It wasn’t the best weather for flying, but Kayra’s owl wings flapped bravely in the strong midnight wind and snowfall as she soared high above the evening-lit Great Kingston.


    Kayra had originally intended to follow the Apostles’ trail directly through Mr Forkner, but after she had told Patriarch Stein about the incident at the warehouse and he had relayed part of it to the Tenebrae, Forkner was no longer an option for Kayra for the time being. She knew that he was now under surveillance and on the Tenebrae hit list, guilty or innocent, and he had claimed that one of his most loyal clan members had deceived him about what had happened at the warehouse and eliminated the traitor immediately. This made him more suspicious to Kayra, as a living enemy would have been far more useful for questioning.


    So Kayra stuck to Billy’s words: "All that’s left are the canisters. Apart from Forkner, that was the only useful clue she had, and she wanted to use it as long as Oskar kept this information from the Tenebrae. He didn’t want to jeopardise the trail and it was logical for Kayra to seek out the manufacturer of these containers,


    In this case it was the Steeling Good company, in the form of their city office, which was part of a 30 metre high, broad building in which several companies had their administrative offices. An enormous, vaulted glass roof with a steel frame spanned the undeveloped centre of the square complex and its green space. It was a lunchtime recreation spot, unspoilt by the frosty winter and even at this time of day the place could be seen in all its glory as ornate, and no doubt expensive, lights illuminated everything.


    At the same time, the glass roof was Kayra’s ticket in, far from any regular entrances, as she swooped down and became herself again just before landing. Kayra had obtained some information beforehand and such constructions always had maintenance walkways that were difficult to access and the hatch into the interior always had to be open in case of an emergency. However, a human would not have been able to get any further here, as the maintenance walkways only ran under the roof and did not connect to the open floors around the green area. For Kayra, however, this was no obstacle and she jumped down at lightning speed, which no human eye could have seen. According to her information, there wasn’t much security in this building, but she was still completely concealed in case she caught a camera or spotted a guard.


    It seemed unlikely that she would meet Billy here. He was probably trying to find the lorries, but Kayra figured that would be a rather difficult task after the Apostles had blown up at the warehouse. Stealing through the corridors here, on the other hand, she thought was less difficult and safer, as she didn’t think she’d encounter any apostles here, but there was still a faint note in the air. It smelled of blood knights, though that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Members of the night were everywhere and perhaps one of them worked here or had visited this place? These were possibilities that Kayra ruled out more and more with every step, as the trail grew fresher and stronger. Do the apostles think that far? This thought almost caught her off guard as an unarmed guard robot clattered down a long corridor and paused in alarm before Kayra hid.


    Machines, especially artificial intelligences, were becoming more and more commonplace in public and were not to be underestimated by vampires. They could sometimes detect superhuman movements if someone got careless, but even with their sensors, the robots were powerless against the speed of a vampire. This model had the basic anatomy of its creator, albeit extremely chunky and angular. A spotlight served as an eye and on its head was a warning light that now glowed orange. However, after the guard recognised no danger, the warning light went out and he went back on patrol.


    Without a map, it would have taken Kayra a little longer to find her way around this building full of corridors and intersections, but the information she had gathered included the location of the Steeling Good offices, where the Blood Knight odour was picking up. This is too fresh, she thought in the small foyer in front of the wide, curtained glass wall of the requested offices. Only the double entrance door was not covered and beyond the glass, the safety switch behind the otherwise dark reception desk had already been unlocked. Without an access card, there was the added possibility that a vampire was among the knights and had deactivated the security using telekinesis, although he seemed to be hiding his scent well. However, Kayra activated the switch again after entering the office to at least have a chance of being warned of possible stragglers.


    It wasn’t the clues that were Kayra’s goal now, but to track down the intruders, and there weren’t many options in this typical corporate office. Her nose led her into a room full of abandoned desks, separated from each other by opaque glass walls that were open at the top. Over time, she recognised something familiar in the blood knight’s trail, but she couldn’t immediately place it.


    The two dozen or so office cubicles seemed untouched, however, or the intruders were working very thoroughly. Her telltale odour also went beyond the open office to a long corridor full of locked individual offices, with a steadily increasing hierarchy, and a brief ray of light flitted through one of the last doors that had been left ajar. Karya just listened and didn’t look in.


    "How much longer?" a voice murmured overcast.


    "Always a little longer, if you ask me," grumbled another voice quietly and annoyed. "If our friend hadn’t given my trainee away, we’d have been out ten minutes ago!"


    "You can cry to the Tenebrae," mocked the previous male voice. "And I’m the one who’s really screwed and missing my game."


