Chapter 6: Surveillance Elena's arms stayed crossed. Her expression suggested she'd been waiting for a while. The tension in her shoulders spoke to anger barely contained. "We need to talk." Elena pushed away from the wall. "The hunter network just got word that you've accepted employment with the coven. That makes you a collaborator." Alexia glanced at the apartment building behind her. The key Dominic had given her sat heavy in her pocket. Explaining the nuances of her situation required more energy than she currently possessed after everything that had happened tonight. "It's not collaboration." Alexia walked toward the entrance. "It's survival strategy." Elena blocked her path. "You're hunting rogues for them. That's the definition of collaboration." "I'm hunting rogues who are breaking their own rules." Alexia tried to step around her. "The vampire I tracked tonight was leaving bodies in public spaces. That threatens everyone." "So you're their enforcer now?" Elena's voice rose slightly. "Your father spent his life fighting them. You're working for them after two days." The accusation stung more than Alexia wanted to admit. Her father's legacy apparently included expectations she couldn't meet while also trying to stay alive. "My father's dead." Alexia finally moved past Elena toward the door. "I'm trying not to join him." Footsteps approached from the street. Fast movement that suggested running. Alexia's hand went to a stake automatically before recognizing the figure. Maya rounded the corner, breathing hard. Her dark hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. The jacket she wore looked hastily thrown on. "Alexia!" Maya stopped when she saw them. "What the hell? You disappeared for two days. Your mom said you ran away. I've been tracking your phone trying to find you." Alexia's stomach dropped. Maya couldn't be here. Civilian friends needed to stay separate from hunter business. The complications of explaining anything would only put Maya in danger. "I'm fine." Alexia tried to sound casual despite wearing a weapons harness and standing next to someone who clearly wasn't a normal friend. "Just dealing with some family stuff." Maya walked closer, taking in Elena's tactical clothing and Alexia's equipment. "Family stuff that involves weapons?" Elena stepped forward. "You need to leave. This doesn't concern you." "Who are you?" Maya looked between them. "Some kind of gang recruiter?" The absurdity of the situation would have been funny under different circumstances. Alexia needed to get Maya away before she learned anything that would make her a target. "Maya, seriously, go home." Alexia moved toward her friend. "I'll explain everything later." "No." Maya crossed her arms in a gesture that mirrored Elena's earlier stance. "You don't get to disappear for two days then tell me to go home. I've been worried sick." Dominic had mentioned vampire compulsion techniques during the drive back. Simple mental suggestions that could make humans forget encounters or rationalize strange events. The ethics of using them on her best friend seemed questionable at minimum. "I can't explain right now." Alexia tried again. "Please trust me." Maya's expression shifted from worry to frustration. "Trust you? You vanish, your mom acts like she doesn't know where you are, and now you're standing outside some apartment building wearing tactical gear. What am I supposed to think?" Elena made an impatient sound. "This is a security breach. She needs to leave immediately." "Security breach?" Maya looked at Elena with obvious confusion. "What are you talking about?" Alexia weighed her options. Compelling Maya to forget required abilities she hadn't developed yet. Lying seemed increasingly difficult given the evidence Maya could see directly. Telling the truth violated every protocol Elena had mentioned about keeping civilians uninformed. "My sister was killed last year." Maya spoke before Alexia could formulate a response. "The police said it was a random attack. Animal bites on her neck, completely drained of blood. They never found who did it." The statement hung in the air between them. Alexia registered the implication immediately. Elena's posture shifted into something more alert. "What are you saying?" Alexia kept her voice carefully neutral. "I'm saying I know what killed her." Maya's hands clenched into fists. "I spent months researching after the police gave up. Vampire attacks have specific patterns. The bite marks, the blood loss, the way bodies are left. My sister's death matched every documented case I could find." Elena moved closer to Maya. "What exactly do you think you know about vampires?" "Enough to recognize that whatever Alexia's involved in relates to them." Maya stood her ground despite Elena's obvious intimidation attempt. "So stop treating me like an ignorant civilian and tell me what's happening." Alexia's mind raced through possibilities. Maya knowing about vampires changed the security calculation. She wasn't a random civilian anymore. But Elena's reaction suggested the network wouldn't see it that way. "You can't tell her anything." Elena directed this at Alexia. "Network protocols are clear about information disclosure. Civilians who learn about vampires become targets." "She already knows." Alexia gestured toward Maya. "Her sister was killed by one." "Knowing vampires exist is different from knowing about hunter operations." Elena pulled out her phone. "I'm reporting this to my network contact. They'll decide how to handle it." Maya stepped between them. "Handle what? I'm not some