Johan stared blankly at Keiko, who stood nervously shifting from leg to leg with Valen, Enid, and Louise in the middle of his dimly lit shop.

“Seriously?” he said to Valen with eyes still trained on Keiko. “Another one?”

“Sorry about this,” said Valen. “I know the Silver Star Society isn’t looking for new members but she’s as much a part of this mess as I am. However, I’m sure she’ll be valuable as a freelancer if not a full-time member.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Johan let out a sigh. “Well, whatever. If Colton says it’s fine then it’s fine. Come along now.”

Johan took them to the portal door in the back of his shop and scratched a seven pointed star into it to trigger the portal.

Keiko watched in silence as the door glowed white with runes and let out a soft gasp when it opened to reveal the hallways of the Sterling Sanctum.

“Whoa.” Keiko stepped into the winding black velvet hallways. “Okay, I’ll admit, this is pretty cool.”

“It’s fucking weird is what it is,” said Louise. “Stick close to us. Last thing we need is for you to get lost.”

Johan led the group through the giant manor, up a familiar set of spiralling stairs that was still missing the rails where Valen had fallen from, and to the double doors of Colton’s study.

“Odd,” said Enid. “I don’t sense any magic aura nearby.”

“Maybe he’s having an off day?” Johan pushed open the door to the study.

Colton was nowhere to be seen on the other side. Instead, Chris was sitting at the desk tucked in the room’s corner, hunched over some business documents with a pen in hand. He turned around to look at them.

His face still hadn’t fully healed from his fight with Valen. The lumpy bruises had shrunk somewhat and his green eyes were fully able to open again, but the long red cuts caused by sword guards repeatedly smashing into his face remained. A thick white bandage was wrapped around his head, presumably covering the long cut Valen had made above his eyes to blind him.

Upon recognising them, Chris stood up from his seat.

“You’re late,” he said sternly.

“We weren’t given an appointment time,” said Valen.

“Well, you should’ve come earlier anyways.” Chris neatly stacked and straightened the documents he’d been working on. “Father’s having dinner with an important guest right now.”

Johan looked worried. “Should we wait for him to finish?”

“He told me to bring the vampire to him as soon as possible.” Chris brushed past Valen into the hallway, then stopped to gesture for him to follow. “I’ll bring you to father. Your concubines can wait with Johan in the study.”

Louise sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils in a noble attempt to keep her temper in check, Enid didn’t deign to give him a reaction, and Keiko simply grit her teeth in quiet annoyance.

Valen glared at Chris, unamused. His black-red eyes narrowed on the pompous high elf. He had intended to apologise for beating the shit out of him earlier, but hearing him call his friends ‘concubines’ annoyed away any guilt he might’ve still felt.

“They’re my friends, not my concubines.” Valen refused to budge from his spot. “And they have names, if you could care to learn them.”

Chris rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Now come along.”

Valen crossed his hands behind his back.

“Actually, I believe it’s high time you actually learned my friends’ names.” He looked back at his friends. “Would you three like to introduce yourselves to Chris here?”

“Uh, sure.” Louise picked her ear with a pinky and flicked whatever was on it at Chris’ general direction. “I’m Louise. Pleased’ta fucking meet ya.”

“Hmph.” Enid shoved her hands in her pockets, already facing the study. “I’m Enid.”

“Right.” Keiko cleared her throat. “And I’m Keiko Takara. Nice to-”

She was cut off midway when Chris stomped loudly towards them, his bruised face twisted into an angry scowl.

The high elf prodded an accusatory finger into Valen’s chest.

“Do I look like a bloody joke to you, vampire?”

He looked Valen dead in the eye as he spoke, and Valen returned his angry gaze with a steely one that hid the pent-up anger boiling behind it.

“Do I look like I’m laughing, sir?” he replied.

Chris clenched his teeth.

“Gods-damned leech.”

