Fifteen people began at the table; five were out within half an hour. I was clueless to how the rules worked so every nod of approval or shake of my head was faked in order to blend in. From what Alex had whispered to me, Alfie was a confident player. An older woman, knocked out at the half hour mark, squeezed his shoulder as she walked past and wished him luck for defying her expectations.

"You're doing well for a child, Mullein," said The Collector.
"I... thank you." He picked up his dealt cards. The Collector smiled.
"You remind me of myself when I was your age. My dad had me play this for hours until I mastered it. I should teach you sometime."
Alfie glanced at his cards; four of hearts and five of spades. Alex lowered his gaze – not a good sign for this hand. "I'd be happy to," he replied.

A friendly lie. Well done, Alf.

Alex knelt towards my ear. He had been overseeing Alfie's playing style for a while now, while Florence and I kept quiet in the back. She was bouncing on her heels, checking over her shoulder with every loud boom of music or chorus of laughter. "He's confident. I'll stay here while you and Florence explore the party."
I finished the drink I had received from Leopold long before the game began. "A good idea. Flo." I nodded at the door. "Let's go outside for a bit."

***

Florence followed me without complaint and we re-joined the wild party inside the manor. I warned her there could be anyone there; human, witch, werewolf or vampire. I tried to ignore her grinning at the prospect of a handsome werewolf but noticed her joy falter when we entered a new room.

This room was darker, with nothing but a red light making shapes out on the dancefloor. At first I thought we were walking into a room full of couples far too drunk and excited to keep their hands off each other, but when I bumped into a young man – hardly older than Alfie – my hand pulled back coated in a thick warm liquid.

Blood. Fresh blood.

Fangs glistened in seductive scarlet within an ocean of ecstatic, smiling vampires. They swayed and danced with victims just as frenzied as themselves and gorged on their necks. Bile stung my throat and Florence held onto my arm.
"Are they—?"
"Vampires." I nodded. "Yes."
Her jaw shook. "They're just... they're just." She sighed. "Can we go back out there?"
She didn't even need to ask. I put my hand on her back and shielded her. "Of course. Come on."

As I turned around, a figure hooked my attention. A tall vampire, veiled in platinum hair reaching his waist, leaned over a balcony on the next floor, overlooking the blanketed chaos beneath him. This may have been a ballroom once, intended for nobles to waltz and gossip all night while basking in elegance and decorum. Now it was stained with a far more sinister dance.

The vampire smiled from his perch as he caught my eye and I ushered my cousin from the room.

A bouncer stopped us at the door. "You two vampires?"
I shook my head. "No. Human. We were just leaving."
"That's alright, ladies." The friendliest voice we'd heard all night. "I'm just stationed to enforce the feeding but you're safe to go."
I frowned. "Enforce?"
"Yeah. No killing, no unwilling hosts and no newbie vampires."
"Why?" said Florence.
He almost laughed. "The young ones get too excited. The sight of blood turns them feral so we keep them to the other rooms."
Her brows arched. "This isn't feral?"
The bouncer shrugged. "Part of the Collector's policy. He caters to all his guests." His face darkened. "Hey, you! Get off her!"

He charged for a vampire digging his fangs into a screaming girl's neck. She clawed at him till the bouncer shoved him back into the crowd, being grappled by other more dominant members of his kind, and escorted the crying girl outside with an arm draped over her, reassuring her that she was safe. It was nauseating to watch.

"Always someone spoiling the fun," someone muttered.
"Some just have to take it too far," another vampire added.

Florence rubbed her eyes as I turned her towards the door. "Let's get out of here," I said quietly.

She was shaking when we took a moment to breathe outside, and was rubbing her arms vigorously.

"That scared you," I remarked.
She nodded, breathing heavy and quick. "I've always known what vampires are but that... that was horrible."

It was a known fact of what vampires drunk to stay alive. Florence was aware of that. In my few years as a hunter, I had met vampires who pushed the boundaries of the laws that allowed them to feed.

"Not to rub it in," I said, "but what did you expect?"
"I don't know. Something tamer, at least."
"They're wild, Florence. They always have been and always will be. Especially the younger ones."

With a sniffle, she threw her arms over me and hugged tight, still shaking as I stiffened. "Sorry," she said, stepping back just as fast. "I needed that."
It surprised me, I would admit. "I know."

