Chapter 10

Viktor Van Helsing, otherwise known to the humans as Viktor Singer, watched quietly as the door shut behind the male police officer.

Putting aside the files that he had been looking through, he sat back in his chair, thinking about the little girl that had just walked into his territory. Short with black hair and brown eyes, she was everything that a Gypsy looked like in the Old World. Although she didn't look older than 20, she knew enough about her bloodlines to know how to make a formal, Gypsy, response to his questions.

He even tried to trip her up by speaking Romanian, but her accent was flawless. Most of the people in her House did not have the knowledge to pull that off, they were reduced to making psychic predictions in downtown Manhattan.

A little mystery had just walked into his office, and he was bound and determined to figure her out.

"Hatmanu," he called out in a deep voice. There was no need to use the intercom or the phone, his assistant would be able to hear him just fine.

"Yes, Sir," Hatmanu said as he quickly entered the office. He had gone as far as the elevators to ensure that the two police officers had left. That particular elevator could only go from the lobby to the top floor, so he did not need to worry about the officers poking around the company.

"What are your thoughts?"

"Sir?" Hatmanu replied, stunned.

"What are your thoughts?" Viktor asked again, his blank face not giving anything away.

"I think that it is asinine to think that Knight Securities has anything to do with a human arms dealer. I can say with absolute security that not one of your men would be willing or even able to sell your weapons without approval, and no one would touch the silversmith's weapons. I can look into whether or not the human delivery drivers could have done something, but even then, one of our men is with them at all times. Perhaps it is someone on the government's side that is providing The Specialist with access to our weapons. I'll put Andrei on it. He can liaise with the police from here on out."

"That is what you think I was asking you about?" Viktor asked, clearly disappointed in Hatmanu's response. "You are dismissed for additional training at the tower. Send your brother in your place for the next month. Hopefully, you will become more observant after some time. And don't bother Andrei with it, I'll deal with the NYPD myself."

"Yes, Sir," Hatmanu could not say anything else to the Head of his House. The code of the Knights required obedience at all times.

"You really did not notice anything?"

"No, Sir, was there something that I was supposed to notice?"

"No. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Sir."

Shifting his weight back to his desk, Viktor took a deep breath. How could his second-in-command not feel anything when it came to the Little Gypsy Cub? His blood was practically singing in response to her nearness, but Hatmanu felt nothing. Could she actually be just a regular human Gypsy?

Picking up his phone, he dialed the first number.

"What do you want, Hunter?" The voice growled low on the phone, clearly not putting Viktor in his eyes.

"We have a Gypsy in the City," Viktor said, straightforwardly. He had never expected a civilized greeting from the Wolf.

"There are at least eight Gypsies in the city, they are even listed on Google," the Wolf responded in a snarl, clearly not impressed to have been woken up at 11 am out of deep sleep. He had gone for a run last night and didn't get back until a few hours ago. He was too tired to deal with this shit.

"We have a young, unregistered Gypsy that knows the Old World greetings, smells like a Gypsy, but can go undetected by my second-in-command."

"A Gypsy got passed Hatmanu?" Wolf started to sound intrigued. It had been a long time since something had caught his attention, maybe this new toy would be fun to play with for a while.

"Apparently. He never even noticed her."

"What was she doing in your office? Trying to register a change of address? Maybe she is from another State and has just moved. It is acceptable for someone to remain unregistered for a week or so. Are you getting an urge to hunt?"

"No, I am not feeling the call. But she was not here to register, she is a homicide detective with the New York City Police Department. In other words, she has been living in my city for years."

"Not possible. An unregistered Gypsy is against whatever law it is that you enforce. That means that you would have felt the need to hunt her down as soon as she moved here. Are you sure she is a Gypsy?" Viktor heard the rustle of clothing as the Wolf started to get dressed. A low mummer of disagreement sounded in his ear.

"As she said, she is a Pure-blood Gypsy with all of her pride intact," Viktor replied ignoring what was going on on the other side of the phone. He never understood how wolves could only sleep in a puppy pile.

"With all her pride intact. Huh, this is going to be interesting. Have you told V?"

"No, he is the next call."

"You better talk to him before he meets this Cub by himself. That man does love a mystery."

"I'll call him as soon as I hang up with you," Viktor reassured him. "And Lucas, bring your wolves to heel. They are starting to cause me a headache."

"Wolves never come to heel Hunter, you need to leave my House alone. Enough shit has happened to them, you don't need to get involved with my pups. "

"I will leave them alone as long as you keep it in order, Wolf."

The Wolf was clearly not impressed with Viktor's words and quickly hung up on him, got undressed, and fell back asleep in the puppy pile on his bed.