It took almost all I had to bring the werewolf down. A couple of smaller emojis were attacking me from the sides, but I feigned them off with the axe. Two of them fell, taken down by Francesco's rifle. But three went to the house where the lads were hiding. I mustered my strength and ran. I was too late. The monsters were chewing on Francesco's arm.

I swung my weapon and took out the beasts in one strike. Gore shot all around, blinding both men. One look at Tomek told me he was unscathed, so I hurried to Francesco. From a pouch on my hip, I took out antiseptic and bandages I always carried. I couldn't get the worm, but I didn't fancy dying from bacteria getting into my wounds.

Francesco moaned when I cleaned the bites. The wounds weren't deep, but they were more than enough to get him infected. As I bandaged his arms, I felt his warm body under my fingertips, and it was electrifying. His masculine smell made me want him even more. That made no sense. With him being infected, I shouldn't be attracted to him anymore. I needed to cool down.

Francesco went outside, and I had a moment to collect my thoughts. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. Infected or not, my resentful prisoner made my heart race.

"Enough!" I yelled, seeing Tomek struggling to get away from the vamp leeched to his wrist.

What was he thinking, feeding the damaged bloodsucker like that? Lily looked at me with red glowing eyes, still sucking on the boy's arm. I kicked her hard on the side of her head. The bloodsucker went flying, but in the blink of an eye, she was standing, hissing at me with her fangs bared.

I slapped her on the face, hard enough for her to fall onto the ground. She shook her head, and the red glow in her eyes subsided, just a little. She hissed again, then snorted. And then cursed. She closed her eyes for a moment, clenching and opening her fists. Slowly, she retracted her fangs and took a deep breath that she didn't need.

Finally, she looked at me, as if trying to assess what had happened. I sighed with relief. She was back to her normal self. I turned to Tomek. He was lying on the ground, unconscious, blood trickling from his arm.

Lily followed my gaze and whined: "I didn't want to hurt him! I wouldn't... He made me..." Her voice trailed off.

Ignoring the distressed vampire, I tended to Tomek. I bandaged his wound and carried him into the house. I ordered Francesco to set up camp with a fire and wrapped the lad in a blanket. He grunted, but was still out cold. A blurred vision formed in my mind: a man similar to Tomek, but older, dressed in fancy clothes from an unfamiliar culture. It dispersed quickly, leaving me with a faint feeling of wonder.

Lily looked sad and guilty, her dress so torn that one of her breasts was half naked. But despite it still being broad daylight, she seemed radiant. No more matted hair or ashen skin. I'd never seen a vamp heel so fast either. There had to be something special about Tomek's blood.

I asked the leech to approach. She sat on the other side of the fire, distancing herself from the sleeping lad. Francesco made sure to get as far away from her as he could. For a long while, I admired his shapely body.

"So what's with this miraculous boost?" I asked, carefully studying Lily's face.

She averted her eyes, "I'm not sure... I've never felt anything like that."

She wasn't telling the whole truth. "But you have a suspicion?" I pressed.

She sighed. "I heard stories about the Royal Blood," she finally said. "But it doesn't make any sense. His sister is a normal bloodba..., ehm, human." I ignored her slip of tongue.

"Royal Blood?" I wanted to know more.

"The wise kings, wizards. But I'm pretty sure they went extinct long before the plague. We would have known if one of them appeared," she paused. "We used to hunt them," she added.

That kind of made sense. But something was missing.

"Tomek's sister, she knew about the supernatural?" I asked.

"Yes, it was her idea to contact us. She thought that the drug-resistant epilepsy wasn't really an illness, but a mutation. Another step in evolution. She wanted to design a living implant that would be able to get developing powers under control."

I let out a heavy sigh. My head hurt. The rest of my body, too. Fighting the werewolf and subduing Lily had drained me.

I fumbled with my backpack and took out the tea and kettle. We needed more supplies, so I ordered Francesco to go look for anything we could use. He seemed relieved to ditch our company.

I looked at the leech again. She was too close to me, her eyes fiery, but not with thirst. Not the usual thirst, at least. I wrapped a blanket around her. Not that a walking corpse would be cold, but it felt right to cover her body, showing too much in the disheveled dress.

She looked me straight in the eyes, her voice suddenly low and husky: "I know you don't feel lust for the undead. But I could help you relax after the fight."

I studied her for a moment. She was beautiful with the long, orange hair flowing in gentle waves down her back.

I sighed, my fatigue getting the better of me: "I'm not into women. I'm not into undead. And what I need to relax is a few hours of good, peaceful sleep."

And a nice cuddle with Francesco, I added in my mind.

It might have sounded a bit sharper than I intended because the redhead looked like she was going to cry. Oh well, better to clear the situation sooner. I took out garlic and salt from my backpack and started creating the protective circle.

"Please, don't be mad at me," Lily whimpered. "I've been watching you for the last six months. You are strong, brave, and ruthless when you need to be. I admire you! I would never hurt you!".

"Why were you watching me?" I asked.