security risk you need to manage." "You are exactly that." Elena kept her attention on her phone. "Every civilian who learns operational details becomes a leverage point vampires can exploit." The door to the apartment building opened. An elderly man emerged walking a small dog. He glanced at the three of them gathered on the sidewalk, then continued past without comment. City dwellers had apparently learned to ignore strange confrontations. Alexia waited until he was out of earshot. "Maya, you need to understand how dangerous this is." "My sister's dead." Maya's voice carried an edge that suggested old grief mixed with current anger. "I already understand danger." Elena finished typing on her phone. "My contact says to bring her in for evaluation. Network needs to assess what she knows and determine appropriate response." "Bring her in?" Alexia didn't like how that sounded. "What does that mean?" "It means she gets interviewed by people who can verify her knowledge level and decide if she needs monitoring." Elena pocketed her phone. "Standard protocol for civilians who stumble onto operational information." Maya looked at Alexia. "Are you seriously okay with this?" Alexia wasn't okay with any of it. Maya knowing about vampires complicated everything in ways she couldn't fully process right now. But Elena's network solution sounded like Maya would become a prisoner rather than a protected friend. "No." Alexia moved to stand beside Maya. "She's not going anywhere for 'evaluation' by people I don't know." Elena's expression hardened. "You don't get to make that call. Network security protocols exist for good reasons." "And I don't answer to your network." Alexia kept her voice steady despite the tension building. "I work for the coven now, remember? You said so yourself." The reminder of Alexia's employment status clearly frustrated Elena further. She couldn't enforce network protocols on someone who'd technically aligned with vampires instead. "Fine." Elena stepped back. "But when she becomes a target because you couldn't follow basic security measures, that's on you." Maya watched this exchange with growing confusion. "Can someone please explain what's actually happening?" Alexia pulled out the apartment key. "Come inside. I'll explain everything." Elena grabbed Alexia's arm. "You're making a mistake. Bringing civilians into operational knowledge never ends well." "She already has operational knowledge." Alexia pulled free. "Her sister was killed by a vampire. That makes her involved whether we acknowledge it or not." "Your choice." Elena released her and backed away. "But I'm reporting this conversation to my network contact. They'll take appropriate measures regardless of your cooperation." She walked away without waiting for a response. Alexia watched her disappear around the corner before turning back to Maya. "That was intense." Maya looked shaken despite her earlier confidence. "Who was she?" "Someone from a hunter network my father apparently worked with." Alexia unlocked the building's entrance. "It's complicated." They took the elevator to the top floor. Maya stayed quiet during the ride, processing everything she'd witnessed. Alexia used the silence to figure out how much to explain. The apartment door opened into a space that was clearly furnished recently. Modern furniture, full kitchen, everything needed for comfortable living. Dominic had apparently been thorough about arrangements. Maya walked inside slowly. "How can you afford this?" "I can't." Alexia closed the door behind them. "It's provided by my employer." "The vampires?" Maya sat on the couch. "You're actually working for them?" Alexia set her weapons harness on the counter. The bow and quiver followed. Having everything visible made the conversation easier than trying to hide what she'd been doing. "I'm working for one specific vampire lord." Alexia pulled off her jacket. "He hired me to hunt rogues who break coven rules." "Why would vampires hire a human to hunt their own kind?" Maya leaned forward. "That doesn't make sense." "Because I'm not just human." Alexia sat across from her. "My family bloodline traces back to vampire hunters. I have enhanced abilities that make me effective at tracking and fighting them." Maya absorbed this information with visible effort. "So you're like a supernatural bounty hunter?" "More or less." Alexia appreciated the simplified description. "The vampire lord who hired me wants rogues eliminated before they expose vampire existence to the general public. I hunt them in exchange for training and protection." "Protection from what?" Maya's expression shifted to concern. "Are you in danger?" Alexia laughed without humor. "Constantly. The vampire coven originally wanted me dead for being a hunter descendant. My employer convinced them I'm more useful alive." The full implications of that statement clearly registered with Maya. She stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the city lights. "My sister." Maya spoke without turning around. "Could you have saved her if you'd known about your abilities earlier?" The question hit harder than any physical blow Alexia had taken tonight. She wanted to say yes. That if she'd discovered her hunter bloodline sooner, she could have protected Maya's sister. But the timeline didn't work that way. "I only learned about this two days ago." Alexia joined her at the window. "Before that, I had no idea vampires existed or that I had hunter abilities." Maya wiped at her eyes quickly. "Two days. You've only known for two days and you're already hunting