“First thing in the armory are your pistols. Don't worry if you've never used one. You'll get plenty of training. The pistols have silver bullets in them. 10 mm. To the left you'll find stakes. Make sure to grab two. They are all different weights so feel them out. Get one that is comfortable for you.”

His name is Count Talmage. Talmage was in charge of weapons in the King's Guard. He looked like he never left this basement room. The room looked like something straight out of a Dracula movie. It was dark and full with all kinds of killing weapons. Talmage is an overweight man with a huge mustache and a gut that would put any man to shame. It was nice to see a normal looking vampire for once though. Not the same regular extremely beautiful ones that I was used to. This guy actually looked more human than vampire. He wears King's Guards things.

“Everyone make sure you listen to Talmage,” Justice tells us, “Grab two and go. Let's move Team.”

Justice is met by eye rolls and annoyed sighs. The fact that he is repeating what Talmage said is clear that he just wants to show his dominance over the group. It wasn't working. Everyone...including me was looking at this kid as just another pretty boy who hasn't lived long enough to be telling anyone else what to do.

Even Talmage just seems to move on, “Here you'll find your leathers. This is going to the be the official uniform of the Elite Unit. They are flexible...and light weight.”

“And y,” Satyr adds, “Jackson why don't you be the first to try them on.”

She winks at Jackson. My father is with us. He's in the back away from everyone else. Truth he is the only one here who probably has the most experience. JB did what I said and put my father back on the team with us. I was assuming he would make my father the captain but he didn't. Justice was the captain. As handsome as Justice was I had to admit that I'd felt safer with Jackson leading us...even though he did try to kill me or what not.

Jackson ignores Satyr. She isn't the first girl to try to get his attention. Nelly literally stalked my father until he gave her the time of day. He is hardly paying attention to Talmage either. He's silently leaning up against the wall, literally too cool for school.

Justice wastes no time, “Jackson grab your leather and move on.”

Jackson ignores him.

Justice literally grabs one of the leather suits and throws it at my father. It hits my father in the chest and falls to the ground.

Justice walks over to Jackson and gets in his face, “Pick it up soldier....”

We are all looking at this and I have to admit Justice has some balls. Walking up to my father and giving him an order like that was something that definitely wouldn't have happened back in my day. By the look on everyone's faces I can tell this is something that they still don't really expect. Bambam, Satyr, and Candy even takes a step back probably expecting Jackson to drag young Justice. Honestly my heart sinks. Justice's face was way too cute to get the beating that Jackson was about to give him.

Jackson just stares at Justice...blankly with a cold demeanor.

“Justice maybe you should just leave him be...” Mark interrupts in a soft tone.

Out of all of them Mark was the closest to my father. My father had damn near raised Mark. Mark knew my father and he knew what my father was capable of.

“No. My father put me in charge of this squad,” Justice states at that moment and he looks over at him, “Put the leathers on Jackson. That's an order.”

I can't take it anymore. I walk forward. I grab the leathers off the floor. I push them into Jackson's chest.

The others seem surprised that Jackson reacts by taking the leathers from me instead of Justice. Justice gives Jackson a hard look but at long last we are able to move on.

Talmage brings us upstairs at that moment away from the dungeon torture chamber and into civilization. He shows us training rooms that are specifically given to the Elite team. He's long winded going over every single safety measure. As the others pay attention to what Talmage is saying I can't help but to lag behind with Jackson.

“You not going to say anything to me?” I ask him.

Jackson doesn't respond. He just looks forward, walking slow and keeping a mellow toned face. I can't read him. He's completely shut down.

I get annoyed at that moment, “I should be mad at you. You tried to kill me. The least you can do is give me an explanation.”

He doesn't give me an explanation.

Jackson just turns to me, “Why'd you ask JB to release me out of jail?”

“Because you're my father.”

Jackson doesn't seem to like that, “I tried to kill you.”

“You were trying to protect Eden,” I whisper to Jackson, “I understand. And you know what Father. If you really want to protect Eden, you should probably try again.”

Jackson grabs me. He holds me by the arm. His grip is so strong that I can feel his fingers digging into me. I try to pull away but I don't get far. Jackson pushes me hard into the wall at that moment. He is still the Jackson that I knew from 100 years ago. My father was strong, resilient and well trained. He put every other vampire in this squad...he’ll probably every other vampire in Eden to shame.

“This isn't a game Jr,” Jackson tells me.

“It's not? So why did you play me?”

I have to admit I'm amused by how angry I'm able to make Jackson. I want him to be here. I want him to be in my face constantly. I want him to be reminded of the son that he tried to ing kill to save this wretched ing city. If he loved this city so much he'd be right by my side when I brought it down slowly. I'd take my time.

“Is there a problem back there?” Justice runs over to us, “Jackson take your ing hands off of him. That's an order.”

Jackson glares at me. He ignores Justice.

His eyes are digging into me, “What are you planning?”

“Take your hands off him SOLDIER. That's an order!” Justice barks in Jackson's ear so loud that Jackson's eyes finally cut to him in the most threatening way.

I had to admit I enjoyed this. Justice didn't only have some balls but he was getting under Jackson's skin. To see a young guy with no experience like Justice telling Eden's greatest fighter what to do was hilarious. This was honestly making my entire day.

“You better listen to your Captain,” I tell Jackson, “Didn't you hear. That's an order.”

Jackson lets go of me. He lets out this painful angry growl-like sound. I know I'm picking at the bear right now but I don't give a . I planned on making him pay in my own way. He'd betrayed me. He was the only person who hadn't abandoned me when I had woken up out of a 100-year slumber and now even he had. I had no one. JB was married to Mark. Bambam and Satyr were kissing Mark's . And now even my father felt like I was a threat to the city and he wanted to destroy me.

