While I was ready to head out with Hamsik—and Sreketh, who had gleefully accepted the invitation to House Kalnislaw—I hadn’t been expecting that to happen at the crack of dawn before the next day even started properly.

“Are they even going to be awake?” I asked.

Hamsik took his sweet time answering, only to end up saying, “You’ll find out, won’t you?”

This guy had to have a doctorate in being an absolute prick.

I put two and two together on why we were heading out early, though. There weren’t many people out and about at that time of the day, but the few who were didn’t fail to spare us a glance.

And the looks weren’t friendly. At all.

I admitted we made an odd trio, especially in Ring Four. A human, a vampire, and a young Scalekin sounded like the beginning of a terrible joke where the barman ended up being a Se-Targa and revealing the bar was actually a Preservatory. But I noted that the unfriendly glares were reserved entirely for Hamsik.

Being a half-vampire, with his skin paler than snow and his eyes red as blood, with his fangs poking out just a bit even when his mouth was closed, it would honestly be very easy to mistake him for a Scarseeker. If he didn’t have the getup and bearing of a noble.

Sreketh, being young and mostly innocent, didn’t notice it. But I caught how Hamsik’s jaws tightened whenever we passed by people.

It didn’t take long to go through Ring Four, then Three, then through a Preservatory and onto Ring Two. Nobody stopped Hamsik, not even when he had two grubby cultists tailing him. Everyone, including the people on Ring Four who didn’t look kindly at him, either knew or was able to tell that he was a member of a Great House.

Part of it was his rich clothes, and part of it was just his bearing and the way he carried himself. Part of it was just the sheer aura.

I could actually feel a hint of it. A minuscule pressure in the air that I hadn’t really felt from him or anyone else before. It made me wonder if he was channelling an Aspect that had that sort of auric property, or if it was something else entirely.

Ring Two was even more deserted than the other Rings. Of course. All the rich folks wouldn’t be up at this ungodly hour. I still kept thinking this was a terrible time to go visit a noble House, but maybe vampires were different.

After some more walking, we arrived at the spooky mansion that was apparently where Hamsik had grown up.

It was certainly a sight. They had huge, grassless grounds around the entire granite and obsidian edifice, with a circle of pure black trees surrounding the actual mansion itself. House Kalnislaw were clearly very wealthy, because their oversized manor looked like someone had taken the very rock of Zairgon volcano and chiselled a mansion out of it.

“Ah!” said the even-paler-than-Hamsik custodian waiting within the grounds as the wrought-iron gates swung open with a creak. He had on the sharpest butler’s suit I had ever seen. I was actually surprised at how familiar the getup felt from Earth. “Young Master! You’ve returned.” He smiled at us, revealing a row of fangs, his blood-coloured eyes landing on us. “And you’ve brought breakfast with you!”

For a fleeting second, I wondered if we were walking into some kind of trap. If Sreketh and I really were going to end up as meals for some bloodthirsty bloodsuckers.

But those were intrusive thoughts.

“Cut it out, Yerenc,” Hamsik said.

“My apologies, Young Master.” The tall, thin vampire bowed. “Please, allow me to lead the way.”

Hamsik waved a hand ahead and Yerenc led the way. The path—what I would have called a driveway back on Earth… wait it was a driveway, because they had magi-tech carriages here—was at least as long the one in front of the Mage Guild. Longer, actually, though that might be just how it felt.

The mansion’s interior was just as spooky as the exterior. It was as if they had purposefully built it that way. Ruddy candlelight was the only thing illuminating the hallways, washing the life-sized paintings of other vampires with eerie glows. Their eyes seemed to follow us as we went deeper. Typical.

We were led into a living room the size of a small auditorium. It felt like the mansion was larger on the inside than what it appeared on the outside. Not at all impossible, considering magic and everything.

“Please wait here, Young Master’s guests,” Yerenc said, addressing me and Sreketh with another short bow. “I will bring the Mistress—”

“No need, Yerenc,” an imperious voice called down.

More candles flared to life, blood-red now and coming down from above. They lit up a balcony section and then a wide staircase. A woman seemed to almost float down. A tall, ageless woman.

A real Scarseeker.

I blinked. When I looked back at Yerenc, I realized why I hadn’t pegged him as a full Scarseeker. He had too many similarities to Hamsik. Not in a the-butler-is-Hamsik’s-secret-father way, but in a more integral, species-level sense.

His build was humanish, his hair normal. Sure, he had those blood-red eyes and the obvious fangs, but with a little makeup and adjustment, he could have passed for a person pretty easily.

Not this woman. No way. She was easily almost a head taller than even Hamsik, the tallest person present besides her. Her silver hair glinted like it was actual metal, not mere mortal keratin. Where Yerenc and Hamsik were just unnaturally pale—even for people in a sunless world—this woman’s skin glowed white like she was suffused with moonlight.

And then there were her eyes. They didn’t look real. They moved realistically enough, but the whites were crystalline, her crimson irises looking like they were carved from rubies.

She was scary.

