It was one of those picturesque spring days that held boundless promises. The weather was quite fresh, and the cold still nipped at them, but without the bite from the last few days. Birds were singing, the sun was streaming through the tree canopy in gorgeous ribbons of sparkly light, no cloud in the sky... it was perfect. Hadley wasn't leading the group today. That was Josal's job. He and Teroi were at the front. Hadley slunk to the middle of the pack. It was here that she realised how much she'd been missing from the front while stressing over landmarks and checkpoints on a twenty-year-old map in a secret diary written without consideration of what could have changed in all that time.

Without the responsibility of trying to figure out where they were going, Hadley could observe what went on in the background while they hiked. Jamila held the most of her attention. Hadley watched two of the Compound children run up to her, one of them crying. They didn't go to their mothers. They went to Jamila. And she had them shaking hands and laughing together in less than five minutes. Drew walked up to Jamila next, Brownie the dog faithfully following alongside him. He asked her about some berries he'd seen on the trail and picked up.

Then it was one of the Compound mothers coming to consult with Jamila. The mothers were generally in charge of the young children, the three girls from the Compound and the four boys they'd found at the Master vampire's mansion with Teroi. Jael had made a makeshift sled from strips of tables clothes and fallen branches. When the young ones got tired of keeping pace with the adults, they could get on the sleds and rest, the mothers pulling them along. Hadley watched Jamila laugh with the mother who'd come up to her before taking over her sled to let the mother rest.

Jamila made this work.

She was the glue that kept them together.

Not Hadley.

Hadley just made everything worse.

"Are you okay?"

Hadley turned to face Ruqwik. Her chest felt restrictive. Like she couldn't catch her breath. What was she even thinking being out here? With children? And what about the vampire dogs?! She'd led them into the Compound! It was her fault. Her fault that everyone was dead! Aunt Zee. Her mother. Her Compound. Everyone.

Her fault.

"I'm fine." Hadley lied.

Ruqwik let them walk a few paces in silence before she responded.

"You know how you can feel... what did you call it?... 'my power' in the air sometimes?" Ruqwik said. Hadley didn't respond, but Ruqwik continued. "Whatever is happening between us... well, let's just say that it goes both ways now, just so you know."

The trees leaned in close, further darkening Hadley's vision. Her chest squeezed tighter. It was almost impossible to get air into her lungs. She was about to explode.

"We shouldn't be out here in this jungle, Ruq! Jamila... these children... I've doomed them all. And for what? We haven't found the Wildlings and now we're headed to a vampire's camp without knowing what we'll find there and..."

"Hey," Ruq assured her, taking Hadley's hand in hers. The vampire's hand was warm and comforting, pulling Hadley out of her mind for a moment. "Trisca was Lujeo's ally. And she's a friend. You and your people will be safe with her. As for the Wildlings? We'll figure it out, together. I promise."

Hadley's vision blurred from unshed tears. She looked up at the forest canopy to keep them from spilling.

"Hadley, can I try something?" Ruqwik asked, in the gentlest of voices.

Hadley had never heard her sound like that. She looked at the vampire and slowly nodded, her tears escaping down her cheeks.

The effect was instant.

A gentle brush against her mind. Like wind inside her skull. The wind blew in. A mild, warm breeze. Hadley closed her eyes and let herself feel it. Let the warmth envelope her. The breeze blew away and took something with it. Her chest was open again. Her breathing regular. Her mind clearer. The panic attack ceased. No. It wasn't completely gone. It was... buried. Beneath a mountain of other thoughts. Other feelings.

New feelings.

Hadley gasped. She lost herself in the feeling of being completely at ease and cautiously optimistic. It wasn't a feeling she felt often. Not in this world. She opened her eyes and looked at Ruq, a silly smile still plastered on her face.

"Was that... okay?" Ruqwik asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes. Definitely okay. Thank you. How did you do that?" Hadley replied, with a smile. She was rubbing her chest – grateful she could breathe again.

