For most of the day, the weather flitted from miserable, grey, and drizzly to buckets of water pouring from the sky, but everyone's spirits were high. Hope could do that. A new future was unfolding. A future beyond Compound walls and Wildling rules and the cruelty of the jungle. They basked in the prospect of seeing the world while floating over vast oceans, living in a nomadic city. Among the humans, the Progenies were the only ones who had visited the beach, and Yuvan and Drew regaled the others with tales of water as far as the eye could see and stories of monstrous creatures who called it home and could swallow ships whole but apparently chose not to because they were benevolent monsters.

It wasn't just hope bolstering Hadley's mood though.

Hiking through the rain was a slog for everyone, but especially for Hadley, because her shin bone was still knitting itself back together. She hung back, taking up the rear with Ruq while listening to the Progenies' lively retellings alongside the vampire, sharing the moment of laughter and levity with the vampire. It was so easy between them now. Before then, every interaction with the vampire had seemed too intense or too incomplete or padded by too many life-or-death events. This was the first time she was at complete ease in the vampire's company.

Before long, Jamila joined them at the back of the group and Hadley knew she'd never been as happy and more content as she was right then in the company of these two women she absolutely adored.

"Is that all true, Ruq?" Jamila asked, referring to the Progeny stories. She looked a little queasy at all the talk about ocean beasts that could swallow ships.

Ruq laughed. "The parts about giant sea monsters that swallow ocean bound vessels are a little exaggerated."

Jamila fell back at ease and chuckled.

"You've probably been everywhere," Hadley said. Sharing a mindscape, Hadley had noticed the heavy weight of time in Ruqwik's emotions. Sometimes it scared her. Most times, it fascinated her. "We could probably ask you anything and you'd know the answer."

Ruq chuckled. "I probably would."

"Is that a challenge?" Jamila said.

Hadley knew that voice.

Jamila was flirting.

"I think it is a challenge, Jay," Hadley said, following Jamila's cue. "I say we quiz her."

Hadley stopped walking, looked up into the trees, closed her eyes and let the drizzling rain pour down her face.

"Are you okay?" Ruq asked, suddenly concerned.

"How's your leg?" that was Jamila's concerned voice.

Hadley smiled, her head still tilted up and her eyes still closed. She was perfectly fine. Her leg had just completed its healing and the release from pain was glorious. But she'd stopped walking, not just so she could take off the makeshift splint, but because she wanted to put a little space between them and the others to create a little cocoon for themselves – just the three of them in their own little world. This was the best she'd ever felt, and she wanted it to last forever – or at least for the longest time she could buy with a little delay.

"Here's the game," Hadley finally said, looking back down and wiping the water off her face. She looked first at Jamila and then at Ruq. "Each of us asks as many questions as we can, and every question has to be answered by the other two. No exceptions."

Ruq grinned, showering their mindscape with rainbow confetti and sparks.

"I'm in." Jamila said, hitching her backpack on her shoulders, her smile wide.

"I'm game." Ruq said.

"I'll start." Hadley said with a cheeky grin. "Fast and hard or slow and gentle?"

Jamila and Ruq broke into laughter.

"That cannot be your first question!" Jamila said, blushing.

"Remember the rules, ladies!" Hadley replied, flashing a wicked smile.

Jamila buried her face in her hands as she mumbled her answer. "Slow and gentle."

"I've learnt to let the mood decide," Ruq said, taking a moment to mull over the words. "But right at this moment, I'd take you both hard andfast. Just so the others wouldn't get too far."

Hadley laughed to hide her fluster and how hard her heart was racing at that thought.

"I'm going next," Jamila said, her voice slightly shaky. She made them wait a few seconds as they waded shin deep through a bog. "How would you describe the perfect day?"

"Hmm..." Hadley mulled over it. "Waking up twenty minutes after the Compound morning bell without any consequences, being served an extra waffle at breakfast, then finding out I'm on call for emergencies at the Clinic at the same time as Physical Arts because I could escape both and either instructor would think I'm in the other class. I'd go back to my cubicle and sleep for an hour. Then being served an extra sausage at lunch and a few extra meatballs at dinner. And having you for dessert... plus a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream on the side... or not on the side."

Jamila laughed. "Are you hungry, Hadley?"

"All the time!" Hadley responded honestly, even as her stomach rumbled loudly at the thought of meatballs over a plate of spaghetti.

"Your turn, Ruq." Jamila replied, still laughing.

