Trekking back to the ruins of what was trying to be a house, a smell I recognised drifted on the wind. Instinctively, my eyes rolled. Of course, Grahame would choose this moment to make an appearance. Leaves scattered as he seemingly materialised at the opening where there should have been a front door.

Immediately, his attention burned through the shambles as I approached. Clad head to toe in dark colours and a hood pulled low over his face to conceal a brimmed hat and heavy sunglasses, his oversized hoody seemed at odds with his front-pressed work trousers.

"Where is Stan?" He demanded before I'd even entered my back door.

"Nice to see you again, too."

He growled, showing sharpened fangs. "What have you done to him?"

Glass crunched underfoot as I headed into the kitchen, pointedly not glancing in his direction. "I can assure you, anything that happens to Leofstan is because of his choices." I'd tried to warn the guy after all.

He bristled angrily. "Let me in."

Well, at least one of the two councilmen could respect territorial boundaries. Pointing to the shattered wood, "There's no door." I gestured for him to let himself in.

He bared the front of his teeth. "If you haven't noticed, I am a vampire." His blood-red eyes narrowed, face in a scowl.

"Good for you." I encouraged.

If possible, a vein bulged on his forehead.

"Vampires may not pass a threshold without an invitation." He hissed.

The vampirism perks were quickly becoming less appealing. However, if I invited him in, I could continue finding breakfast instead of trying to listen to the conversation.

With a shrug, "Oh, Grahame, master vampire, mighty warrior. Hero of the undead, will you please, oh please, enter the remaining rubble of what I call home?"

Before my next blink, I was being slammed against the wall, hand around my neck. The aroma of dried blood oozed into the room, and two very sharp fangs were bared in front of my face. So fast! Awesome. My feet were dangling, and I made a show of placing my hands on his arm to keep my neck up. I'd rather not have a crushed windpipe.

"I am in no mood for games, little girl." He snarled. "Your next sentence better tell me what you have done with him, or I will snap your neck."

He could try. "Kinky." I taunted.

His grip tightened.

As did mine on his arm.

Blood-red eyes swivelled to the clenched fingertips, troubling his skin as my hands were ever so slowly applying pressure. I, for one, did not mind playing along. If we got to arm wrestle after this, even better. Grahame tightened his grip, and my breath constricted. In return, his bone began to crack. Snarling, he opened his mouth to bite.

This was it. My journey into becoming a vampire-dragon, or a vamp-agon, would become real! I couldn't hide a small giggle as I prepared for the bite.

Grahame dropped me, and I landed on my feet with a soft plod.

Aww. So close!

His face was distorted in what I could only describe as disgust as he held the bent remains of his arm. With a snap, the arm realigned before my eyes, the bruise fading. With his eyebrows drawn and eyes slanted, he turned his attention to me.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked. "I was looking forward to being all vamped up." A pout crept into my voice.

"No human can break bones!" He spat, taking a deep inhale, nostrils flaring. "I don't believe you are as innocent about your affliction as you claim to be. Only two-natured beings are this strong." He realigned his hood over his hat.

"Besides, you cannot become a vampire from a bite." Grahame rasped mockingly.

Now, that was a surprise.

"Stop wasting both of our time. Where is he?"

Cricking the ache in my neck and rolling both shoulders, I argued, "I haven't done anything to Leofstan!" It felt like it was going to be stiff for weeks. "He was the one who decided to throw a bunch of magic about and fall into a portal."

"Your magical signature is everywhere!" He roared, hair standing on end.

"Also, Leofstans." I pointed out.

"And why was he throwing that amount of magic about? Was this your plan all along? To attack him once he was alone?"

"No, I planned to stay in bed."

If a vampire could have sparked anger, then he would've. "Then why does it feel like a battle powerful enough to rip open reality took place out there?" In one swift movement, he withdrew a rune-carved pair of handcuffs.

He was faster. I was stronger. Those handcuffs could be on my wrists before I'd so much as blinked, and I might lose my chance at overpowering him. After all, who knew what those runes might do?

"Fine." I held my palm up for him to see. "We were trying to remove this."

He honed in on the foreign object embedded there but didn't react like Leofstan; there was a distinct lack of worry. "It's one of those Amulets he made me. It went a little wrong."

That caught his attention.

"Leofstan's magic never goes wrong." He stood beside me in the blink of an eye, hand around my wrist in an ironclad hold.

"Stan is a magical prodigy, one of the strongest beings ever to walk this plane."

"Then why is his gem stuck in me whilst he's somewhere in the Faelands?" I shot back.