She'd been keeping close to me when I was at my hideout, but I thought she was waiting for a chance to get to my blood. With my mutated worm, she might not have known I was infected.

"My matriarch told me to keep an eye on you. She thought you could help us with the research. On the parasite. She knew you stayed forever in the first phase."

"Your matriarch is in Warsaw?" A thought crossed my mind.

"No, my matriarch..." Lily's voice broke. "My matriarch is no more", she finished.

"Who are we going to meet in Warsaw?" I inquired, more anxious with every word I heard from her.

"The Queen," the vamp's voice faltered.

The vampire queen. In Warsaw. That had to be the famous Bloody Court. That wasn't boding well for any of us. Would the Queen put the research over her own want for the Royal Blood? Would she let Tomek meet his sister and help her find the cure, or would she rather keep him for herself? That was making things difficult. My head pulsed with pain.

I slumped on my sleeping bag near the fire and massaged my temples. This was going to get ugly. As much as I hated it, I would have to destroy Lily. Preferably before Tomek woke up. He'd be protecting her to get to his sister. For a long moment, I sat with my eyes closed, steadying my breath. I stood up, reaching for my axe in the process.

Lily's eyes widened, but she jumped back just in time to avoid my blade. I expected her to either flee or counterattack, but she just stood there.

"I won't tell on Tomek to the Queen!" she exclaimed.

The lad woke up and ogled us with glassy eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked with a yawn. This wasn't good.

"Discussing our next moves," I responded, trying to figure out what to do now. "We need to make certain arrangements... to get you to your sister safely," I added, looking Lily straight in the eyes.

She nodded.

"My matriarch wanted to find the cure. She was destroyed with my whole coven when I was watching you. The emojis did it. I want that worm dead, more than I want anything else," she blurted, her eyes lighting up with hatred.

The vision struck me so hard I staggered. Lily was entering the nest just to see the remains of her matriarch. Her scream rang in my ears, tearing through my brain. She swore to get her vengeance. I returned to reality with a gasp. The headache was killing me, but I got the confirmation I needed.

I put down the axe and told Tomek to go back to sleep. He needed to rest if we were going to march the next day. He obeyed, too exhausted to protest. I waited to hear his breathing slow down and approached the little bloodsucker.

"He mustn't know about the Royal Blood," I whispered to her. "He'd be too easy to read for the Queen," I stressed.

The vamp agreed.

I lay down, curling up in my sleeping bag. The sun was setting when I woke up to a disgusted snort from Francesco. He must have just come back from his scavenging hunt. He was carrying a large bag, presumably full of supplies, which made me smile. Then I noticed Lily cuddled right beside me, sleeping like a baby. That was a rare sight. Normally, vamps were either active or dead. In my exhaustion, I must have messed up the protective circle. Fleck, I was lucky Lily was infatuated with me.

"You bitches are worth one another," Francesco spat, throwing his bag onto the ground right beside me. "A razing mutant and a damned bloodsucker. Gross."

I got up and approached him. He struggled when I threaded my fingers through his long hair and yanked his head back. "Don't speak back to me," I ordered, savoring his helpless anger. "I'll do whatever I want," I stated. "And you'll comply," I whispered into his ear, and my beautiful bandit blanched.

"Oh, I could drink him while you rode him. Pity he got the worm," Lily muttered, her eyes half open.

"I'm not sharing," I growled.

The whole situation was getting out of control. As much as I enjoyed tormenting Francesco, he was right about one thing. Getting too close to a vampire was never a good idea. I'd been sloppy and allowed myself to lower my guard.

I let go of my slave and looked at Lily. Cute and frail, she reminded me of the intern I had at the school cafeteria when the epidemic broke out. The smart girl saved a bunch of kids while I was whacking their emoji teachers with the frying pan. I wondered what happened to her after I ran off to the first lab.

I sighed heavily and went back to sleep. There was nothing I could do now, and I needed to rest. All the fighting and visions were wreaking havoc in my body. The parasite's powers weren't enough to balance out all the exertion.

In my dream, the older version of Tomek was being held by two women in long, embroidered robes in a lavish chamber, filled with gold ornaments and eerie blue light. I felt his despair. The vision had no sound, like an old, silent movie. I certainly could use some subtitles.

Opposite the captive, a beautiful woman with long, platinum hair and eyes the color of the stormy sky, was sitting on a throne adorned with a crescent moon, its two corners connected with a diamond. Her richly decorated gown flowed down the steps of her seat. She was speaking to the man, and he violently protested. After a moment, she motioned to the guards, and they tore away the man's shirt, leaving him half naked.

The guards forced the man to his knees. From behind the throne, another robed woman emerged, holding a white-hot branding iron, bearing the same crest as the throne. She pressed it to the prisoner's back, between his shoulder blades. I saw the man scream. As he was trying to catch his breath, the woman on the throne made an announcement. The man blanched, trying to free himself, but to no avail.

The dream ended as if something or someone had cut it on purpose. I sat up with eyes wide open, a slight tremble still in my body. The men were asleep, and Lily was nowhere to be seen. The horizon was lighting up. It was time to move on.