A dead end, that had been Kayra’s break into the King’s Eye newsroom, from which she was returning at the moment, walking down one of the countless dark side streets of Great Kingston. Her dark, long hair was soaked from the heavy falling snow, but she didn’t care. “Not a clue,” reported Temperately, frustrated with her Mouth Button. “The reporter’s former flat also turned up nothing, and I suspect that any traces were simply removed.”


    "Probably before the Apostles were exposed," Patriarch Stein said anxiously. It was he who had contacted his daughter. "It doesn’t matter for now, my decision stands. The Tenebrae have the data and will follow the trail themselves and after your confrontation with the two agents, the Tenebrae know that someone else is involved. It’s too risky to continue now."


    "I’m sorry," Kayra sighed self-critically. "But I couldn’t let him die ... because I think he’s one of the better knights and I would have broken my word if I hadn’t left the data in his care."


    "A difficult situation for you, no doubt," Oskar admitted to his daughter. "I know that you want to honour our house, but these are difficult nights and sometimes you can’t uphold your ideal."


    "You would have done it differently?"


    "I’m not sure, but probably yes," Oskar said, but at least he had one less thing to worry about. "At least your plan worked, as my source from the Tenebrae tells me. The detective has almost no recollection of the situation in the car park. Not even the handover of the money."


    Thoughtfully, Kayra again revealed her concern. "And I was beginning to think I was in the grip of the Blood Moon child’s evil."


    "You’re one of my cleverest children," Oskar marvelled slightly. He hadn’t expected this reaction. "Do you really believe in that old superstition?"


    "Not really and I’ve failed in the past or didn’t quite fulfil tasks to your or my expectations," Kayra reflected on the past few weeks. No, she didn’t really blame it all on the birth of Ryan and yet she had always been an alert spirit who knew that this world was full of mysteries and that there was usually something to everything. "To have such unsatisfactory results again and again in such a short space of time is something that hasn’t happened to me in centuries and, to be honest, makes me a little uneasy."


    "Well, events are coming thick and fast at the moment and as you know, no plan survives the first contact with the enemy."


    "An inappropriate quote," Kayra felt. If it was an attempt to cheer her up, it had the exact opposite effect on her. "I’m supposed to be observing and investigating, not waging war. Being discovered in the process makes me a bad observer."


    Oskar raised an indisputable fact, but it sounded like he was going for more. "Only if your identity had been revealed to the Tenebrae, and that is not yet the case."


    "That’s probably true," Kayra agreed forebodingly. She had not missed the patriarch’s tone and choice of words. "Should I withdraw?"


    "From persecuting the apostles, yes," Oskar replied thoughtfully, but he seemed equally uneasy. "And erase the data so that any evidence against us is erased. The Tenebrae have it anyway and will continue to work on this trail themselves. Who knows, we might even be called in officially."


    Kayra didn’t quite agree. "Mhh, I see. So you want me to come home?"


    "Quite the opposite - you still have your job."


    "The blood moon child," Kayra pulled in her lower lip. Somehow, a lot of things were connected to Ryan, she felt a little unwillingly. "He’s been without my watchful eye for a long time now... does he really need my protection?"


    "Now more than ever," Oskar remarked apprehensively, and after all those weeks in which his daughter was supposed to follow the trail of the Apostles, this interest was suddenly there again, which he could certainly have covered up well in front of strangers, but not in front of her. "My contact within the Tenebrae told me that Julia’s child had broken out in a rage and wanted to hunt Apostles."


    "Hunting apostles?" Kayra listened in surprise, stopping in the middle of the dark alley to retreat to the darkest corner. "What does this child know about the apostles? Isn’t he in danger of being killed by the Tenebrae if he neglects his duty?"


    "My source has assured me that Lady Gardner is in agreement with this course of action," Oskar explained. Who his source was remained unclear. "The child has caused Lithia and her clan to ally themselves with the Tenebrae for the time being. However, an innocent woman died in the process, at the hands of two apostle blood knights and young children... well, you know that their emotions can quickly go to extremes."


    "I know it too well," Kayra recalled, but now was no time for the past. The actions of the Blood Moon child, on the other hand, mattered more to her. "And this Ryan made a Nox, Lithia of all people, get involved with the Tenebrae? Amazing, for someone so young."


    "Quite, but that doesn’t exempt him from his test," Oskar said with a weary sigh. The political games were taking their toll on everyone. "He needs to take out the red artist, as my source pointed out. Lady Gardner is probably just banking on Ryan being killed by the Apostles, breaking laws through his emotions, or otherwise neglecting his duties. That’s why it’s imperative that you go in search of him immediately and resume your original task - even if you have to reveal yourself."


    "As you wish," Kayra replied, but with the steady worry and weariness in her father’s voice, it was now her turn to enquire after his condition. "Apart from that ... it must be difficult nights for you, father."


    "As I said before, difficult nights indeed," Oskar replied and took a big sip. "Yesterday I lost contact with Mage Zivai. His blood eye is destroyed."


    "Wasn’t he supposed to train our house against enemy mages?"


