Until two minutes ago, it had been a bit like the good old days: Ryan had been sitting at a desk with a PC and a filled mug on it, and he could put his feet up in peace, like on many a quiet day during his work back then. But today, instead of a nice, warm cup of coffee steaming away, he was tempted by fresh, cool blood with a greasy odour. Nor had Ryan been working on the PC to analyse new data or follow a lead on the apostles. In the end, it wasn’t a simple, quiet day either, and it was Gordon’s office where Ryan had been trying to pass the time, because tonight was way out of his league, as Gordon had so charmingly put it, being involved in the attack on the Apostles. However, because Ryan wanted to do the detective a favour, and he also didn’t want to just hang around his flat, he’d been hanging around his detective agency just in case the Apostles tried anything. A phone call Ryan had just received from his unknown saviour made that completely unlikely, however, and while he hadn’t been entirely sad to miss out on this bloodbath before, things were completely different now. Now a lot seemed to depend on him, him whose league probably didn’t even exist that night, forcing him to make an unpleasant decision. Ryan needed fresh blood and lots of it if he was going to have the strength to run to his destination and the soggy mug on the table certainly wouldn’t be enough, though he gulped it down hastily, like a hard drink to give himself courage. A quarter of an hour earlier he’d had a nice chat with KC at the reception to take his mind off things and it had landed Ryan a date, which he would much rather have had now than what he was about to do.


    “Back already?” Kylie grinned cheekily and happily, propping her head up on one hand. “I guess you want to bring our date forward, eh?”


    Ryan was exasperated, but even a child like him knew what was at stake at that moment. “How about a taste?” he asked straight out, fuelled by the fresh blood in his pulsing veins, and he focused entirely on the woman. Ryan had no idea if he was working this blood magic on her and she would forget about the bite anyway, but he wanted as willing a consent from her as possible.


    Kylie didn’t seem to be affected by blood magic and this sudden offer seemed strange to her. “You’re one of mine and who knows what will happen on our date, but no. Not to mention, if MG came back and saw us making out here, that would be highly unprofessional. Sorry Ryan.”


    “Yeah, I’m sorry too.”


    This apology only added to Kylie’s confusion. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”


    The world stood still for Ryan now, at least as far as everything but him was concerned, he was so quick. Regretfully, he studied the look of confusion around Kylie’s eyes and how she remained motionless, like a doll. His first real drink from a human and Kylie had to take the fall for it. Ryan stood behind her and honoured her dark beauty as a follower of the goth scene, with her deliberately ripped trousers and see-through parts of her strapless top. She was a little thin for Ryan’s taste, but her slim physique harmonised perfectly with her style. “Now I’d really prefer the baked-in date,” Ryan whispered softly in her ear, gripping her by the shoulder and waist. As he’d been told once, it was as if he’d done this hundreds of times before, and following his nature, he drove his teeth into the point of Kylie’s neck where the heartbeat was most vivid. Having expected something harder from the thin figure, Ryan was pleasantly surprised by how soft Kylie’s skin was, but her blood had a slightly acidic flavour to it. It didn’t take him to Valencia or any other place in his mind this time either, but instead, Ryan felt human again? There was no other way he could put it. Kylie was so warm, so tender and her heartbeat felt like his as he took sip after sip, red drops spilling from his mouth and running as fine lines down her neck. Ryan embraced her more and more, almost like a lover, and he held her waist and even grabbed her breast, Kylie moaning in rapture as if she was experiencing orgasm after orgasm. This moment should never end, Ryan would not accept that! However, he could feel Kylie’s heart beating more and more restlessly and becoming quieter and he suddenly felt as if something or someone was tugging at him and trying to pull him into an endless abyss. You have to control yourself, the stranger’s words went through Ryan’s head sternly but with good will, and as hard as it was for him, he released his bite from the neck of the completely battered and overwhelmed woman. There was no large couch or anything comfortable like that in Gordon’s agency, but his office chair was very spacious and Ryan carried the unconscious woman to it, where he carefully set her down. “Your gift won’t have been in vain,” Ryan said gratefully. Was it the fresh blood in his veins? He didn’t know, but his mind was now completely unclouded: strength instead of weakness, self-confidence instead of doubt and victory instead of defeat! With this attitude, and one of Gordon’s special pistols, he stormed out the door and disappeared into the chilly snowy night at vampiric speed.