    The second, firmer-sounding male voice had a suggestion. "You can watch the replay."


    "Not the same," grumbled the first voice. "I’ve got such great seats for the next hockey games and I’ve had to give the tickets away now. All because of little things!"


    "There’s something to it: apostles, hunters, a possible war," the strapping voice enumerated sarcastically. "And we’re on the trail of a serial killer, but I’m absolutely with you - trifles, even if the Great Kingston Silvershines haven’t managed a decent season in the last three years."


    "Oh oh, careful now Mitchell, very thin ice."


    Mitchell?! At last Kayra could recognise the Blood Knight’s scent and voice. Apparently she wasn’t eavesdropping on enemies, but allies, and yet she hesitated to reveal herself. Her clan was still at loggerheads with the Tenebrae, war or no war, and she had her orders to keep a low profile.


    "I got it out!" Gordon announced calmly. "Take the hard drive and wrap it well."


    "All that effort for that?" questioned the first voice. "Why take it with you? Why not download the data?"


    "Do I look like my trainee? He’s the hacker! Is there actually more in your head than beer and ice hockey?"


    "The perfect combination. Why would I swap that?"


    "Now I’m cursing Mato a bit too," Gordon grated and stood up audibly. "Let’s get out of here!"


    Kayra had listened a little too long and retreated quickly and quietly. She had to unlock the security switch at reception again to conceal her presence. She hid behind a pillar outside the company office and waited until the masked men had left the centre. There was no vampire and it turned out that the strange blood knight had an access card with which he could lock the main entrance again without having to activate the security switch. Kayra’s presence was not noticed and she was faced with a decision: Go back in and look for clues or follow the two of them? It wasn’t easy for her, but the burning question of what and why remained. What were the men looking for? Why were they here of all places? Should the Tenebrae be taking the same approach as Kayra? It was a difficult question, but the men seemed to have carried out a targeted search, as if they already knew what to look for, and they couldn’t have been that far ahead of Kayra. Only Billy was at her level of investigation and he was unlikely to have anything to do with Gordon. So she became curious and decided to follow the men.


    Kayra easily kept pace with Gordon’s classic car over the rooftops of the city, which was obviously not destined for his detective agency. Instead, the car drove into an underground car park. It wasn’t exactly the best environment for Kayra, compared to the freedom of Great Kingston’s rooftops, but she stayed on the scent and entered the car park.


    It went down three levels and was very busy, full of different vehicles: plain, some junk, standard, to a few overpriced models. But this wasn’t about parking Gordon’s classic car, it was about meeting someone on the bottom floor.


    A woman of around 50 years of age in a fine manager’s suit and of oriental-looking descent was waiting for the Blood Knights at a stairwell entrance. "You’re later than agreed."


    "Sorry, the traffic was hell," Gordon replied jokingly. "And getting in was a bit more difficult than I thought."


    "And your description of the offices was completely wrong," added the unknown blood knight. "We searched the wrong room first."


    "My description was correct," the woman asserted resolutely. She seemed convinced of herself and calculating. "Did you get what you wanted? Did you get what I wanted?"


    In the old-fashioned way, Gordon handed over a brown paper bag. "Twenty thousand, as agreed," nodded the detective. However, he didn’t seem to like what followed when he also handed over the security card he had used earlier. "And your ambitious colleague will get the blame."


    "That’ll teach the cheeky bitch a lesson," the businesswoman scoffed. "She really thought she was going to replace me and now it’s off to the job centre."


    "It’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to replace you," Gordon replied sarcastically, turning his back on her. No, this approach was not acceptable to the detective. "Choke on the money."


    "You curse me and yet you cost my colleague her job with this action," the woman smirked and stowed everything away in her handbag. "Moral hypocrite, just like my colleague, and I chewed you up and spat you out. We’ve never met - I don’t know either of you."


    Gordon walked to his car in frustration as the woman disappeared down the stairwell. "When it’s quieter in the city again, I’ll work overtime and give that bitch what she deserves!"


    "What do you care?" the unknown blood knight raised his shoulders. He obviously didn’t mind that an innocent woman had to pay the price for this theft. "Don’t you really have anything better to do?"


    "You’d better stick to your hockey, Nick," Gordon seethed, kicking the tyre of his car. "Because if you make another deal like this, you’ll do it alone!"


    "Sure Robin Hood," Nick raised his hands unimpressed. "At least I’d have finished quicker, but whether you’d have helped or not - that was the price of our information, like pulling your stick out of your arse."


    Gordon had already demonstrated his skills for Kayra in the alley. Now she recognised other commendable qualities in him and initially only drew attention to herself with her voice. "What was this about?"