He reached up to grab the collar of Valen’s shirt, but Valen grabbed his hand by the wrist before he could touch it.

Louise, Enid, and Keiko all froze in place as the tension rose.

Enid’s hands were already out of her pockets, ready to sling some spells. Louise had a lowered stance in preparation for a predatory lunge. Keiko’s fists were clenched and her bushy tail standing on end behind her in an instinctual display of dominance.

Johan looked nervously between Valen and Chris, glaring at each other with enough intensity to create heat in the air out of nothing.

Valen tightened his grip on Chris’ wrist.

“Do you really want to do this again, mate?” His grip tightened even further. Enough to leave minor bruises on an average human’s wrist. “Last time it ended much worse for you than it did for me.”

“That was just luck.” Chris attempted to pull his hand away from Valen’s grip to no avail.

“Good luck on your part,” said Valen. “You could’ve gotten far more hurt than this.”

The two of them stared each other down a couple more seconds before a single anxious cough drew their gaze away from each other.

“Hey guys, can we not do this now?” asked Johan. “If Colton’s expecting Valen then it might not be a good idea to make him wait.”

“Of course.” Valen loosened his grip and Chris immediately yanked his hand away. “My apologies for the hold up.”

Chris turned around and stomped off, mumbling to himself.

“Whatever. What-fucking-ever.” He turned around to face Valen again, this time looking more annoyed than angry. “Come on. Let’s just get this bloody over with.”

“Gladly.” Valen looked back at his friends. “You four take care, yeah? Call me if you run into any trouble.”

“We’ll be alright,” said Keiko.

“And I’ll make sure Snowball doesn’t wander off,” said Enid.

Louise scoffed.

“As if there’s anything to do in this dump.” Louise swaggered into the empty study. “Have fun with the old farts! I’m gonna take a nap.”

Valen followed Chris through the twisted labyrinth masquerading as a functioning house and came to a set of large double doors emanating a heavy magical presence that betrayed Colton’s presence behind them.

There was the smell of some sort of cooked meat seeping through the tiny gaps in the doors as well. Although Valen didn’t recognise the smell, it had a distinct bitter twinge that made it far from appetising.

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“Father’s on the other side,” said Chris. “Go on in.”

“Will you be coming as well?” asked Valen.

“Nope.” Chris turned around and started walking. “Ask him to help if you need someone to hold your hand around here. I got my own shit to do right now.”

“Hmph. Very helpful,” said Valen dryly. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Chris flipped him off as he walked away.

Valen scoffed. What else did he expect from this arsehole?

He took a moment to gather himself. He straightened his waistcoat, brushed the dust off his overcoat, and adjusted his bow tie. Colton might not be able to see him, but his “important guest” probably could.

Time to make a good first impression.

Valen rapped his knuckles on the door a couple of times then waited for a response.

The doors opened a second later and Valen nearly felt his heart jump out his mouth.

A humanoid skeleton dressed in a butler’s uniform had opened the door for him.

“Come in, Mister Vasilis,” said Colton’s voice from inside the dining room. “Oh, and don’t mind my familiar. He doesn’t bite unless I tell him to.”

Valen gulped. “Duly noted, sir.”

The dapper skeleton stood to one side, his spine straight as an arrow as Valen walked past him into the room.

A diamond chandelier above his head illuminated a round, black-clothed dining table that held a giant plate of roasted…something. Whatever it was, it was long, thick, had no legs, and was garnished by a bed of lettuce and plenty of tomatoes.

The dining table itself was big enough for at least a dozen guests but attended by only two. One of them was Colton, happily cutting away at a piece of the mystery meat with a knife and fork with his blind eyes closed. The other was another familiar human man in a star-studded police uniform who seemed much more hesitant to dig in than his insane necromancer host.

“Chief Jerad?” said Valen. “You’re part of the society too?”

The police chief who’d led Valen free, Keiko’s boss, grunted and shoved a tiny piece of tomato into his mouth.