“This area are your headquarters. This is where you'll report weekday from 9-5. You'll train on your downtime and patrol the streets looking for any Thirst threats.”

“Is that what we call them. Thirst Threats?” Candy asks Talmage.

“Yes. I'm sure you all know what a thirst looks like. I'm sure you won't be able to miss it. Your desks have all been assigned to you and there are lockers in the back that you can change out of normal clothes into your Elite leathers. Does anyone have any questions?”

People ask questions while I look around the room. It looks like a police station. There is a huge window overlooking the city. We are on the 2nd floor of a building not too far from JB's palace. The area looks familiar to me from back in the day. We are in the center of the city. Nothing has really changed as I look out the window at Eden. The red sky is still in the sky. The building we are in is an old building. It looks antique and it smells like it's from a different time. The desks are old fashioned desks that look like they came out of some Tracy movies. I find mine and realize that I'm right next to Mark and Justice. Great.

We get in the back to the locker rooms. The girls have a separate one than we do. We're all changing into our leathers and I have to admit. Satyr was right. These leathers are y. When I wear mine it sticks to my skin showing damn near everything. It's all black and there is stitching up the sides. I'm able to move well in it.

My eyes turn to the locker to the left of me.

Justice.

I watch him get dressed and my mouth is ing watering. Justice has gotten completely . His body is so toned that as he tries to pull the leathers above his legs they tense and his defined leg muscles are exaggerated even in these dim lights. He pulls the leathers up and up over his tight and his solid abdomen.

That's when I notice him staring at me. He smiles slyly and I struggle to look away.

Luckily Mark is making a stink back there, “Talmage. Talmage what am I supposed to do with my ring?”

“King Mark, the locker is very secure,” Talmage states.

Mark looks at him hard. Hearing them refer to Mark as King Mark blew my mind. Justice was acting like he was the authority here but we all knew Mark was the real authority. Mark seemed to know it too and he was showing that right now by the way he was talking to Talmage.

“Do you know what this is?” Mark asks Talmage.

Mark shows Talmage his ring.

“Sir. That is your engagement ring.”

“It's more than that. It's one of the Lucky Ones. These are ancient relics passed down for centuries. I am not going to put it in a locker,” Mark responds.

“Sir I was instructed not to give anyone special treatment on the Elite team.

Mark's eyes glare at Talmage. He is speechless. To be honest I'm surprised Mark has become so...pompous. I swear if he had pearls on right now Mark would clutch them. What Talmage is saying doesn't even seem that unreasonable. Mark wasn't the only royal here. Justice was a royal too and he wasn't asking for any special treatment for his stuff. Mark was different. He's always been that mysterious guy who stuck to the shadows. I wonder if he changed or if this was the Mark that was always there but he just never showed me that side of him.

“This is King Mark now,” Bambam stands up for Mark, “Are you going to be a dickhead to a King? You want to lose your job and end up working in some soup kitchen for rest of your life serving blood to the homeless?”

“Sir...no but I was instructed.”

Bambam pushes Talmage to the ground.

“Listen good-----you fat, ugly, old, ing piece of pig Find some place for King Mark's stuff NOW. Or I'll make sure you can't feed those little piglets you call children. They'll turn into Thirsts and then we'll hunt them. You understand?” Bambam threatens Talmage.

I get up at that moment.

Justice shakes his head and whispers a soft, “Stay out of it.”

I'm annoyed that Justice is telling me to stay out of it. He can stand up to Jackson who was actually the scary one but he didn't want to get in Mark's way. Had Mark become...that king?

Talmage folds at that moment like I assume he would, “I'm sorry King Mark. I do have a safe. It is silver and reinforced. You can keep the ring in there.”

Mark raises an eyebrow, “You better not lose it.”

I look at the ring that Mark gives to Talmage to put away. It is one of 3 lucky ones. Justice had one, which he wasn't wearing right now and King JB had one. They were the most important things in Eden. They weren't just ancient relics. They had power. They kept Eden safe from darkness. The fact that Mark was protecting it made sense. Justice hadn't even brought his Lucky one with him today. They were guarding them with their lives.

I swallow my pride and don't confront Mark about how he's treating Talmage. Justice was right. I should stay out of it. I should pick my battles.

And I just found out what my battle was.

The Lucky ones.

I had to get them. I knew these Lucky Ones were the key to the destruction of Eden...for good.

***

“You should relax. Arms should be fully extended when possible, but not necessarily locked out. Shoulders should be relaxed, not up around your ears.”

We've begun our training...shooting guns with silver bullets at targets in a shooting range down the hall from the headquarters. Candy walks up to me at that moment. I'm actually surprised she does. I've missed every ing shot that I've attempted. The others are beginning to notice. Satyr, Bambam and Mark are making it clear that they are amused by my attempts at firing this gun.

“ this ,” I say.

I slam the gun on the table. The others are pretty good, except Jackson and it's only because he isn't participating. He's standing on the side of the room with his arms crossed. Justice doesn't bother him surprisingly and I assume it's because we all know that Jackson doesn't really need any gun practice.

On the other hand, I was different. I'd never fired a gun in my life. By the time I slam my gun in frustration I realize the s are laughing at me. They aren't even attempting to hide it.

“Don't worry,” Satyr tells me as they walk past, “Your skills aren't totally useless, Jr. I mean, you can be used as an example of what not to do.”

There is laughter from Mark and Bambam as they walk past. Mark gives me a stare. I'm a little shocked by it.