Her brows furrowed. "That blonde man on the balcony. He was watching you. Who was he?"
"You noticed him too?" She nodded. "I don't know. Maybe a clan leader."
"They're not governed like witches are they?"

Hell no. "Witches are a lot stricter and have coven limits. All the clan leaders say is 'if you don't expose yourself, do whatever you want.'"
"Really?" Her eyes widened in shock.
"More or less." I sighed. "They're encouraged not to kill but 'accidents' happen. In the treaty, we have to let one-offs slide."
"What treaty?"
I stuttered. "What treaty? Did you study anything?"
She opened her mouth to argue but instead shook her head. "No."

No wonder dad wouldn't take her on. I was almost offended that she was entirely unaware of the treaty.

"The Treaty of the Four Worlds is between hunters, witches, vampires and werewolves," I explained. All four were classed as species of 'equal morality and intelligence.' "It states that we must accept all four species as living beings and show equal respect to one another by following certain rules."
"Like what?"
"A lot." I racked my brain for an answer. "The witches, for example, had to declare that their ban on necromancy and blood magic had to remain permanent. Vampires had limits on how many they could turn each year but they never got close to them anyway. Werewolves had to take the newly transformed away from populated areas to minimise casualties, and hunters are required to have reasoning behind any, well, hunting of these species. If any species, clan or individual breaks these rules, leaders have to punish them accordingly."
"So it's a good treaty, then?"
"Mostly. It has its flaws, like everything else."
"Like?"
"Vampires and werewolves are excused from one-off deaths. They're marked as 'accidentals.'"
"What about justice for that person?"
I shrugged. "They don't get it."
She clenched her jaw. "That's unfair."
"A lot of the treaty is. But its sacred. Witches and hunters, especially, take it seriously."
"Isn't Kate breaking the treaty with her ritual?"
"Oh, yeah. One-hundred percent."
"Won't the coven leaders help us?"

I hadn't even considered that. Maybe they would; maybe they wouldn't. I'd never met a coven leader before but dad had. He said some were co-operative but many had limited trust for hunters. They would be an asset in helping us stop Kate and her fanatics but, if some secretly supported her ideals, we were doomed. They could have disagreed with her more than us but I didn't know any of them. It was a huge risk. Finding them would also be difficult. Each species – even the hunters – kept their base a secret. Learning the location of it was an initiation to each class, welcoming the individual to their community. We all had that in common, at least.

"I don't know," I admitted. "If we're desperate, the four of us will talk about it."

There was crash from behind that startled us. A human brunette girl had fallen into a lamp and knocked it over, shattering it to shards of porcelain on the hard wooden floor. "Oops!" She laughed hysterically and fell back into the smiling red-haired boy behind her. He helped her up and sat her on the sofa.

"This is way more chaotic than a house party," Florence said, shaking her head.
"You think? That's the most teenage-house-party thing I've seen all night."
"Wait, hold on for a second." She leaned towards me, face beaming with excitement. "You actually went to a party?"
"Don't act so shocked. I liked parties."
"I thought you were a loner in school."
I raised my brows in astonishment. I wasn't popular but never a loner. I had a few friends that I no longer spoke to. We lost touch when I fully committed to hunting after leaving school. "Thanks, Flo."
"No but mum said you moved around a lot."
"Just for my parents to hunt. I moved to different schools frequently until mum went missing and we had to stay close to Diana. I had friends in all of them."
"What about the hunting?"
I shrugged. "I just didn't go far. No-one seemed to notice."
"And you didn't tell anyone?" I shook my head. "I don't have your restraint. Oh, look at that guy!"
I rolled my eyes. "Clearly."

She stared at a curly-haired young man around her age laughing with another two men and smiled. I punched her arm.
"Ow!"
"Don't even think about it. You can't trust anyone here."
"But—"
"Remember the vampires?"
She frowned. "Yeah. Sorry."
"The bouncer said the newly turned were allowed out here. You never know where they are or how unpredictable they might be."

I squinted my eyes to spot the boys in the conservatory. Alfie was still at the table, Alex leaning over him with a protective glare at the other players, while Leopold shadowed behind. Robert was in the corner watching them.