    Ryan was able to keep up his abnormal pace all the way to Carsons Climb without feeling drained or weak at the end of his fifteen minute journey. The streets were empty of people and only the front desk of the exclusive residential tower was occupied by a woman. Ryan didn’t choose the front, however, but jumped up to a fire escape and as he climbed it, he tried to call the stranger. “What’s taking so long?” he murmured quietly to himself as the call sign rang out endlessly. “Come on.” Ryan tried to get the call through to the end of the fire escape, which unfortunately didn’t even go as far as a quarter of the climb, without success. He was sure that breaking down the fire door would set off at least one silent alarm, but he couldn’t afford the luxury of stealth now and he kicked the door in without setting off an audible alarm. Why doesn’t she answer it?! he asked himself. She had told him to contact her as soon as he reached the Climb and it was all about her. Had something happened to her? An unpleasant thought as he took a lift up. Not that Ryan was fully versed in environmentalism, but he knew that the Carsons Climb epitomised the cutting edge of sustainability and self-sufficiency and had the latest in environmental technology on the roof, even featuring the first attempts at terraforming. The lift didn’t go all the way to the roof, however, and Ryan became more cautious as the Apostles were sure to have guards posted. However, this very thought quickly proved to be wrong, which made him more suspicious. Was he walking into a trap? Another luxury he unfortunately couldn’t consider at the moment. Full risk was his only option, because no matter how many times he tried, the stranger wouldn’t answer his calls and what was with the live camera function anyway? Even the cheapest mobile phone had one. Should he send her impressions? What was the point of her watching everything live? Questions upon questions and Ryan now did the same as the woman - he trusted her. Her request must have made sense, so he called her again using the live function, but he clipped his mobile phone to his belt. A heavy, electronically secured steel gate awaited him in front of the roof, but he would deal with it and how he would.


    Suddenly, an irrepressible force pulled Ryan with it and broke through the door! He landed on the roof and found himself in a brutal scuffle with another man, like a bar brawl. He managed to throw his attacker off him, only to be immediately hit by a lightning-fast punch. He saw no one and received another invisible blow from the other side. “Show yourselves!” he demanded. He saw the next onslaught of two opponents coming and, just as he wanted with all his might, he froze them with telekinesis and threw them both towards the edge of the roof.


    “Stop!” a high-pitched voice commanded and now the familiar feeling of telekinesis locked Ryan in tight. “What is that? A single Tenebrae henchman?”


    “Let go!” shouted Ryan, trying with all his might to free himself from Clemént Chevalier, whom he recognised, but to no avail. “You’d better get away! We’re about to be swarmed with reinforcements!”


    This bluff clearly drove uncertainty through some faces. A total of nine could be made out, spread across the roof, but one of them smelled like a human and was working on some kind of mobile heater. “Idiots,” Clemént said dismissively. “Don’t let this gossip intimidate you! The Tenebrae knows nothing of our plan.”


    “Then how did he get here?” one of the women asked nervously. “I recognise him! It’s the blood moon child! Quickly! Kill it!”


    “I have eyes in my head,” Clemént replied knowingly. He didn’t let go, but he didn’t kill either, and there was charm and admiration in his voice. “You’ve caused us quite a few problems in the last weeks, after we were able to work in peace for months before that. You are living proof of how much influence blood moon children can have on fate.”


    “Then you know how this night will end for you,” Ryan replied unruffled. He wasn’t afraid and surveyed the situation on the vast rooftop.


    There were futuristic-looking mixtures of chimneys and antennas everywhere, which must have reached another 50 metres into the sky, and next to the Apostles’ mobile heater was one of the hazardous materials canisters, which was connected to the environmental systems via a hose covered in metal rings, where an automatic programme was trying to crack the access.