It wasn’t just her appearance that was having an effect on me. I was just thankful that I could recognize the feelings of fear and attraction, both of which were unnatural. This Scarseeker woman had an aura of magnetic power at an intensity I hadn’t yet felt anywhere. Not even from the Greater Brillwyrm or even from Master Kostis.

“Have a seat, son,” she said as she arrived, towering over us all. “And guests.”

“Greetings, mother.” Hamsik’s voice was frosty.

“Have a seat.”

We all sat. I couldn’t tell if I was compelled to do so or not, which was starting to make me worry a little bit.

“This is Lady Kalnislaw,” Hamsik said, introducing his mother—stepmother?—to me and Sreketh. “Mother, these are my fellow cultists, Ross and Sreketh.”

“Hello,” I said. My voice didn’t sound right, and I cleared my throat. “Nice to meet you, uh, my lady.”

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Calling anyone my lord and my lady would need some getting used to. It just sounded off.

“Same here,” Sreketh squeaked out. No one would have ever guessed she had a snake for a head from the way she had sounded.

“A pleasure,” Lady Kalnislaw said, dismissing both me and Sreketh after one glance. “Hamsik, when will you stop wasting your life down there in… Ring Four?”

“That is not what I came here to talk about, mother,” Hamsik said.

She fixed him with a piercing glare for a moment, making him wait for an answer but also making it somehow impossible to go on before she could get her words out. This woman was toying with us. “Is this about your inheritance again?”

“I am entitled to what I am owed.”

“Certainly you are. You are a member of House Kalnislaw, after all.” She sounded a little tired, like they had already had this conversation before. “We will abide by the legal mandates. But you also realize that you owe the House that made you who you are today a great deal.”

“I am aware…”

They went on talking about that for a bit, where Lady Kalnislaw was more or less lecturing Hamsik on how much he was indebted to his House and where he should actually be spending his money. I was distracted from the finer points of the conversation by a little tug on my robes.

“You look confused,” Sreketh whispered.

Honestly, I was surprised she was able to pull her will away from paying attention to Lady Kalnislaw. Somehow, that helped me focus on Sreketh and what she was saying.

“Do you know what this legal mandate they’re talking about is?” I asked in the same low tone.

“It’s a law in Zairgon where families owe a certain portion of their wealth to their children. The exact amount and other things depend on the family itself and their circumstances, but every child is legally obligated to receive a sizable inheritance from their family.”

“Huh, that’s interesting.”

“…and so-called companions who would rather converse among themselves,” Lady Kalnislaw was saying with an increasingly louder voice, the sharpness of it dragging my attention back to her. “Rudely ignoring the real matter at hand.”

I felt chagrined. Then I felt annoyed that I was chagrined. Mostly, I felt frustrated that Hamsik hadn’t warned me about the mental effects of being this close to an actual Scarseeker.

“Sorry,” Sreketh squeaked.

“Don’t be,” Hamsik said. “This is a family matter.”

And there went my frustration. Bastard needed to stop veering between proper jerk and someone with an actual heart. I supposed Escinca did see something in him to keep him around.

“It seems my mere words won’t convince you.” Lady Kalnislaw raised a hand and clapped lightly. The sound wasn’t loud at all, but it carried strangely. “Glonek. Would you kindly convince our Young Master where his true duties lie?”

A flutter announced the arrival of a small bat, which suddenly transformed into another Scarseeker with threads of red mana. This one didn’t have anywhere near the presence of Lady Kalnislaw. In fact, he looked almost as mundane as Hamsik or Yerenc.

The only real tell was the slight crystal-ness of his bespectacled eyes and the mop of silky hair that looked more like black metal.

“It would be impertinent of me to interfere in a… family matter, my lady,” Glonek said. Even his voice was softer too, though I had to wonder if he was suppressing it for some reason.

“Regardless,” Lady Kalnislaw said. “I bid you speak.”

Glonek cleared his throat. “I could wax lyrical about the financial deprecation it would inflict on your family, young Master Hamsik. We would need to reallocate all the vineyard planting funds to your fortune, and many of the seasonal workers will lose their jobs. But remember the most important thing—if you take all your inheritance, you will cede all ties to the House.”

That was such a flood of information, I wasn’t even sure where to start questioning. Vineyards? In a world without a functioning sun? And why was a family of vampires in charge of… winemaking?

Also, why in the world was Hamsik so interested in getting his inheritance if it meant severing all ties with his family?

Not that I had seen a compelling reason to stick with his family. But still. They were his family. I assumed there was some love between them.

“All that just to help your little project, Young Master?” Glonek said. “You must understand, nothing you do on Ring Four or for the cult will ever produce a true return on invest—”

“That’ll be enough,” Hamsik said. His anger was quiet, but still pretty fierce. “Your arguments are even worse than mother’s. Why don’t you start drawing up the legal papers. That’s what you’re good at, aren’t you?”

Glonek didn’t answer, but his own responding anger to Hamsik’s insulting tone was really obvious.

“Is that it, then?” Lady Kalnislaw asked. “You will waste your time and money on… them?”