Ruqwik shrugged as they kept walking.

"I thought you said you couldn't make me feel things that I don't already feel?" Hadley stated uncertainly, trailing off at the end.

"I meant it. I can't feel your feelings for you," Ruqwik said. "But I can share my own."

Hadley's eyes went up in surprise. She was still smiling wide, riding the high.

"It won't hold forever, but I didn't want you to feel..." Ruq continued to explain.

Hadley's smile slowly disappeared, replaced by a frown.

"...What's wrong?" Ruqwik asked.

"Your eyes," Hadley said. "The rings... they're not as clear, but they're there. And they're getting wider as I'm watching!"

Ruqwik gave Hadley a silly smile.

"I've never used my telepathy like that before with anyone else," the vampire explained. Hadley felt warm at the pronouncement. "I guess it took more out of me than I expected."

Hadley tried to focus through the lingering high, hating that she had to. She wanted to drown herself in it and forget everything else.

"I know you're trying to help," Hadley said, reaching an arm out against Ruq's chest to stop her from walking forward. Hadley waited until they were a few meters behind the whole group. "But don't endanger yourself for me. Not like that."

"Hadley, it was my choice. I wanted to..." Ruq tried to explain.

Hadley cut her off.

"Please, Ruq. Promise me?"

The vampire relented. "I promise."

"Okay, good. Because I'm not worth it," Hadley said, pushing back that sick feeling she always got when she would think of Ruq being hurt because of her. The group was a few meters ahead, the gap widening. Hadley turned back to Ruq. "Let's fix you up. Like I said last night, we can't take any chances when we get there."

"Are you sure?" Ruqwik said, a little too eager. Hadley smiled. Ruq blushed, which surprised Hadley. "I mean, I don't want to take too much too fast."

"I'll be fine. The rings aren't that visible. I don't think you'll need much for them to disappear. I can handle it." Hadley replied "Let's do it quick. We don't want to lose the others."

Hadley led them off the path, away from the line of sight of anyone from the group who might look back at the trail. When she found a spot she liked, she sat cross legged on the carpet of thick leaves and took off her backpack and the field jacket Ruq had given her. The vampire joined her on the ground, watching as Hadley carefully rolled up the right sleeve of her long-sleeved tee.

"Don't worry," Hadley said, patting her backpack beside her. "I've still got a bunch of Hb boosters from the blood café. I'll be fine."

Ruqwik nodded at the assurance and accepted the hand Hadley offered. Hadley closed her eyes as Ruq's fangs sank into her flesh. It didn't hurt. Hadley chalked it up to an anaesthetic compound that must have been present in her saliva or from the fangs. Maybe something more. Because it wasn't just that it didn't hurt. For that one moment, when Ruqwik's fangs were inside her, Hadley lost all sense of time and reason. The world took on a different hue, everything dull, yet beautiful. Her bones were jelly, her skin water. Everything felt both possible and impossible. Hadley couldn't escape the feeling. It trapped her. Kept her in the moment. Banished every other worry or anxiety.

It was Hadley's new favourite feeling.

This time, Ruqwik left a soft kiss on her forearm and Hadley struggled to let it be the only thing she wanted Ruq to do before they crashed back into reality. Hadley gave herself a HB shot, then they got up and jogged after the group, reaching them before long, then they walked in silence. The only thought in Hadley's mind was the bliss from Ruq's bite and how reality kind of sucked. Especially the doubt. Wondering whether she was doing the right thing. If she'd made the right choice to follow Josal to Trisca's settlement.

What happened next made that choice seem even more foolhardy.

The air was suddenly filled with Ruqwik's power!

It swirled in the air, stronger and thicker than Hadley had ever felt it. A storm cloud of electrified energy that shook her to the core. The sun was about to set, and they were close to Trisca's camp, clear from the sounds reaching them. Hearing it from half an hour away meant it must be incredibly loud and boisterous, but Josal had already hinted at that. He'd explained that there was a raging party in full swing that had been going for almost a week now. That wasn't the reason for this reaction from Ruq.