If it wasn't for the fact he was dead already, I think Grahame might have had an aneurysm. "He is in the Faelands?" The vampire grew statue still, colour turning about as beet-red as a vampire could manage. His grip grew tighter. " It will be a disaster to the treaty if he is in the lands of the wrong Fae court."

Commonly known as the Seelie and Unseelie courts, they were usually better described as the court of light and dark. Mortals had an annoying habit of categorising things into good and evil, so naturally, the Court of Light was the better place to be. For the most part, it was; they had a reasonable justice system, but in terms of morals, it was still questionable.

For example, both courts would leave changelings. They widely accepted the practice of leaving a Fae child to be reared with human parents. The Unseelie court didn't care much for the human they replaced, often killing it outright in favour of their own. The Seelie tended to take the human child and keep it in the Fae lands, usually raising it as a slave.

Most of their trained slaves were purchased into the unseelie at some point in their lives.

As one would put it, you chose the best of a bad situation. The SPCC had done just that. They'd arranged a strained agreement to pass 'safely' through the lands owned by the Light Court. Dealing with a species that delighted in trickery was complicated. Council members falling into their portals were ensured to be returned alive, but they weren't quite the same. Victims might be trapped for a few generations until the fae grew bored of them, and time passed very differently in their lands.

When the SPCC eventually realised one of its members had gone astray and petitioned for their safe return, the missing person often didn't want to return.

Nearly every joint in Grahame's body seemed to be popping. His mouth twitched into a frown. "I must ask the council for reinforcements."

More SPCC crawling about the place? Great.

"If he is injured, you will be arrested as a co-conspirator in these murders." He threw my arm out of his reach to replace it with his phone.

So not only did I warn Leofstan, who disregarded his safety, but I was now going to be charged for something that wasn't even my fault? The day was just getting better and better.

I needed to get out of this situation quickly, and seeing as there wasn't much of my house left standing, it was time for a change in scenery. The SPCC could descend in numbers, but I planned to be on the other side of the ocean. First, I needed to shake Mister Speedy here.

Smugly, I grinned. "Fine. I'll find him. But you owe me." I could be on the other side of the ocean or the other side of a portal.

Grahame scoffed. "You think you can navigate the Fae better than the SPCC's head of Magical Anomalies?" Disbelief flooded his voice.

I snorted. "Who? Besides, the good old King Soirrinar and I are best buds. Practically invite each other to sleepovers." I drawled. I'd met him only a handful of times in truth, but I had a feeling the Vampire wouldn't check anytime soon.

"You are sure he is at King Soirrinar's court?" He succeeded if a vampire's complexion could become paler, giving me a rattlesnake-style hiss. "Leofstan is the head of Magical Anomalies, you fool! They will kill him!" Reflexively, he took a pointless breath. "Vampires are forbidden from the Seelie courts, and the council has no treaty with the duplicitous scum of the Dark courts."

Now, that was a tad judgmental. Since the Fae couldn't lie, they were the most honest folk I knew.

The sooner I found the problematic councilman, the sooner I could ditch this one and relocate far away. "What you mean to say is you'd immensely appreciate it if I save your pal." And that would mean breakfast would have to wait.

His top lip twitched, but his thumb hovered over his phone buttons. "He must be returned alive."

"I promise to return him in whatever state I find him." I compromised.

"Fine."

"Great, just great," I mumbled, returning to the garden. It was all well and good saying I could find Leofstan, but first, I had to get into Faery.

Trekking until the trees grew thick and any signs of paths closed up, I tried to find telltale signs of doorways into the land of the Fae. Most of the time, as their least favourite thing to trap, the Fae usually masked their portals when I was near. Each time I stumbled in one of their portals, I'd created as much carnage as possible, and they had long memories.

The bushes were too spindly. I wasn't close to a stream, and most of the foliage had dropped for the winter. To the left was a collection of emerald-green deciduous pine trees.

Bingo.

They were too perfect against the stark trunks of the foliage around them, and the grass at the base was still a deep, rich hue. Approaching, a rapid flurry of whispers broke out the breeze, and the green trees began to fade.

They still weren't too keen on me visiting. Breaking into a run, I launched myself into the clearing at full speed. Footsteps began to follow, and an arrow whizzed past my ear. Pushing even faster, legs screaming, the trees almost disappeared into the mist as they tried to cloak it. With a final jolt, knees bending, and one giant push, I dove swimming-style into the fog.

My face skidded through dirt, and branches crunched as I was deposited in the new realm. Following the motion, I rolled, ankles over head, and sprung to my feet on the floor.

A net narrowly missed the spot in which I'd landed.

"Ah, crap." A squeaky voice whispered.

Turning to greet the welcome party, I beamed at the portal guardians.

"Miss me?"