    “Even if your words were true,” Clemént said unimpressed and pushed his prisoner hard against the broken door. “In less than ten minutes everything will be ready and we will spread the instrument of our power all over America and it will travel all over the world. It will take no more war to finally put the Apostles in charge, because from now on it’s: Join us or death.”


    The fall had left no marks on Ryan, but he remained seated and made no hasty moves. “By poisoning yourself? Stupid plan.”


    Clemént reached into the pocket of his elegant coat jacket and pulled out something, which he clutched tightly in his right hand. “Don’t worry about that. Rather use it now to make the most important decision of your still young existence as a child of the night - swear allegiance to the Apostles or die with all those who won’t be so wise.”


    “And then what?” spat Ryan at the floor. “Total dominance over humanity?”


    “That’s just the natural order of things,” Clemeént lifted his shoulders as he watched the heater work from time to time. The only human among the apostles used an injector to draw blood from a bag and insert the injector’s filled ampoule into the heater. From Clement’s mouth, everything sounded like pure truth, without exaggeration. “Only the Tenebrae have been standing in the way for thousands of years, telling too many vampires that we have to be careful and hide. That’s not right, and if the humans would submit, we could make their stumbling world a better place.”


    “Of course,” Ryan hissed contemptuously. He didn’t believe a syllable of the word, for he had seen in a short time what the apostles were prepared to do, sacrificing human lives like cattle. “The way I see it, you Apostles really are power-obsessed wankers who think they’re better than everyone else.”


    “And humans don’t? Don’t they think they’re the dominant species of this world?”


    “Well, they don’t have to hide from the light every day either,” Ryan stated, only casually noting that he was speaking from his new perspective. “Humans are adaptable and tough. We, on the other hand, have a fatal weakness, but what am I telling you ... you’ve probably long forgotten the warmth that the sun provides for body and soul. But I haven’t and I never will.”


    The phrase put Clemént in an annoyed mood and if he had previously spoken without an accent, now a French one came through. “OK, as soon as the mixture is ready, someone please shoot a big load of Slow Sun straight into his lungs. It’s almost like the ramblings of the revolution back then, about equality and decadence. Putain de merde.”


    No matter how much Ryan analysed the situation and searched for an option, it was no use to him. He hadn’t even stood a chance against half of these vampires, he knew that, even with the fresh, burning rush of blood inside him.


    “Hello?” came an extremely quiet, muffled voice. It almost sounded like it was in the inside pocket of a coat. “Is anyone there? All I can see is black.”


    Ryan’s eyes followed the source to his mobile phone, which was lying on the floor near him. He must have lost it on impact and wasn’t reaching for it right away. “Bring your worst,” he addressed the Apostles and stood up gingerly, turning his back to the enemy and clutching the phone to his chest as he picked it up, hiding it and whispering. “In a moment.”


    “In a moment what?” Clemént asked, amused, his vampire ears fixed on his guest. “What now? Are the reinforcements you were hoping for coming?”


    “Possibly,” Ryan murmured. He looked at his mobile phone, where he saw no one in the opposite picture. “Is it you?”


    “No,” replied a distinctive narrator’s voice that Ryan had heard somewhere before. “Be a good lad and give me a better picture. I just need to see more for a second.”


    “Sure,” Ryan nodded. Surely the Apostles wouldn’t give him a chance once he revealed the mobile phone. Instead, he wanted to use his body as a shield and went backwards at top speed to get a better live image! A shot from the side immediately broke the mobile phone into its individual parts and telekinesis hurled Ryan against one of the housings of the environmental systems.


    “I’m going to hazard a guess,” Clemént’s voice overplayed with amusement as his human servant removed the previously inserted ampoule from the heater. The blood in it had turned into the purest gas and he inserted the object into a socket in the virus canister. “You little rascal wanted to make a live transmission so that someone could join you via a blood portal. Crafty, crafty, but no Tenebrae henchman or Lady Gardner herself would be powerful enough to break through my barrier and powerful... which powerful vampire would you know? You, who are less than a pawn.”


    This time Ryan struggled to get up. “So much for influencing fate, eh?”