The vampire helped Hadley clamber over a fallen log. It was drizzling very lightly now, and the sun was trying its best to penetrate the thick clouds and thicker canopy. Kade had led them away from the gorge and deeper into the forest. Word came back from the front, through one of the Freelancer vampires, that there had been a mudslide into the gorge on one of the sections they would have gone through, and it had too large a fallout over the gorge to try to wade through, so they had to go around. Ruqwik acknowledged the report and sent the Freelancer back.

The vampire was the first to answer Jamila's question.

"I'd say the perfect day would start with one of my girlfriends walking over to me offering a cup of her blood as breakfast and telling me she likes me and then my other girlfriend..." Ruq started, but Jamila cut her off.

"No..." Jamila laughed. "It can't be today. That's too easy! Choose a day in your normal life. Before all this madness began."

"Alright," Ruqwik relented, slightly amused. "My friend Paluri has an amazing library. Getting lost in one of his books after sunset for the whole night, then going over to my friend Trudy's house for a morning hike where we'd climb the highest tree to watch the sun rise, and after that having Lujeo send for me because he was exhausted by his Progenies and they needed someone to play with, just so he could focus on practicing the same speech he's given for way too many decades. Then ending the night without a single negative report from the Ba... Compounds or from the Hunters, and then starting another good book for the night."

From the front of the group, Kade joined Hadley, Ruq and Jamila who had been lost in conversation the whole time. He informed them they were taking a break. Ruq confirmed she'd be with Hadley and Jamila not too far off and Kade let them be. The vampire led them to a little clearing near the ridge above the gorge. They'd walked around the mudslide and were now back along the gorge and on the path to the Coast. Hadley tried to supress the bittersweet twinge at the realisation that they were closer to the end of this journey and to a new home.

Closer to saying goodbye to Ruq.

"I think it's my turn to ask a question," Ruq said.

It wasn't raining anymore. They sat around a fire that Jamila had started while Hadley and Ruq organised a little picnic setup for the three of them. Ruq didn't need to feed yet, so she sat and watched the girls eat some trail mix and a dry slab of pemmican stolen from The Caves pantry, packed into every one of the escapee backpacks. Hadley was curious what Ruq's question would be.

"What is your most treasured memory?" the vampire asked, laying down on their picnic blanket, her head on Jamila's lap and her right hand running up and down Hadley's thigh, sending delicious tingles through every part of Hadley.

"Oh, that's a good one," Jamila commented, running her hands through the vampire's hair.

This was lovely.

Idyllic.

Another one of those moments Hadley would file away to relive on those days when every fibre of her being tried to convince her there was nothing good in this world to live for.

"We were six," Hadley said, not having to think long for her answer to the vampire's question. "Jamila was really sad, and I wanted to cheer her up. So, I snuck us past the Elders that night and to the orchard and we raided the apple trees. We climbed one of the trees and talked for ages. It was the first time I'd seen Jamila laugh in a year and it was the best sound I'd ever heard."

Jamila guffawed. "I remember that! Elder Zenobia found us, and you made me stay hidden in the tree so that you were the only one captured and punished. I was terrified, left alone in that tree for what seemed like hours but was probably just a couple of minutes. But I survived and was able to sneak back to bed without anyone noticing. I'd never felt so empowered! I couldn't wait to tell you how brave I'd been and could barely sleep from the excitement."

"What a crazy night that was! And, coincidentally, one of the most important nights of my life too." Hadley added, pensively. "Aunt Zee was supposed to punish me, but before she did, I asked her why I was different from everyone and always getting into trouble. That night was the first time she told me that I was a Wildling and what that meant, and it was the first time I ever thought about escaping the Compound."

"Wow," Jamila marvelled. "You never told me about that last part."

Hadley shrugged and smiled. "I didn't want you to get into any more trouble because of me."

Ruqwik tilted her head back and looked up at Jamila from her lap. "What's your memory?"

"Teaching Hadley how to swim," Jamila said without skipping a beat.

Hadley smiled at the memory. It had the potential to become the scariest memory she had, but Jamila had completely twisted it around. All the children at the Compound were taught how to swim in a large fishpond at the edge of the Compound. Hadley had been terrified of the animals in the water somehow burrowing inside her navel and completely refused to get into the pond. For that reason, she was far behind in her swimming skills for months. That is, until their swimming teacher broke her knee in a freak kitchen spill accident.