them?" "I didn't have much choice." Alexia watched the street below. "They captured me after I killed one attacking the warehouse where I'd gone for information. Surrendering was the only way to keep my mother alive." "Your mother?" Maya turned to face her. "Is she okay?" Alexia thought about her mother's role in everything. The deal she'd made. The betrayal of suppressing Alexia's abilities for eighteen years. The complicated mix of protection and coercion that defined their relationship now. "She's alive." Alexia settled on the simplest truth. "We're not exactly on good terms." Maya reached out and hugged her suddenly. Alexia stiffened initially before returning the embrace. Physical comfort from a normal friend felt strange after everything that had happened in the past two days. "I'm sorry." Maya pulled back. "This is insane. You shouldn't be dealing with this alone." "I'm not alone." Alexia gestured vaguely toward the door. "Elena's network exists. My employer provides resources. I have support even if it comes from complicated sources." "Your employer who's a vampire lord." Maya sat back down. "How does that even work? Aren't vampires supposed to be evil?" The question reminded Alexia how much cultural baggage came with vampire mythology. Movies and books created expectations that reality didn't match. Vampires weren't universally evil any more than humans were universally good. "They're complicated." Alexia tried to articulate what she'd learned. "Some follow rules and maintain order. Others kill recklessly. My employer wants the reckless ones eliminated before they cause problems." "So vampire politics." Maya processed this. "There are factions and rules and enforcement mechanisms." "Exactly." Alexia walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Fully stocked with food she didn't remember requesting. Dominic's thoroughness extended to anticipating practical needs. She grabbed two bottles of water, offering one to Maya. They drank in silence for a moment. "What happens now?" Maya set her bottle down. "Do you just keep hunting rogues?" "That's the plan." Alexia sat beside her on the couch. "Hunt rogues, train my abilities, try to survive long enough to graduate high school." Maya laughed at the absurdity. "Right. Senior year plus vampire hunting. Totally normal." The normalcy of Maya's presence helped ground Alexia after the intensity of the night. She'd fought a vampire, had sex with her employer in an abandoned factory, and now sat in her new apartment explaining everything to her best friend. The whiplash between different kinds of intensity was exhausting. "You should probably go home." Alexia checked the time on her phone. "It's late and your parents are probably worried." "They think I'm at a friend's house studying." Maya didn't move. "I have until tomorrow morning before they expect me back." Alexia wanted to argue but having company sounded better than being alone with her thoughts. The apartment was comfortable but unfamiliar. Maya's presence made it feel less like a cage provided by her vampire employer. "Okay." Alexia stood up. "I need to check something first." She walked to the desk against the far wall. A laptop sat there along with several file folders. Dominic had mentioned providing resources but seeing physical files seemed excessive. Maya joined her as Alexia opened the first folder. Her breath caught when she recognized the contents. Surveillance photos. Dozens of them. Her high school's parking lot, main entrance, cafeteria. Time stamps indicated they'd been taken over the past three weeks. The next folder contained more photos. Specific students this time. Maya appeared in several, talking with friends between classes. Time stamps and location notes accompanied each image. "What the hell?" Maya grabbed one of the photos showing her getting coffee at the campus shop. "Why are there surveillance photos of me?" Alexia flipped through more folders with growing anger. Every friend she'd mentioned to anyone apparently warranted monitoring. Teachers, classmates, her mother's coworkers. Detailed files on potential leverage points someone could exploit. One folder was labeled with Maya's full name. Inside were printed social media posts, class schedules, information about her family. The notation at the bottom read "Low threat assessment. Standard monitoring protocols." Maya read over her shoulder. "Standard monitoring? They've been watching me for weeks?" Alexia found another folder with her own name. The contents made her stomach turn. Photos of her daily routine. Notes about which routes she took to school. Lists of everyone she interacted with regularly. Cross-references to other files showing how those people connected to potential leverage networks. A sticky note attached to one page had Dominic's handwriting. "Security assessment complete. Subject isolated. Primary leverage points identified and monitored." The clinical language made everything worse. Alexia wasn't a person to be protected. She was a subject to be controlled through carefully identified pressure points. "They've been planning this for weeks." Alexia set the folder down. "Before I even knew about vampires, they were building a complete profile." Maya pulled out another folder. This one contained information about her sister's death. Police reports, autopsy findings, witness statements. Notes in the margins indicated vampire involvement confirmed but classified as rogue activity outside coven jurisdiction. "They knew." Maya's hands shook holding the file. "They knew what killed my sister and did