    “With the right fingers on the pawn, it too can influence fate,” Clemént said with conviction. He seemed to be holding some kind of remote control in his right hand and tapped it thoughtfully against his chin. “But now tell us - who was on the phone? Come on! Make us laugh!”


    Everyone was highly amused and laughed dirty. Nobody took Ryan seriously or saw him as a threat, and if he was honest, he wasn’t. Clemént had been right, because what was Ryan doing other than being the figure of the unknown? No! It wasn’t quite like that! The stranger had set the strategy, but Ryan had made his own move, and what a move it was!


    The whistling night wind was broken by a thunderous rumble, as if the earth was about to crack open. Out of the air, without cloud or any source, red lightning shot down from above onto the roof of the Climb, but it was deflected onto a pink, smoky-looking barrier that appeared all at once around the top of the residential tower. Like heavy spear thrusts, the reddish bursts of energy crashed into the guilt at ever shorter intervals, splintering it to converge on the spot where the mobile phone had been aimed.


    Similar to the previous shield around the tower, a bright red, large portal now unfolded as a semicircle, but its surface was more like water and only faintly misty. A metal-clad boot stepped out of the doorway, followed by a wide, dark cloak and the face was unmistakable! It was the man who had been present at Julia’s execution, called Patriarch Stein, and he was bringing reinforcements. Some sort of giant zombie monster, abnormal in stature, waved its arms behind the man’s back and with a blink of an eye, the portal contracted and finally fizzled out as a red cloud.


    The amusement, any grin, everything was gone from the apostles’ faces and deadly serious, even two or three frightened expressions stared at the newly appeared duo and as the word Stein was repeatedly uttered, Clement spoke in warning. “Patriarch Stein.”


    The cats yellow eyes of Stein looked unimpressed and hardly interested in the apostles. “Are you all right?”


    “Yes,” Ryan said uncertainly. This large zombie creature made him hesitant to step to Stein’s side. “Where’s the woman? Is she all right?”


    “Unfortunately, she was extremely badly wounded, but she’ll survive,” the patriarch replied confidently. “And she didn’t doubt you for a second. Good work.”


    “Well, I didn’t really do much, so-,” Ryan began, when he was interrupted by a small recoil.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    A vampire had landed a blow so immensely hard against Stein’s face that there had been a shockwave, and her fist was still clenching against the man’s head with all her might.


    For Stein, however, this attack was like something from another world, non-existent, and he hadn’t moved an inch. Not even a wrinkle formed on his cheek from the clenching fist, but the vampire’s eyes fell briefly on his attacker. From beneath his cloak, his right backhand came out almost ridiculously slowly and although the arm swing was executed without excessive speed, Stein sent the vampire to the ground so hard that she trailed a trail of blood and the red became a fire. The friction must have been so strong that the victim caught fire and was instantly reduced to ashes. “And you really think this virus gives you control over the night?”


    Clemént was convinced. “The fact that you are here only confirms my belief and it doesn’t matter what you do now - the Apostles have already won.”


    “The grits aren’t in the air yet!” said Ryan, pointing to the environmental system. “The programme hasn’t gone through yet and if I get my hands on the system, it certainly won’t get through!”


    “Please, I’ll let you approach without the gene defence,” Clemént offered confidently and made way.


    Was everyone so afraid of this patriarch? Ryan thought so and took a step, but Stein stretched his arm in front of him. “Use your eyes, child,” he warned warily. “The canister is rigged with explosives.”


    Was that so? Indeed it was! There was a bomb on the canister. “Patriarch Stein is clearly raising the level,” Clemént nodded enthusiastically and presented the remote control he had previously concealed in his hand. “Too bad it won’t do him any good. Environmental system or not - once the virus is free, the only difference is how much time it needs to spread. So last chance: both of you bow to the Apostles or perish.”


    “Or we eliminate you before you can detonate the device.”


    “That’s why I have a dead man’s switch as a trigger. If my hand goes off, the bomb goes off.”


    “That changes the situation a little, but not our objective,” Stein remarked. He clearly had no intention of submitting and opened his coat. In addition to some kind of old-fashioned officer’s outfit, he was wearing pieces of armour in places. “Ryan, you need to shut down the environmental system and try to get rid of the bombs somehow.”