    "Well, I had a tricky job for him in New York," Oskar told frankly. Sharing the leader’s burden lifted the heaviness in his voice. "He boarded an plane there, which was also destroyed according to plan. But there has been no trace of him since."


    "Maybe he was killed."


    "Possibly, but then I should at least be able to track down his blood eye. As you know, this object is difficult to destroy, or if you know how."


    Kayra nodded to herself. A blood eye wasn’t indestructible, but it could withstand something as mundane as a plane crash and she knew that a conventional needle would have to be stuck into a specific point on the sphere to specifically render it useless. "Will you have a search done for him?"


    "The plane went down in the middle of nowhere. He could be anywhere if he’s still alive," Oskar added pragmatically. "If he is, he’ll get in touch. If not, it’s an unfortunate loss and setback, but an acceptable one."


    "But then that would be another failure for our house..."


    "The dead are only counted at the end of a war," Oskar firmly rejected this implied superstition. "Ryan is still alive, so you haven’t missed your real mission yet."


    Oh, what sweet irony that made Kayra smile. So while Ryan was still alive, this superstition was supposed to be nonsense and yet the blood moon children were supposedly sources of great misfortune, or at least special events. "I suppose that’s true," she replied. "Then I’d best be on my way to keep it that way. See you soon ... father."


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Take care of yourself ... daughter."


    She had to hurry, but there was one more thing Kayra wanted to take care of first so that her efforts would not be wasted. So she returned to her hotel, where she remained motionless on the flat roof of the twenty-storey building in the icy night air and snow drifts. Over two hours passed, so that her coat was covered in white frost like her face, and of course she realised that this was a gamble, but her hunch and the bet she had made would pay off. "I thought you weren’t coming."


    "I’ve been watching you for half an hour and I was curious," Billy’s familiar voice echoed from all around. "But I gradually got the feeling that you were waiting for me."


    "I was counting on it, yes," Kayra admitted, searching with her eyes and senses. This time she had only felt a hint of the warmth and there weren’t many shadows on the roof and her guest might as well have been on the fa?ade of a tower block opposite. "And you know by now that you don’t have to be shy with me."


    "But I can and that open`s up so many options," Billy laughed, but he didn’t feel like playing around and from the darkness of a tower block, an eyeless shadow crow flew in and transformed into his true form as he landed. "Because it’s you, I can be polite, though."


    "Much obliged," Kayra thanked him with a nod, but she didn’t flare for long and some of the frost on her coat rolled off her. "And I take it from your presence that your trail has been lost?"


    "Less lost," Billy lifted his shoulders and sat down at the edge of the roof, his back to the street. "More like hard to reach. The lorries drove into a facility that’s extremely heavily guarded and secured."


    The corners of Kayra’s mouth lifted. "Hendrix Bio Lab’s."


    "It looks like we’re back to square one," Billy said in amazement, more than interested in how the woman had gotten to this point. "Although it seems there was more than one way to get there. Which one was yours?"


    "The one with far more directions," Kayra said, as if that was nothing. She walked from her spot along the far edge of the roof, looking down at the lit streets of night traffic. "And two interesting insights."


    The only question that remained was who Billy was working for and whether too many revelations could expose Kayra’s recent entanglements. "How things have turned around," the Juda’Aerith laughed in amazement and indicated an appreciative bow. "A while ago, I saw you before you saw me and knew what you didn’t yet know. I may still be the first to see you, but even so, I am now behind you. Chapeau!"


    "Right, the situation was vice versa," Kayra replied with a grateful nod. However, her knowledge was now more and a little more valuable, but she wanted to play it all off skilfully and repay Billy’s previous help. "And you’ve played your part in getting me this far, so I’ll tell you this: You know Gordon Mitchell and Ryan are on the trail of the Red Artist?"


    "I’ve known that since I tracked them to the lofts. What’s that got to do with new directions?"


    "That’s an extremely interesting question to solve, by the way," Kayra interjected. Her main focus was still on finding out what the apostles had to do with this mysterious project, in which the murders of the red painter also seemed to play a role. "Steeling Good, Hendrix Biolab’s and a few more connected to these canisters - the Red Artist has committed murder in all of them."


    Even a scout like Billy couldn’t hold back his interest at this revelation, though he remained quiet. "The Apostles are shipping special hazmat canisters and a suspected vampire is massacring those involved? Extremely intriguing and disturbing, but what good is this knowledge without the rest of those involved?" he asked, demonstrating his acumen. "No, you’re not going to give me this information easily."


    "The value of it is too high for that," Kayra replied straightforwardly and turned her back to the abyss. She demonstratively took out her Black Pitch and held it out to the side of her, while her silhouette in the night shadows was clearly outlined by the light of the street canyon. "I have the names of all parties involved at my fingertips."


    Billy’s slimy throat vibrated in amused realisation. "That’s why you’ve been waiting for me," he stated, revealing himself. "You want to make a deal with me. You’re banking on the fact that I want this data so badly."


    "Am I wrong?"


    "Hardly, only the price is the question: what do you want for it?" Billy wondered and had a hunch. "Know who I work for?"


