I still didn't know what she was talking about. Only when the weight I felt on my back lessened, and Agnieszka appeared next to the bed, did I understand that she had been sitting on me.

"He didn't cooperate, and he's too big," Agnieszka explained, almost apologetically. "I'm done; I've used up everything I brought."

She placed five empty tubes on the table. I propped myself up, turned onto my back, and sat carefully. I knew everything should hurt, and indeed, it did, but I felt it through a very thick and furry blanket. Evelyn examined me as if studying a car she was considering buying.

Now I realized that Agnieszka was only in her panties and a short, elastic top, which she apparently wore instead of a bra. She had discarded her other tops on a chair. Without pants, she didn't look as boyish. She had long, curvy legs that some men might label as too athletic, but I would completely disagree. She grabbed her jeans and slipped into them with the ease of an experienced magician. Drops of sweat glistened on her forehead.

"He fell asleep. I struggled horribly with him," she continued, as if she had to explain.

Asleep? More like unconscious.

Evelyn looked at me. "I haven't seen you sleep much."

I knew what she was referring to. If it was even remotely possible, I preferred to sleep alone, or at least in a den that could protect me from intruders, warn me about them. I built a den in every corner, in every sleeping bag I ever spent nights in.

"You haven't seen me fight a vampire killer," I replied.

She opened her mouth, presumably for another witty remark.

"Did you manage to follow them?" I asked before she could utter it.

"Yes, I caught up with the car before they left the forest," she boasted. "I followed them all the way to Ostrava, but I lost them in the traffic there," she reluctantly admitted.

Too bad; we had a chance to find out more about what they were, but it didn't work out. It wasn't worth blaming her; we all did what we could.

"I'm hungry; I need to eat," I said into the silence.

Agnieszka, who had been observing us during our biting conversation, turned to the fridge. In the small room, a single step was enough for her to reach it and open it.

Evelyn tossed the empty medical tubes into the trash and cleared some space on the table. Soon, we were all stuffing ourselves with raw meat from the store. It had been in the freezer longer than necessary; I tried not to think about lively sheep running around the hills everywhere. They would taste much, much better.

"I can't stand it anymore. Can we go for a normal dinner?" Agnieszka asked after a quarter of an hour of silence disturbed only by vigorous chewing.

"Sure," Evelyn nodded.

I just shook my head. I didn't dare go down the stairs, and raw meat suited me just fine.

"Let's go," Agnieszka nodded and put down the knife with which she had been cutting the meat into individual bites.

"Enjoy," I wished them.

My stomach was full, but at the same time, I felt an insatiable urge to keep eating. I needed something to aid digestion. I poured myself another Jameson. It helped, but at the same time, I was overwhelmed by such drowsiness that I put my feet on the bed, covered myself with a blanket, hid the S&W underneath, and allowed myself to close my eyes.

I didn't want to sleep yet, but I still slipped into nothingness.

I was awakened by Evelyn and Agnieszka returning to the hallway behind the door.

The floor didn't creak, and they weren't particularly loud, but their mere presence was enough.

"Why did you part ways?" I heard the question.

"It's been a long time, a significant part of a human life," Evelyn replied. The doorknob she touched didn't move.

In her seemingly calm response, I sensed hidden anger. After so many years? The old hunger bit into me again, a cruel and animalistic hunger that revealed I really wasn't okay. The last time I felt something similar was when a Burmese heroin smuggler shot me point-blank with a Kalashnikov. Maybe I didn't have such sharp senses, and the compulsive desire to eat woke me up. Still, I sat there motionless and quiet.

The old floor crackled; I guessed that Evelyn had turned away from the door to Agnieszka.

"He just wanted me for himself, was jealous, didn't allow me anything," Evelyn spat out.

Judging by the diction, the girls also had something to drink with their dinner. I had nothing to criticize, though; there was barely half a bottle left in mine.

"And he... he did whatever he wanted. He didn't leave any woman alone," she continued.

The doorknob moved.

"From the pack, or in general?" Agnieszka asked, as if she knew how things worked with us.

"I said any," Evelyn snapped.

The door opened with a click.

I pulled the blanket and raised the revolver; only then did I look at them. Evelyn froze. I presented a man who was just waking up, the gun in my hand was damn heavy.

"I would expect you to knock," I lazily reminded her and put the revolver back in my lap.

"We wanted to check on you," Agnieszka entered, followed by Evelyn.

One carried a bottle of wine, the other glasses.

I gestured for them to come in, although it was unnecessary.

They settled in, opened the bottle, but I refused the wine. Jameson was better.

Evelyn and Agnieszka's eyes shone a bit; they were definitely not sober. It was good to know that alcohol affected vampires. At least the young ones - effectively, those around a hundred years old.

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"Have you found anything?" I asked.

"We found something," Evelyn nodded and took a sip.

In the room, only a faint lamp illuminated the reddish wine she drank, almost black in the glow of a forty-watt bulb, like congealed blood.

"How about you tell us what you found?" she asked almost aggressively.

Agnieszka sat on the bed, leaned against the wall, and put her feet on a small chair. She no longer had her heels, just cheap canvas ballet flats.

I didn't want to, because unless it was absolutely necessary, the injured, tired, and exhausted shouldn't be pondering a dangerous future. Especially late at night. Everything then seems darker and gloomier than it really is. And that can destroy even the strongest.

"We're up against a very powerful enemy," I began, half reluctantly. "Maybe they don't have thousands of men, but they can strike practically instantly, efficiently, and brutally."

Evelyn forgot her anger and watched me intently, as did Agnieszka.