    “As soon as we get close to the canister, it’ll blow everything up,” Ryan surmised, though he was ready to attack, and more than ready. It wasn’t the fresh blood he’d drunk earlier and he couldn’t explain it, but it seemed that being close to the Patriarch made him stronger. “Don’t you think?”


    “That is Clement’s trump card and he will only play it when there is no other option,” Stein analysed the situation in a calculated and calm manner. “Besides, I’ll keep this little gang sufficiently busy so that you have a clear path with Raugh.”


    “Raugh?”


    The patriarch pointed his backhand at the zombie. “Raugh, protect and support Ryan and do whatever he tells you, but that container there is not to be damaged under any circumstances.”


    “Raugh follow Ryan,” the zombie nodded. “Raugh defends.”


    “You think it’s that easy,” Clemént said fearlessly and, like all the other vampires, he pulled an injector of reddish gas from his coat pocket. “Time to show you more of the wonders that can come from ancient alchemy, modern science and magic!” With a strained groan, he and the rest injected themselves with the unknown substance.


    Instantly, Ryan sensed an echo of sorts, a threat, and his instincts told him that all the Apostles had just become a lot more dangerous. “Can you still keep the gang busy, Patriarch?”


    “Whatever that was has strengthened the Apostles, much like after a Caperie,” The Patriarch explained, though he didn’t elaborate on what Caperie meant. He was much more intent on subliminally provoking his opponents. “But the effect is far weaker and even with this drug, this bunch is at best a hindrance to me, nothing more and that’s supposed to be a miracle?”


    The Apostles seemed to see it differently and were more than willing to attack. “This is just the beginning!” Clemént announced and he began to make burning spell circles appear on the roof. “This remedy is based on the virus, which can destroy but also raise vampires. Curious, isn’t it? Mixed properly with powerful vampire blood, it becomes an energising tool, while weak blood is like kicking out a fire with your foot, leaving behind the same white smoke of a days-old, extinguished fire.”


    The chatter impressed the patriarch as much as anything before - not at all. “Neither that, nor hordes of black orcs and other demons will save you now,” he said in the face of the beasts that appeared from the flaming circles.


    They were mainly a lot of small, horned imps and black-skinned, medieval-armoured monsters, and only two large, winged creatures that took up position above the canister stood out.


    “Oh, it will be such a delight for me to suck you dry completely and take your power from you,” Clemént said with fervour, receiving clear, sneering encouragement from his subordinates. “You are a relic from times long past, unworthy and incapable of change, otherwise you would have joined us long ago ... or saved your wife. The future has no place for relics!”


    “Is that so?” was Stein’s impassive response. Theatrically, he raised his right hand above his head and a tiny, bloody ball formed across its inner surface, accompanied by red streaks whizzing around it.


    The Carsons Climb was built so high that it was even level with individual clouds, but none of them were close to him. However, the wind was now picking up and a noticeable vortex was beginning to circle the roof, so it wasn’t just the clouds of the same height that were being sucked towards the Climb. From even loftier heights, wisps of aerosols coiled like snakes towards the Climb and soon its upper floors were enveloped in a small storm.


    Ryan didn’t need to be a genius to guess that this was the power of Stein and it left him in awe, but he wasn’t paralysed. He could see that this demonstration was more than respectful to the Apostles and Ryan was ready to follow the Patriarch into battle.


    “Look at you,” Stein continued calmly but more seriously, as if he was extremely displeased with something and his cloak flapped loudly with the powerful drift, “what do you think you can achieve? Apart from the french officer, none older than 300 years, intoxicated by your drugs, you call me a relic of a bygone age and think you can rob me of my power? Go ahead, come on ... you little punks. History won’t even remember you and I, as a witnessing relic of it, have long forgotten you already.”


    That was too much for the apostles and almost all of them attacked! Firearms blared and leaping attacks surged forward. One of the men even turned into a kind of hairless werewolf, as big but not quite as muscular as Raugh.