nothing." The notation at the bottom explained why. "Unauthorized killing by rogue eliminated two weeks post-incident. Network informed. No intervention required." Two weeks. Maya's sister had been dead for two weeks before the vampire responsible was eliminated. No attempt to prevent the death. Just post-incident cleanup to maintain secrecy. Alexia wanted to defend Dominic's surveillance as security measures. Protection required information. But the thoroughness of the monitoring went beyond protection into manipulation. Every friendship she had was documented as a potential leverage point rather than a relationship worth preserving. "I should go." Maya set the folder down carefully. "This is too much." "Wait." Alexia grabbed her arm gently. "I'm sorry you found out this way." "Found out that your vampire employer has been stalking me for weeks?" Maya pulled free. "Or found out that vampires knew what killed my sister and waited two weeks to do anything about it?" Both truths hurt in different ways. Alexia couldn't defend either one adequately. "I didn't know." The excuse sounded weak even to her own ears. "I only accepted this job tonight." "But you accepted it." Maya walked toward the door. "Knowing they've been surveilling your friends and monitoring everyone around you. You still took their resources and agreed to hunt for them." Alexia followed her. "I took it because refusing meant death. That's not really a choice." Maya stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "There's always a choice. You could have run. Gone to that hunter network Elena mentioned. Done anything except work for the people who let my sister die." The accusation landed with precision. Alexia had chosen survival over principle. Practical strategy over moral purity. Working for vampires meant complicity with their systems regardless of her justifications. "I'm sorry about your sister." Alexia meant it despite how inadequate the words sounded. "I'm sorry the vampires didn't intervene sooner." "Sorry doesn't bring her back." Maya opened the door. "And working for them won't either." She left before Alexia could respond. The door closed with a soft click that somehow sounded louder than slamming would have. Alexia stood in the empty apartment surrounded by surveillance files documenting every aspect of her life. Dominic had been thorough in ways that went beyond security into complete information control. Every friend, every relationship, every potential pressure point mapped and monitored. She walked back to the desk and pulled out more folders. The documentation was extensive. Financial records for her mother showing the payments received from the coven. Surveillance of Elena's network activities. Background checks on every teacher at her school. One folder near the bottom caught her attention. It was thicker than the others and labeled simply "Subject Assessment - Alexia Thorne." Inside were psychological evaluations based on observed behavior. Notes about her decision-making patterns. Predictions about how she'd respond to different pressure scenarios. The analysis was clinical and disturbingly accurate. A subsection detailed her relationship patterns. How she maintained friendships. Her tendency to prioritize others' safety over her own interests. The assessment concluded she could be controlled through careful management of threats to people she cared about. Another subsection analyzed her combat potential. The warehouse fight had been recorded somehow. Stills from the video showed her staking the vampire. Notes in the margin evaluated her technique and identified areas requiring training. The final page contained Dominic's overall assessment. "Subject demonstrates high combat potential with adequate motivation. Isolation from support networks recommended to increase dependency on coven resources. Leverage points identified and monitored. Recommendation: Immediate recruitment with controlled training environment." Alexia set the folder down carefully. Every interaction with Dominic suddenly took on different context. The offer of training and resources wasn't generosity. It was calculated manipulation based on weeks of psychological profiling. She walked to the window Maya had stood at earlier. The city stretched out below, lights marking thousands of lives continuing normally while hers spiraled into complications she couldn't have imagined two days ago. Her phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number appeared on the screen. "Information verified. University group confirmed operating as described. Assignment details forthcoming tomorrow. Rest well. - D" Dominic's message was professional and distant. No mention of what had happened between them at the factory. Just business communication about the next hunt. Alexia looked back at the surveillance files spread across the desk. Dominic had been watching her for weeks. Planning her recruitment. Identifying exactly which pressure points would make her compliant. The sex at the factory suddenly seemed less like spontaneous attraction and more like another form of control. Her bloodline's response to vampire presence created arousal that could be exploited just like any other leverage point. She grabbed her phone and typed a response. "How long have you been surveilling me?" The reply came within seconds. "Security requires information. Everything in those files represents standard operational protocols." "Standard protocols include detailed files on my friends?" "Standard protocols include threat assessment of potential leverage points. Your friends