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

there shouldn’t be too
many, because it’s only the first night.”  Her eyes lit up.  “I wish so much that
I could go with you, but seeing as the undead can sense one another, I would
only hinder your abilities.”  She sighed.  “Do you have all your gear?”
    “Yes,”
I said as I double-checked my belt.  My stake, check; healing vile, check; and
a small Swiss army knife, check.  I had everything, so she could send me on my
way now.  I’d honestly barely listened to what she said, but I got the main
points.  Vitans suck, and kill the trackers, or we’ll have a ton of undeads here
all the time, because they want to claim the territory. 
    “So
where are the trackers supposed to be?” I asked Claire.
    “I
know they’re meeting with Lyal at his place, because he is my source on this
one, but there is a catch.”  She paused.  “You see, his cousin is part of the
group that is coming to track the area.  She doesn’t want to move from her
current area, and she’s actually trying to get out of the gang, so when they
come, let the shape shifter get away,” Claire ordered.
    “Wait
a sec…back up,” I said, confused.  “Who is Lyal?” I asked.
    “No
one of concern.  I promise.”  She smiled.  “He’s a shape shifter, and they’ll
be leaving his house on Third in about twenty minutes.”  She looked down at her
watch.  “He told his cousin that she is to run off because she ‘hears
something.’ So when you see her do this, you can go in to kill the rest.”
    “You’re
sure of this?” I questioned her.  “You know what they’ll do if they find out
about a hunter being in this area?  They’ll send hundreds, Claire, and I’m not
comfortable with another undead knowing who I am, even a shape shifter.” 
    “I
know this!”  She raised her voice.  “I am not a fool.  Lyal does not know of
you; he only knows that I can help him with his cousin’s problem.  I have not
told anyone of you, Caylee.  Stop questioning me.  Do you want the mission or
not?” she said, agitated.
    “Well
of course I do.  I’m just making sure that there’ll be no loose ends,” I said
to her.
    “I never leave lose ends.
 Now go!  Lyal lives on Third.  His cousin is a panther.  You’ll be able to
tell by your bracelet, which you probably won’t even need, since it’ll be quite
obvious when you see her.” 
    *****
    I’d
made it onto Third.  It was five to one, and any minute they would be walking
out of Lyal’s.  I had propped myself onto a second story balcony.  I planned on
sliding down, once they walked by, and following them, until we were clear of
most human activity.
    The
door opened below me and five undeads walked out.  The first one that caught my
eye had to be Lyal’s cousin.  She had pitch-black hair and jungle-green eyes. 
This was definitely the panther.  I looked down at my bracelet and an evergreen
color appeared, so I was right on this one.  The next undead, behind her, was
huge and had long, brown, scruffy hair.  Maybe a bear , I thought.  As I
looked down at my bracelet, it was an ugly, mud-brown color.  A werewolf?  Shit,
I hadn’t seen a were since I had hunted in the Dukes.  It took all six of us
just to injure the thing enough so Kevin could cut off its head.  This definitely
was going to be a challenge, like Claire had said. 
    The
next two were vampires, each showing a strawberry-red color on my bracelet. 
The last one waved at the others, and stepped back inside before I got a clear
look at him.  Must have been Lyal , I assumed, then waited until they
were around the corner before I came down. 
    For
the next ten minutes, it was the typical ‘run and duck’ cover operation.  I
waited until they were finally in ‘the dead city.’  It was the place, whenever
I had a choice, where I liked to fight the undead.  There were abandoned
buildings everywhere, which meant lots of leverage and hiding places—if I
needed them.  Also, in this part of