    Of course that startled the blood knights! They both hastily pulled themselves round and drew their weapons. "Who’s there?" Gordon asked, wielding his weapon much more calmly than his partner. "Come out very slowly!"


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "I’d rather wait a moment," Kayra politely denied. "Understandably, my unexpected presence seems like a danger to you, but I assure you that’s not the case." She peered and saw from the slightest movement that Nick wanted to hurry to her hiding place with his blood knights! He was all the more astonished when Kayra wasn’t there. She was now hidden on the other side of the car park. "Mr Mitchell is much faster than you."


    "We know each other?" Gordon followed the voice with the barrel of his enormous handgun. "Or is that one-sided? I’m guessing you’re a Maledictus?"


    This guess came as little surprise to Kayra, and the otherwise disciplined woman couldn’t swallow a fleeting note of amusement. "Plausible guess, but even though I use the shadows, I’m nowhere near as proficient in them as a Maledictus."


    Gordon had probably been around long enough to draw the right conclusion nonetheless. "Still, you’ve been watching my trainee, right?"


    "I did," Kayra admitted. She wouldn’t reveal her identity, so at least she could say that she had been watching the blood moon child. It also served to build her trust with the men. "One of many."


    "Yes, the old game," Gordon replied with experience, and he continued to hold his gun at the ready. "That just leaves the million dollar question: for WHOM were you watching?"


    "The Tenebrae," Kayra murmured rationally. She wasn’t lying, from a certain point of view. "Otherwise I would have used my element of surprise much more effectively here, don’t you think?"


    "I think you’re one of the windy sort," Gordon accused the woman. It sounded as if he regarded her as a threat. "Because you know, there are the stupid vampires, the clever ones and then the windy ones. I can deal with number one and two, but the three? They adapt so damn quickly and try to turn everything in their favour."


    "Well, I’ll take that as a compliment," Kayra returned, taking cautious steps out of her cover. "But how do I turn things in my favour?"


    "Moment of surprise not used," Gordon snorted doubtfully. "Translated: I’m gaining trust, far more useful than killing everyone."


    "I see you’ve had plenty of confrontations with windy vampires."


    "And i′ve always won," Gordon said. Since he was still alive, that was no exaggeration and he waved his gun discreetly. "Put the rag down."


    "No."


    "That’s very rude," Gordon shook his head in mock disappointment. "Go ahead then - wind the situation up, but beware, your first and last chance before it gets ugly."


    Kayra didn’t take the detective’s mistrust and aggressive behaviour amiss, but respected him all the more for it. He did what he had to do and so did she. "The alley," Kayra mentioned and closed her eyes briefly, but not for the sake of drama. She took her eyes off the men to make herself vulnerable. "Two bullets to the skull, a blade through the neck and a mighty blow to the cripple. If I wasn’t on your side, do you think I would have allowed this victory?"


    "Huh," Gordon murmured thoughtfully, and at least he lowered the barrel of his pistol minimally. "And you didn’t even entertain the obvious thought of helping your allies?"


    "I’ve seen you in action. My help wasn’t necessary. If you hadn’t appeared in time, I would have intervened."


    "Makes sense," Gordon admitted. He didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he put the pistol on his hip. "If you were part of the enemy, you would never have allowed the Apostles to be exposed. By all accounts, the radicals were keen to avoid detection."


    "Your powers of deduction serve you well," Kayra praised and looked at Nick. He was less willing to put the weapon down, but she wasn’t impressed and got to the point. "I saw you both at the Steeling Good centre and I’d be interested to know what exactly you were looking for there, or rather what you found. Why this hard drive?"


    "One thing at a time," Gordon stopped the eager advance and holstered his weapon under his coat. "I have a feeling Nick and I are in the better position here. Show me your face, because I hate not talking to people face to face."


    "That’s not up for discussion," Kayra clarified matter-of-factly but strictly. No, she would not reveal her identity or jeopardise her clan.


    "It’s not a debate, my dear. That’s my rule."


    "And I have mine ... who do you think needs to break theirs?"


    Stricken with the stress of the night and a tinge of guilt, Gordon raised his hands. "I’ve already had mine today, sweetheart. With our break-in, we’ve done some serious damage to an up-and-coming, honest soul, and I don’t normally do that! So tonight, like me, you’re going to have to eat some shit! - off with the mask"


    A thought occurred to Kayra that certainly went against her principles. However, it would have been far worse to show herself without further ado and so she chose this first thought. She bowed her eyes humbly to the ground and spoke softly. "Two conditions: Nick leaves and you tell me what you wanted and found at Steeling Good, guaranteed."


