Free BuriedSecrets by Ashley Shayne Page A

day I’d get into a situation I couldn’t get out
of. I hadn’t met anyone yet that seemed worth the risk.
    I kept silent for the rest of the short trip and we pulled
up to our safe house in the city without incident. The big black gates opened
and we drove into the parking lot under the old concrete building. It had been
the headquarters for a small computer company prior to us buying it, and
despite looking boring and square from the street, the inside was surprisingly
nice. More men were waiting for us, and they opened the back doors and dragged
the vamp away. I hopped down from the passenger seat and watched them until
they disappeared through a door to my left. Then I went to make my report.
    I knocked sharply at the door of a small office.
    “Come in,” a voice called.
    I entered warily. To my surprise, all three of my masters were
there. The Lady, the Tramp and the Tycoon. They were known as the Three and
only select individuals were ever allowed in their presence. I was one of those
few. Even for me though, it was unusual to see them all together, and a shiver
of apprehension ran through me. I nodded at them and stood there at ease,
waiting to hear what they wanted from me.
    “You got him? He’s here?” the Lady asked me, her voice
curling melodiously around me.
    I nodded again.
    “Good,” the Tramp continued, his jagged voice scraping up my
spine. “We have further work for you.”
    I nodded once more. I had assumed as much.
    “We seek the Amulet of Kain. He knows where it is. He must
tell us. You must make him.” The Lady looked at me intently, her eyes seeming
to shift from purple to blue and back again.
    “How, Lady?” I asked her, wondering if there was a new spell
to learn or a potion to make. I was better at the physical side of things and
learning other skills took time, but when I mastered them, they usually worked
consistently for me. I was definitely no witch however, and I wondered why they’d
need me. They had way more proficient magic users under their control; whereas,
some spells would always be impossible for me. Defensive spells, wards and
potions worked best when I tried them and I couldn’t really see any of them
helping to get information out of a vamp.
    “Why, by torturing him of course,” the Tycoon answered me.
    His voice was hard as steel and I shivered as I always did
when I heard it. I looked back at him in dismay. I had never tortured anyone
before, and despite the fact that the vamp was a monster and I a hunter, taking
pliers to him was entirely different from putting an arrow into his heart. I
briefly considered protesting, but my good sense got the better of me in time.
My masters did not appreciate protests. Or failure. I nodded one last time and
when they said no more, I bowed and went to leave the room.
    “Oh, and Kayla,” the Lady called after me softly, “we expect
it to take a while. Don’t worry if it takes you a few days. We give you a week
to bring us this information. One week.”
    I nodded my understanding and left, closing the door firmly
behind me. I paced down the hallway to my room and ducked inside, closing the
door and leaning against it. I stared blindly across the room and my stomach
clenched. Shit. I so completely did not want to torture someone. Even a monster
like the thing chained in the basement. I hadn’t disobeyed an order from the
Three yet though, and I wasn’t going to start now. Best to get it over with…
    I crossed to my bathroom and showered quickly. I had at
least an hour before the beast woke up again. The tranquilizers I’d shot into
him were strong enough to drop a rhino but only strong enough to make him sleep for two or three hours. I made the shower as hot as I could and stood
under it for a good while, letting the heat wash over me. Eventually, I got out
and toweled my hair dry. Unhappily, I went to my closet and pulled on a latex
cat suit. I figured the rubber would be easy to clean. I suspected this was
going to be