“Of course I am,” he said. “Why’d you think I let Johan convince me to let you go?”

Colton put a piece of mystery meat into his mouth.

“I see that you two are already acquainted,” he said as he chewed his seemingly tough meal. “Good. Please, take a seat, Mister Vasilis.”

Valen did as he said and sat down next to Chief Jerad. He might’ve only met the man a few times, but he still trusted him a hell of a lot more than Colton.

The skeleton familiar who’d ushered him into the room set a silver plate down in front of him alongside a full set of cutlery and a glass of iced water.

“Oh, I’m not hungry,” said Valen. “Thank you for the offer though, sir.”

“Please, I insist,” said Colton through a mouthful of stringy flesh, both his eyes still shut as if in slumber. “It’s not everyday that you get to taste roasted baby basilisk.”

Valen felt his stomach church in sudden disgust at the revelation. He stared at the long tube of meat on the table, now able to recognise it as a giant magical snake that it was. It even still had its head, halved open down the middle to expose its veiny yellow brains.

“I’m good, sir,” he said.

Colton shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Chief Jerad slowly chewed the tiniest piece of basilisk meat, his scrunched up face suggesting that it wasn’t the most palatable meal.

“This thing tastes terrible,” he said. “Colton, why the hell would you even want to eat something like this?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Colton set his knife and fork down.

He turned to Valen and suddenly opened his eyes, but they were not the same pitch black pits as before. A pinprick of green light resided in the vast voids that were his eyes. Like a trapped flash of emerald lightning cutting through an infinite darkness.

The sight of it sent an electric chill throughout Valen’s body. It wasn’t just fear, though. His muscles physically stiffened with his input at the sight of the emerald light, every little fibre strangled in place by overwhelming magical force.

Chief Jerad looked between Valen and Colton with worry etched onto his face. “What’s happening to him?”

“Just a little spell I learned just now.” Colton closed his eyes. “Nothing lethal, I assure you.”

Valen felt the smothering hold of magical energy immediately lift from him. He gasped loudly for the warm, meat-scented air then spent the next few seconds coughing into his empty silver plate. His own frightened visage reflected back to him on the mirror-polished plate.

“Easy there, lad.” Chief Jerad put a hand on his back and gently rubbed it. “You’re fine now.”

Valen gathered himself. Listened to his own panicked breathing and found it short and ragged. He got to work correcting it, sucking in a deep breath that filled the bottom of his lungs then slowly exhaling it all out. He repeated the process several times.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Rinse can repeat. Until he felt calm enough to form functioning sentences again.

“Thank you, Chief Jerad.” He let a loud cough into his hand. “I’m alright now.”

“I knew you could take it,” said Colton casually before going back to his meal.

Chief Jerad narrowed his brown eyes on Colton.

“Not cool, Colton,” he said, his formidable mug fixed in an angry frown. “Valen could’ve gotten hurt.”

“It’s alright, sir,” said Valen, not wanting to be a cause of contention between his two benefactors. “But I would like to know what that had anything to do with eating basilisk meat.”

“What you felt was the gaze of a basilisk,” said Colton. “The oldest legends say that they could kill at a glance, but that isn’t true. They just use their gaze to paralyse their prey. Although, most of the prey that caught in it perishes anyways, so I suppose there is some truth to it.”

“You learned how to do that by eating it?” Chief Jerad asked. “How the hell does that work?”

“Humans like you and me don’t have mana, Jerad,” Colton said. “Necromancers cast spells by channelling the lifeforce and magical energy within living creatures. Certain magical creatures allow for unique spells like that basilisk gaze.”

“You channel its power by…eating it?”

Colton casually twirled his fork in the air. “It’s a high-level spell. Fledgling and intermediate necromancers have to rely on bones or dried body parts to invoke the creature’s power.”

“But you have to regularly eat it to keep its powers?” asked Valen. “Makes sense, I suppose.”