An unrecognisable voice from behind startled me. "Florence?"
"Nathaniel?"

I spun around to see Florence's confused expression and a smiling boy. He was tall, blonde and tanned – Florence's dream man.

"You were at the hotel, weren't you?" I said without thinking. He frowned.
"I don't think we've met. You're..."
"My cousin," said Florence. "Nathaniel, what are you doing here? You said you were going to London but... here?"
He sighed. "Honestly, I knew you lot were hunters when I met you, Florence. Not many non-hunters stop at shady hotels like the one we passed through. Then you told me about your family and I realised you were after the same thing I was."
"And what's that?" I asked, trying not to clench my jaw. This job was supposed to be kept quiet; she shouldn't have told anyone about it, never mind a stranger.
His eyes jumped from me to Florence. "My family. Ben Peterson – my dad – was taken for the ritual. I wanted some help from you."
"Why not ask?" I replied.
"Because the hotel was haunted! I had to get the hell out of there."
"Why not help us?"
"And why leave me in the forest by myself?" Florence sharpened her tone and Diana radiated through her. I nearly smiled.
"I'm not a real hunter," he admitted. "I wanted to be normal; go to school, maybe college, get a job. That all flipped on its head when dad went missing. I heard shouting while we were in the forest, went to check what it was, then left when I saw the ghost girl." Flo looked to the ground. "I'm sorry, Florence. I really am. I panicked, okay?"

It added up in my head but my gut said otherwise. Frightened or not, a determined son would have waited for us to solve Carly Winston's case to ask for help – not leave at the first sign of danger. Florence didn't appear to feel the same way, and pushed out her plump lips into a sympathetic smile.

"What do you know about your dad's disappearance?" I decided to ask.
"Not a lot," he admitted. "But I know we need that dagger if we have any chance of stopping the Witch-Queen."
"You know about her?" said Flo.
"My—"
"Dad's journals," I finished. "Every hunter has them."
"Do you know where the dagger is?" he asked.
"No," I replied. "We're doing our best to find it but it may take a while."
He sighed. "At least we're on the right track."
"We?" I challenged
"Yes, we. It would be easier to work together."
I shook my head. "Oh no. I'm not babysitting another eighteen-year-old."

"I got myself from Manchester to London. I don't need a babysitter – I need an ally."
"We don't."
"Erika!" Florence snapped. "You were saying earlier that we may need allies."
"From the coven leaders." Nathaniel's eyes widened to green orbs and I glared. "Not a teenager."
"But—"
"No buts. Come on, let's check on your brother."
She gingerly took a step towards Nathaniel. "I think I'll wait here."
"With him?"
"With me?"

Nathaniel was just as shocked as I was, and turned peach at my disapproval. "I'll just grab her a drink and sit at the bar. It's safe there."

Nathaniel was a stranger but I could tell Florence would not budge. As much as I wanted to tell her to return to the conservatory with the boys, I knew she'd kick up a fuss.

I sighed. "Alright. But stay at the bar. And any funny business—" I pointed to his chest. "—an arrow goes there."
Nathaniel quaked under the warning tone of my voice. "Yes ma'am."
"Yes mother," Florence whined with an eye roll.
"You'd rather me than Diana."
"Sometimes I'm not so sure."

I shook my head and, with a glance over my shoulder at the head of blonde hair leaning towards my cousin, headed back to the poker room.

***

There were four left in the game when I entered the room, Alfie included. The boys had their back to me but The Collector spotted my figure entering, shooting a crooked smile my way. Alex looked over his shoulder to follow his interest, and blocked his line of sight to approach me first.
"Erika! Everything okay in there?" I followed him back to the table.
"Nothing worse than I expected, but I'll tell you later. How's Alfie?"
"He's doing well," said Leopold. "To be frank, I'm quite impressed."
"Frank? I thought you were Leopold," said Alex. Silence lingered over us as he awaited a response. "That was a joke," he said.
"I know," said Leopold. "I just can't believe you even said that."
"I'm nervous, okay?" He swirled a new drink in his glass. "This game is so intense."

Alfie cleared his throat when the dealer addressed him. "I want to raise the stakes."
Alex stiffened up and muttered under his breath, "The plot thickens."
"You're a damn lightweight, Arwood."