"Our swimming teacher had an accident, and we got a substitute who wasn't as patient." Jamila explained. "When it was Hadley's turn to jump, the substitute teacher didn't let her walk to the back of the line, like the other teacher usually did. Instead, she picked Hadley up and tossed her from this rock that hang over the fishpond where all our swimming lessons were held, but Hadley hated swimming in that pond and immediately started to panic. I broke the student line, which is totally against Compound rules and almost gave me a heart attack, pushed the teacher aside, jumped in and swam over to her. Hadley was losing her mind, trying to fight everything moving in the water. Then she saw me, immediately calmed down and reached out for my hand. She'd always been there for me, but this was the first time that she'd let me be there for her. It was the first time that I saw her as a friend and not just this saviour of mine that I could never relate to."

Hoping the tears that had snuck up on her wouldn't spill, Hadley reached over and kissed Jamila.

"Kick my ass if I ever make you feel like we can't relate to each other like friends, okay?" Hadley whispered.

Jamila smiled then looked down at the vampire in her lap.

"What about you, Ruq?" Jamila asked. "What's your most treasured memory?"

"Hey, I'm the one who asked the question," Ruq protested. "The rules say that you two are the ones who answer."

"Please? You must have millions of memories from over the centuries!" Hadley insisted.

Ruqwik smiled at them both and sat up. "Nothing nearly as good as this. And that's not me giving the easy answer."

"We can't be your first loves," Jamila said, standing up.

The clouds had moved back over the sun, and it was grey and drizzling again, the clouds getting thicker and thicker by the second. They broke down their picnic, packed everything up and went to find the others, still talking as they walked.

"Was it Trisca?" Hadley asked. "Was she your first love?"

The vampire didn't immediately answer, getting lost in her thoughts for a moment.

"No, there was someone else before her," Ruqwik explained. "And someone else after – my last girlfriend."

"Were you together long?" Jamila asked.

"With my last girlfriend? Eighty years. We broke up about a century ago," Ruqwik replied. Hadley stumbled on a tree root as she took in the gravitas of that statement. It was one thing being aware of vampire immortality, but it was quite another when actual years were added to the context. The vampire continued. "It was okay between us. She worked a lot and so did I, but we had something good."

"Do you mind me asking what happened?" Hadley wondered.

"She asked something of me that I couldn't give her, and kept on asking," Ruqwik said with a shrug. "So, I... walked away."

Hadley felt anguish splash across their mindscape when Ruq spoke about leaving the woman. But something else caught her attention.

"You didn't tell her that you were leaving, did you? You didn't say goodbye." Hadley said.

"I didn't know how to."

They continued in silence after that, mostly because it started pouring buckets again, which made it difficult to see let alone hold a conversation while trying to navigate the track. But Hadley still thought about how heart breaking that must have been for the woman.

But who was she to judge? Wasn't that exactly what she'd done to Jamila when she escaped the Compound? It was only dumb luck that she was back with the golden beauty and able to have that second chance to fix her mistake. However, she did have that emotion-sucking abyss as an excuse for her awful behaviour. Ruqwik didn't.

The whole thing also made Hadley ponder on the question that she'd been thinking to ask next: If this thing between the three of them was going to work, if they chose to become partners, what would Hadley and Jamila need to know about the vampire before they committed to her? After that last answer, Hadley was beginning to wonder if there was more important information about the vampire's past that they should know before this thing blew up in their faces.

Maybe it was a good thing they would be parting ways with the vampire soon.

The rain stopped in the late afternoon, much to everyone'sdelight. A few minutes after, Kade called it a day and they made camp, eventhough there were still a few hours of weak sunshine that would have been idealfor covering more ground that day. They set up their tents in a circle, with themain campfire at the centre and the vampires taking posts outside the circle,covering every few meters of space.

Sitting on a log, naked down to her underwear and barefoot, Hadley pulled a blanket tighter around her shoulders as she waited for her clothes and moccasins to dry in the warmth of the campfire. Jamila and Kade were cooking Brownie's latest kill, a stringy looking wild hare. Brielle and Drew were keeping Brownie entertained. Yuvan and Jael were consumed with building a contraption that Hadley didn't recognise, and Trisca's people were talking with Ruqwik. The vampire was questioning them with an intensity that made Hadley reach for her mind to calm her down.

Ruq turned to Hadley and smiled. The vampire gave her a small nod and was a lot less fiery in her questioning after that.

"Hello, Hadley."

Hadley faced the vampire who'd sat next to her. He was the one Ruq had told her was Lujeo's Fledgling. He had long tousled black hair that swept past his shoulders, olive skin, a square jaw with a dusting of facial hair, intense dark brown eyes, and a prominent brow bone.

