Chapter 3: The Crimson Brawl

Rain lashed against The Rusty Chalice's windows as Lira slumped behind the bar, Selene's journal burning a hole in her backpack. Jax's bite haunted her the jagged edges too clean for an animal, too savage for a human. She'd patched him up with vodka and gauze, but his skin had already begun to gray at the edges.

They're coming for you.

She poured herself a shot. The whiskey did nothing to dull the hum of the locket against her chest. Across the room, a Veil blood trader eyed her, pupils slit like a cat's. She flipped him off.

"Classy," drawled a voice beside her.

Ryen Thorn slid onto a stool, his leather coat dripping rainwater onto the floor. Amber eyes glinted beneath a mess of dark hair, and a scar split his jawline like a crack in marble. Too pretty for the Fringe. Too calm.

"We're closed," Lira muttered.

"Funny. Door was open." He nodded at her untouched shot. "Rough night?"

"You're blocking the napkins."

He laughed, low and rough. "Heard you're the one to talk to about… unusual problems."

Her hand froze mid-pour. "Try a therapist."

"Therapists don't deal with this." He rolled up his sleeve.

Black veins spiderwebbed his forearm, pulsing like rot beneath his skin. Lycanthropy, mid-transformation. Fatal if untreated.

Lira's throat tightened. He knows. "Not my problem."

"It is if you're the only cure."

The door burst open before she could answer.

A werewolf lunged into the bar, golden eyes wild, claws slashing the air. Behind him, a vampire in a tailored trench coat hissed, fangs bared. Patrons scattered, chairs screeching against the floor.

"Not in here!" Lira vaulted the bar, but the wolf swiped at the vampire, missing and gouging deep into the wall. Plaster rained down as the vampire slammed the wolf into a table, snapping it in half.

"Enough!" Lira grabbed a bottle of wolfsbane-infused gin useless against vampires, but it stung like hell. She smashed it over the vampire's head.

He turned, silver eyes narrowing. "You."

Recognition flashed Selene's spy. The one from her nightmares.

The wolf seized his chance, sinking teeth into the vampire's shoulder. Black, syrupy blood oozed onto the floor. The vampire snarled, throwing him off, then lunged at Lira.

She dodged, but his claws grazed her cheek. Pain flared then vanished. Her skin knit itself seamlessly, not even a scar.

The vampire froze. "Impossible."

Ryen moved faster than she could blink. He wrenched the vampire's arm behind his back, a silver dagger pressing against his throat. "Leave. Now."

The vampire hissed but dissolved into shadows, leaving the wolf snarling in the wreckage. Ryen kicked a chair toward it. "You too, mutt. Unless you want the Nightwatch here."

The wolf hesitated, locking eyes with Lira. For a heartbeat, she swore it looked… afraid. Then it bolted into the storm.

Silence fell, broken only by the slow drip of blood and rain. Ryen turned to her, dagger still in hand. "You're bleeding."

"Am I?" She touched her cheek smooth.

His eyes darkened. "Who are you?"

"Someone who wants you gone."

He smirked but tossed a business card onto the bar. Ashen Labs – Biomedical Research. "When you're done playing martyr, come find me. That cure of yours? It's not a gift. It's a target."

He left, the door swinging shut behind him.

Jax emerged from the stockroom, bandage peeking under his sleeve. "You okay?"

"Peachy." She grabbed her backpack, Selene's journal digging into her ribs. "We need to go. Now."

"Why?"

The answer came in a whisper of silk and frost.

"Because I've found you, little bird."

Selene Dracul stood in the doorway, ice-blonde hair cascading over black armor. The air thickened. Patrons collapsed mid-sentence as her compulsion rolled over them. Only Lira remained standing, the locket searing into her skin.

Jax choked, clawing at his throat. "L-Lira…"

"Run," Selene purred. "It's what you're best at, isn't it?"

Lira's hand closed around the wolfsbane gin. "Let him go."

"Or what? You'll heal me to death?" Selene stepped closer, silver eyes gleaming. "You don't even know what you are. Let me show you."

A chloroform rag clamped over Lira's mouth from behind.

Vesper, Selene's lieutenant, hissed in her ear. "Sweet dreams, hybrid."

Darkness swallowed her.