“No, wait!”

James reached up and grabbed Gabriella’s arm. There was no trace of mischief on his face as she paused and turned back to look at him.

“Gabbie, I’m serious,” he said. “Please sit down.”

She sighed. “Why do you expect me to believe that?”

James shook his head, looking like the conversation had completely escaped him. “I mean, I’d hoped after everything at Gran’s house…”

“Gran’s house?” Gabriella repeated. “James, that was holy water and blessings, not vampires.”

“We do those too,” James said quickly. “There’s actually a priest that works with us sometimes. Father McEnerney. You’ll like him.”

“What situation at Gran’s could have possibly made you think I’d believe in vampires?”

James didn’t answer right away. He frowned and furrowed his brow like he was thinking something through. Then he groaned and covered his eyes with his palm.

“Dammit, you would have been, like, seven. Of course you don’t remember.”

“Remember what?”

“Um, Uncle Tommy had that weekend camping trip out in Savoy? With his buddy and the bite marks?”

Gabriella stared at him blankly, but sat back down on the couch. “Um, no?”

James rubbed a hand over his eyes, shaking his head. “Shit, no wonder you think I’m messing with you. Your mom never told you?”

“No. Jesus, James, are you telling me there’s a vampire out there that attacked Uncle Tommy?”

“It’s not out there anymore. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Mary took care of that. But yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying. It got them at their campsite and bit his buddy. The guy lived, but he was never the same after.”

Gabriella let out a long breath, then picked up her coffee and took a sip.

“That surprises me more than it should,” she said finally.

“I thought they told the younger cousins about it,” James said. “I was twenty at the time, but Aunt Mary wouldn’t let me go with them. That’s actually how I found out about the Foundation and North County Paranormal. Uncle Tommy’s story had gotten back to them and they got in touch with him shortly after everything went down.”

“And then you joined?”

“After college, yeah. The family knows about it but everyone’s split between either treating it like any other job or pretending nothing ever happened. Uncle Pete still insists I’m working for a corporation in Boston.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard him mention that,” Gabriella said. “I thought it was a little weird.”

“He’s adamant I’ve been there for a decade now,” James said with a shrug.

“Okay, so let’s say I believe you,” Gabriella said slowly.

She did, but she wanted to be sure she got all the details before agreeing to anything. Even with James. If they were talking about vampires, she needed all the information before filling out tax paperwork.

James perked up a little and looked at her. She looked into her mug of coffee, running a finger over the rim as she spoke. “So you fight vampires and cleanse houses. Got it. Is that what you’re hiring me for? Or is there something more specific involved in this role?”

“That’s the majority of it. Obviously everyone brings their own strengths to the role. But beyond Robin, who’s our leader and Bradley, who oversees logistics, everyone is basically on equal footing. The primary focus is taking care of these things and keeping people safe.”

“About that,” Gabriella said. “How dangerous is this job?”

He grimaced. “It has its risks,” he said. “I’ll be fully upfront about that. We’ve had injuries, sometimes serious ones. You’ll need to be in shape and there’s a gym down in the basement that everyone has access to. But we’ve never lost anyone in this generation and we’re very proud of that fact.”

“Yeah, Mom’s going to fucking kill you for hiring me.”

James’s face lit up. “So you’re in?”

Gabriella nodded. “I need a job,” she said. “And this sounds far better than anything else I might be able to get right now.”

James grinned at her. “This is great!” he said. “It really is a great gig, I swear. And they will make sure you’ve got what you need to stay safe, don’t worry.”

“Who’s they?”

“The Foundation. Little spooky, a lot mysterious, but they keep us funded. Everything we need in order to do the work is in this house. As you can see,” he gestured toward the computer bank, “we’ve got tech, the gym downstairs, a full kitchen, first aid kits everywhere, and a few bedrooms. We tend to take multiple-day shifts, especially in the late fall and early winter. I’m not sure why that’s our busy season, but there you go.”

He finished his coffee and set the mug back down. Gabriella took a small sip of hers, trying to keep her excitement in check. This was starting to sound like a secret mission. In this high-tech headquarters disguised as a ranch home. Who wouldn’t be excited?

“Do you have time this afternoon?” James asked. “I could give you the tour, introduce you to the rest of the crew. Whoever’s around, that is.”

“Sure!” Gabriella said. “I don’t have anywhere to be.”

“Great!”

He took their mugs into the kitchen and she followed, half expecting to see some high-tech hunting gear nestled among the coffee nook. But there was nothing out of the ordinary beyond one extraordinarily ugly fruit bowl and the rapidly browning bananas inside.

James followed her gaze. “Yeah, we’ve got a cleaning rota,” he said. “Um, it’s my turn.”

He tossed the bananas in the trash, then swept a handful of crumbs off the breakfast bar and into the sink. “I’ll do the rest later. Anyway, here’s the kitchen.”

A large fridge stood in the doorway and nearly every inch of counter space was filled with mugs and half filled grocery bags. Sunlight streamed in from between the sheer white curtains in the window over the sink, where a small vase of fake flowers sat.

“Depending who’s on, we might do a family style dinner or it might be catch as catch can,” James continued. “If you bring food, label it. Otherwise, everything in the fridge is up for grabs. They used to give us a food stipend, but cut that a little while back.”

Gabriella nodded. Her usual routine of meal prep would probably keep working just fine.

