Prepare

Morning sunlight filtered weakly through the apartment blinds, painting pale stripes across the wreckage of Joey’s living room.

Blankets.

Clothes.

An overturned lamp.

One broken chair from last night’s panic.

And three exhausted people trying very hard to pretend their lives had not become completely insane in less than a week.

Crystal sat cross-legged on the couch wearing one of Joey’s oversized shirts and holding a mug of coffee like it was emotionally supporting her.

“I just want everyone to appreciate,” she said seriously, “that two days ago my biggest concern was whether or not the shake machine was leaking again.”

“The shake machine is always leaking,” Joey muttered from the kitchen.

“That’s not the point.”

Cassandra stood near the apartment window, watching the parking lot below through the blinds with narrowed eyes. Unlike Joey and Crystal, she looked fully alert already.

Too alert.

Joey noticed immediately.

“You’re worried,” he said quietly.

Cassandra glanced back at him.

“Yes.”

Crystal pointed her mug dramatically.

“See? That. I don’t like when the ancient **** vampire gets all serious and mysterious.”

Cassandra ignored her.

“The hunters last night were probing us,” she explained. “Not attacking seriously. Testing defenses. Looking for weaknesses.”

Joey set down three plates of eggs and bacon on the coffee table.

“…Meaning?”

“Meaning they now know where we live.”

Crystal slowly lowered her coffee.

“Well that feels aggressively bad.”

“It is aggressively bad,” Cassandra agreed.

Joey sat beside Crystal, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So what do we do?”

For the first time since Joey had met her, Cassandra hesitated.

Not fear.

Calculation.

Finally she sighed softly.

“I was hoping not to involve outside parties.”

“That sentence alone is horrifying,” Crystal whispered.

Cassandra shot her a look before continuing.

“There are… people I can hire.”

Joey blinked.

“You can hire vampire mercenaries?”

“Please stop making it sound cool,” Cassandra groaned.

“It IS cool.”

“It is deeply irritating.”

Crystal leaned forward immediately.

“How much money do ancient vampires even have?”

Cassandra gave her a flat look.

“I have existed for over six hundred years, Crystal. I accidentally owned part of the railroad industry at one point.”

Joey nearly choked on his coffee.

“You WHAT?”

“It was the eighteen hundreds. Things were very confusing.”

Crystal stared at her.

“You’re telling me you’re rich?”

“I am telling you,” Cassandra said patiently, “that immortality plus compound interest becomes mathematically irresponsible after a while.”

Joey looked genuinely offended.

“…And I’m still working at Burger Chief.”

“You’re adorable at Burger Chief,” Cassandra replied.

“That is NOT the point.”

Despite herself, Cassandra smiled faintly.

Then the smile faded.

“Greta also handles acquisitions and… specialized personnel.”

“Greta?” Joey asked. “The incredible bulk??”

Crystal looked between them.

“You mean the lady in the pink robe?”

“She is a bit off-putting, but I think she genuinely cares about Cassandra,” Joey defended immediately.

“She threatened to poison you twice,” Cassandra muttered.

“She was warming up to me.”

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose.

“The point is, Greta has connections. Enforcers. Creatures even hunters avoid.”

Crystal’s eyes widened slightly.

“…How bad are we talking?”

Cassandra’s expression turned cold.

“The kind of bad that makes people disappear.”

Silence settled over the room.

Joey felt the shift immediately through the bond.

Cassandra wasn’t bluffing.

She was preparing for war.

And weirdly enough—

that scared him less than seeing how worried she was beneath the surface.

“You trust them?” Joey asked carefully.

“No,” Cassandra answered instantly. “But I trust Greta to have them locked down, she isnt in the position she is in, for as long as she has been in it by screwing your clients.”

Crystal nodded slowly.

“That actually makes sense.”

Cassandra moved toward the kitchen counter and pulled a small velvet pouch from inside her discarded cape.

She emptied it carefully onto the counter.

Jewelry spilled out.

Old rings.

Gold coins.

Dark gemstones that almost seemed to glow faintly.

And a thumb drive

Crystal’s jaw dropped.

“…Holy shit.”

“One of those coins is older than the United States,” Cassandra said casually.

Joey picked up a ring carefully.

The ruby set into it looked almost black in the light.

“How much is all this worth?” waving at the jewelry

Cassandra shrugged.

“Not enough.”

Crystal looked scandalized.

“You’ve been sitting on dragon treasure while Joey was stressing about rent?”

“In my defense,” Cassandra replied, “I did not anticipate emotionally bonding with a burger employee.”

Joey pointed at her.

“See? Hurtful.”

“Accurate, though.”

Crystal snorted into her coffee.

Cassandra gathered the jewelry back into the pouch before turning serious again.

“I’ll go see Greta tonight.”

“Nope,” Joey answered immediately.

Cassandra blinked.

“…Excuse me?”

“You are not leaving alone after hunters attacked us six hours ago.”

“I can kill most things in this city without significant effort.”

“And yet people keep trying to kill YOU.”

Crystal slowly pointed between them.

“This thing where you two argue like an old married couple is getting weirdly adorable.”

Neither acknowledged her.

Cassandra crossed her arms.

“Joey.”

“Nope.”

“You are extraordinarily stubborn for prey.”

“You’re the one who said courage means acting anyway.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him.

Joey crossed his arms back.

Crystal looked delighted.

“Oh my God, he’s learning.”

For several seconds Cassandra simply stared at him.

Then—

to Joey’s surprise—

she smiled.

Small.

Soft.

Proud.

“Fine,” she said finally. “We go together.”

Crystal immediately raised her hand.

“I am absolutely not staying here alone while **** cultists are outside.”

“You should not come to Greta’s,” Cassandra said flatly.

“Why?”

“Because Greta likes you, and will absolutely try to seduce you.”

Crystal blinked.

“…What?”

“She tries to seduce everyone.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is.”

Joey frowned thoughtfully.

“…Did Greta try to seduce me?”

Both women looked at him.

Then simultaneously:

“Yes.”

Joey stared blankly.

“…Huh.”

Crystal immediately started laughing again.

And despite the danger outside, despite the hunters and blood and supernatural insanity closing tighter around them—

the apartment somehow felt warm.

Safe.

Like the beginning of something none of them fully understood yet.