Chapter 1

Skye Philips was walking down a Newmarket street. Her denim jacket was left open to reveal an electric blue shirt. Her skinny dark washed jeans form-fitted her body, showing off her lovely curves. On her feet was a pare of platform wedge heel boots. Her dark red hair, was pulled back in a high pony tail, that lightly brushed at the back of her neck. She was walking back from work, having gotten off fifteen minutes ago, but unfortunately, had missed her bus back.

"So now, I've got to walk an hour to get home." She sighed softly, hanging her head as her grey eyes stared at the concrete floor, as the setting sun warmed her back. "Being on my feet all day in these boots are murder! If it wasn't for all the dirty streets and it being completely insanitary I'd walk home in my socks!"

A loud bang of trash cans colliding together grabbed her attention. Skye snapped her head towards a dark ally. Moving quickly, her hand flew behind her and pulled out a can of pepper spray.

"Who's there?!" Skye demanded of the shadows. She paused, waiting for an answer, then the sound of a pained meow reached her ears. Out from the shadows walked a big fluffy coon cat.

Skye's heart seemed to melt as she looked at this large feline. It looked like it had lost patches of fur and it left bloody paw prints as it walked "Oh you poor thing!" She dropped to her knees and extended a hand. It's pained mew came to her again, as it stepped forward towards her. She gently touched its forehead, its fur was sticky and matted with blood. Skye stripped off her jacket and wrapped it around the cat, wrapping it tightly she took off running home, her wedge heels making a thunk type of noise as she ran.

Skye quickly unlocked the front door of her Town House, pushing the door open with her shoulder and kicked it closed behind her. "Hang on kitty!"

She made a beeline for the upstairs bathroom, and closed the door behind her again. She set the cat on the sink counter and tossed her bloodied jacket to the floor. She turned towards the claw-foot tub, and started to fill it with warm water. She didn't fill it completely, just enough to give the cat a good wash. Skye turned back towards the coon cat, who was looking rather mean.

"Come on big guy," she walked over, as it growled at her. Running her hand over his back carefully, she pulled her boots off, before she picked it up. She turned back to the tub and stepped in, her jeans sticking to her legs.

The cat started to struggle and make some very unpleased noises. Sky wrapped her hand around his back paws and set the cat into the water. It screamed it's displeasure, as the water started to dye pink from all the blood.

"Oh, you poor thing! What happened? Did you get into a fight with a dog?" Sky talked to the cat softly, calmly, as she reached for an exfoliating mitt and gently ran it over the cat's fur.

The cat continued to growl as the bath continued, as blood continued to dye the water. Massive clumps of fur came from the feline between Skye's knees. Her head kept swaying back and forth at the damage that had been done to cat. She was going to have to take him to the Vet in the morning, but she'd have to call in sick.

Standing up, Skye let go of the feline and rubbed the top of it's head "Okay big guy, you wait here a moment, I'll grab something to dry you off with." She climbed out of the tub and made a beeline for a rag box in the corner. Behind her, the cat started to growl again, while trying to hop out of the tub, causing Skye to chuckle a little. "Okay, okay, I'm here. I'm back." She leaned over and wrapped the cat up in a old tattered towel, and held it close to her breast as she walked out of the bathroom and into her room. She sat on the edge of the bed and started to rub the coon cat down, where even more fur came off. "Oh, you poor thing! You're going to be bald at this rate!"

The cat wriggled from her lap and she let it walk around her bed a little as she rubbed at its tail. The feline gave a full body shake and seemed to be alright. Skye watched the cat a little longer, its blue eyes watched her closely. She smiled softly as she sat there. "You look like a Ramses."

Ramses walked over to her and climbed into her lap. "Oh, so you finally decided that I really am trying to help you?" a soft purr was her answer as the cat started to fall asleep. Skye chuckled a little as she set him onto the bed and went into the bathroom to clean it and to get the blood out of her jacket.

Hours later, Skye finally managed to get all the blood cleaned up. The bathroom was spotless, and her jacket, though slightly stained had the worse of the blood out. She sighed softly, hanging her head as she hung the jacket up in the front hall to drip dry.