    "A very tempting price," Kayra admitted and she had toyed with the idea before. "However, I’m not sure if you would answer honestly or at all."


    "Not to mention the fact that I now know that the Red Artist is involved in all this," Billy said thoughtfully. He didn’t seem ungrateful, but it was still all a game - a political game, a power game, a dangerous game and every move should be well thought out. "What you know now, I’m sure I can get too."


    "Only with a lot more time," Kayra cut the thought off mercilessly. She moulded her hand into a claw and clasped the Black Pitch as if she wanted to crush it at any moment. "I stole all of this information from the Steeling Good offices. You won’t get it there again and no one else has information on everyone involved."


    For a moment, again, it seemed as if Billy was weighing up his options. Faint movements of his muscles signalled an attack, but it was hastily dismissed. The Juda’Aerith was not entirely convinced, but eventually he swallowed what he had said and exaggerated a little. "A true Juda’Aerith has been lost on you. With the power of Shadowwalking, you might even be able to surpass Nosferatu one day."


    It was rare that anyone managed that, but Kayra laughed sheepishly. "You can be quite charming, even if we both know that’s not true," Kayra doubted in respect for Nosferatu and the vampires of his calibre as she pulled the hand with the Black Pitch to her chest. "Neither do I feel the need, nor do I believe that anyone is capable of surpassing the Ancients."


    "Maybe one, every thousand years," Billy agreed, moving into a half-kneeling pose. He seemed ready for a deal. "Name your price."


    Kayra opened her hand with the Black Pitch. "I want you to report back to me," she said slyly. For her, her hard work, and what she had discovered, was simply too valuable to destroy and leave the playing field entirely to the Tenebrae. She would delete the data as ordered, but what was wrong with remaining indirectly involved? "What you find out, every last detail, I want to know just as much as your master or whoever you serve. No secrets! No lies!"


    "Pretty bold of you," Billy honoured the offer. Even if he had to pay the price, he didn’t have to. He could lie, take what he wanted and break his word. Kayra wouldn’t have lost anything at first glance, because she had the information in her head, but a defeat against the Juda’?rith would be a defeat. "Are you sure you don’t want something else? Something more tangible? An ... important clue?"


    "An important clue?" Kayra asked brightly. Had Billy picked up a trump card? That made sense to her, because he was a scout for knowledge. "On what?"


    "Well first the question - should I report to you or do you want the clue?"


    "I have to admit, I underestimated you a little at this meeting," Kayra said thoughtfully. The important tip could just be a feint, but he was just as unsure about trusting him to pass on information to the apostles. "No, I’m sticking to my price. Tell me whatever you find about the data."


    "And I thought I could dissuade you from your wish after all," Billy laughed grimly. He had probably also misjudged, but he took it very sportingly. "So I’ll be working for you temporarily, too."


    "And not a word of this to your masters."


    That was out of the question for Billy. "Too late, that wasn’t part of your price and even then I wouldn’t honour that request."


    "Mhh, fine, just the information then."


    "It really is a shame that the two of us are on opposite sides," Billy pined as the woman telekinetically flashed the Black Pitch at him and he made a copy of the data with a Black Pitch that he let rise from the shadows of his palm. "Rarely do my missions go so ... co-operatively."


    Kayra didn’t make a big deal out of that fact. "Well, you did the right thing, too. After all, I was about to spread you across a wall."


    "Ha ha, I haven’t forgotten, and because this co-operation has been so fruitful so far, here’s a gesture of goodwill," Billy said, rising again to speak to the woman eye to eye. "I deliberately said hint because I don’t know any details, but it’s highly likely that the Ultima Bellator will attack the Turquoise Crystal tomorrow night."


    "Why this overpriced residential tower?" Kayra replied. She knew that the ultra-modern, sustainable and yet extraordinarily furnished tower block was a place of residence for extremely wealthy people, but what could these hunters want there?


    "Matriarch Austin resides there, a very, very devoted servant of Lady Gardner," Billy emphasised, perhaps even teasingly. "Just think, if it is Patriarch Stein who warns the Tenebrae of this attack."


    On the one hand, Kayra was extremely surprised that the Juda’Aerith had given her this warning for nothing, but somehow she also distrusted this move, but she hid her reaction well. "That would indeed be quite helpful, for the Tenebrae and of course my house. If that’s true, I owe you one."


    "Not for that," Billy dismissed the whole thing offhandedly and held out the woman’s Black Pitch for her to repeat to herself with telekinesis. "I’d still need your number or something so I can contact you immediately if I have any new information."


    "Sure," Kayra nodded and immediately followed up with Billy’s BP. After entering her number into it, she sent it back. "Well, have a safe night. We’re both going to need them."


    "Oh, these times are the best for me. Winter, long darkness, a dream," Billy grinned with his mouth full of sharp teeth and just as he had appeared, he disappeared again as a dark, eyeless crow and dived into the shadows of the night.


    For Kayra, on the other hand, after all the work, it was now time for a shower and rest, because everything that followed was sure to be a bloody, messy and energy-sapping affair.