represent vulnerabilities that needed documentation." Alexia's hands clenched around the phone. The clinical language made it worse somehow. Maya wasn't a person. She was a vulnerability to be documented and potentially exploited. "Maya found the files." A longer pause before the response appeared. "Unfortunate but manageable. Her knowledge of vampire existence already made her a security concern. This simply accelerates necessary protocols." "What protocols?" "We'll discuss tomorrow. Focus on rest tonight. First assignment briefing is at noon." The conversation ended there. Dominic apparently saw no need to justify the surveillance or explain what "necessary protocols" meant for Maya. Alexia threw her phone onto the couch. The apartment that had seemed comfortable an hour ago now registered as a carefully constructed cage. Everything provided by Dominic came with strings attached. The food, the furniture, the weapons, all of it represented control mechanisms rather than genuine support. She walked to the weapons harness still sitting on the counter. The bow felt right in her hands earlier because it matched her bloodline advantages. But Dominic had known that before offering the choice. The psychological assessment probably predicted exactly which weapon she'd select. Every choice she'd made since accepting his offer suddenly seemed predetermined. He'd mapped out her decision patterns and created scenarios that would push her toward predictable responses. The only genuinely spontaneous element had been sparing the rogue vampire. The assessment predicted she'd prioritize effectiveness over ideology. Choosing mercy based on information value matched that prediction perfectly. Alexia returned to the desk and gathered all the surveillance files into a pile. Evidence of systematic manipulation that had been occurring for weeks before she'd even known vampires existed. She opened the laptop and found it already configured with her login credentials. More evidence of preparation. Dominic had known she'd accept his offer before making it. The browser history showed recent activity. Searches about her father's hunter career. Information about historical vampire-hunter conflicts. Research into her bloodline's documented abilities. Someone had been studying her heritage thoroughly. Building a complete picture of what she was capable of and how to best exploit those capabilities. A folder on the desktop was labeled "Training Resources." Inside were documents outlining combat techniques, information about vampire physiology, tactical approaches for different hunting scenarios. Another folder contained contracts. Legal documents establishing her employment terms with the coven. Non-disclosure agreements. Liability waivers. Everything professionally prepared and ready for signature. The thoroughness would have been impressive if it wasn't so disturbing. Dominic had prepared for every contingency. Every possible objection had a pre-planned response. Every resource she might need was already provided. Alexia closed the laptop and stood up. The apartment suddenly seemed smaller despite its actual size. Cameras were probably hidden somewhere, continuing the surveillance even in her supposed private space. She walked through each room looking for obvious monitoring equipment. The bedroom contained a comfortable bed with high-quality linens. The bathroom had luxury toiletries. Everything designed to make her comfortable and dependent on coven-provided resources. No obvious cameras, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Modern surveillance equipment could be hidden in anything. Smoke detectors, electrical outlets, decorative objects. Assuming privacy was probably naive. Her phone buzzed again. Another message from Dominic. "The apartment is not monitored. You have my word privacy will be maintained in designated safe spaces." The timing suggested he was monitoring her somehow despite the claim. Otherwise how would he know she was searching for cameras? "How do I know you're telling the truth?" "You don't. Trust must be built through demonstrated reliability over time. I gain nothing from violating your privacy in designated safe spaces." The logic was sound even if it didn't make her feel better. Dominic's manipulation worked best when she retained enough autonomy to feel like choices were genuinely hers. Total surveillance would undermine that illusion. "What about Maya?" "She'll be monitored as standard protocol requires. Her knowledge of vampire existence makes her a potential security risk regardless of your friendship." "And if I object to that?" "Then you're welcome to propose alternative security measures that adequately address the risk she represents." Alexia had no alternative proposals. Maya knowing about vampires did make her a target. Protecting her required some level of monitoring to prevent vampire attacks or attempts to exploit her knowledge. She set the phone down without responding. The complexity of the situation resisted simple solutions. Working with Dominic meant accepting his security protocols even when they felt invasive. Refusing meant finding another way to survive that didn't currently exist. The hunter network Elena represented was an option theoretically. But their protocols for handling Maya seemed equally controlling. "Evaluation" and "monitoring" were just different words for the same loss of autonomy. Alexia returned to the surveillance files one more time. She flipped through photos of Maya, looking for any indication of actual threat monitoring versus simple information