Walking back into her bedroom, she looked at the big fluffy cat curled up on her bed. She changed quickly for the night, and climbed into bed. Skye rolled over and looked at the cat for a moment as she gently ran her hand over the matted fur. Sighing softly, she rolled over and went to sleep.

Midnight

Ramses shifted and looked at the form of the sleeping girl, stood and stretched deeply before he hopped from the bed to the floor. In the darkness of the night, the soft sounds of popping joints and carking bones filled the silent bedroom. Moments later a young man was standing over Skye, his figure completely covered by darkness.

"Thank you," His voice was a soft whisper. "I have to go, but I'll be back before you wake." He turned towards her window, opened it and stepped out and disappeared.

Phoenix Pendragon, crouched down low to the ground, holding his side. Piercing blue eyes turned skyward to the dark open window he had just jumped from. The woman had struck a cord with him; why would a simple girl want to take in a mangy stray cat? Right now he didn't care, right now he needed to get his wounds healed before the woman took him to the vets. Vets, Phoenix shuddered, he hated them just as much any other animal. Cold clammy hands, the smell of disinfectant; horrible! Standing tall, Phoenix started to walk in the direction that lead back towards the ally that the woman had picked him up from.

An hour later Phoenix looked around, trying to find the person who was supposed to help him. A shuffle of gravel caught his attention and he turned around slowly. There behind him, seemed to be a mirror; his twin. Phoenix let out a low sigh, and visibly relaxed.

"Artemis, you scared me."

"That's surprising, since you fight Vampires on a daily basis," Artemis answered stepping out of the shadows.

The two brothers looked the same from a distance, but they were different in a few ways. They stood at the same hight, though Phoenix had a slightly bigger frame. Their hair was black as night, Phoenix had his tied back, while Artemis let his hair flowed down over his shoulders. Artemis had deep rich green eyes and Phoenix had bright blue eyes.

"So, what happened?" Artemis asked, after a moments pause, stepping closer to his brother.

"If i tell you, you have to heal me and fast. I have to get back before dawn." Phoenix answered, removing his heavy trench coat, and black muscle shirt. His side was gaping open and bleeding heavily.

"Get back where? You're supposed to come back with me HOME." Artemis blinked a little confused as he started to weave a spell, that started to mend Phoenix from the inside out.

Phoenix grunted a little, as he looked to his brother, "a girl helped me earlier tonight, and she cleaned me up the best she could. I can't just disappear, you know how females are."

"I know, Alice gets on my case all the time," Artemis replied, nodding a little. "And she's just the one that hands out the missions at HOME. She's like a mother hen."

"Exactly," Phoenix answered, biting down on his bottom lip. "Which is why I can't disappear just yet. Maybe in a few days."

"Alright, but you best tell me what happened, or else you-know-who, is gonna be furious because no report was filled out."

"Right, right," Phoenix sighed softly, and looked to the sky, the stars drowned out because of the lights of the city around them.

Twenty-four hours ago

Phoenix led a group of five, around a decrepit building. Inside the sounds of muffled voices were loud enough to filter outside. The group moved without noise as they stopped at a steel door that was hanging off its hinges. Here the muffled voices weren't so shushed. There was a lot of yelling and cheering; the room beyond was red-lit.

'Choosing another leader,' Phoenix thought to himself, as he shifted form, joints popped and bones cracked. Moving quickly, Phoenix ran ahead of his group who lagged behind to get through the door without making a noise.

Phoenix jumped atop a few crates and looked out at the sea of vampires that ringed around two others, that were covered in bloody scratches. 'Just how many leaders do they go through?' Phoenix thought to himself

This mission was supposed to be simple. There had been reports that this Clan had been getting bigger, and had been causing more trouble. Phoenix and his team were supposed to infiltrate, observe and report back what they saw. The Valós had been laying low since the Straža had taken out the one Clan, but now it seemed they were building their numbers once again. But with large numbers, came leadership problems. The Valós were blood thirsty and power hungry, and always wanted to outdo those ahead of them.

