Caylee's Confessions (Caylee's Confessions Series) by Candice Burnett

haven’t had a kill since those two
amateur vampires a week ago.” I paused, remembering what I’d wanted to talk to
Claire about.  “Speaking of those two vampires last week, after I killed them,
this guy showed up and started rambling about how he was a vitan.  What’s a vitan?” 
    “You
met a vitan?” Claire asked, seeming concerned.
    “Yeah,
his name was Shad, and he was a complete chauvinist pig.  He actually began to
lecture me about how I should not be out fighting—that he and his vitans were
here now, so I didn’t need to fight anymore, blah, blah, blah.”  I mocked what
Shad had told me last week.
    “Hm.”
 She let out a sigh.
    “Well…do
you know about them or what?  And what is his deal?” I asked.  She obviously
knew something about them.
    “You
didn’t tell him your name, did you?” Claire asked.
    “No.
 We started arguing before I even considered doing that.”  I laughed.
    “Well,
that’s good.  And you haven’t seen him since?” she asked.
    “No,
I haven’t.” I wondered where the conversation would go.
    “Okay,
well, let me give you a short version or you’re going to miss your assignment.” 
She took a deep breath.  “They are basically a society of people who dedicate
their lives to fighting the undead.  They’ve been around since, basically, the undeads
have been, and they are in a constant battle with them.  The men train, from
birth, to become these vitan soldiers.  They, like the undeads, have their own
secret society and council that they keep from the human population, even
though they are human.  They are said to be the only real threat to the undead
population.  They are exceptionally skilled, but any of them I’ve met have been
extremely stubborn and old-fashioned. 
    “You
really shouldn’t worry about them; they pose no threat to you.  I can see how
they would have a problem with a female fighter, but you’re not a part of their
society, so it shouldn’t be their concern.  And since you didn’t give them your
name, and considering how busy they are, I’m sure they won’t try to convert
you. 
    “They’re
probably coming to this area because of the same reason that I’m sending you
out on this particular assignment tonight.  You see, there has been some talk
around our undead world.”  She grimaced.  “It seems that someone is trying to
gain more territory and is starting to scout this area.  This is extremely
strange, considering our location, but myself and the city would benefit if
this area remained unclaimed.  The only way, I believe, to do this, would be to
basically kill off the scouters.  You see, it’s probably just someone new to
power, or someone wanting to gain power, so if we—well, you—kill them, it will
make whoever sent them think the area is already claimed and they’ll move on. 
As you may or may not be aware of, vampires and werewolves like to claim
territories as their own—the same way that human gangs claim areas as theirs—so
that they will know everything that goes on in that area, run the trades, and
so forth.  Most major areas are already claimed, but there are small pockets of
areas that aren’t claimed, because they’re not big enough.   I think that’s why
it’s been pretty quiet this week, because no one wants to be around when they’re
tracking. 
    “Most
undeads, like me, would rather not be forced to join, or pick sides of, whoever
wants to claim an area.  Usually, when one, say a vampire, wants an area, a
werewolf, of course, will want it too, and that’s when sides have to be picked. 
It’s really messy business, not to mention annoying, because then they try and
make you follow their rules.  And I barely follow my own rules, so I’m sure as
hell not going to follow someone else’s.   I’ve got an inside source that they’re
starting the scouting tonight, so you must really be on your game,” she said,
giving me a look-over.  “These will not be amateurs, but