gathering. Most of the images were mundane. Maya getting coffee, attending classes, talking with friends. Normal life documented and analyzed for potential leverage value. Near the bottom of Maya's file was a notation that made Alexia pause. "Sister's death - confirmed vampire attack by rogue eliminated post-incident. Subject shows interest in supernatural research. Recommend monitoring for independent investigation attempts. Potential recruitment opportunity if properly managed." Recruitment opportunity. The coven had considered recruiting Maya based on her interest in finding her sister's killer. They'd watched her grieve and research and saw it as a potential asset rather than a tragedy. Alexia closed the file and shoved the entire stack into a desk drawer. She couldn't look at more documentation of systematic manipulation tonight. Her anger needed direction but had nowhere productive to go. She walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting hot water run while she stripped off her clothes. The weapons harness left red marks on her shoulders where straps had pressed during the fight and everything after. Standing under the spray, Alexia tried to organize her thoughts into something coherent. She'd accepted employment with a vampire lord who had been surveilling her for weeks. Her best friend now knew about vampires and was justifiably angry about the whole situation. Elena's hunter network considered her a collaborator and security risk. And tomorrow she had her first real assignment hunting a group of vampires operating near the university. The water couldn't wash away the complications but it helped with the physical exhaustion at least. Her muscles ached from fighting and other activities. The enhanced healing her bloodline provided would handle most of it by morning. She dried off and found clothes in the bedroom dresser. Everything in her size. More evidence of thorough preparation. She pulled on a t-shirt and sleep pants, then climbed into bed. Sleep seemed unlikely despite her exhaustion. Her mind kept cycling through everything that had happened. The rogue vampire's surrender. Sex with Dominic in the factory. Maya's anger. The surveillance files documenting every relationship as a potential leverage point. Her phone buzzed one more time. She almost ignored it but checked anyway. The message was from Maya. "I'm sorry I left angry. This is just a lot to process. Can we talk tomorrow?" Alexia typed a quick response. "Of course. I'm sorry you found out this way." "Not your fault. Get some rest. You're probably exhausted." "Yeah. Tomorrow." The brief exchange helped settle some of the churning anxiety. Maya was angry but not permanently distant. They'd figure out how to navigate this new reality together. Alexia set her phone on the nightstand and closed her eyes. Sleep came eventually despite everything, pulling her under into dreams filled with surveillance cameras and vampire eyes watching from the darkness. She woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows. The apartment took a moment to register as her current residence rather than somewhere temporary. Everything from last night rushed back in a cascade of uncomfortable memories. Her phone showed several missed messages. One from Dominic with assignment details for the university vampire group. Another from Elena requesting a meeting to discuss Maya's security status. A third from her mother asking if she was okay. Alexia ignored all of them temporarily and walked to the kitchen. Coffee first. Messages after caffeine. The coffee maker was high-end and already loaded with grounds. She pressed the start button and waited while it brewed, looking out the window at the city below. Normal people were heading to work or school. Living ordinary lives without vampire hunters or surveillance files or impossible choices about collaboration versus survival. Her phone rang. Dominic's number appeared on the screen. She answered cautiously. "Hello?" "Good morning." Dominic's voice was professionally neutral. "I trust you slept adequately despite the evening's revelations." "The surveillance files." Alexia went straight to the issue. "You've been watching me for weeks." "Security protocols required thorough assessment before recruitment." Dominic showed no defensiveness about it. "Everything in those files represents standard operational procedures." "Standard procedures include psychological profiling and leverage point identification?" "Of course. Recruiting an unknown asset requires understanding their decision patterns and potential vulnerabilities. The alternative would be operating blindly." Alexia poured coffee while processing his complete lack of apology. To Dominic, the surveillance was simply practical preparation rather than invasion of privacy. "What about Maya?" She tried a different approach. "What are these 'necessary protocols' you mentioned?" "Standard monitoring to ensure she doesn't become a security liability. We'll track her movements and communications to verify she doesn't expose operational information to unsuitable parties." "She's my best friend, not a security liability." "She's both." Dominic's tone didn't change. "Her knowledge makes her valuable as potential leverage against you while simultaneously making her a target for other vampires who might exploit that knowledge." The logic was sound even if Alexia hated it. Maya knowing about vampires did put her at risk from multiple directions. "And if she objects to being monitored?" "Then she'll be monitored without her knowledge. Cooperation