    Stein crushed the blood in his palm, unleashing the full intensity of the vortex that shielded the roof from the outside world and sent loud thunder and bright lights crashing through the clouds. He didn’t even fend off the attacks, but dodged them with pure footwork and leaps.


    “OK Raugh, I guess it’s our turn then!” said Ryan, looking at the zombie. “Take care of those weird demons!”


    “Raugh clear the way,” the zombie nodded and stomped off undaunted. The little imps spat fireballs at him, but the weak explosions fizzled out against the massive flesh of Raugh, who crushed several imps and ran over a dozen black orcs like a steam locomotive. The blades and axe blows of the armoured demons that joined them did little more than carve the zombie and even stuck in his flesh, allowing him to grab the attackers and throw them around like puppets, smashing them to pieces.


    Ryan followed him and as he ran, he kicked a few remaining imps away like footballs. He dodged the swings of the Black Orcs with ease, plucking them out with his claws before grabbing one of the axes. Not that he was a skilled axe-wielder, but with his speed and brute strength, he severed many a head from his shoulders. However, he was no match for environmental control. One of the winged demons spewed its flame breath at him and Ryan hadn’t forgotten: Vampires were very flammable.


    Patriarch Stein only had to deal with fire to a limited extent. Clemént threw fireballs at him, but Stein’s dexterity and his magical blood shield protected him from any damage. The damage he inflicted on his enemies came when he froze one of the apostles using telekinesis and used it as a living shield in front of him. She intercepted a few bullets for him before Stein threw the woman at an apostle. He seemed to control the bodies of both almost perfectly when their arms and legs became messily intertwined and they suddenly exploded as a red cloud. Then he simply appeared in front of another enemy and cut it into three pieces with a claw slash, leaving only four apostles.


    “I expected no less!” Clemént admitted and all the slain Black Orcs were tapped by him. All their blood fuelled his power and he used it to unleash a wave of pure energy on his enemy. At the same time, his lean body swelled to a trained stature.


    For the first time in the fight, Stein had to apply more as he used the exact same power and there was a draw in the centre of the impact. The difference with his opponent, however, was that he had to fend off the shots and punches of the other troublesome apostles without shedding a drop of sweat.


    This was Ryan’s chance! He faked an advance on the environmental systems and lured one of the flying demons. The monster came towards him breathing fire, but he ducked under it and caught it by the tail. He brutally smashed the creature to the ground and repeated the whole thing several times over its head until the beast just twitched and Ryan sensed something at its back.


    Suddenly one of the apostles appeared! It had disengaged from the main fight and was swinging out with one of the Schwarzork swords when it was intercepted out of nowhere by a massive hand.


    Raugh saved Ryan from the sneak attack by smashing his fist down on the woman’s head.


    “We make a good team, Raugh!” praised Ryan.


    “Raugh prot-!” the zombie began as the second demon flyer grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him along. However, the beast did not enter into a tussle with him, which spoke in favour of a certain intelligence. Instead, the demon fluttered around Raugh, dodging his blows and showering him, albeit fruitlessly, with blasts of flame.


    This was Ryan’s chance! Although the human apostle servant tried to stop him with a pistol, he simply threw him off the roof and set about environmental control. Ryan didn’t have a minute left to shut down the system, but it didn’t come down to a last second race and he deactivated the connection. “Phew.”


    Clemént didn’t miss it. “The things you don’t have to do yourself.”


    This distraction cost more Apostle lives as Stein disposed of the leader’s remaining two henchmen, leaving the two to face each other alone. “It is indeed a miracle that you have survived so long in this skirmish.”


    “Long enough,” Clemént replied and he was about to let go of the dead man’s switch, but he couldn’t. “That won’t do you any good!”


    Stein had full control thanks to telekinesis, but he couldn’t easily take out his enemy. At least not without releasing the dead man’s switch. “Is that what you said during the revolution?”


    Clemént was far from admitting defeat and he spoke in words that sounded like gibberish. The patriarch’s gaze darkened and the roof burst open next to Clemént like a volcano spewing lava.