"I'm Tristan," he said.

"Hi." Hadley offered. She hadn't spoken to any of the other vampires and didn't know what else to say to the stranger. She turned back to the campfire.

"I heard your speech this morning," he said. "You're a remarkable human."

Hadley stayed silent. She wondered if he was going to be like everyone else and call her Hadley Fisher before telling her how important she was thanks to a name or the existence of a person she had never met and wanted nothing to do with, even though he was her father, whatever that meant.

"I've never seen an aura quite like yours before," Tristan continued.

That was new.

Sometimes, when the situation was right, Hadley was brave enough not to let the new words slide by.

"Aura?"

"It's... an energy that emanates from a person. A vibration of sorts. Like a cloud that encloses a person," he explained. "At least that's how they look to me. Coloured silhouettes that stick to someone. Everyone has one around them."

Hadley turned to him, curious. She'd never heard of such a thing. But then again, Ruqwik's telepathy had caught her off guard from the very beginning. She'd felt nothing similar from the other vampires as they'd hiked. Maybe all vampires were different. Had different abilities. Having only ever been close to Ruqwik and with the limited information from Aunt Zee, Hadley couldn't assume she knew anything about vampires.

"Is that really what you see when you look at people?" Hadley wondered. "All the time?"

Tristan chuckled, nodding. "My curse."

"What do they do, these auras?"

Tristan took a moment to think before he answered.

"An aura tells me a little about the person wearing it," he said. "Not much, mind you. Just enough to give me an idea of what kind of person they might be."

Hadley mulled over the words.                        

"What do you see when you look at me?" Hadley wondered. "What does my aura tell you?"

"Like I said, your aura isn't like any I've seen before. Not on a human anyway." He replied. "Human auras usually aren't that easy for me to see. I've always thought that vampire auras are so much stronger and thus easier to see because of their immortality. But your aura is a lot more solid than most humans. Almost as clear as any vampire's. Almost. It's also fractured. As if it shattered and then fused back together, each piece a different colour. I haven't seen that before. I don't know what it means."

Hadley thought about that for a while. She turned to face Tristan.

"What about Ruq?" she asked. "What does her aura look like? What does it say?"

Tristan smiled and turned his gaze to the fire.

"That's one of the reasons I wanted to come and say hello, actually," Tristan said. He settled back and got comfortable. "I've known Ruqwik for over a hundred and sixty years and in all that time, there has always been a grey overlay around her aura. It's not uncommon. A lot of people, both vampires and humans have this greyness to them to some degree, but for Ruqwik, it was thick enough to obscure every other colour of her true aura."

"What does the grey mean?" Hadley asked, adjusting the blanket a bit more.

"It's a blockage. An experience that was impossible to let go of or rationalize. Something the person disconnected from that ends up blocking all the other energies that make them up, because they won't confront it." Tristan explained. Then he turned to Hadley, answering the question at the tip of her tongue before she asked it. "And no, you don't have a grey overlay, which just adds to your... charm."

Hadley scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Did you come to tell me that it was my love for her that saved her? Cleared her blockage?"

Tristan laughed.

"I get it. You're tired of me and everyone else telling you how special you are, Hadley Fisher." Tristan said. "But the last time I saw Ruqwik was through the window of Lujeo's mansion before she left with you and your friends. Her aura then was a darker grey than it had ever been. All she left me with were instructions to protect the Enclave until she came back from escorting you to the Wildlings. And if you know Ruqwik, that in itself is completely unhinged. She isn't one to delegate, especially something as important as protecting Lujeo's Enclave. That was her whole life!"

Tristan took a moment, as if it was still blowing his mind that Ruqwik had done that.

"When she came back," Tristan continued. "She had a clear, pure aura that almost burned my eyes. I had never seen anything like that! So, you can't fault me for fangirling over you. In the time we've been here, observing how Ruq is with you and the one called Jamila, I don't see what else could have so fundamentally changed her, but your affection for each other."

Hadley smiled, not sure what fangirling meant, but taking it as a compliment.

"Fine. I'll let you tell me I'm special, but just this once." Hadley said.

Tristan laughed.

Hadley stared at the fire for a while longer, then she turned to face Tristan.

"I do have another question I'd like to ask." Hadley said.

"Ask away. And if I can, I'll answer." Tristan replied with a smile.

Hadley's gaze went back to the fire as she wondered how to frame the question.