    "Is that what I look like?" Nick grumbled in offence. "You’ve got nothing to me-!"


    "All right," Gordon suddenly agreed sympathetically and glanced sharply at his partner. "Off you go!"


    "Seriously?! You listen to Lady Zorro?! I’m not a servant to be pushed around at will!"


    Gordon showed no sympathy for the blood knight and questioned his sanity again. "You do realise that the next option is for Lady Zorro to try and rip your guts out first and then mine?"


    "What?" Nick raised a brow and nervously aimed at Vermummte. He saw her gaze lift, the yellow eyes of a slayer ready to strike mercilessly and that was enough for the blood knight to storm off. "Fine, fuck you both!"


    "Ah, hey, hey," Gordon stopped the rapid departure. "Give me the hard drive." The detective didn’t get an answer, just the delicate piece of technology wrapped in a clean cloth. "Asshole."


    Kayra waited extremely patiently and silently until Nick’s footsteps became so faint to her ears that she was sure he was far enough away and would not return. "I really would have hated to kill you," she confirmed to the detective, showing her face as promised.


    Gordon couldn’t do anything with it. "It doesn’t ring a bell when I see you like that," the man scratched his temple and pretended to be clumsily charming. "But honestly? Don’t hide from everyone like that. This face should be seen."


    "As long as you’re satisfied with that without demanding a name, I’ll accept your compliment," Kayra replied, but she had noticed the sympathy in the man’s voice. "But was that it? Did you feel sorry for the poor woman?"


    "I’m not that simple-minded," Gordon claimed, putting his arms on his hips. "But I saw how much you had to swallow your pride. That was hard for you."


    Oh how Kayra had to control herself, pulling in her lower lip and clenching her hands into fists. The detective had seen through her crystal clear and being so vulnerable and an open book hurt her ego and self-determination tremendously. "Then don’t let my suffering be in vain," Kayra breathed calmly, letting the tension slowly slip away. "Why were you at Steeling Good?"


    "Well, you may or may not know," the investigator began thoughtfully, as if he was conducting a report to a colleague and was being meticulous. "My trainee and I are supposed to find the red artist and put him out of circulation. That’s why Ryan was lured into this alley, because the Apostles wanted to know what we’d found out. I’ve spent the last few days trying to make sense of the whole story and it hasn’t exactly been easy. What exactly do the apostles have to do with the red artist?"


    Kayra had a limited understanding of the Red Artist′s murders. "Assuming that the red artist is a vampire, he’s probably an apostle," she surmised, leaning against the side of a small saloon. "But that doesn’t explain how your trail led to Steeling Good."


    "Well, we found some data on the last victim, Brad Sedrik, and yesterday I noticed something amazing," Gordon announced tensely. "He was a bigwig in his company, a manufacturer and supplier of chemicals, and a few of his emails kept talking about a project that was soon to yield obscene profits."


    Chemical substances and special canisters for hazardous goods. Yes, Kayra saw a connection, although she still didn’t quite understand how the detective came up with Steeling Good, as he didn’t seem to know anything about the canisters. "That alone was reason enough to break into the company today? Sounds like a very vague but rather lucky shot."


    "No, no, it wasn’t like that either," Gordon refuted the statement and stowed the hard drive safely in the inside pocket of his coat. "It was one of many approaches when going through Sedrik’s data, but I enquired about this project and over time a pattern began to emerge. All of the red painter’s victims so far, had a high position in one of the companies involved in this project in some way, and damn it, there are no such fucking coincidences."


    Kayra listened patiently and was amazed at the detective’s work, the only thing missing was the icing on the cake. "There was also a victim at Steeling Good?"


    "The former head of administration, yes, and we’ve now stolen the current head’s hard drive," Gordon explained, counting off on his fingers one by one with his right hand. "There are five groups involved. Sedriks chemical manufacturers, an exporter, a bio-lab, a state control board, so is Steeling Good and Steeling Good was the only company in contact with all of them. I mean, they build containers and whatever organic soup is cooked has to be stored safely. They need information from all parties and have to report to the state."


    Kayra paused to let the information pass through her mind and realised one conspicuous feature. "You spoke of five groups involved and there was a victim in each of them, correct?"


    "That’s right."


    "Mhh, but if I remember correctly, there have been six murder victims so far. Was there a double murder?"


    "Oh, you’ve cherry-picked the super delicious strawberry on top of the ice cream," Gordon marvelled, but that shouldn’t hide his cunning. "I think I’ve already told you a lot. Now tell me what exactly you wanted at Steeling Good and I’ll give you the cherry on top."


