“Tonight, we’re going to go on a field trip,” he continued after a brief moment of silence. “I’ll introduce you to a contact of mine.”

She wasn’t going to lie; she was unquestionably nervous about stepping into this world so soon. 

“Where will this field trip take place, exactly?” Madeline asked carefully.

“There’s a nightclub called The Golden Lotus,” Levi began. “The person we’ll be meeting works there, for the time being anyway.”

“The Golden Lotus!? I don’t have anything I could possibly wear!” she raised her voice in panic. Her wardrobe consisted mostly of jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, and tanktops. She had two skirts, and one floral-print sundress, none of which were nightclub material.

Levi mused for a few seconds, tapping his index finger to his lips while he thought. Suddenly his green eyes brightened, and he stood, grabbing Madeline’s wrist and forcing her to follow him into his bedroom. 

When they arrived at her old building, Levi parked right out front next to Madeline’s old Acura, and they approached her front door arm-in-arm. He removed something from his pocket and slipped it into the lock. Madeline didn’t see what it was, but the door opened right up as if with the actual key. They stepped through promptly and locked the door behind them.

“I realize seeing this is going to be difficult for you. Just remember that most of it is easily replaceable, and I can likely fix the rest, “ Levi said gently, releasing her arm.

Standing silently with eyes wide, Madeline took a deep breath to steady her emotions. Every drawer and lidded box in her living room was either pulled out or pulled apart, but nothing appeared broken. Papers from her plastic file box were tossed all over the ivory carpet. The kidnappers had been looking for something specific. 

A deep chuckle rumbled in his throat.

“Sorry, I’ve started this off all wrong, haven’t I?” He apologized with a disarming smile as he set his fork down on the counter and offered a simple bow. “My name is Leviticus, but you can call me Levi. I was generously hired to rescue you, Miss Madeline McCaffrey, from those fae.”

“Fae?” She asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. He couldn’t be serious. “As in fairies?”

“Exactly that,” he replied, measuring her reaction. “Surely you noticed they couldn’t have possibly been normal people?”

Through the strands of her unkempt, reddish-auburn hair, she could see he was not one of whatever they were. He had a completely different air about him. He moved with silent, determined, and sinuous steps - literally strutting into the warehouse. His jet-black hair brushed slightly past his shoulders, but in contrast to the stringy and oily hair of her captors, his was healthy and immaculate. Dressed in a black, sleeveless kevlar vest that zipped all the way up to his neck, and a matching pair of close-fitting tactical pants, Madeline wasn't quite sure what he was. He didn't seem to be a police officer, and at first, Madeline thought he might be allied with her kidnappers, but they didn't approach him as a comrade, or someone to be pushed around.

They all reacted as if a tiger had just padded into the warehouse. 

With acute interest, Madeline sat up and watched as the man sauntered confidently up to the closest of her kidnappers, one who was already summoning inky black wisps in his hands, and launched a quick right hook which snapped the captor's head sharply to the side.

Then all hell broke loose.

Cameron focused his senses, weeding out the noise from the tv and the local traffic, and heard the click of a lock. It was her sliding glass door. He knew it had been locked, as his sensitive ears always made out the click of the bolt when she came in from her back patio. Needing to know what he was dealing with, he inhaled the crisp night air in a few hurried shallow breaths. They weren’t shapeshifters. If they were, their scent would have been more apparent, and he would have been able to determine what type of shifter they were based off that. Also absent was the stench of the undead, which was a foul, sour smell of rot and decay. Unexpectedly, Cameron detected a somewhat mossy scent, similar to patchouli, which led him to the following conclusion.

“Fae,” he said. “They’re breaking in using magic.”