The Vampire’s Human / Book One ✔️
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Guild of Assassins

When you replace a man on his own playing the flute and tapping his foot on the ground the last thing that would cross your mind is to go up and spark a conversation with him.

When you replace a man with a long beard and a purple robe that makes him look like a stereotype, your automatic assumption is to think that he is crazy.

But Mackenzie didn’t listen to her rational size after spending five hours following a wall to nowhere. She ran straight to the man and startled him.

“Hey! Have you seen two feline companions struggling to replace their owner?”

The man jumped, his flute almost flying out of his hands. His purple eyes landed on her and his long, old man eyebrow raised as if he were amused. “I see that although blood is not the same, the spunk is clear.”

Mack scrunched her face. “Huh?”

“I am sorry,” Zack spoke as he bumped Mack’s arm. She kept running from them but she couldn’t help it, Mack wanted to see inside already. “We are trying to replace my friend’s mate and we think she is here.”

“Oh! I know, boy.” The man said with a chuckle. “I know a lot of things.” Then he started playing his flute again. Turning his back on the three strangers who were staring at the back of his head.

Mack’s brain was frazzled, she didn’t entirely understand what the old man meant but she didn’t have time to question. “Where is the entrance? And can we enter?”

The man shrugged.

Mack wanted to strangle the man as she groaned and faced August who had been eyeing the walls of the guild before he suddenly spoke. “I can feel her in there. I know she is and all I want to do is help her. She has two feline companions and I know that is rare so I know that I am asking a lot when I say that I want her.”

The man stopped playing his music and hummed. “The girl wants you as well boy but it is not as simple as you think.”

Mack could hear August’s breath suck in as he approached closer to the stranger. “Would there be a way that I can help?”

“The mate bond.” The man confirmed before he stood and stretched. “Well, come on then. We are losing daylight.”

She felt like she had been slapped in the face by his sudden change as she gave Zack a look and followed the old man. He didn’t touch the doors as they suddenly opened and revealed tower after tower. Animals littered the streets and so did their owners as she saw a child with a lion cub and an older woman singing to a crow who seemed to be singing back. Thanks to her demon blood, she could understand each and every one of these companions and she knew their suspicion the second they laid eyes on the two vampires and herself but she had to push that aside.

Their mission was to help August, not get caught up in lion cub cuddles and possibly even a ride on an adult lion or cheetah, or even a bear.

“Do you have a name?” Zack questioned the man as they walked.

“Simon.” He replied. “I am the guild’s elder and the smartest Wizard you will replace. It had taken you three longer to replace me than I originally thought. I had to pull my flute out but that was fun, it has been a while.”

“How did you know that we were coming?” August asked as he walked closer to Simon than Zack and Mack did but she figured it was because Simon is somehow connected to his mate.

“I see all.” He responded with another chuckle. “I am the seer of all things. What is to come and what has been.” He then paused and twisted his head as if to eye Mack and Zack. “Also, I have voices who tell me when they are being followed.”

Her lips were pulled into a thin line but she held her tongue. Mack so desperately wanted to respond but it wasn’t her place to do so. This was all for August and his mate and she will keep chanting that to herself until she dies.

After what felt like another five hours of walking, they finally stopped in front of a tower. Mack had to crane her neck to see the top but she couldn’t. This tower was the biggest she had seen so far and she figured Simon being the elder meant that he had some privileges.

They entered a small common room as Simon began to talk their ears off. Nothing he was saying had any importance and she could see by August’s face that he was getting more and more impatient. So much so that she spotted a set of stairs and slowly began to slide towards them. She watched all three men in front of her to see if they would take any notice before she slipped through and ran up the stairs as fast as she could.

Mack didn’t know where she was going nor did she know why she decided to sneak off but Simon was stalling, he was hiding something and she wanted to replace out what or who it was. Her legs ached from all of the travelling and her stomach grumbled from the lack of food but she pushed through, her stubbornness overpowered everything and she had to thank it for saving her life more than once.

A few doors joined with the stairs but neither of them sparked her instead as she climbed. The stairs spiralled around the tower and at some point, she felt like she would replace the rooftop but more and more stairs kept coming and that hope slowly disintegrated.

Then, she found it. A door that looked different to the rest as it held strange carvings in the timber. Mack turned her head left and right to see if anyone was following her before she tried the handle. To her luck, it opened revealing a giant Willow tree. a small stream surrounded it and flower bushes gave the area colour as butterflies flew around the room. It was pure magic and now that she looked at it, she knew why this tower was so large compared to the others.

Mack approached the tree as if she were in some spell as her fingers grazed the bark. Small electrical shocks shot through her as she could feel the power that it possessed, this tree was no ordinary Willow tree and wanted, no! Needed to know its story.

And then she turned and lost her breath. A red-haired woman, the colour of fire stood at the entranceway and was glaring at Mack before she growled and spoke. “Who are you? And why are you here?”