"May I suggest that you meet in a neutral location? For example, not the location in which she is surrounded by her loyal followers?"

Magnus leaned against the doorframe whilst the shadowhunters (and two mundanes) on the doorstep considered this point. It appeared that whilst they had showed up to recruit him to accompany them immediately to partake in their mission, they had neglected to work through the specific details and technicalities.

"But now is the perfect time. It is midday. So the vampires will be weakened." Gideon Lightwood explained. "Additionally, fighting Lady Belcourt whilst she is alone? Is that not dishonourable? She would be defenceless."

"You seem to be vastly underestimating Camille. She would never fight you unaccompanied; not anymore." Magnus said, before countering, "And if I might say, in my humble opinion, it is cowardly to fight a weakened force. You think it is dishonourable to fight Camille alone, but not weakened by sunlight? Surely that is a rather hypocritical way of thinking?"

Gideon scowled. "It is just political. It's rather complex."

Magnus raised an eyebrow. "Too complex for me to grasp, I suppose? I agree, I do not understand your...quaint reasoning."

"Which roughly translates to 'get off your high horse, Lightworm'." Will added, earning him a glare from not only Gideon, but also Gabriel.

Lightwoods, Magnus thought, allowing them into the house. He had never liked them.

Magnus promptly disappeared to contact Catarina by means of projection in order to obtain something or other – he hadn't revealed what to the others.

"Ragnor," he called as he walked past the room where his fellow warlock was supposedly sleeping – but was, in all actuality, merely sulking over the excess number of Nephilim under his roof. "You have visitors."

"No, you have visitors. It isn't my fault you've decided to host your meetings here for some God awful reason." Ragnor grumbled from within the room.

"Perhaps so, but remember that they're paying us."

Ragnor emerged, disgruntled, and sloped downstairs to greet the others in a tone, it couldn't be helped noticing, rather than surly than Magnus.

Magnus appeared soon thereafter, saving the others from what was beginning to become an uncomfortably long silence under Ragnor Fell's disapproving glare.

"Here." Magnus said, handing over the vial of earth to Will.

"What is it?" Ciel asked and Will handed it over.

But it didn't seem to be anything, as far as Ciel could tell. It seemed to be simply as unextraordinary as it appeared. This was one of those rare times in this world, he supposed, where things really were just what they seemed to be; an unexciting vial of earth.

"May I, my Lord?" Sebastian enquired, and Ciel passed over the small glass container.

"What is it?" Ciel repeated, but this time his question was clearly aimed at Sebastian, and clearly expecting of an answer.

Ragnor opened his mouth to provide the conclusion he had already come to in regards to the vial's contents but, to his surprise, Sebastian cut in first.

"I would hazard a guess and say this was the dirt from the grave in which Camille Belcourt was buried when she rose again as a vampire. Ancient tradition holds that the dirt from the grave of a vampire is of extreme importance and contains many a supernatural property. One of these properties is, of course, the ability to summon the vampire in question forcibly. The vampire must appear where their grave dirt is laid without question or hesitation, meaning we have a guaranteed meeting and Camille at our beck and call." Sebastian smiled. "Or at least, that is what I assume."

"Some fine deduction skills, Mr Sebastian." Magnus nodded.

Will and Jem were beginning to understand Ciel's nonchalance; his butler's mind was amazing, a fact that became more obvious with each display like this. The two shadowhunters were now quite used to it. Ragnor was not.

"How in the world did you know all that?" he demanded.

"You see," Sebastian said, smug. "I'm simply one hell of a butler."

Ciel rolled his eyes.

"One hell of a bighead too." He mumbled under his breath, making his butlers self-satisfied grin grow in numerous spite.

Early that evening, the group set off. It was soon realised how difficult it was to find a neutral location from which Camille would not flee at such clear disadvantage to her. However, they still wanted to have the advantage, the upper hand. But shadowhunter-frequented territory was too hostile, mundane territory too risk-laden. Gabriel grudgingly suggested the Lightwood manor, before Will objected.

"That is shadowhunter territory. That will put her immediately on her guard. She won't stay and negotiate. She will be fleeing before you can say 'demon pox'."

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"All we are doing is eliminating options." Jem put in sensibly. "It is all very well narrowing down our choices, but we need a location and we need to decide on one soon."

Which was how the seven of them ended up in the expansive, emerald grounds of the Phantomhive Mansion, preparing to lay the collected grave dirt and battle the vampire clan of London. How many of the creatures they would face, they didn't know, but all privately knew it would be enough to outnumber them.

"This is so dangerous." Gabriel commented concerned, casting a look around the flowering gardens. In the height of summer, the mansion's grounds were in full bloom. It would have been beautiful, Gabriel thought, if not for the situation at hand. "There isn't even a portal. If we need to escape, the carriage is our only option. That seems reckless."

"Perhaps," Jem agreed. "However, that is what being a shadowhunter is all about, and we don't really have any other options."

"Do it." Will said, shifting on his feet. "All we are doing now is torturing ourselves. Come on. Do it: summon her."

"Weapons drawn." Jem ordered quietly.

There was the collective swish of blades being unsheathed, arrows being notched, knives being revealed.

Ciel took the vial, raised it and swung it down against his cane. It cracked like an egg and the grave dirt inside scattered to the ground, blown in small spirals like leaves on the ground, blown in small spirals like leaves on the warm summer wind. He didn't know what he had been expecting. A huge cloud of smoke, perhaps, from the centre of which Camille and her allies would appear. Or a flash of lightning and the vampires would materialise. Whatever he had been expecting, the reality was drastically underwhelming. There was just stillness, silence, and no vampires.

"What now?" he asked, wondering if he had done the summoning procedure wrong. He wasn't certain how you could smash a glass vial wrong.

"Now, we wait." Jem said. "That is all we can do."