Thadeus watched the crowd across the road from the shadows. Corbin was around here somewhere. Usually there was only one Scorned per district, but with how active the Wicked had been lately, the higher ups saw fit to institute double duty. Despite the fact he preferred to work alone, he didn't mind his partner. Corbin could be a smart ass, but he followed the code to the letter. Thadeus respected that. He always held himself to a very specific standard and it was refreshing to work with someone who took their job as seriously as he did. Once again he scanned the crowd for suspicious people. Shifting his stance, he thought about the last time he was in this city. Corbin spent most of it telling him he was a hard ass who needed to remove the pike from his hind end. After a decent brawl, he retracted his statement. Thadeus took his honor very seriously and he would not be questioned. Despite what his colleagues would say, his track record spoke for itself.

Just as he was about to call it a night, he spotted one. He could always spot a Wicked.. To most people they appeared fairly normal, albeit a lil off putting. To those tasked with their capture however, their skin was crackled and gray, like the ashen remains they called home. This particular stain on existence was chatting up some elegantly dressed young woman. Not wanting to cause a scene, Thadeus waited to see what his target was up to. It was when he started walking off with her that he took action. Walking across the street, he wove through the crowd undetected.

He almost made it to the corner when these two women started running across the road. A shorter one,and a tall one. Both dressed in floor length cocktail dresses. The taller of the two caught her shoe in the drain grate and started to topple over. Thadeus sped up to catch her, asked if she was ok, and as soon as she said she was, he stood her on her feet and left before she could turn around. "Damn it!." He had lost sight of the wicked. Returning to his post, Thadeus muttered under his breath. The crowd had gone inside by then so at least nobody else was exposed.

About an hour passed, the streets had cleared so after sending a quick message to Corbin, Thadeus was about to call it a night. He began to walk back to his car. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the women in red again. It was the same as before, only this time she looked like she was after something. What was this woman up to? With nothing else to do with his night except listening to Corbin go off the rails about the show Firefly getting canceled, he decided to follow her. She was really after something. He rounded a corner shortly after her and saw her crouching behind a large box with her shoes in her hand. She was a ways away from him, but it didn't take long to find out what drew her here. He could smell the blood. Has she been hurt somehow? Or worse, had she seen a Wicked? That was an ability limited to the Gifted..

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

A woman screamed and the next thing he knew, his mystery woman was hauling ass down the alleyway, shoes in the dirt. By the time he reached her position, he saw the Wicked from earlier. He had her held by the hair and was about to strike. As fast as he could, Thaddeus ran up and slammed him into the wall. The bastard got up, cursed and was gone in an instant. That was a new trick. Looking down, he saw the woman that the Wicked had been chatting up. He must have dragged her here. She wasn't in too bad of shape by the looks of her, terrified though for sure. He placed his hand on her head wound and it healed in a matter of moments. He uttered a soft incantation to help both keep her asleep a while longer and help her forget the whole ordeal. She would wake up thinking she drank too much at whatever that event was. After he finished with victim 1, he turned to the woman in red.

Despite the fact she had a head wound, she still tried to fight. Thadeus tried to heal her as he had the other woman, but something strange happened. It didn't work. He tried again. Nothing. Vexed by this unexpected impotence, he attempted the incantation. Over 200 years of guarding these beings, and she was the only one his gifts didn't work on. Maybe he was losing hot touch.

Alaina opened her eyes long enough to see this towering man standing over her. mistaking him for her assaulter, she swung her right fist as hard as she could in the direction of his face. Thadeus dodged the blow and stifled a chuckle. Moments later, she passed out. Calling an ambulance to the area, his mind spun with possibilities. The spell always worked, satisfied with his efforts, he headed for his car. Still, something about her bugged him. He thought for a moment. He had first seen her come from the building across the street. Making a note of the name of the place, he would find out who this woman was. unless he was mistaken, that creature was there for her. He had possibly made a mistake grabbing the first woman. they did share similar features. The Wicked weren't too bright so if they were interested in her, that meant he needed to be as well. He had to admit though. It wouldn't be entirely unpleasant to see her again. When he first set eyes on her, she took a bit of his breath away. That was not an easy thing to accomplish. Heading for the compound, he turned on the radio and pictured her. Tall, long brunette hair, and that dress... He almost couldn't pull away from her when he kept her from falling. The most prominent thing about her, was the natural fire in her eyes. She charged at that wicked like a bat out of hell and faced him head on. He could have killed her, and all she thought about was helping that woman. She was defiant until she passed out. Yes, she definitely raised more questions than answers, amongst other things. He had to see her again he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. Calling Corbin, he tried to focus and not sound distracted.

" Hey, I've only got a sec, but I want you to see who was working the door at the auction house last night.” He recalled the name of the business from her badge. “They work for a place called Excelsior events. I think the Wicked were there for a reason. It was like he was after something or someone." Corbin sighed on the other end of the phone."Alright man, but it's gonna take a bit, I'll try to get to it this afternoon or something. I've been spending all day trying to trace the lineage of some guy for Ramallah. Anything else? " Thaddeus thought about the encounter again. “ The target for the evening had a new trick up his sleeve. Bastard disappeared into thin air. Have Fade give me a call, I wanna know if there have ever been other instances like that. " Thanking his friend for his help, Thadeus continued on his way. Nothing about this night seemed right.