The aroma of mint tea massaged Vito's nostrils as he took a sip from his mug. His father had always given them mint tea whenever they were sick or hurt, no matter the injury, and now Vito was accustomed to this procedure.

  Bekah sat across from him, nursing her own mug of the sweet-scented tea. She hated the taste, but she had taken up drinking the tea after their father's passing. It didn't take much deduction to figure out why.

  "I warned you before that you should be wearing the aegis armor underneath your clothes at all times," Bekah lectured for possibly the twentieth time of the day.

  Vito sighed, sparing a glance at the gauze wrap around his side. The knife had been removed, and his wound stitched up. It was approaching a full twenty-four hours since they had discovered the shapeshifter lying in wait in the tourist's room. They were in the East Wing of the manor in a room leading down to a basement few knew about. It was there Jekio had been providing their shapeshifting guests with motivation to tell them about the logistics of their operation for the majority of the twenty-four hours.

  "I'll start wearing it from now on," Vito replied with a dip of his head. Aegis armor was greatly improved kevlar armor; lightweight, durable, bulletproof, and most importantly, stab-proof. Vito detested wearing it because it made him uncomfortably hot and sweaty under his suit, however, last night had been a bit of a wake-up call.

  Had he been alone, he wasn't sure if he would still be inflating his lungs with oxygen.

  Bekah grunted in response, clearly not believing him wholly. "Very well. I have a feeling we've gotten mixed up in some nasty business."

  Vito nodded his agreement. "Hopefully we find out exactly what business soon," he added as the clambering of Jekio's boots climbing up the basement steps echoed.

  Jekio surfaced a moment later, immediately surveying the room until he found his target standing on a small, shoddy wooden table just a few metres away from him. He retrieved the bottle of some alcohol Vito couldn't quite identify and took a swig. Vito waited rather impatiently until finally, Jekio lowered the bottle and let loose a satisfied sigh. His bandaged fists were dotted with specks of blood - a sight that was not particularly unusual.

  "Nothing," Jekio said rather anticlimatically. He added on a shrug, "These guys are determined to keep their mouths pinned shut. If they survive the first day with me, it's pretty unlikely they'll talk at all."

  Vito found it comical that Jekio figured himself some great torturer, but his humor was overrode by growing frustration.

  "Back to square one, then," Bekah commented rather unhelpfully.

  "Not quite," Vito responded. "It's now up to their boss to make a move. We dealt with at least one of the murder teams, and we now know their origin. Things would be much easier if they talked, but all isn't lost."

  "Agreed. You got me two new and improved punching bags," Jekio commented.

  "We'll see about that."

  Before Jekio could ask what he meant, the door to the room noisily swung open, and Hades walked in. "You called for me, sir?"

  Jekio snorted. "You never call me sir!"

  "Probably because you don't act like one," Bekah quipped, looking pointedly at the near-empty bottle in his hand.

  "I want you to tell me everything you know about shapeshifters," Vito said to Hades quickly, before his siblings could start a pointless argument. "We should visit them at the same time."

  "Very well."

  Jekio let loose a forced yawn. "Sounds like my job here is done. Do tell my new acquaintances I'll be by to see them later. I have this new chokehold I want to try."

  Vito ignored him and walked up to the doorway leading to the basement. Before he could begin his descent down the steps, Hades' hand sprang in front of him, impeding his progress. "Perhaps you should take a break from entering rooms first, Vito," Hades said with a slight tease in his voice.

  Bekah barked out laughter from behind them and Vito scowled, though he allowed Hades to maneuver in front of him and take the steps first. Immediately, Vito was struck by the hot, musty air that ruled the basement. The stench of blood only served to make the walk more uncomfortable. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, Vito had to wipe away beads of sweat, and his side stung the most it had in a while.

  Hades paused at the base of the steps, offering Vito the faintest of concerned glances. In response, Vito brushed past him and approached the shapeshifters with practiced elegance. They both hung from a chain attached to the roof and wrapped around their hands in what looked like a torturous position in itself.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  They were each shirtless, and their bare skin was so spotted with blood it looked like they had been given a careless paint job. The one on the left had shifted back to what Vito assumed was his original state, with what looked like pedestrian features through the specks of blood on his face. It was clear neither one planned to get into direct fights, as their bodies appeared flimsy and lacked any clear muscle definition.

  "Are you supposed to be the good cop?" The shapeshifter who hadn't changed his appearance from last night - presumably because it was his real one - asked with a grin that revealed teeth encased in wet blood.

  Vito turned back to Hades as if the man hadn't spoken. "Go on."

