. And I want regular contact with the hunter network, so they know I'm alive." Dominic considered this. "The first two are acceptable. The third needs modification. Contact with the hunter network would happen through monitored channels only. I can't risk you coordinating with them against us." "Then they send someone to check on me in person once a month." Alexia pushed back. "Elena or whoever they designate. Just to confirm I'm not dead or imprisoned." "Once every two months." Dominic countered. "And the meetings happen in neutral locations with coven observers present." It was a negotiation now rather than a simple ultimatum. Alexia grabbed onto that small shift in dynamics. "Once a month. No observers in the actual meeting, but they can watch from a distance." Dominic smiled. "You have your father's stubborn streak. Fine. Monthly check-ins with the hunter network, observed from a distance. Anything else?" Alexia's mind raced through other potential leverage points. "If I'm hunting rogues, I need to know that what I'm told is accurate. Some kind of verification that the targets actually broke coven rules rather than just being people you want eliminated." "I'll provide evidence for each assignment." Dominic pushed away from the wall. "Documentation, witness accounts, whatever proof you need that the target is genuinely a threat to our secrecy. Acceptable?" It was more than she'd expected to gain. Probably meant he'd been prepared to offer concessions from the start. The negotiation was just theater to make her work for slightly better terms. "One last thing." Alexia looked at the chains. "If I'm working for you, then I'm not a prisoner. These come off permanently." Dominic walked over to her, pulling a key from his pocket. He unlocked the cuffs, letting them fall away. Alexia rubbed her wrists where the metal had pressed into skin. "So we have an agreement?" Dominic held out his hand like they were sealing a business deal. "You hunt rogues for the coven. We provide protection, resources, and training. You maintain your normal life as much as possible while serving our interests." Alexia looked at his extended hand. Taking it meant betraying everything her father had died for. Refusing meant dying in this cellar and letting the Thorne bloodline end with her. She reached out, her hand closing around his. His skin was cold despite the warm room. The contact sent something electric through her enhanced senses. "We have an agreement." Alexia spoke the words that would define her immediate future. "I hunt for you until sunrise."