8. Lucien

I am in my rooms at the clan house when the overwhelming scent of blood reaches my nose.

I slept only for a few hours earlier in the day, too preoccupied with thoughts about the night before and the prospect of returning to my district to remain asleep for long.

It means I am alert when I smell it, though for a second, I worry for my sanity, concerned that I am simply imagining things. In the next, I am out of my rooms, following the scent.

I am not the first to clatter down the steps to the cells, but I am the first to make it all the way down, younger vampires turning on their heels as the scent overcomes them.

The massacre I come across stops me in my tracks.

Blood arcs up the walls and into the four open cells. The human guards—our wards, ours to protect as they protect us when the sun is high—are all dead. A few look as though they fought, but that does not change the fact that I cannot hear a heartbeat from them.

There are two vampire guards, too. One is unconscious, breathing shallowly. The other bleeds from a wound on her throat, eyes fluttering as she tries to remain awake.

I ignore the dead. There is nothing I can do for them now. When I crouch beside her, she sucks in a rattling breath.

"Bring blood!" I call up the stairs. She is holding the side of her throat, but the sooner she consumes something, the faster she will heal. Distantly, I am aware that there are others now down here with me, but I ignore them.

"What happened?"

"Crai…" Her voice is a faint rasp and her eyes close, just for a second. She jerks herself awake, one hand curling into a fist. "Someone came. Appeared. Magic."

I hiss through my teeth. We are not prepared to counter that. No one is, not anymore. "The prisoners?"

"Killed two," she says. "Tristan and Adelaide… escaped."

A figure crouches on her other side, and I look up into Vasile's face. Banked anger flares in his eyes. "Who did this to you?" he asks. He has a bag of blood in his hands and her eyes fall to it. She watches as he slices into it with his fangs.

"Tristan," she says just before Vasile presses the bag to her lips.

She drinks greedily and I stand again, taking a step back and looking around the room. Vasile continues to speak in a low voice. Njáll is down here now, face ashen as he takes in the destruction. Elle hovers on the stairs. When I meet her eyes, she makes her way over, picking carefully between the corpses and pools of blood.

"They escaped?" she asks.

"Yes."

"They killed the humans."

"And their own accomplices," I say. I turn and look into one of the cells. There are scorch marks on the bench, ash on the floor.

Elle scowls. "She didn't want them to talk?"

"I suppose so."

The bodies are removed, and the other vampire guard is roused. He shakes all over as he takes in what has happened, and Njáll escorts him and the woman away.

"Adelaide glamoured them first," Vasile says. "To keep them quiet. But Tristan killed the humans and then attacked the guards."

"Did she get a good look at the magic user?"

Vasile shakes his head. "I don't know if she did not see them properly or if Adelaide glamoured the memory away. It appears Adelaide is much more powerful than she has ever let on."

"We need to find them," Elle says, and Vasile nods.

"It will be dark in a few hours. I do not wish to send any of our humans out alone. Tristan clearly has no qualms about harming them."

I nod. "Then…?"

"I'll call a meeting. We'll split into teams when it goes dark." He eyes me for a moment. "You need to go and find the human."

I flinch. "I-I do? Why?"

"He may be our best chance of catching Tristan. Even with a magic user, Tristan and Adelaide should not be able to move freely until nightfall. If Tristan really is out to kill the human and heads straight for him, we have a chance of at least capturing him."

My stomach twists. "And Adelaide?"

Vasile is silent for a moment. "We can only hope we capture her as well."

I understand the logic. Adelaide is more powerful, but she has not murdered anyone, as far as we are aware. Tristan is an immediate danger, even if Adelaide may cause more trouble in the long term.

Still, I do not like the idea of Kieran being in danger. We told him he would be safe. We told him we had solved the problem.

We have failed him, too.

"I will go, crai."

"Good." Vasile sighs, grief crossing his face. "Something has gone terribly wrong here. This should never have happened."

I do not voice my agreement aloud. There is no need; we all know it to be true. Instead, I do what I can to help. Once we have removed the dead and the injured vampires are resting, we assemble in the meeting hall.

Vasile stands in the centre of the room where Kieran knelt the night before, and though it is impossible, I fancy I can smell a faint trace of his blood. My traitorous heart thuds in my chest. I do not want to see him.

I do not.

And yet…

"Tristan and Adelaide have escaped," Vasile says. The room is full, and I hear the whisper that passes among the humans. We have failed them. The one thing we promise them when they pledge their service is protection. A few wish to be turned, but not many. After a few years, they leave with money and the ability to do almost anything they want, thanks to the connections they have made here.

If we cannot fulfil the one constant of that contract, then how can we expect them to do the same?

"They killed several of our number on the way out, and we suspect a magic user helped them. Tonight, I am asking each of my chieftains to assemble teams who are willing to try to track them down."

Vasile is silent for a moment, and so are we.

"Every human who chooses to go will be accompanied by at least one vampire. If anyone does not wish to go, then I would rather you stay here tonight, where it is safe."

There are more murmurs, low enough that I cannot make out the words. Vasile does not bristle. He cannot blame their scepticism either.

"If you would like to go, then please remain in this room. Otherwise, you are dismissed."

Elle is by my side. Since I have been ordered to speak with Kieran, she will take a team to search in my stead. I touch her forearm as Adam joins us. "Be careful."

"Always," she says, her hazel eyes sharp. She looks over at Adam and the corner of her mouth twitches. "Besides, we should have them by the end of the night, right?"

Adam is paler than usual, freckles standing out starkly against his skin, but he nods all the same. I know he is not one to back down from a fight. But the clan house is supposed to be safe, and he is still young.

"Right," he says. "I went down to the cells. Definitely magic."

"You told Vasile?" I ask.

He nods. Elle turns to look at the other chieftains; unlike last night, all seven of us are here. "You should get going," she says to me. "If he's going to attack, he'll already be on the way."

If Tristan is planning to attack Kieran, he may already be in position. At least I can catch him that way, even if my chest feels tight at the idea of Kieran getting hurt.

"I will call you when I am on the way back," I say. "Let me know where you are, and I will join you."

Adam looks wary, but Elle nods. "Got it." She glances at Adam, then back at me. "I'll look after him, Lucien."

"I know."