"From the moment I read your email," I looked at Evelyn, "to the moment they tried to eliminate me," how easily I slipped back into the professional jargon of special units, "not even three hours passed."

"Then I lost them," I continued. "But they were still well-prepared for me. They almost got me," I looked at Agnieszka.

She maintained a stone face.

"After I escaped them, they accurately predicted my next steps and kept coming after me. I eliminated their first trackers, but they'll learn from it and send more."

"And what does all of this imply?" Evelyn barked angrily, turning her glass upside down.

I knew that thinking like this late at night was a mistake; we should have left it for the morning.

"It implies that we're up against an old, wealthy, powerful, and, therefore, very well-organized vampire clan," Agnieszka answered for me.

I had suspected they were vampires, or rather, knew. But I wasn't so sure about the rest. Or rather, I didn't have a basis for my conclusions. But Agnieszka obviously wasn't done.

"Old vampires can predict people, types of people. If it's worth it, they can fairly accurately anticipate how the person will behave. I don't mean whether they'll have scrambled eggs or bread with jam for breakfast. But what is important to them, what they will strive for, and by what means. Whether they'll submit, resign, or fight. Covertly, through betrayal, or openly with violence."

I pondered on that for a moment.

"And how can they predict that?" I asked.

Agnieszka looked at me, smiling slightly, but it was a sad smile.

"Based on experience. They've met many people over dozens of different generations. Maybe hundreds," she added with a shrug.

Two weeks ago, I would have laughed at her, but now I considered every word and had to agree with her. I had never encountered an organization that could react so quickly, harshly, and thoughtfully to a threat. Only the Vatican could do that. And that was centuries ago.

Silence fell. A heavy, hope-crushing silence.

"They probably have their people in the city hall, probably even in the police leadership, basically everywhere it's important for them," I deliberately thought out loud.

Evelyn poured herself another glass. She looked nervous, as if expecting a vampire to appear behind our door any moment.

"No," Agnieszka shook her head.

I didn't understand what she disagreed with.

"They didn't just buy a few people in the right places; they bought the whole city, the whole place they wanted to settle in," she explained.

Buying a place, a city, is quite complicated. In the wilderness, in Afghanistan, Bolivia, or the American Midwest, it might be feasible. But here? In the heart of the civilized world, in Europe?

"And then they wrapped people around their fingers who ensured the communication of the area they owned with the surrounding world. Judges, police commanders, county officials, and the like..." she shrugged.

She looked like she knew it from personal experience. And it made sense.

"And how much do they control – own?" I sought the right term.

"Everything, the whole state," Evelyn said resignedly.

She suddenly looked completely devastated.

"Certainly not," Agnieszka disagreed. "The Czech lands and Slovakia are Matthias Mayer's hunting grounds, as I told you before," she reminded. "But he's a different type of vampire, a very rare kind. He stands outside the clans, is independent, with abilities that others can't even imagine."

She looked like she wanted to finish her speech, but I looked at her to encourage her for further conversation.

"He's like an invisible shark in the ocean of people. He hunts, but nobody knows about him, and he leaves only minimal traces," she finished reluctantly, with concealed admiration.

For a moment, I thought about Matthias Mayer, whom Agnieszka probably admired in a certain way.

"If they took too big a piece of his land, would he try to slap them on the wrist?" I suggested.

"If they took even an inch, and he found out about it, he would slice them into pieces," she said convincingly.

"Why into pieces?" I didn't understand.

"Reportedly he decimated Tizoc's clan mainly by using blades," she replied.

That sounded like something out of a very silly fantasy movie.

"So according to you, they only have Frenstat under their thumb?" I returned to our problem.

"And maybe the surrounding areas. The influence of a vampire clan doesn't end suddenly; it's like a delicate spider web structure that can sometimes reach far, even if no one has a clue about it."

That made sense.

"If they're so good," Evelyn skeptically shook her head, "as you say," she looked at Agnieszka, "and we don't even know who they really are, what chance do we have?"

She turned to me. Good question.

"Minimal, practically none," I replied in line with what I had in mind.

It was too late for planning; I had lost too much strength and blood.

Evelyn nodded in agreement.

"But they endangered the pack."

Now she looked at me as if she were afraid of what I would say next.

"And we are the only ones who can help. We don't have... I don't have," I corrected myself, "the luxury of choice."

My own words sounded like hammering nails into a coffin. Into my coffin. I meant it seriously, deadly serious. I sacrifice my life to help people of my blood. I had never felt it so strongly before, but I was sure. It was like placing a concrete block in its place, where it belonged, a block that no one would ever pull out unless they wanted to destroy the entire structure.

"Yes," Evelyn confirmed with a tired resignation, and for a moment, she closed herself off.

On the contrary, I felt relieved; there was no turning back.

"And you?" Evelyn asked after a long pause of silence directed at Agnieszka. "You know it's a lost cause."

"Yes," she confirmed and nodded in agreement. "It's practically impossible for an individual, or even a few people, to defeat a vampire clan."

I wanted to remind her of her Matthias Mayer and point out that we weren't entirely human, but I didn't.

I agreed with her.

"And why are you here with us then?" Evelyn asked almost angrily.

Agnieszka returned her gaze, took a glass of wine, and clasped it in both hands.

"Because I have to belong somewhere. Because I want to belong somewhere."

I thought about her words for a long time. I considered myself a loner, but I had always been a member of some group, a team, and when it came down to it, I had somewhere to return. She... I couldn't see into her, I didn't understand her motivations, so I let it be.

"It's late," I concluded our session. "We'll plan the next steps tomorrow morning."