Their contacts were an interesting pair. One of them was, more or less, what you'd expect of the King's vampires. He was tall, and almost regal in the way he carried himself as though he was subservient to no one. His skin was still the tanned caramel color -dictating what Carik supposed to be Egyptian heritage- it must have been during life. His hair was long and black and earlier he had gathered into a braid, but had not tied it up at the end. His eyes were small, yet exquisitely proportioned with everything except his nose. Which looked as though it had been broken one time too many times. He was dressed in a velvety purple button down and a pair of very tight pair of dark blue jeans. The black leather of his holster stood out against the fabric, only making him look more lethal. If that was even possible.

His partner on the other hand, looked to be the type of sniveling, spineless weakling that loved to bow before the King's thrown. And kiss whatever was presented to him. Whether it be ring or boots, he'd kiss it with a smile. He was pale and gaunt, with a yellowish sort of complexion. His back was hunched and his shoulders we're rounded. Overall he was not an attractive person. He wore your typical run of the mill, gray business suit. His brown tie looked as though he'd tried to knot it in the dark, while he was drunk. He fidgeted under Carik's scrutiny and a slight sweat broke across his forehead.

Carik shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. It was about one o'clock in the morning. Under normal circumstances he would have gone out and selected a willing victim to feed on in the corner of some dimly lit bar. He ran his tongue over his suddenly dry lips before surveying the hotel suite that he and his team would be occupying during their stay in New York.

"So, we were given the Reader's Digest version of the situation. Now I want to know what's really going on." he demanded in a no nonsense tone, that signified that it was time to get to work.

"Indeed." the taller of the contacts, Basil nodded and led him to a small table, upon which sat a copy of the target's file. He picked it up and thumbed through it absently. "I'm sure you're familiar with this."

"I read it, but there's nothing there until about five years ago.", Carik said.

Basil offered the file to Kade, who began looking through it with Rae reading over his shoulder. He let out a low whistle, "This man is some sort of player."

Player, Carik smirked at the interesting choice of words. Phrasing it as though this was all some sort of grand game. The "game" being victim and drug dealing. This man seemed to be gathering up human, drugging them up and selling them off to the highest bidder. It broke so many laws of the vampire realm, the list would probably go one for miles. And then there were the other side problems. This man had staked out territory, burning churches and all other religious establishments in the area and seemed to have no qualms in murdering his own kind when they crossed that very literal line, uninvited.

Unlike Carik's team and other's like them, this vampire had no summons or official mission to kill those who intruded on his territory, he just did. It was probably just a power play, but regardless of the reason he was causing problems.

Carik shook his head, "No one becomes a pro like that over night. He didn't just appear out of thin air."

"Well that appears to be exactly what happened." Basil stated, shaking his head slightly. "We're fairly certain that Gabriel isn't an alias, which leads us to believe that up until a few years ago, he was clean as a choir boy."

"These days that saying doesn't mean much, ducky." Byron said in a poor attempt at humor.

Basil just shrugged, before sitting down on the couch and putting his palms to his eyes, he rubbed them vigorously for a moment before looking up. Something in those black little orbs made Carik look away. There was something about them that was dangerous. Basil, he thought, our resident wolf in sheep clothing. He gave a small smile.

"Alright, so what do you suggest we do first?" He asked. While Carik was the official squadron leader he was willing to take good advice when the situation dictated.

"Clubs." Kade and Rae looked up from the papers and stared at the hunched man who had finally spoken his first words to them. "The clubs are of a supernatural nature, while most of their proprietors are human. The humans don't know of the vampires and other preternatural creatures that frequent, but the owners have made it a protected sanctuary. Spells are in place to prevent vampire/vampire violence. Including the aid of fire arms as well as hand to hand combat... Sir." he finished, bowing his head in Carik's direction.

The brunette shook his head in disgust at this simple act of fear and submission, simply because he'd been born the King's bastard boy. He turned to Basil, "We're not going in their unarmed."

"Oh yes, we are. Another facet of the spell allows the owner to know whenever weapons are brought on the premise and they wouldn't do you any good anyways. So we go in unarmed, to observe. It will give you four a chance to familiarize yourselves with the target." Basil's voice was calm and even and yet left it abundantly clear that it was not up for discussion.

"Boss?"

Carik shook off Rae's concerned question, "You heard the vampire. Let's get going, we can leave the weapons in the vehicle."

Basil nodded, "Later Mr. Gib," he started, indicating towards his partner, "will show you your suite in more detail, but at the moment I think it'd be best for us to be leaving."

He swept an arm towards the door, before grabbing his own jacket to hide the gun and escorting Carik and his team down to the lobby.

"Gib's comin' then?" Byron asked, "He doesn't really seem like the club kind of guy."

"Neither do you." Basil smiled, understanding that Byron was just making yet another attempt to lighten up the work atmosphere. "He isn't. So, he will be playing the part of patient driver."

They piled into the limo; Kade, Rae, Byron, Carik and Basil in the back and Mr. Gib up in the driver's seat.

"Do you mind if I take it from here?" Carik asked as Egyptian produced a rough schematic of the club.

"Not at all." He said, taking out a small black case and removing what looked to be tiny ear pieces. They were designed specefically for dimming human voices and magnifying that of a vampire. He distributed them to the four quietly, letting Carik continue.

The brunette nodded, "Alright, Byron takes the left side here," he pointed to indicate. "Then Kade over here on the right and Rae I want you on the floor. Basil and I will take the balcony. Everyone clear?"

A round of nods signified the groups consent. "Good, now I was the three of you to convene at the bar, at different increments. The first of which being thirteen, you all know the drill."

The three nodded, they understood how their boss liked recon done, so the rest of the directions were unspoken but understood none the less.

"Even better and Basil, you just follow my lead."

Basil smirked, but nodded anyway.

Just then the little crackling noise sounded from the small intercom, "We've arrived, Sir."

That's whole "Sir" thing is getting fucking annoying, Carik thought before opening the door and stepping into the harsh lights of New York at night, knowing that his team would follow.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews/support, I appreciate it.