    Something huge emerged from the glowing rock, with very long arms and eight of them. The body of this new beast looked like some kind of structure made of sticks, only it was far more bony and was characterised by hanging shreds of skin and a jaw that resembled a crushing iron casting.


    “You want souls?” Clemént addressed his summon. “Then Stein must die!”


    “Stein,” murmured the best, hot vapours escaping from her mouth and making her jaws click together threateningly. “I will devour him.”


    “A demon lord,” Stein stated. He continued to hold Clemént’s hand, but the new opponent no longer allowed him to act so lightly. “You must be truly desperate... and this creature won’t change the outcome of this fight.”


    The demon lord puffed a veritable fountain of vapour from his nostrils and four scimitars took up one hand each. “Human or vampire, all bow to me!” the demon claimed and went on the attack. He wasn’t exactly slow and his blade swings gave the impression of a rotor movement.


    This clearly forced the patriarch onto the defensive without him striking back. He dodged as best he could and still didn’t release Clement’s hand, but if this continued it was only a matter of time before the canister was destroyed.


    Ryan stood helplessly in front of the explosives and didn’t dare touch even one. What could he do? Maybe he could seize the moment! Clemént was too distracted and if Ryan was quick enough, he might be able to kill the apostle and secure the dead man’s switch. He tried, but Clemént immediately looked back and threw a blood spear at Ryan, piercing him in the shoulder and pinning him next to the canister.


    Stein saw this and at that moment, he himself was caught on the spot! Two blades rushed towards the patriarch from each side, and although he was able to stop the impact with a blood shield, he could no longer move.


    The demon pressed down with all its weight on the protective shield, which it towered over by far, and to make matters worse, a veritable hellfire erupted from its mouth above the protective sphere, from which it itself remained untouched despite its proximity.


    “Now we’ll finish him off!” Clemént announced triumphantly, supporting the demon with a beam of pure blood energy that hit the back of the protective shield.


    Ryan couldn’t pull the blood spear out of his shoulder, so he wrenched himself free so that his shoulder was split open completely, but he could take the pain. Stone also seemed to be able to withstand these powerful attacks, but he was out of the game and Ryan stared at his blood-covered claws. What am I supposed to do?!“, he thought, stricken. So much fresh blood, so much innocent blood, so much blood?! Blood! It struck Ryan like lightning and he dragged himself to the apostles’ equipment and shouted. “Raugh! Grab this flying demon, but don’t kill him! Bring him to me!”


    The zombie had taken quite a beating in the meantime and was clearly burnt and charred, but he was indefatigable. “Raugh catches,” he said and got hold of the flying demon by the foot. Against its sheer strength, the fire-breathing beast stood no chance and Raugh carried the whimpering prey to the canister.


    “Let’s hope this works, big guy,” Ryan said uncertainly, but he had no choice. He drew his own blood with one of the injectors and tried to heat the ampoule. “Hold his mouth tight! We need a fire!” Ryan got exactly what he wanted, although this proximity to fire made him very uncomfortable indeed and the heating injector burnt his entire palm.


    Clemént had just been in the throes of victory, but the action on the canister caught his attention and he also seemed to be struck by an unpleasant flash of inspiration. “NO!” he shouted, breaking off his attack on Stein. “The old-fashioned way then!” Instead of detonating the bombs by remote control, he tried to detonate them with his magic.


    Before the explosion, however, Ryan managed to ram the injector into the hose connection between the canister and the environmental system and inject his gaseous blood.


    Not only did a considerable bang follow, almost throwing Ryan and Raugh off the roof. It was Patriarch Stein’s moment to use his shield as a reverse shockwave and break the Demon Lord’s attack and stance! He then launched the hell dweller high into the sky with a fist strike, swirling blood around him that absorbed the property of the flames blazing everywhere, so the Patriarch soon compressed a fire of his own into a ball that he used to blow up the Demon Lord in the sky.


    No demons, no apostles and a white cloud from the destroyed canister - that was all Clemént had left, clenching his fist in anger. “This war has only just begun,” he threatened blatantly, creating his own, much smaller blood portal through which he retreated as upright as possible. “Great Kingston will belong to the Apostles.”