makes the process cleaner but isn't required for security protocols." Alexia drank her coffee and stared out the window. Everything Dominic said made tactical sense while simultaneously feeling like another manipulation. He was probably right that Maya needed protection. But protection through surveillance created its own problems. "What time is the briefing?" She changed subjects rather than continuing an argument she couldn't win. "Noon at the manor. I'll send a car at eleven-thirty." "I can drive myself." "The manor's location isn't common knowledge. Transportation will be provided." The conversation ended there. Alexia set her phone down and finished her coffee while watching the city wake up below. She had three hours before the car arrived. Enough time to shower properly, eat something, and maybe figure out how to explain everything to Maya when they talked later. Her phone buzzed with a new message. Maya's name appeared on the screen. "Can you come over? We should talk in person." Alexia typed a response. "I have a meeting at noon. Can we do this afternoon?" "This is important. Please?" The urgency in Maya's message suggested something more than processing last night's revelations. Alexia checked the time again. She could get to Maya's house and back before the car arrived if she left immediately. "Okay. I'll be there in twenty minutes." She dressed quickly in normal clothes rather than tactical gear. The weapons harness stayed in the apartment. Whatever Maya needed to discuss probably didn't require being armed. The drive to Maya's house took fifteen minutes through morning traffic. Alexia parked on the street and walked to the front door, knocking quietly. Maya answered immediately. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying. She pulled Alexia inside without speaking. "What's wrong?" Alexia followed her to the living room. Maya sat on the couch and pulled out her phone. "After I left your apartment last night, I couldn't stop thinking about my sister's file. How they knew what killed her and did nothing for two weeks." She opened a folder on her phone showing screenshots of documents. Alexia recognized them as photos of the file about Maya's sister. "I started researching the vampire they said killed her. The one eliminated two weeks after." Maya scrolled through more screenshots. "His name was Marcus Chen. Turned six months before he killed my sister. No prior documented kills." Alexia sat beside her. "Where are you going with this?" "The file said he was a rogue operating outside coven jurisdiction. But I found social media posts from before his death. He was at a coven gathering three days before he killed my sister." Maya showed Alexia the screenshot. A group photo at what looked like a formal event. Marcus Chen stood among other well-dressed people in what the caption identified as a "coven celebration." "If he was at official coven events, he wasn't operating outside their jurisdiction." Maya's voice shook. "They lied in the file. He was part of their organization when he killed her." Alexia studied the photo carefully. The implication was clear. If Marcus had been affiliated with the coven when he killed Maya's sister, then his death two weeks later wasn't eliminating a rogue. It was covering up a member's unauthorized killing. "Let me see the rest of what you found." Alexia took the phone. Maya had screenshots of multiple social media posts. Marcus attending coven functions. Comments from other vampires treating him as an established member. Nothing suggested he was operating as an independent rogue. "They lied." Maya repeated. "The coven killed my sister through one of their members, then eliminated him quietly and called him a rogue to avoid responsibility." Alexia handed the phone back. "This changes things." "Does it?" Maya looked at her directly. "You're still working for them. Still hunting rogues to protect their secrecy. Does knowing they lied about my sister's death actually change anything?" The question demanded honesty Alexia wasn't sure she could provide. Working for Dominic meant accepting a certain level of moral compromise. But knowing the coven had directly lied about a murder felt different than general ethical ambiguity. "I don't know." Alexia admitted. "I need to think about this." "While you're thinking, they're monitoring me." Maya stood up and walked to the window. "Treating me like a security risk because I know too much. But they're the ones who should be held accountable." Alexia joined her at the window. "What do you want to do?" "I want justice for my sister." Maya turned to face her. "I want the vampires who let Marcus kill her held responsible. I want acknowledgment that they covered it up instead of pretending he was some rogue they heroically eliminated." The goals were reasonable but the implementation seemed impossible. Demanding accountability from a vampire coven that could eliminate threats with impunity didn't offer good survival odds. "That's dangerous." Alexia tried to find a diplomatic way to say it was probably suicidal. "They won't respond well to accusations." "Then what's the alternative?" Maya's frustration was visible. "Accept that they killed my sister and got away with it? Let them keep monitoring me as a security risk while they're the actual threat?" Alexia didn't have good answers. Maya deserved justice for her sister's death. But pursuing it against a vampire organization meant risking everything for an outcome that probably wouldn't succeed. Her phone alarm went off. Eleven o'clock. The car would arrive at her apartment