Lucy was telling Alpha Chester about it. "Your boys did the right thing, contacting me. My security cameras make it easy for you."
Chester asked, "Target found?"
Lucy confirmed. "Finding him was the easy part. I had the recordings in a couple of hours." But she added something. "Just knowing the location leaves you one step behind. This is the important question. Where does he go next?"
Chester became irritated. "Come to the point."
Lucy assured him she was coming to it.
His boys had explained the places they went and interrogated the staff. Address after address. The guy loves bookstores. Then she checked all the main city exits, hacked the cameras, and realised he was going south.
In one camera lens the image of a red pickup truck was reflected.
Lucy summarised it. She had made a list of possible locations and captured his image on a store camera.
Chester asked for the location.
Lucy told him. Professor Denver Brown was in a shapeshifter's bookstore. The boys were already on their way.
Chester ordered them to leave him intact. "I'll be contacting Mr. Brown myself. There's no other way."
Lucy was confident she could do it.
Near the bookstore, Callum was standing at the phone booth, frustrated with himself. What has happened to me?
He was thinking about calling Alpha Chester. I've gone crazy.
But if the wolves could track his movements, then going anywhere at all would be a mistake. Calling the number on the note was the next step. How to clarify it was the question.
A moment later the phone rang and the Alpha answered.
"Thank you for calling, Mr. Brown. Or should I say Chase? Or Mr. Hall?"
Callum was immediately irritated. "What do you want?"
Chester explained. "I had to thank you for saving Clara. But Vignette is not alone in this. The vampires are taking more territories."
Callum said, "I'm not a mercenary."
Chester countered him. "You don't even know yourself what you are."
Then he made his offer. "I can clear your name with all the Guild documentation. In return, I need help."
Callum said, "Money isn't the problem. Information would be useful. Wizards and their societies."
Chester agreed immediately. "Done. There's access to specialists. Meetings can be arranged."
The terms were set. Callum asked for an explanation of the job.
Chester revealed it. Vampires were attacking four shapeshifter cities. It was a political move, to reduce their influence.
Callum was slightly taken aback. Four cities. In his mind he wondered whether he was ready for this level. The first time was luck. The Guild agents had been close, too.
He asked whether there was any deadline. Chester took that as a sign of willingness.
Callum clarified that a meeting with a specialist could be scheduled. "But first, tell me how you tracked me."
Chester explained it. "I had trackers out on the streets. But going south, you didn't stop yourself from going into a bookstore. That was the mistake."
Callum said, frustrated with himself, "So predictable."
Chester said, "There's a package in a trash can at the end of the street."
In the package was every detail about the vampires.
Callum said, "I'll tell you my decision soon."
Chester said, "Understood."
A little while later Callum was sitting in the pickup with the package in his hand. It was as thick as an encyclopedia. Alpha Chester is very well informed.
But there was a problem. The cities were as much as a thousand kilometres apart, and travelling more than a hundred kilometres quickly was going to be an issue.
Then an idea came to him. Teleporting himself was possible. But the limit was fifteen metres.
Gravity telekinesis has no speed limit. He had never tried it before, but the theory had to be correct.
A moment later his body was enveloped in bright purple energy. His feet came up off the ground. Callum got excited. I'm levitating—
And immediately he lost his balance. A scream came out of him. He shot up into the air and hit the trunk of a tree, and came down onto the ground.
A frustrated expression. The theory is correct. Control is needed.
Just then he remembered something that could be perfect.
Meanwhile, Guild agents Ray and Felicia were out on the road. Ray was using his power.
Felicia asked whether he had found anything.
Ray said there was something ahead. "Check the ditch."
Walking through the grass, his partner commented, "Good hiding spot."
Callum's old car was lying down below in the ravine. Felicia opened the door. Completely cleaned out.
Ray observed it. "It didn't take him long here." A sly smile. "You know what that means. We're getting closer."
A motorcycle roared down the road and accelerated. Callum was in a helmet.
He activated the power. The entire vehicle was enveloped in it.
The motorcycle suddenly became very fast. Callum celebrated. Gravity telekinesis on a bike. Perfect transport. Problem solved.
Now he decided the nest needed to be checked. The motorcycle, and the trees of a nearby park.
Chester had given him the contacts of all the local Alphas. But right now avoiding interaction was smarter.
Activate the power. Have to find the vampire nest.
Then his head suddenly turned. The expression of discovery.
The spatial sense pinpointed the city cinema. Nine distinct vampire signatures. A local wizard was with them too. Magical shields were protecting the entire area.
But the shields only covered the ground. There might be a bypass from above.
The biggest problem was the wizard. Her magical bubble was complex. He would need shields similar to Callum's own to get through it, and her vacuum enchantment was not compatible with those.
In this job there would be more trouble than what he would get out of it. Briefly, he thought about declining Chester's offer.
Then a man with a red aura, moving strangely. Eyes wide. A tenth vampire was on the scene. It had come so fast that it must have travelled at the speed of a bullet. At first he had not noticed it at all.
Vignette had been a stealthy attack. This was the first time he was seeing the true speed of a vampire. It is frightening.
Then he saw a vampire dragging something along. What is that?
And then he realised. It was a badly beaten child.
A wave of fury. These really are monsters. And their accompanying wizard is just as bad.