  Hades' eyebrow rose, but he launched into his explanation obediently. "Shapeshifters are untrustworthy opportunists, in my experience. They are able to copy a person's features, and with adequate time, their body structure. The saving grace is voice and mannerisms require being around the person for a significant time... an hour or two, perhaps - based on the talent of the individual shape shifter. They are typically spies that don't fare well in combat." Hade paused, but Vito made no move to intervene.

  Hades adjusted his glasses and turned his body fully to the hanging men. "When a shapeshifter is experienced, their original form suffers. Here you can see that both of their eyes are a somber grey. That's not their natural color, but after a certain amount of shapeshifting, their eyes lose their color. Even other features become less original and more..." he paused, as if searching for a worthy word. "Prosaic," he added with a nod of satisfaction. "This is because the body forgets its original state."

  Vito nodded in appreciation. "Fascinating." A sweep of the area showed that his brother hadn't used any tools of torture, believing that his fists were enough to do the job, as usual. Thankfully, Vito had come prepared. He pulled out a pocket knife, one that you had to flick with your thumb for the blade to flip over and reveal itself. Its appearance was not intimidating, but with the enhanced steel the blade was made from, it was a favorite for District 35.

  Of course, the product was made by the Crimson Tides.

  However, Vito did need something a bit more intimidating than the usual choice of concealed blade for the district. He held down a button on the side of the base and was rewarded with a slight whirring sound as the blade lengthened. It was a new prototype, capable of producing at maximum, a twenty-inch blade, which Vito made sure to produce.

  The two shapeshifters watched the process with impressive facial control, but their eyes revealed their surprise. Vito gradually turned to face them while addressing Hades. "I couldn't help but notice you didn't mention anything about pain tolerance in their description."

  "That's because there is nothing to tell - their pain tolerance is no different than that of a normal human," Hades replied, eyeing Vito with great interest.

  "Splendid." Vito advanced with a deliberate slowness toward the men. He allowed the blade to drag on the ground as he walked, causing an irritating screech to spoil the tense silence.

  The four matching gray pupils held his gaze with icy-cold resilience, understanding that he was trying to intimidate them. A little more had to be added to the pot. "My brother tells me that you guys aren't eager to answer questions. No matter, my friend here was able to give me some tips on your kind, and I'm now aware that my enemy is utilizing shapeshifters. More information might've been helpful, but it isn't vital." Vito stopped just a couple of meters in front of the pair. "I guess what I'm saying is - you're no longer needed."

  There it was. The one on the right continued to stare defiantly at Vito, and initially, the shapeshifter on the left followed suit, but he couldn't hide a moment of weakness at Vito's words, glancing down briefly at the long, thin blade in his hand.

  Vito made sure that he had control of his facial muscles before steeling himself for the vile act that had to be done. Without a word, he plunged the blade into the shapeshifter on the right's chest region, fighting through the resistance of tissue to penetrate deep. The sensation and wet noise was nauseating but Vito didn't dare show his discomfort. As for the shapeshifter, he looked down at the blade in utter shock, his defiance replaced by disbelief and unadulterated fear.

  "To answer your question; no, I am not the good cop." He pulled the blade down and it sliced frightenly easily down the man's body, splitting him open in a spray of blood that quickly decorated Vito's face and body. He couldn't hold back a slight shudder at the feeling. It took all his willpower to not end up a vomiting mess; the show was not over.

  Vito turned stiffly to the other shapeshifter who had dropped all semblance of recalcitrance and appeared down right horrified. This was the shock that couldn't be achieved with Jekah's bare-fisted method. The key wasn't simply drawing blood, but how it was drawn. That's what the book Vito read said anyway. The shapeshifter's eyes strayed to his drooping friend and Vito detected a note of sadness in his horror.

  That look would probably haunt him for a week.

  "Let me be blunt," Vito said after a few more moments of silence, which he hoped the shapeshifter thought was intentional. "I know usually in this scenario, whether you talk or not you're a dead man...hanging, but that is not the case here. I don't seek only information from you, I want you to work as a double agent."

  The shapeshifter's eyes seemed distant and his demeanor crushed. Vito decided this wasn't the time to force his will upon the man, else he break him. "What's your name?" Vito asked instead.

  "Gauda," the man responded in the faintest of voices.

  "I'll give you time to consider my offer, then, Gauda. I expect a response when I return, or I'll take the absence of one as a response in itself."

  Vito turned sharply on his heel and walked to the steps, his side temporarily forgotten under the more pressing weight of his mental anguish. He'd taken the life of someone merely following orders, and though he tried to justify his action with the fact that they had preyed on innocent tourists, the method of making the murder of a man a show was inexcusable.

  He could tell Hades disapproved as he followed him up the steps, but he knew Hades wouldn't verbally lecture him in this instance. It was his call to make on how results were gotten, and his alone.

  Vito walked out of the basement a drained man. "Do we have more of whatever my brother was drinking?"