Inside Realms (An Excerpt from the book) - The Elite of the Blood by A. F. Stewart

It was night, and I was standing in the rain, the cold wet seeping into my skin and hair. I had closed my eyes, and I could hear the thrumming of the raindrops as they hit the ground. But it was a heartbeat I was trying to hear.
Ah, there it was, the faint thumping sound. I licked my lips; I had found my quarry. She had already been pursued for three city blocks, but now the search was nearing an end.
“She is close.”
I let the words carry over my shoulder to the rest of my team.
I signaled, and we moved left and down the dark street. I had brought my five best men, all well trained. With practiced ease we assembled formation, and advanced on the hunted. I was on point, tracking, all my senses open.
I am of the Elite, and serve the Vampire Order. We have been the guardians over vampire kind for nearly two centuries. The Elite keep the secrets, and implement the edicts. We protect our kind, punish wayward individuals, and enforce our law.
And that law is simple. You hunt the invisible; the homeless, the drug addicts. Or you disguise the kill; a mugging gone wrong, a serial killer never caught.
But you don’t publicize. Publicity brings the interest of the Hunters. The only humans who acknowledge the existence of vampires, and live to kill our kind.
So it is not wise to break our dictates. And yet, here we were tonight, tracking someone who had broken those rules.
It began a month ago, with the abduction of a child, a son of a banker. The story hit the media hard, all flash and tragedy. When the body was discovered bitten and drained of blood, it became an overblown sensation.
Vampire Killer. Those words blazed through the headlines, and were splashed about the news. Under pressure, the police launched a task force in response.
Experience has made many of the Order wary of scrutiny. Intelligent vampires went quietly underground to wait out the uproar. Others remained, obscure in the shadows.
Our Council, the governing body of the Order, was called on to act. So they sent the Elite to investigate the incident.
And that investigation had led my team here.

“She’s ahead of us, a street over.”
I could hear her breathing now, and I had her scent.
“She’s slowing down. It is time to bring her to ground.”
We moved in, swift shadows trailing through the night air.
Her track led through the falling rain straight to a dingy alley. Down we went, to the darkest corner, and there she crouched, waiting. Just a tiny speck of a girl, taking refuge among the empty boxes.
She looked up at me.
“You should have behaved yourself, Cecily.”
“Not as much fun, Eleanor!”
She laughed, and suddenly altered from girl to vampire.
I tensed, but she did not move.
“Cecily Montrose, you stand accused of conspicuous abduction of mortals, endangering the existence of vampire kind by attracting a Hunter, and blatantly calling attention to your life as a vampire.”
“Such nonsense, what silly rules.” She smiled sweetly. “Why are you making such a fuss?”
I sighed.
“Will you come with us to face the Council, or will you try a foolish attempt at escape?”
Cecily rose quickly, standing defiant. For a moment, I thought the night might hold some action, but alas I was to be disappointed.
For she spoke.
“I surrender. I have done nothing wrong. I am a vampire, and have behaved as one.”

She came with us quietly, and we escorted her downtown to where our Council was to convene a session and hold her trial. Cecily had caused quite a stir within the Order.
As was tradition she was taken to the room designated for the council and surrounded by a circle of Guards; we were all armed with swords. And here we waited for the arrival of the nine council members.
I indulged my curiosity.
“Why the child, why the high profile target? You had to know that abduction and killing would bring the Elite after you.”
“Why not? Why should I be afraid? They are the ones who should be afraid. The mortals should breathe their fear of us, but they don’t even know of our existence. It is not right.”
I caught my breath. Those words sounded so very familiar, and they gave me shivers.
“Cecily, what have you done?”
But my question would go unanswered, as the doors swung open and the Nine filed into the room.
They settled into their seats, facing the accused, and the ring of guards parted. Lorenzo was chief arbitrator this night, so he was the one who rose to speak.
“You have been brought before us to face your crimes, Cecily Montrose,” he began, and then his voice softened.
“I was there when you joined this Order to seek protection from the Hunters, Cecily. You showed much promise.”
But his weakness was momentary, for the steel returned to his voice.
“You have constantly flaunted our rules, and more than once brought near disaster upon our door!”
“But this time,” Lorenzo shook his head sadly, “you have caused grievous harm. All our kind are in hiding, and even this Council stands vulnerable. Do you realize that your actions brought a Hunter into the city?! Two vampires, Erin Delancy and Paul Corbeau, are dead by his hand! How do you defend your actions?”
“I don’t defend them. There is nothing to defend. It is time we stopped running, and hiding. The day is coming, when vampires will reign and there will be no Hunters. We are superior, we should dominate!”
“Ah, a convert of Jacob.” Lorenzo’s voice sounded forlorn.
Jacob. Just as I feared. The Elite had been hunting him for two years. He wanted vampires to ascend over humans and rule. He endorsed open conflict with the Hunters, and considered humans as simply prey.
“I am proud to belong to Jacob.”
Cecily’s reply held a note of jubilation.
But it brought only anxious murmurs from the Council, and I could smell their fear.
Lorenzo continued. “You know there is a standing edict regarding all followers of Jacob? You are aware of it?”
Cecily nodded.
“Then there is no need for this trial. This Council will never support the ravings of that power mad fool.”
“He is no fool! He is right! We must fight! We must be the dominant species!”
“Silence!”
Lorenzo’s voice shook the walls.
“You, Cecily, have shown no remorse of your actions, which have endangered your fellow vampires. And worse you have joined the followers of Jacob, a vampire that would see us destroyed. All for his visions of ascendency!”
“We are at war with Jacob and his kind, and you Cecily, have become a casualty. Are we all agreed?”
There was a murmur of assent among all the members.
“Good. Then we sentence you to death Cecily Montrose. Eleanor, carry out the penalty!”
Those were the words I had been waiting for.
Swifter than Cecily could fathom, I drew my sword, and had her head off in one clean stroke. It hit the floor one second before her body, blood spurting far and wide.
I watched her head bounce, then roll into a wall, as the Council and guards descended upon her pooling blood in a feeding frenzy. I contented myself with licking the blood off my sword. It was surprisingly sweet.
It was the end of this day’s work, but I knew there would be more hunts, more killing of the lost.
War with Jacob was coming. And soon.