The Collector chuckled and threw one arm over the back of his chair. "You want to raise the stakes." He cocked his head in amused curiosity. "To what? What do you desire, young man?"
He took a deep breath. "I want Horizon's Edge."

A chorus of gasps echoed around the room as The Collector's smile faded. "You come into my home, drink my beverages, sit at my table, playing my game and demand one of my most precious artefacts that took me years to acquire for yourself?"
Alfie gulped but nodded. "I do."

Guests glanced around at the silent room, sharing anxious stares as they anticipated the host's reaction.

I reached for the crossbow burrowed in my purse.

The Collector snorted. "You've got balls, kid, I'll give you that." The silence of the room broke into polite laughter, many guests now sweating. "Only problem is: you need to match my bet."
"This is poker. I raise if I want to raise."
"You raise if I say you raise!"

Every particle in the air came to a halt at The Collector's outburst, striking all relief from his prior tone. He forced a laugh to settle the audience and took a small gulp of his drink. "I'll gamble on Horizon's Edge if you gamble on something just as valuable."

Alfie's shoulders moved up and down. I could almost see words flying around his brain, soaring at inhuman velocity. We had nothing on us to gamble. Leopold had to be willing to sacrifice something for us, if he had anything. It was the only option we had.

"Well, Mullein. What will it be?" He swung back on his chair and grinned. "Will. You. Raise?"
"What do you want?" Alfie asked.
He grinned, looking my way. "I don't suppose your cousin's up for a little gamble?"

"Having me near you is a gamble in itself," I dared to say with a glare. The two silent poker players grimaced but The Collector threw his head back in laughter.
"I like this girl. Don't worry, darling, it was merely a joke." He shrugged. "I don't know you, boy. I don't know what you have."

Leopold piped up. "What about a crossbow?"

My body froze. If he was referring to what I thought he was...

The Collector was almost in hysterics. "A crossbow? Oh, Leopold, you really are funny. What could I possibly want with a crossbow beyond the satisfaction of shooting you between the eyes?"
He ignored the comment. "It's a prototype. One of a kind, designed by Gamlen."
I didn't know that. The Collector pursed his lip as his smile faded. "Go on."
Leopold shot me a look. "Erika, your crossbow."
"No."

Each of the boys took it in turns to frown. We were close to getting the dagger but this crossbow was the greatest gift I had ever received. Diana would be heartbroken if she knew I had even debating gambling on it.

"No," I said again. "I didn't agree to this."
"Something the matter, Miss Lupine?" said The Collector.
"Erika, we need this," said Alex, touching my arm reassuringly. "You can get a new crossbow."
"I don't even know who Gamlen is. I can't ask him to make a new one exactly like this."
"He destroyed the plans, that's why," said Leopold.

Destroyed the plans? For a crossbow?! The weapon had power in it, that was true, but I was attached to it. How special could a crossbow be when you took away the sentimentality?

The Collector's eyes had lit up. 'One of a kind,' Leopold called it. That meant 'valuable' for The Collector.

I opened up my purse as a courtesy and unfolded the crossbow to a crowd of 'ooh's.' Even The Collector seemed impressed.
"It's so small," he said.
I stroked the ebony edge. "I've brought this everywhere with me for the past five years."
"It's a weapon," said Alex. "I know it hurts to part with it but if we lose, it can be replaced."

I shook my head. "No it can't." But neither could my father. We needed Horizon's Edge more than I needed my favourite crossbow. I handed Leopold the weapon, reluctant to let go, who passed it to The Collector without a second thought. I might as well have chopped my own arm off.

He turned it over in his grasp. His money-hungry, greasy grasp. My hands twitched as he reached for the trigger.

"Interesting... marvellous... exquisite. I'll take it!"
"You'll gamble for it," Alex corrected.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," The Collector replied, setting the weapon down in the centre of the table.
"So we have a deal?" said Alfie. "You'll gamble on Horizon's Edge and we'll gamble on Erika's crossbow?"
The Collector smiled. Not the shining white smile he showed me before the game started, but a stretched, serpentine grin. "Of course."

He straightened himself up, looking around the room at his intrigued audience awaiting his next move. His eyes fell on the two remaining players besides himself and Alfie.

"Look at us go, Mullein. It's almost as if the boring ones aren't here." He frowned at the other two players. "They might as well leave."