“Oh, no!” Colton’s face split open into a grin that showed bits of stringy basilisk meat stuck in between his yellow teeth. “I get the powers forever after eating it once. I just like the way baby basilisk tastes.”

Valen and Chief Jerad shared an uneasy look with each other.

“Oookay?” said Valen.

“You’re lucky the lad’s girlfriends aren’t here,” Chief Jerad said. “Keiko alone would tear you apart.”

“Oh, they’re not my-”

Colton cut Valen off before he could finish.

“Ah, yes.” Colton sipped his ice cold water. “Those three are fine women. It Is a shame that tradition disallows us from letting them fully join.”

“It’s a stupid tradition,” said Chief Jerad. “Detective Keiko has more balls than every testosterone-ridden shithead on the police force combined.”

“Speaking of which,” said Valen, looking expectantly at Chief Jerad. “I believe one of your officers might be a part of the Primordial Church.”

“You mean Cyril?” Chief Jared asked. “Yeah, I listened to your conversation with Keiko. He doesn’t appear to be dead, though.”

“I just killed him a second time the other day,” said Valen. “I don’t know how, but somehow he’s able to come back after death. I realise that this might be hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”

Chief Jared scoffed and pointed a thumb at Colton.

“I’m having dinner with a living corpse who has a taste for giant snakes,” he said plainly. “Lad, nothing’s too hard to believe for me at this point. I can’t just fire him without a reason now, but I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him for you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Valen smiled. “I appreciate it.”

“No problem, lad.” Chief Jared cleared his throat. “Now, there’s something you should know too.”

“Ah, yes,” said Colton. “The breakthrough we promised you.”

Valne felt his interest peak.

“Well?” he asked.

“After the werecoyotes got put away, a new gang’s been peddling blood glass on the streets,” Chief Jared said. “Unfortunately, they’re a bit beyond the police’s powers.”

“Are they that big?” Valen asked.

“They own several legal nightclubs in Reveller’s Row,” said Chief Jared. “They’re selling bloodglass there on the down low and the police can’t secure a permit to search for any of them.”

“What are they called?”

“The Sanguine Syndicate.” Chief Jared coughed into his hand. “They’re a vampire-only group. Many of their members are known to spout vampire supremacist ideas.”

Colton joined in again, having finished all the basilisk on his plate. “We also have reason to believe that they may be responsible for manufacturing bloodglass as well.”

Valen furrowed his brow.

“I was under the belief that the Primordial Church was the one producing it.”

“They may be working in tandem,” said Colton. “I have personally analysed some…samples of the stuff and I must say, it’s quite fascinating. I do sense something of a divine nature in it, faint as it may be. But there’s also something else.”

Chief Jared nodded.

“The process used to make it is a kind of magic only vampires can use.”

A sinking feeling came over Valen. He could only think of one thing they could be talking about.

“You mean Bloodcraft?” he asked. “The kind of magic that manipulates the user’s own blood?”

“Advanced users can manipulate the blood of others as well,” said Colton. “I’ll admit I’ve only seen it in action a handful of times when my eyes could still see. It is quite a spectacular sight, though not one for the faint of heart.”

“There’s also something else,” Chief Jared said, seeming a lot more uneasy for some reason.

“What is it?” Valen asked.

“The Sanguine Syndicate are known to take in members from all walks of life, so long as they’re vampires.” Chief Jared looked Valen in the eye. “One of them is someone you’d recognise.”

Valen felt his soul threaten to leave his body, tethered to it by the faint hope that things weren’t quite as bad as they seemed.

“...Sir, please tell me you’re not going to say what I think you’re going to say.”

Chief Jared took in a deep breath, sipped on some ice cold water, and met Valen’s eyes with a sympathetic gaze.

“One of their members is a girl going by Victoria Vasil, but you know her as Valerie Vasilis. Your twin sister’s part of the gang, Valen.”