    The night sky cleared and the strong wind lost momentum. The roof of the Climb had definitely seen better days and all that broke the silence after this battle was the crackling of the still blazing fires.


    Ryan was completely drained and tried to pull himself together before a hand was held out to him. He looked up at the arm, at Patriarch Stein, and let him help him up, slightly dazed. “Have we won?”


    Stein was calm himself and his cloak covered most of his body again. “The Tenebrae may favour subtlety and will have their work cut out to cover it up, but yes - we seem to have won,” the Patriarch surmised, looking at the disappearing white cloud. “Clemént seemed very worried. What exactly did you do?”


    “Well, I was thinking about how he was raving about the virus,” Ryan explained, presenting his blood-covered hand. “He said weak vampire blood is like leaking fire. I’m absolutely no expert of the night, but I would describe my blood as weak.”


    “Extremely creative,” Stein acknowledged the act and he paced the remains of the battlefield. “Yes, that might have worked, and if not, at least we prevented the virus from spreading quickly.”


    “You’re a real optimist, aren’t you?” replied Ryan, limping after the Patriarch. “But what’s the point if the virus spreads slowly instead of quickly?”


    “A chance. The Tenebrae will surely have captured a sample of it and we can develop an antidote or we can find it among the Apostles. They must have one too.”


    “Of course,” Ryan followed, kicking an empty vial away from him. “I’m sure they’d have blackmailed everyone with it.”


    “Most likely.”


    Ryan briefly went into a defensive stance again as something massive stomped through the smoke. “Raugh?!” he shuddered, because the zombie was missing its head and left arm and he wanted to help it.


    “Easy,” Stein said, holding back the attempt to help. “He’s all right.”


    “He’s got no head ... stop, how can he move then?”


    “Like I said, he’s fine,” Stein assured him, taking his hand off Ryan.


    Although Raugh’s body staggered around a little disorientated, after clearing away a piece of rubble, he found the zombie’s head and sat it up as if nothing had ever happened and the arm did the same. “Apostle defeated?”


    “Yes Raugh, we are victorious and can return home now.”


    The zombie nodded dully and at the sight of him and with the fight over, Ryan managed to enquire. “What happened to the woman? I don’t even know her name.”


    “I think you’ve earned it,” Stein conceded, and he seemed genuinely pleased that Ryan was enquiring about the woman. Although sirens sounded in the near distance, he and Ryan took a relaxed stroll across the roof, accompanied by Raugh. “Her name is Kayra and she’s my daughter, just like Julia was. Unfortunately, she was ambushed and nearly killed in the process.”


    “Julia,” Ryan repeated and it clicked for him. So that was why Kayra had been watching and protecting him. “But why all the secrecy?”


    “The same reason that awaits us after this battle-politics,” the Patriarch said, beginning to build a blood portal large enough for Raugh. “If you recall my words on the night of your transformation, I had unfortunately had to distance myself from Julia. That’s why we couldn’t be open with you without further ado.”


    “Mh, but after the action here, there will be no way to hide your involvement,” Ryan remarked, remembering what had happened in the alley next to Richie’s. “The fact that I’m supposed to have done this on my own won’t work this time.”


    “No, you’re absolutely right, and it won’t be necessary,” Stein said, silently waving Raugh through the portal. The patriarch then began to move his hand in circles, fanning all the small fires so that everything around him went up in flames. Presumably he wanted to erase all traces of it. “Lady Gardner will be anything but pleased and may also categorise you as an enemy, but that is not important. What’s important is what the public will see and I can tell you right now that everything was planned by the Tenebrae and me from the beginning, a masterful piece of collaboration So everyone will be told.”


    “And do they all believe it?”


    “Some of them will, but no,” Stein admitted with a faint shrug of his shoulders. “But don’t worry about what else the night will bring. For now, we’ll decide the story.”


    There was nothing for Ryan to say in reply and all he could do just before he left the portal was look at the sea of flames behind the Stein following him, whose outline looked like a huge shadow, from which his yellow cat eyes stared out and expressed what he had said: Stein had long forgotten this and he was ready for the future.