in thirty minutes to take her to Dominic's manor for the briefing. "I have to go." Alexia silenced the alarm. "My assignment briefing starts at noon." "Right." Maya's expression closed off. "Your vampire employment takes priority." "That's not fair." Alexia moved toward the door. "I'm trying to survive this situation, not ignore what happened to your sister." "Surviving means working for the people who killed her." Maya followed her to the entrance. "That is what's happening whether you want to acknowledge it or not." Alexia stopped at the door. "I'll look into this. See what I can find out about Marcus and whether the coven was actually involved in your sister's death." "And then what?" Maya crossed her arms. "Even if you confirm they lied, what changes? You're still dependent on Dominic for protection and resources." The accurate assessment stung. Alexia was dependent on Dominic in ways that limited her options for pursuing uncomfortable truths about coven activities. "I don't know." Alexia opened the door. "But I'll figure something out." She left before Maya could respond further. The drive back to her apartment took twenty minutes. The car Dominic sent was already waiting outside when she arrived. The driver didn't speak during the trip to the manor. Alexia used the silence to process everything Maya had shown her. If the coven had lied about Marcus being a rogue, then her current employment was based on false premises about who actually threatened vampire secrecy. The manor appeared after thirty minutes of driving through increasingly rural areas. Same imposing structure she'd been held in just yesterday. Now she was arriving as an employee rather than a prisoner. The distinction seemed minimal. Dominic met her in the entrance hall. He wore different clothes than last night but maintained the same carefully controlled appearance. "You're punctual." He gestured toward a different corridor than the one leading to the cells. "The briefing room is this way." Alexia followed him through hallways lined with old paintings and expensive furniture. The manor had clearly been maintained for centuries. Evidence of vampire wealth accumulated over lifetimes normal humans couldn't match. They entered a room set up like a modern office. Large table, multiple screens, file cabinets along one wall. The contrast between contemporary technology and ancient architecture was jarring. Dominic pulled up files on the main screen. Photos of four vampires appeared alongside location data and behavioral notes. "The university group." He indicated each photo in turn. "Operating for approximately eight months. They target students primarily, using compulsion to ensure cooperation and memory suppression afterward." Alexia studied the photos. Three men and one woman, all appearing to be in their twenties physically though vampire age was impossible to determine from appearance. "What rules are they breaking?" She needed to verify this wasn't another cover-up like Marcus. "Coven protocols require informed consent for feeding." Dominic brought up additional documentation. "Compulsion for compliance violates that requirement. Additionally, their pattern creates risk of exposure if memory suppression fails." The documentation looked legitimate. Multiple incident reports from coven monitors. Warnings issued to the group about protocol violations. Evidence they'd ignored those warnings and continued operating. "Why haven't they been eliminated already?" Alexia scanned through the files. "If the coven knows they're breaking rules, why wait for me to hunt them?" Dominic's expression shifted slightly. "Political complications. Two of the group members have family connections to influential coven houses. Direct action by coven enforcement would create factional conflicts." "So you're using me to eliminate them without political blowback." Alexia understood the real assignment now. "I'm not hunting rogues. I'm providing plausible deniability for coven politics." "You're resolving a legitimate protocol violation through methods that minimize collateral political damage." Dominic didn't deny the characterization. "The distinction matters for procedural purposes." Alexia looked at the files again with new understanding. These vampires weren't rogues operating outside coven authority. They were politically connected members whose removal required careful management. "And if I refuse?" She tested the boundaries of her employment. "Then the situation continues until it creates exposure risk too significant to ignore. At which point, coven enforcement handles it directly and accepts the political consequences." Dominic pulled up a new screen showing building layouts. "Your involvement makes resolution cleaner for everyone." The logic was sound even if the ethics remained questionable. The vampires were violating protocols. Their political connections shouldn't protect them from consequences. Using Alexia to handle it was manipulation but served legitimate security purposes. "What's the operational plan?" She focused on practical details rather than philosophical objections. Dominic outlined the approach. The university group operated from an off-campus apartment building. They targeted students at night, using vampire speed and compulsion to isolate victims. Standard hunting tactics would involve surveillance, identification of patterns, and elimination during vulnerable moments. "You'll have support resources." Dominic indicated different sections of the documentation. "Coven monitors will provide real-time location updates. Equipment