When the players didn't move, The Collector cleared his throat. The bouncers took a single step forward and the players left without haste, abandoning any chance of winning at the table or even earning their losses back. The Collector chuckled and brought himself to his feet.

"This is getting quite tense. Let's take a short recess before continuing."

The Collector left the table and chatter commenced. Alfie immediately stood and turned to me, eyes watery. "I'm so sorry, Erika! I didn't know he was going to do that."
"I just gave you a chance to get Horizon's Edge. Don't be ungrateful," spat Leopold.
"I had it under control," he retorted.
"What were you gonna bet on?"
"Anything but the crossbow! It means a lot to Erika." He was there the day Diana gifted it to me and was so in awe of the weapon he did not dare to even touch it.
"It's alright, Alfie," I assured, albeit begrudgingly as I glared at Leopold. "I know its not your fault."
"You Lupine's are spoilt little shits, you know that?"

Alfie rolled his eyes as I shook my head. Leopold had no family that we knew of. Among all his riches and material possessions, he didn't understand sentimentality.

Alex squeezed my arm. "Can I talk to you outside?"
Over his shoulder, I could see The Collector having a discussion with a group of arch-backed women. We had to keep an eye on him to ensure the game wasn't rigged in some way, but I could spare a moment.
"Sure."

As we were leaving, the vampire from the ballroom brushed past, shadowed by a pair of younger followers. Despite the darkness during the feeding Florence and I witnessed, he must have made a note of my face as he smiled while we walked past, heading straight for a paling Leopold, who pointed to the opposite end of the room, guiding him away from Alfie.

The late night breeze hit me like a cool sigh of relief. I crossed my arms from the chill.
"How have you been?" Alex asked.
"Tonight?"
"Tonight."
I sighed. "Inside is awful, Alex. Florence and I wandered into a room full of vampires conducting some sort of communal feeding. Some were..." I shuddered, "...taking it too far."
Alex shivered and clenched his jaw. "They're disgusting."
"The sooner we leave this house, the better. I'm starting to feel like those fences are to keep people in rather than out."
He gulped, eyes scanning over the perimeter. "You might be right. But after we get this dagger, we can find the witches, right? Then all this'll be over."
"Right."

He smiled, looking past the grounds and over the fence. "Dad's been away for too long."
"You two seem close."
"As sad as it sounds, he's my best friend. After mum died, we sort of stuck together. Had to, till I was eighteen. After that I chose to stand by him."
"Was your mum a hunter?" Female hunters weren't common in older generations but, in mine and Alex's, there had been a spark in numbers. I would have been lying if I said it didn't please me to know that.
His eyes sparkled. "A great one. She met my dad saving his life."
"That sounds like a cute story."
"He never told me much about it, really." He snorted. "But, by the goofy look on his face when I asked about it once, I decided against pushing for details."
My eyes widened. "I see. That's probably for the best."
He snickered.

There was laughter from inside the poker room. I spotted Alfie awkwardly standing at a considerable distance from Leopold, who argued with the platinum-haired vampire in the corner of the room. The Collector was making the rounds, shaking hands and clasping the shoulders of everyone in around him like the experienced host he was.

"Be careful with him," said Alex. "Don't take risks and come back down here if something even feels wrong."
"I'll be fine."
"I don't trust him."
I laughed. "Only a fool would. I can handle myself, especially around men blinded by their own lust."
"What do you mean?"
"Desire makes people do stupid things. It makes them weak."
His eyes were on me, shining with concern. Colours from inside flashed against his deep irises, changing the colour. That's what I'm afraid of."

The conservatory door opened. Alex squeezed my arm and whispered, "Good luck, Erika."

"Erika, darling!" The Collector called. "How about that tour?"
I plastered on a smile. Leopold told us The Collector was dangerous, but I had fought off far worse than him. Alex didn't need to worry. "I'd love that."
The Collector extended out an arm. "If you would..."

I held onto him and began to walk along the lawn. Looking over my shoulder, I smiled at Alex reassuringly. His eyes softened but the fear did not leave them, locking on me until I turned a corner into the house.

The guests parted to allow us inside, and the looks some of them gave me warned me to be careful just as much as Alex had without uttering a word.

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