Hadley slipped her hand into the vampire's.

"Ruq? You're scaring me!" Hadley said, her voice shaking from the intensity of the surging power. It reached the back of her teeth, making her head throb.

The vampire's hand gripped hers tighter.

"This place..." Ruqwik replied in a whisper. "Something's not right."

Before Hadley could respond, a crowd from the camp suddenly rushed up to them in jubilation, pressing close in an intimate embrace. Hadley pulled her hand from Ruq's and reached for her whittling knife sheathed against her belt. The air was cloyingly sweet with a potent mix of perfumed and natural body scents and a ridiculous amount of mirth and gaiety. Hadley had never seen a crowd like this. Vampires mixed in with humans like they were... equal. As they pressed in closer, she gripped her knife tighter and pulled it halfway out of its sheath. She was way in over her head! The words whizzed past her mind before she could stop them.

'It's just like you to get yourself into trouble you can't get yourself out of. You never think before you act! One day, I won't be there to clean up your stupid messes and then you'll learn just how much you need me.'

"Don't," Jamila managed to say into Hadley's ear over the cacophony. She had made her way next to Hadley, and gently placed her hand on Hadley's, pushing the knife back into its hold.

Hadley turned to the golden eyes, taking comfort in the fact that Jamila wasn't afraid. As the wave of singing, shouting, screaming humans and vampires floated them onwards, Jamila slipped her hand in Hadley's, smiled, and gave her a tiny nod. A sign to let Hadley know it would be okay if she surrendered to it all. Hadley replied with her own small smile and gave in, as her and the others were ushered away from Ruq and Josal.

The capsule of joy they were engulfed in was a tonic Hadley didn't know she'd needed until then. It pushed away the nerves, the anxiety, her concern about Ruq and what their connection meant, her uncertainty about Teroi and how to advance their relationship, not to mention the guilt at having realised how much she'd taken Jamila for granted throughout their lives, only to recklessly endanger her. The irony was, despite the dark abyss in her mind unfailingly draining away the emotions as they built up, her mind would always settle back into the debilitating cocktail of all these unresolved emotions, perpetuating the cycle. Hadley let the emotions slip away into the darkness once more, but this time, she chose to focus on the present.

On this moment.

She took in a lungful of air for the first time in weeks that wasn't laced with anxiety.

The crowd led them to a giant black balloon held a dozen feet up on a platform. The balloon was filled with warm water that rained onto a patch of soft edged river rocks laid out in a beautiful pattern at their feet. Soap was a welcome luxury as everyone around began to strip down to nothing. Most of the people were dancing and singing as they cleaned up. Some were enjoying each other's bodies, soaping each other while making out, sometimes doing more. A couple of vampires were feeding in the frenzy, their partners lost to the euphoria. Hadley froze, awestruck as she took it all in.

Humans and vampires didn't mix. Not like this. The two inhabited different planes of existences. Sure, there was something between her and Ruq – which was still messing with Hadley's mind – but this was just... strange. Vampires were harbingers of life and death. Humans survived and thrived and lived like there was no tomorrow, because sometimes there wasn't. That was the clear distinction between them both. But here, the distinction felt muddled. Here, it seemed like both humans and vampires couldn't care less about these rules of separation. They were dancing, scrubbing down, making out, laughing, living... being.

And it was so, so weird.

But not in a bad way.

When the water ran out and everyone was done, they walked to a giant tent filled with dozens of vanity tables spilling over with collections of palettes, tubes, and brushes, surrounded by rolling garment racks packed to the brim with fancy clothes, boxes bulging with shoes, countless different sized mirrors and so much more. The sun had set, but it was as bright as day in here, with yellow and white lights hanging from every part of the tent's ceiling. It wasn't long before Hadley was led to a vanity table by some vampires and humans, same as all her friends.

