Capper's group followed the eerie coldness that hung in the wake of the First, cautiously tracking it through the smashed ruins of what had once been Gliss's home. A big piece of him wanted to just get out – to run away and leave the city of Iron Hollow in the hell its inhabitants had wrought.

But he knew he couldn't just abandon Brooke down here, and even to some degree he felt responsible for Arcil. The Baelock Elder-Blood was only here because of him. And because of Gliss.

He tried not to think about her right now; tried to remain detached as she led them on through the corridors. She was the only one in the group who knew her way around the compound in its entirety, and that fact was the only thing stopping Capper from beheading her on the spot. His earlier rage had subsided, but it was still there, bubbling away like magma below a sleeping volcano.

They stole through the corridors as the Aspect of the First receded into the distance, moving faster now, though he'd lost his sense of direction in the maze of the bunker's interior. Occasionally they stumbled across heaps of ash and smears of dried blood, showing where some unfortunate had crossed paths with the First. Cracked and splintered bolts littered the floor alongside the fallen throwers and sickles, showing they had not gone to the hell-gates willingly.

After several more twists and turns, they came across another site of battle, but this was unlike any others. A huge section of the wall between adjacent corridors looked like it had been smashed in with a battering ram, littering the corridor with lumps of masonry, and mixed in with that were further signs of conflict. This time, however, Capper spotted the unmistakable debris from Glaive and Baelock guards – the distinctive forward-curving swords and duelling rods of their comrades scattered across the floor, along with scattered blood and ash.

Gliss moved up alongside him, her pale face tight with apprehension. She looked at him, as though she wanted to say something, but thought better of it, pressing her lips together and shaking her head grimly.

"Keep moving," Capper said harshly. "There's not enough here to be everyone. The First is still after them."

They pressed on, following the ever-present nova of the creature's Aspect. Minutes ticked by and an eerie silence descended on the group as they worked their way through the passages. The emptiness of the place was beginning to gnaw at him after the blur of violence that had punctuated their arrival. He didn't consider himself to be the most sensitive to Aspects and their changes, but even he could feel the sense of wrongness that the First left in its wake.

But before long he felt something else.

"The others," Gliss whispered. "They're not far now."

Relief and apprehension warred for supremacy in his chest. Some of them were still alive at least, but he had no way of knowing who until they reached them. He clenched his jaw tight and squared his shoulders.

"Keep moving."

He could feel how shaken the Aspects were before he saw them – he could feel the tremors of anxiety, of horror in each one. There were also far fewer than there should have been. He braced himself for the worst as their party entered the room.

Inside they found four survivors. Capper felt relief boil through his body like a scour when he saw Brooke sitting on a box, the side of her head smeared with dried blood but otherwise unharmed. Beside her Arcil was examining a series of brutal gouges in the stomach of the guard, Altus – their arrangement left no doubt as to the cause. From what he'd seen, Capper knew the Baelock bodyguard was lucky to be in one piece at all. The last member of the other group was the dark haired female member of Arcil's retinue – Chara, the sharp-featured locksmith who'd broken them into the compound in the first place.

"Brooke!" he exclaimed, lowering his axe and darting across the room towards her. She rose from her seat and flung her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. His free hand wrapped around her and he squeezed tight, as though trying to convince himself she was really standing there.

As they eased apart he searched the room, and found a gaping emptiness in it. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and looked down at Brooke.

"Finbarr?"

Her face tightened, her lips pressing into a thin line as she shook her head.

"Suns," Capper cursed, fighting back the surging of his fangs as his anger simmered ever-hotter.

"Died doing his duty," Arcil said quietly from across the room, his voice uncharacteristically sedate. "He saved her life. He was a brave man."

Capper met the other Elder-Blood's gaze and gave a small nod of thanks. Even Arcil's sniping, sarcastic defences had come down during the ordeal. He didn't look scared, just kind of shell-shocked, as though events were still catching up with him.

"Where's the First?" Gliss asked quietly.

Capper saw the shift in Brooke's expression; saw her pupils dilate and the movement behind her lips that meant her fangs were sliding forth. But he wasn't quick enough to stop her as she shoved him aside and hurled herself at the other vampire with a scream of rage. She swung both duelling rods like a club and Gliss only just reacted in time to jam her sickle against them.

The pair went stumbling into the wall, and then Gliss pushed back savagely, launching Brooke away from her. Capper took his chance, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around Brooke, squeezing tightly and hauling her backwards. She thrashed and kicked wildly, her Aspect boiling like a cauldron of lava and it took all his strength just to keep a hold of her.

Gliss stepped forward and was about to raise her sickle, but another figure suddenly stepped up beside her. The sing of a blade through air filled his ears and the next instant Arcil stood with one curved sword placed against Gliss's throat and a cold expression on his face.