“Alright, so down the hall here,” James said, walking through the kitchen to the doorway and right down a short, dark hallway. “You’ve got the bedrooms and the bathroom. Bathroom’s there. Again, it should be fully stocked. But if you’re doing overnights, bring your toothbrush. We’ve had… issues with people forgetting whose toothbrush is whose and oh my God, I’m not dealing with that again.”

The bathroom was an outdated cool green color all around. It was sparkling clean and there was an assortment of toiletries on the counter, including a bag with sample size makeup spilling out. The shower curtain was also green, but had the same friendly ghost as the coasters in the living room.

“Next, there’s the three bedrooms. None are assigned, but Brad keeps a computer in that back room and everyone has their preferences. You don’t have to work around those preferences, but if you want to actually get along with the people you’ll be entrusting your life to, it can’t hurt to be flexible.”

“James, we’re two of twenty-five cousins.” Gabriella said. “I think we’re both used to that.”

“I’m just giving the tour.”

He knocked on the closed door of the first bedroom. Nobody answered, so he opened it and stepped in.

Like the rest of the house, the bedroom was cramped. Two beds pressed against the pale gray wall with a single bedside table in between them. A large dresser took up part of the other wall, but that was the extent of the furnishings. The walls were nicely decorated and it gave off the vibe of a slightly more homey hotel room.

Beyond a beat up duffel bag on one bed, Gabriella didn’t see any personal belongings. Right, she thought, it made sense that they’d treat this more like a dorm than anything.

James pointed at the duffel bag. “I’m on til Saturday, so that’s my stuff.”

“And you normally stay in here?”

“Yeah, unless anyone is dying for it.” James said. “And we usually have a skeleton crew scheduled for overnights, so I’m usually alone or spending quality time with Bradley.”

He started walking out the door and back toward the living room. Gabriella caught a glimpse of the bedroom across the hall as they passed. It looked exactly the same, just with light pink wallpaper instead.

“How many other people work here?” she asked.

James stopped for a second, counting. “Well, there’s me. And Bradley, who you met. Robin is in and out. He’s the captain of the team, so he also tends to liaison with the Foundation. And then there’s Amelia, who let you in. And Madelyn. She got injured in the field last year, so she’s just getting back to being on duty. And now you.”

“Are there other groups too?”

“Yeah, the Foundation funds squads all over the state. Some places have bigger groups, but so far we’ve only needed the small group,” James said. “It works out well. Everyone brings their own strengths to it. Oh, speaking of, let’s head down to the gym.”

Gabriella followed him downstairs to the basement. The stairs were plush blue carpet as they passed by the front door and came into a dark, narrow hallway. There were doors on both sides. One seemed to be silent behind it while behind the other, Gabriella could hear muffled pop-punk playing.

James pushed that door open and the music got louder as they stepped inside. Gym might have been a little generous, but it was still impressive enough by home standards. Two treadmills stood next to each other along one wall, underneath a line of small, propped-open windows. An exercise bike and a workout machine Gabriella didn’t recognize lined the wall directly across from the door. A rack of free weights sat beside them, and the final wall was lined with mirrors.

“Everyone is expected to stay in shape,” James said. “You don’t need to be a marathon runner, but you do need to be able to get yourself out of a jam and help your teammates. I know you though, you’ll be fine.”

Gabriella nodded, stepping in to look at the equipment closer. They were the same things she would expect to see at her local gym. Where she could now cancel her membership.

“Oh, hey.”

They both turned at the sound of a soft voice behind them. A woman was standing there, leaning against the rack of free weights. She was also maybe a few years older than Gabriella, twenty-four or twenty-five, with short, dark hair and dark eyes. A livid red scar ran over her right eye and Gabriella tried very hard not to show that she had noticed it.

“Hey, Madelyn,” James said. “This is my cousin, Gabriella. She’s joining the team.”

“Nice to meet you,” Madelyn said, holding out a hand.

Gabriella shook her hand and Madelyn smiled. “Welcome to the team,” she said. “It’s a great group.”

“I’m excited to be here.”

She was. Now that the shock of vampires had worn off somewhat, she was excited to learn more about what she’d be doing.

“What are you up to?” James asked Madelyn.

She nodded toward the treadmills. “I’m on for the weekend,” she said. “So I wanted to get a couple miles in before anything pops up.”

“Robin’s not pushing you to run, is he?” James asked, his face suddenly concerned.

“No,” Madelyn replied. “But I’m feeling pretty good today so I want to get some walking in at the very least.”

“Good,” James said. “Bradley went to check something at the reservoir. I’m going to check in with him in a minute.”

“Are you overnight?” Madelyn asked.

“Yeah, just for tonight. So we’ll be hanging out together tonight.”

Madelyn laughed and started walking toward the treadmill. As she moved, Gabriella noticed a distinct limp and once again tried not to show she’d noticed it.

“We’ll leave you to it,” James said as Madelyn climbed onto the treadmill.

“Nice to meet you,” Gabriella said.

“You too,” Madelyn replied as they made their way out the door.

“She’s a badass,” James said a minute later as they walked back upstairs. “She got tossed off a roof last year and not only does she still come back, she hasn’t even lost her enthusiasm for the work.”

Gabriella felt her eyes widen. “A roof?” she asked, keeping her voice low. “What happened?”

“A case went wrong,” James replied. “I can’t go too far into detail right now, but we got bad information and she went in first. Thankfully, she lived.”

They were quiet as they walked back up into the living room. The room was empty and James picked up their coffee cups and headed into the kitchen. “So what do you think?” he asked over his shoulder.

Gabriella smiled. “I think I’m ready to start whenever you’ll have me.”

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 2