The next few hours were hectic, lost in questions about skin tone, bodice sizes, hair style preferences and instructions to facilitate the application of all sorts of perfumed, textured, colourful and gorgeous products on her body. Looking around, Hadley felt like she'd stumbled upon shape shifters. No one looked as they had before. Her eyes fell on Jamila and Hadley forgot how to breathe. There was a slight garishness to the enhancement of all the features that naturally made her stunning, but damn, did it work!

"You look..." Hadley started to say when she'd walked over to Jamila, but words failed her.

'Stunning' was the word that first volunteered itself, but it was so woefully inadequate that it didn't feel right to use it. Jamila's jet-black hair was blown out, voluminous waves falling to the small of her back and past her collar bone, framing her face beautifully – her flawless bronze face. Bronze, with popping cheek bones, green eye shadow with golden flecks in it that brought out her amber eyes, perfectly shaped brows, sexy long lashes, and matt pale pink lipstick that made her lips full and damn near irresistible.

The bodice of Jamila's dress was green with gold embroidery, partly baring her midriff. The petticoat skirt underneath was covered by a long length of sheer green fabric draped artfully into a pleated design around her torso and over her left shoulder. A gold and emerald brooch, matching earrings, and a collection of gold bangles on both wrists as well as a number of rings on her fingers brought everything together wonderfully. With the golden accents on both of them, they made a good couple.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she said, checking Hadley out from top to bottom.

Billy, Crystal and Jael walked up to them.

"Don't you two look like Queen and Queen!" Billy exclaimed as she appraised them both.

Hadley's eyebrows reached for the tent's ceiling when she saw her friends.

Billy was in a fitting, stark white silk suit, with a crisp white shirt underneath. The shirt had a light blue standing collar, light blue front placket that held blue buttons and light blue cuffs peeking past the white blazer's sleeves. Simple blue pumps finished the look. And just like Hadley and Jamila, Billy's face had been made up exquisitely, hers with highlights of blue to go with the outfit. Her dark straight hair had been done up into a neat bob that complimented her round face.

Crystal looked every bit as elegant as the athletic goddess she was. Her dress was a one shoulder applique burgundy dress, with gorgeous embroidery on the full right sleeve. The floor length dress was slit down the left side up to her knee. A waterfall of soft, pleated fabric fell from her right shoulder and over her left hip. A pair of pristine, cream-coloured high heels finished the look. Her blond hair was styled to perfection, draping her shoulders beautifully, her green eyes framed with a burgundy eye shadow and flaming red lips to finish it off. She looked immaculate.

Like Billy, Jael was in a suit. A midnight black pair of pants and blazer and matching stilettos. She had no shirt beneath the buttoned-up blazer. Instead, her flawless hazel brown skin glowed, adorned with a thick diamond choker necklace and nothing else. Her makeup was as gorgeous as the other girls. The bold ebony black eye shadow and lipstick popped against her dark brown skin, a beautiful contrast to the understated colours on the rest of her flawless face. Her curly afro glistened, combed and smoothed back with an asymmetrical parting and pinned down nice and neat.

This was a far cry from the grungy harvest cargo pants and canvas jackets they'd been sporting for days.

"Us?" Hadley gushed at Billy's words. "What about you?"

"We all look pretty good, don't we?" Jamila said, laughing.

One of Trisca's people walked up to them, his smile as wide as his hands held out to his side.

"You sure do ladies," said the man. "The kind of pretty good that could definitely capture the attention of an Ageless One! And I don't pass that compliment around just like that."

"What's an Ageless One?" Billy asked.

"The oldest vampires. As close to the Originals as you can get!" Said the man, like it was the most remarkable and most wonderful thing in the world. "Don't get me wrong, a bite from a New Ager vampire will launch you effortlessly into nirvana, but the bite of an Ageless one? Now that is the gold standard! Bitter, sweet. Up, down. Inside, out. It's everything and nothing all at once. The best feeling in the world. But you've got to catch their attention first for them to choose to share it with you!"