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you," he said, his voice hard as flint. Gliss tensed but didn't risk moving with the razor sharp blade at her neck. Arcil glanced across at Capper. "Have you got this under control."

He nodded, clinging tight to Brooke as her struggles began to subside.

Arcil turned back to Gliss. "Watch yourself," he hissed. "A lot of our kin are dead, because of you. My brother is dead, because of you. The only reason I don't take your traitorous head off right now is because you know your way around this hell hole."

Gliss glared at him, but eventually relented, stepping back and raising her hands. Feeling Brooke finally stop struggling, Capper released his hold on her and moved between them to make sure no further altercations could erupt. For a moment no one spoke, tension fizzing in the air between them.

"You didn't answer my question," Gliss said eventually. "Where is the First?"

"It's in the city."

Ever single person in the room whirled at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Capper's axe flashed up as he saw a group of vampires from Iron Hollow, unmistakable in their long trench coats and carrying sickles. He could feel their violently trembling Aspects churning in the air, as though they'd been electrocuted. Every single one of them was on a knife edge, fangs bared, their true selves pushed to the surface by the emotional carnage that had been wrought inside the bunker. Arcil and the Baelock guards drew their weapons, advancing in a line to join him.

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" Gliss screamed suddenly leaping out into the no-man's land between the two groups and raising her hands, glancing frantically back and forth. "Everyone put your weapons down!"

"Gliss?" The leader of the Iron Hollow vampires looked at her as though she were insane, and he didn't lower his sickle. "Who the hell are these people?!"

"Garven stop!" Gliss looked beseechingly back at Capper. "You as well, everyone just put your damned weapons down!"

For a moment no-one moved. Every muscle in Capper's body was wound up ready to spring, but he checked that natural, instinctive hostility to the newcomers, at least for the moment.

"Start talking, Gliss," he hissed dangerously, axe still primed to swing.

"These are hunters from my clan," she babbled. "And right now they are not your enemies. The only thing we should be focusing on is the First."

"And who in hellgates are they?" said the vampire Gliss had referred to as Garven. His nostrils twitched. "They smell all wrong."

"They're from Veridian Shores."

"Specifically, we're the people your bitch of a spy robbed so you could set loose a killing machine," Arcil snarled, advancing to stand alongside Capper, his Aspect simmering with anger and his frame visibly trembling. Capper reached out with a free hand, grabbing the other vampire by the arm.

"Hold on, Arcil," he said. "That thing is out there, right now. It's going to kill everyone and everything its path, human or vampire. I don't know if it really is the First, and right now I really don't care. All that matters is that we have to stop it."

"Do we?" Arcil cast a pointed glance at Gliss. "This is their mess. I say we get back to the station, get on a train and leave these fools in the hell they've made."

"Milord, I hate to say it," Lilly interjected softly. "But he's right. We don't deserve to get killed by that thing."

"And everyone – everything – else in this city does?" Capper shook his head. "We need to go after it, and we need to kill it. And to do that we're going to need all the help we can get. They know the city – they can help us."

"So now we're conscripts?" the tall female hunter snorted. "I'm not taking orders from some arrogant prick from a golden throne."

"Then take orders from me!" Gliss yelled, rounding on her. "Because he's right. We can either work together or we can let that thing tear the city apart. What happens then? The clan's dead, and I'm not going to leave Iron Hollow to die too."

The tall female hunter's jaw tightened but she didn't reply, instead standing stone still, an icy expression of resignation on her face.

For a long moment no-one spoke, the air crackling with the tension of competing Aspects until eventually Garven glanced left and right, giving barely visible nods to his two companions. With aching slowness they lowered their weapons. Exhaling a breath of relief, Capper also lowered his axe, nudging Arcil to do the same.

"The vault you released that thing from," Brooke spoke through the intervening silence. "Did you look inside it?"

Gliss looked at her in bafflement. "I've been running for my life ever since, so no I didn't go sightseeing, princess."

"I'd be careful about being flippant with us right now, girl," Arcil said in a cold, calm voice, idly inspecting the point of one of his swords. "Given that you caused everything that's happening right now. Do you know if there is anything else inside that vault?"

"I have no idea!"

"Then there could be weapons," Capper said. "Nothing we're carrying has even put a dent in that thing's hide. We need something older; stronger."

"Gliss, they might be onto something," Garven interjected with a fatalistic shrug. "I mean, we all thought it was meant to be some kinda weapon vault before they let the First out. But maybe it's a vault as well as a tomb. We sure as hell could use some more firepower if you're really thinking of going out after this thing."

Gliss stared at him. Looked back at Capper. To Brooke. Back again.

Her expression tightened and she pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. Then she sighed and flapped a vague hand towards the interior of the bunker.

"Alright, alright," she said. "I guess it's worth looking. Follow me."