She glanced at me and Sreketh again, and this time, she made her disdain very, very clear. Not that it had been difficult to discern so far.

“Sometimes,” Hamsik said. “We have to make do with what we’re given, mother.”

Wow. Was this guy even trying to be on my side?

“Well, there you have it,” a new voice said. “Now you can stop wasting your time on the half-breed, mother.”

I found my eyes getting pulled back towards the staircase bathed in darkness except for the rare spots where the candles threw down flickering scarlet light. A familiar figure was slowly sauntering down, taking each step with the purposeful pace of a glacier. I stared.

The bastard I had seen harassing the cult was back.

He also didn’t exude the same kind of presence as his mother, but unlike Glonek, there was no mistaking he was a Scarseeker too. With his metallic silver hair, his red eyes, the slightly glowing skin, the whole ostentatious getup with precious gems and fancy clothes, he was basically a miniature version of his mother.

“Enough, Zoltan,” Lady Kalnislaw said tiredly. “Do not call your brother that.”

“Why?” Hamsik said. He was suddenly on his feet, and the speed of his motion set my heart thudding. I could almost feel the intent of violence on my skin. “He’s right. I am a half-breed. Just like Zoltan is a Pits-cursed maggot who hisses at anything with the term sun in it.”

Zoltan, Hamsik’s half-brother, bared his fangs even as he maintained his insulting pace. “Watch your tongue, bastard. Unless you’d like me to drive a stake through it.”

“Enough,” Lady Kalnislaw said.

“A stake?” Hamsik laughed, ugly and harsh. “You can’t drive a toothpick through paper.”

“Fine, then.” Zoltan halted on the stairs. “Let me just get a—”

“Enough.”

Lady Kalnislaw’s command was a punch straight to the gullet. I felt like I was choking for a moment. Everybody else in the room, vampire or otherwise, all felt the same kind of force. I managed to swallow down the feeling after a few frantic seconds. What kind of power was that? There was a brief flare of red threads around her, but that was it.

“We are a family,” she said, her ruby eyes holding the wrath of way too many years. “And we will act as such.”

Nobody argued against that. Zoltan had halted his descent, now content to just stand watch over the proceedings from halfway down. Hamsik slowly sat back down, his face unreadable.

“Perhaps I will get some refreshments for everyone,” Yerenc said cheerfully. His somewhat maniacal eyes landed on me. “Some fresh blood truffles ought to do the trick!”

Before I could protest that I really didn’t have a thing for blood truffles, the butler had scurried off.

“Please remember the words of the Mistress, Young Masters,” Glonek said, walking behind Lady Kalnislaw’s seat. “You are the next generation of the glorious House Kalnislaw. Regardless of your future intent to disregard that in favour of…” He scowled at me like I was the root of all problems here. “In favour of some inferior cult that pretends at grandiosity.”

That helped me snap out of it a bit. I could focus on the sudden cloying anger. There was a difference between the constant disdain for me that Lady Kalnislaw was displaying and attacking the cult itself so directly that this Glonek had just done.

“The cult isn’t inferior,” I said. “If anything, it’s superior to the likes of you.”

“Hmph, is that so?” Glonek’s eyes bored into me. “And pray, tell us how oh so superior your little fraternity is supposed to be.”

Hamsik’s face scrunched up in anger, but I spoke first.

“For one, nobody at the cult sits on their asses just being insulting to other people,” I said. When I turned my glare onto Lady Kalnislaw, I felt that same overpowering urge, the one that made me want to pipe down in front of my betters. But remembering Glonek’s words helped me push past it. “Especially insulting guests willingly welcomed into their premises.”

“If you take mere truths as insults—”

“The cult also isn’t obsessed with how any of its members spend their time and resources. I’m an adventurer and a mage. A friend of ours is a rising blacksmith. We don’t hold anyone back from what they want to do. We support them. Like a real family.”

That made Lady Kalnislaw scowl fiercely, but I went on before she could speak.

“And most importantly, we look out for others,” I said. “Not just each member of the cult, but our entire neighbourhood and everyone in it. We look out for everyone who can’t look out for themselves. Just because a bunch of self-obsessed, bloodsucking—” My eyes fell on Zoltan on the staircase. “—greedy nobles can’t do the same doesn’t make it inferior.”

Hamsik’s half-brother looked furious. Lady Kalnislaw had turned so cold, I could almost feel the chill physically.

Glonek’s words were clipped and harsh, addressing Hamsik instead of me. “Your father would never approve working with such mongrels, Young Master.”

For his part, Hamsik merely smirked. “Like I said, I don’t need anyone’s approval. Not even father’s. Draw up the papers, Glonek, unless you want me to take the matter to the Council.”

“Such a racket from such young hearts.”

Another new voice, and this one was somehow even more oppressive than Lady Kalnislaw’s, digging right through me to bite into my bones. I found myself swallowing as a new pressure arrived.

“You may not need your father’s approval, Hamsik,” said the stately vampire lord at the head of the stairs. “But do you care to hear his proposal?”