Hadley swallowed and tried to keep the emotion from her face. The man wasn't wrong. She'd been craving that feeling for hours now since she'd last fed Ruq.

"You want vampires to bite you?" Crystal asked in surprise.

"You don't?" the man replied, equally surprised. There was a shout rallying everyone. The man turned to the one shouting then back at Hadley and the others, his smile wide. "We can't waste any of this gorgeousness! Let's get you to the party, ladies! Show you all off!"

If this was a party, then Hadley had misconstrued the meaning of the word for all twenty years she'd been alive!

You see, everyone at the Compound was born on the same day, with a new Cohort of ten girls always born on the first day of every year. And every year on that day, a massive party was thrown in everyone's honour. That party was the largest, noisiest, most eventful, and wonderful day at the Compound. That seemingly gigantic party paled in comparison to this one. If this was really what a party was supposed to be, what could they even call what used to happen at the Compound? Because using the word to refer to the Compound event suddenly felt hyperbolic.

The party tent was enormous. It could have fit the Compound cafeteria! Inside was dimly lit with a long, nearly shoulder-high table to one side. The table had a glass countertop that was lit from underneath with a sky-blue light. Behind the table was a wall filled with drinks and glasses. Between the wall of drinks and the table were a group of men and women, dressed in nothing but black bowties and black pants, serving the drinks.

On the opposite side to the wall of drinks was a wide-open space with a glistening, smooth floor coloured a reddish-purple hue with gold swirls through it. Most of the floor space was open, but there were a few booths on the other end of the room. The only lighting in the tent were strips of golden light along the floor and underneath the booth table edges, and purple spotlights chequered across the ceiling, as well as the sky-blue light underneath the long bar table.

It was beyond exquisite.

Brazen decadence and debauchery was in full display as they sauntered further in. The open floor and the booths were filled with vampires and humans. Some were dancing to the music that thundered through the space, others were holding amorous congress in corners, there was feeding on both food and blood, and lots of colourful, effervescent drinks being passed around. Hadley and the other girls ended up at the bar, accepting sweet green and pink drinks from the eager servers. Teroi and the older boys joined them shortly after, all dressed in suave navy blue and black suits. The mothers had chosen to stay with the children for the night in a tent they'd been offered by Trisca's people.

"Are you sure you can handle that?" Teroi asked, giving all the girls a hug in turn, but holding it a little bit longer with Hadley.

"Handle what?" Hadley asked.

"All that alcohol you're throwing back," Teroi replied, pointing to their glasses.

"Alcohol?" Billy wondered.

Teroi reached for a glass from one of the bartenders. He took a sip and smiled.

"You'll figure it out," Teroi replied, taking another sip of the bright blue liquid in his glass.

"Are the children alright?" Jamila asked him.

"They are," one of the other boys said. Hadley reminded herself that his name was Juvan. He had taken a fancy to Jael and the two were inseparable. "Drew didn't want to go to sleep at first, but he eventually caved in."

"Thank you for taking care of that," Hadley said, genuinely grateful. Teroi and his men had been watching the little boys and girls while the mothers cleaned up and had some food. It had been one less thing for Hadley to worry about.

"What now?" Teroi asked Hadley. "Where do we go from here, oh fearless leader?"

Hadley laughed. "Let's just get through..."

Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of Ruqwik walking in. Everything else disappeared as Hadley let her eyes make the slow entrancing journey over the devastatingly gorgeous vampire's body.

She was in an ankle length, blood red dress with long slits on both sides that showed off her smooth, resplendent legs and hugged Ruqwik's curves perfectly. Hadley bit her lower lip when her eyes grazed the resplendent tease that was the dress' deep plunging neckline. A thin crystal choker held a long, diamond studded string pendant snaked past the vampire's cleavage, ending in a crystal teardrop that drew one's eyes to it and to her flawless, toned torso. A pair of dainty gold stilettos contrasted beautifully with the red. Her makeup was mixed hues of gold to go with her red irises and red lipstick. The sleeked back dirty blonde hair perfectly crowned the look.