"The last time I was with Ruqwik, I..." died. "...got hurt. it wasn't good. But when I woke up, I was alone. Everyone was gone. Ruq was gone. I ended up finding the others and they filled in the gaps about what happened to me, but not about Ruq. She left and no one knows what happened to her. I didn't think I'd ever see her again."

Hadley turned to look at Ruq across the camp. She was standing with Jamila, flirting. Their shared mindscape was an ocean of contentment. Hadley smiled. Then she turned back to face Tristan, her face solemn again.

"You said she came back to the Enclave, so, you've been with her for a while now, right?" Hadley asked.

Tristan nodded.

"What happened to her?"

Why didn't the vampire come back for Hadley before, when she'd really needed her?

But Hadley didn't have the courage to ask that question out loud even if it was the one that really ate at her.

Tristan picked up a branch and poked at the fire for a few moments before he answered.

"Ruqwik left Lujeo's Enclave to my care. I was supposed to stall the Masters until she came back." Tristan said. "I failed."

Tristan dropped the branch and sat back again, clapping dust from his palms.

"The Masters came, and they began to fight for the Enclave. I couldn't stop them." Tristan continued. "Sleritu, the worst of all the Enclave Barons, was winning. She's always wanted Lujeo's Enclave. It's the largest of all five, and the seat of the most political power. Sleritu advocates for the hunting of humans for sport, as well as the hunting of vampires she considers weak. She would have changed Lujeo's Enclave into a no-holds-barred human and vampire hunting ground, destroying everything Lujeo and Ruqwik had built to protect humanity. Then she would have rallied her followers and done the same to every other Enclave. She follows no rules. Cares for none of it. Lujeo and Ruqwik had held her back for centuries. Without them..."

Tristan took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Anyway, Ruqwik arrived as the last Master fight was about to be concluded," Tristan said, smiling as his eyes glazed over, likely reliving the memory. "She wiped the floor with Sleritu's Champion! Became the new Baron of Lujeo's Enclave. She saved us all."

Hadley wasn't surprised. This was Ruq they were talking about. She'd watched the vampire rip apart vampire dogs with her bare hands.

There was one thing that didn't get past Hadley though.

"I thought that only a Master can become a Baron." Hadley said.

Tristan's furrowed his brow. "Ruq explained that to you?"

"Is she a Master?" Hadley asked.

Tristan nodded.

The intense spike of jealousy that stabbed Hadley's chest caught her off guard. Ruqwik telepathically pushed back, questioning the feeling. Hadley didn't turn to look at her. Instead, she raised the walls of her mind, something she'd learnt she could do, closing herself off from the shared mindscape to process the news.

But why was she jealous that Ruq had turned another human?

"We'll find the Wildlings soon. When we do, I think you and I should go our separate ways. I know you're bound to me, and that my death will kill you too, but my daughter and I will be safe with the Wildlings until you find another human to turn. You'll become a true Master and then you can go save your Enclave. We both win."

Hadley had said those words. Meant them too. And from what Tristan had just explained, it had been necessary for Ruq to do just that in order to save thousands of lives, including Hadley.

Still, it hurt that Ruq had a random human fledgling Hadley didn't even know. And why hadn't Ruq told her about it?

"What is she like? The human Ruqwik turned to become a Master?" Hadley said, annoyed that she couldn't keep the emotion from her voice.

"Oh? Ruqwik hasn't turned a human yet. At least not as far as I know." Tristan said.

Hadley furrowed her brow.

The vampire continued. "There is one other way to become a Master. A completely insane way that no vampire should ever attempt, especially not with the pressure of saving an Enclave weighing down on them."

"But Ruq did."

"Twice! Successfully both times. An impossible feat." Tristan said. He turned to face Hadley. "But, like I said before, she was different. Completely changed by her time away."

"You really think we had something to do with that? Jamila and I?"

"Before I saw you two last night, I never even thought about it. Ruq is one of the most powerful vampires in existence. It wasn't a stretch to think she could just do that. That she could just drastically change herself out of sheer will." Tristan explained. "Then I met you. Even fractured, pieces of your aura have exactly the same layered colours of Ruq's aura. And though it's as faint as most humans, Jamila's aura features a thin layer of Ruq's colours like a shield around her own."

Tristan stayed silent for a second, but Hadley sensed there was a lot more he wanted to say. She waited for him to continue.

"You three are bound in a way that shouldn't be possible," he finally said. "A way that changes everything we know about vampires and humans."