    "I’m following the trail of the apostles," Kayra spoke freely. There was no reason for her to hold anything back now, because it wouldn’t do Gordon any good anyway. "Even before your encounter in the alley, I had a clue about the presence of our enemies, but it was nothing concrete. Unlike you, however, I had a longer view of your pursuers and knew which car the attackers were travelling in." Kayra then looked confidently at the detective. "Thanks to his number plate, I found my way to a warehouse at the goods station. With a little help, I was the one who put an end to the machinations there."


    "Bloody hell," Gordon admired this realisation in his own way. "Then it’s as I suspected and you really are a higher calibre of vampire."


    "I am," Kayra agreed calmly. "And special canisters were sent via the warehouse, which in turn were built by-"


    "Built by Steeling Good, I see."


    "And now," Kayra tightened her posture and opened her coat cape so that the detective could see her pose and especially her hands as she walked towards him. "Who was the sixth murder victim?"


    Gordon was tense, but he wasn’t afraid and stood still. "A reporter from the Kings Eye."


    "Why? What’s he got to do with the project?"


    "I’m good, but I’m not God," Gordon waved her off and at the same time clearly told the woman to keep still. "If Steeling Good is a dead end, he’s my next lead. Maybe he knew something about the project or maybe he was on the trail of the killer? We’ll see."


    "We will," Kayra paused and she looked at the man in silence for a longer, and no doubt uncomfortable, moment. In fact, she braced herself for the pain.


    "That concludes our deal," Gordon remarked. He didn’t reach for his gun, but his arm was ready, just as it had been in the alley. Nevertheless, he continued to speak normally. "We’re on the same side, right?"


    "In a way."


    "Then let us both go our separate ways without trouble."


    "There won’t be any trouble," Kayra promised uprightly, bowing her head gratefully. Her eyes flicked to Gordon, who seemed surprised by the gesture. He held his arm out anyway, and rightly so! Kayra’s yellow eyes widened as she rushed past the man.


    Gordon let his blade spring out of his sleeve, but his swing was intercepted in a flash and the blood knight found himself pressed to his knees. "Windy!"


    From behind, Kayra held the man’s bladed arm and neck, and though he was fortified with vampire blood, he was only a moderate, barely appreciable effort for her strength. She was truly sorry that she had to break her word and tarnish the good name of House Stein, but her clan, her impeccable service to her father, was more important to her than anything. Wordlessly, she bared her fangs and drove them into the detective’s outstretched neck, but not for the sake of thirst. She wanted him to forget! Her face, her words, everything! Immediately, however, Kayra felt the price of her actions and sickly, dark veins formed around her eyes and on her arms, just everywhere on her body.


    Blood from other vampires, even faintly present in blood knights, was like poison to any vampire, with one very special exception. But that didn’t apply here and was absolutely taboo and forbidden. As long as you didn’t drink too much, this action wasn’t fatal, but it was extremely painful.


    Karya accepted that, but another danger quickly took over! Despite everything, drinking was still an intoxication in which all emotions turned to extremes and she was in conflict with herself! Kayra could not contain the shame from before. Her claws dug into Gordon’s flesh and her sucking bite intensified, pain or no pain. You think you’re in control?!" flashed through her mind. I had to jeopardise my clan because of you! I will not disappoint my father! Pathetic human! Tenebrae lackey! On the other hand, this feeling was not enough! Kayra had never forced herself on anyone before and deeply despised anyone who did such a thing and yet she did it herself! It brought up her worst memories, which passed before her eyes in fragments.


    As a young woman, Kayra lay in the dust of the desert, wrapped in simple robes and barely protected from the chill night wind. Even the torches around her did not warm her, but taught her to fear!


    There are three of them! No, four! Five! A crusader and his soldiers! They grabbed the woman’s arms and legs and pulled them apart. The robe was torn between the thighs and the men prepared to defile the Palestinian woman.


    You’ll never get me!" Kayra projected her past mercilessly onto Gordon, further tormented by the pain of the poison. I’ll kill you all! She dragged her claws through the man’s flesh. He couldn’t feel anything because of the paralysis, but it wounded him badly and finally Kayra lost all restraint and tore the detective’s neck apart.


    Gordon fell to the ground unconscious and a considerable amount of blood quickly flowed from the hole in his neck.


    Caught between ecstasy and pain, plagued by duty and honour, Kayra breathed deeply, her chest heaving rapidly: Mouth, claws, torso - everything was coated in the red lifeblood of the man she looked down on with the deepest contempt and she realised, without help, he would not survive this.