Ruqwik held Hadley's gaze from across the room. Hadley's stomach fluttered. She wondered if it was because of the bond between them, but she quickly surrendered to the fact that the vampire would have had the same effect on her without it.

Another vampire sauntered up to Ruqwik – delectable, sultry, and stupendously beautiful. Even without being told, Hadley knew the vampire was Trisca, the Baron of this Enclave, and the very personification of elegance and power. The woman was wearing a crisp white blouse with an open shirt collar and suspenders that held up black pants, even though they fit like a glove. On her feet were a pair of simple black high heels. The black blazer that completed the suit was cropped to her waist and had three quarter sleeves. Her red hair was held up in a neat bun, not a single strand out of place. Her eyes were just as red as Ruq's, but her face was makeup-free, an oddity in this room, showing off a dusting of freckles across her face. She spoke to Ruqwik for a while.

Ruq never took her eyes off Hadley. And even when Hadley turned away, to continue speaking with Teroi and her friends, she could still feel the vampire's gaze. Hadley's heart hammered her chest. It was almost painful. This thing she felt for Ruq was drowning her, and it scared her that she didn't mind losing every breath to it.

But one thing worried Hadley, cutting through her muddled mind.

For a second, before she'd turned away from the vampires, she'd caught Trisca's eyes. The look Trisca had given her was a haunting look. One of familiarity, and more than a little contempt. Even as her friends conversed around her, Hadley struggled to fight her dread from that look. She dropped her hand to where her carving knife was, in a makeshift thigh holster underneath her dress, but she kept herself from reaching for the weapon. This was not the place or time to start a fight she had no chance of winning. Still, it made her feel safe to know that the weapon was within reach.

Before she could get too lost in the trepidation and fear, the music around them switched up, and a murmur ran through the crowd. Hadley turned to see what caused the disturbance and her jaw dropped as she watched the gap on the dance floor widening to give way to Trisca and Ruqwik. They floated across the dancefloor like liquid, in sync and mesmerizing. It was as if they could read each other's mind, both anticipating the other's fluid movements before they were made. Hadley couldn't take her eyes off the ladies' hips as they swayed to the rhythmic music, drawing circles, symbols, and patterns in the air with their bodies, intimate love letters they shared with the crowd.

With every spin and every dip and every lift they traced a masterpiece that pushed the crowd to a silence charged with awe. The sensuality was electrifying, compelling, causing an eruption of goosebumps all over Hadley and a shivering thrill thrumming through her. Like everyone else in the room, she couldn't take her eyes off the couple, although it stung to watch every breathtakingly rhythmic body roll that connected the vampires as if in slow motion. The sexual tension from their undeniable chemistry was palpable.

Hadley felt like a voyeur.

Finally, the music stopped with Trisca dipping Ruqwik close to the ground on bended knee and outstretched leg, their faces mere centimetres apart, the look in their eyes penetratingly seductive. For a moment, you could hear a pin drop, every breath held in that instant. Trisca gave Ruq a decorous kiss on the lips then softly laughed, breaking the tension that the two of them had woven thickly into the air with the intensity of that dance and releasing them all from her hold. The room erupted in applause and whistles and calls for an encore.

Trisca stood, bringing Ruqwik with her. She signalled to the one controlling the music to continue with what had been previously playing, and people gradually filled the gaps in the dance floor around them. Wisps of tension from the dance still played around Hadley, and it irked her. How could she compete with that perfection? There was no way she could ever move like that. She grabbed another drink, bright red this time, and downed the whole thing. She was starting to feel a little spaced out and she liked it. Wanted to feel more like that. To forget what she'd just witnessed.

Alcohol.

She was figuring it out.