EPISODE 5: THE HUNT ## CHAPTER 1: THE THREAT Helena's first strike came two nights after the trial. Elena was returning to Club Noir after a meeting with Ambrose when she sensed them—three vampires moving through the shadows of the French Quarter with predatory intent. She ran. Her fledgling speed wasn't enough. They were older, faster, more experienced. They herded her like wolves herding a deer, cutting off escape routes, driving her toward a dead end. The alley she found herself in had no exit. Brick walls rose on three sides, too high even for a vampire to leap. The hunters blocked the entrance, their eyes reflecting the distant streetlights. "Helena sends her regards," one of them said—a muscular vampire with Eastern European features. "You should have stayed out of politics, fledgling." Elena extended her fangs, prepared to fight. Three against one was impossible odds, but she wouldn't go quietly. The first attacker lunged. And died. A blade flashed through the darkness—ancient steel, blessed and brutal—and the vampire's head separated from his body. He turned to ash before hitting the ground. Brother Cassius stepped out of the shadows, his sword already moving toward the second hunter. The ancient warrior-priest moved with speed that defied comprehension, his blade singing through the night air. The second vampire died trying to flee....