Now, in front of Phoenix, was another of those times. By the looks of it, they were equally matched, having dealt blow for blow. He had heard rumors about how the infamous Charles James had managed to take control of a Clan on the first night he arrived. The fight had been spectacular from what he heard, but if was how the Valós choose their leaders, Phoenix didn't exactly see the splendor in it; needless bloodshed.

Hours later, the fight had finally finished; the original leader having come on top. This caused a problem. Half of the congregation erupted in anger, and started to attack each other. Phoenix took this moment to slip back to his group.

"How goes it boss?" one of the men asked as Phoenix shifted back to his human form

"They are all idiots," Phoenix answered, venom in his voice. "Everything they do, is centered around blood and violence. But i don't think we'll have to worry about their numbers. At this rate, they'll cut themselves in half by day brake."

Suddenly there was a roar of anger behind them, and everyone looked. There was a massive vampire, covered in scares and burning red eyes. He screamed again, as the group started to collect behind him; a watch dog.

Phoenix swore under his voice and started to shout orders to run, but as the group turned the vampire, that was more animal than anything came charging and smashed Phoenix into the opposite wall, the sound of something cracking reached Phoenix's ears.

Peeling himself from the wall, Phoenix turned around and growled deeply at the Berserking Vampire, who roared at him again, loud enough to make his ears ring. Phoenix shifted again, dropped down to all fours, as his mouth elongated and turned into a muzzle full of sharp teeth. Black fur rippled over his body as his bones cracked and popped and his insides rearranged. Finally his body stopped shifting and he stood there as a big black wolf.

Phoenix continued to growl at the massive, mindless vampire as their circled each other. Then without warning, Phoenix jumped, tackling the vampire to the ground, sinking his teeth deeply and tore at his jugular, blood sprayed over him and those present. Another deep vicious growl rippled over Phoenix's body, as he jerked his head to the side and upward, ripping the creatures throat out. It howled in pain and started to thrash about. The black wolf jumped from the body, but managed to get clipped and sent flying to a dumpster.

The wolf was dazed a moment, shaking his head as the of the Vampires advanced on him. Phoenix lifted his head, and seen them jump him and started to tear at his body. Luckily for him, the sun peeked through the buildings as it rose. Instantly the vampire stopped their attack on the wolf and hissed as they turned and ran back into the building before their skin started to blister and boil, from the severe burns they would get from the suns rays.

Unfortunately, the vampire that Phoenix had killed started to burn. The smell was compared to acid burning away rotting flesh. The smell was so bad that it caused Phoenix to pass out because of his sensitive nose in the form of a wolf.

Hours later Phoenix woke again, the bones of the vampire almost dust in the light wind that flowed through the ally. Phoenix shifted back to his human form and looked himself over; a gash ran down the right side of his body. A string of soft curses drifted past his lips as he looked around the ally. A shadow told him that someone was coming. Shifting once more quickly Phoenix turned into the black Coon Cat and limped his way towards the entrance of the ally, where he met a young woman. She removed her jacket, wrapped him up and ran home and took care of him.

"So that's pretty much what happened," Phoenix said, as he finished his story to his brother.

"Well, I'm sure you-know-who will probably be happy with that report." Artemis looked up at his brother and smiled running his hands over his pants. Phoenix sighed softly and pulled his shirt back on and slipped his coat back on. "I'll be sure to tell him what happened and that you'll be a few more days."

"Thanks bro.," Phoenix smiled softly, and shook his hand. "That means a lot. But I should get back. The sun is starting to rise again."

"Better hurry, don't want that girl to freak when she sees you gone!" Artemis waved, as the brothers departed.

Phoenix made his way back to the town house, and looked up at the window that was still open. He had shifted too much in the last two days, and was going to need to rest, though he needed to shift one more time into that form of the cat. Sighing softly, and took the fire escape up to the roof. He walked over to the woman's window and carefully lowered himself down to the ledge.

Moving quickly before he fell back down Phoenix slipped back into the bedroom; good she was still asleep. He groaned softly, rubbing his still tender side. Once again the sickening sound of popping and cracking joints and bones, Phoenix turned back into Ramses and jumped back onto the bed and curled up behind Skye's knees.