Dawn Walker

Farther away, Raka and the surviving lesser vampires were already spreading around Iron House. They entered side streets, crossed abandoned yards, climbed onto nearby roofs, and blocked the narrow exits behind the mansion. They did not gather in one visible group. That would have warned the people inside too early. Instead, they formed a loose circle around the entire estate, with two or three lesser vampires watching each road, wall, underground passage, and servant gate.

No one inside Iron House would escape unnoticed.

Sekhmet kept walking toward the last standing part of Iron House.

The closer they came, the more obvious the damage to the surrounding area became. Iron House had once controlled most of the business streets nearby. Its wagons passed through every morning. Its workers loaded and unloaded goods. Guards wearing the Iron House mark walked around as if the roads belonged to them. Merchants waited outside side offices to discuss prices, deliveries, or contracts.

Now nearly every building connected to Iron House was closed.

Some doors had been broken during the night. Others remained intact but carried no lights behind them. A warehouse sign had fallen from its chains and lay against the road. Half of it was burned. One of the painted iron symbols had cracked down the centre, making the mark look less like the sign of a noble house and more like a broken piece of scrap metal.

Mira glanced toward it while walking.

"They will have to remove their name from half the district before anyone agrees to buy those buildings."

Lily looked at the abandoned storefronts. "Would anyone buy them now?"

"For the right price," Mira answered. "People become brave when property is cheap."

Vela looked back slightly. "You sound like you are already planning to buy them."

Mira did not deny it.

"I am considering which ones are useful."

Sekhmet continued walking while listening. That was exactly why Mira was valuable. She did not look at the destruction only as proof of victory. She looked at the empty spaces left behind and immediately began deciding what could replace them.

The final road leading to the Iron House mansion appeared ahead.

The estate stood behind a tall black wall with iron spikes running along the top. Two square guard towers rose beside the main gate. The mansion itself could be seen beyond them, its upper floors built from dark stone and heavy timber. Red banners carrying the Iron House symbol still hung from the walls, though they moved weakly in the morning wind.

The mansion remained impressive from a distance.

That appearance did not survive a closer look.

There were too few guards on the walls.

Several posts stood empty. One tower had only a single man watching from it. Two more guards stood near the front gate, but neither held his weapon with confidence. The courtyard beyond looked clean, yet there were no servants moving between the buildings. No stable workers. No clerks. No arriving carriages.

The estate had not prepared itself like a house expecting an attack.

There were no barricades.

No defensive formation covered the walls.

No archers waited behind the upper windows.

Sekhmet slowed slightly.

Vera noticed it immediately.

"The guards are pretending to defend the gate."

Vela looked toward the wall towers. "They are not even trying very hard."

Mira’s eyes moved across the upper floors of the mansion. "The windows are open."

Lily followed her gaze.

Several windows on the second and third floors were indeed open. Curtains moved behind some of them. They could have hidden archers or mages there, but Sekhmet felt no strong presence preparing an attack.

That made the situation more suspicious, not less.

Iron House knew he was coming.

The city had carried the news ahead of them. Servants, merchants, guards, and ordinary people had watched him leave Dawn House. Someone would have reached the mansion before him, even if no official messenger had been sent.

Yet the mansion had done almost nothing to prepare.

Sekhmet contacted Raka through the communication stone without stopping.

"Report."

Raka answered in a low voice.

"We are in position. Every visible exit is covered. I have men near the western wall, the servant road, and the old drainage passage. Two groups are watching the roofs."

"Any movement inside?"

"Almost none. A few guards moved after you entered the street. No one tried to leave."

Sekhmet looked toward the mansion.

"Do not move until I order it."

"Yes, young master."

The communication ended.

By then, Sekhmet and the four women had reached the main gate.

The two guards standing outside became pale when they saw them stop. One of them looked toward the tower above as if waiting for someone else to decide what should happen. The other tightened his hand around his spear but did not raise it.

Vela placed one hand on the hilt of her sword.

The guard noticed.

His grip immediately weakened.

Sekhmet looked at him.

"Open the gate."

The guard swallowed.

For one moment, it seemed like he might try to refuse because the order had not come from his own master. Then something changed behind his eyes. He remembered whatever instructions Dickoff had given earlier.

He turned toward the small gatehouse.

"Open it."

The heavy locks were removed from inside.

Iron chains moved.

The two black doors slowly separated.

No one asked Sekhmet’s name.

No one demanded a reason for his visit.

No one tried to delay him.

They were letting him in.

Vera looked through the opening and said quietly, "They were told to do this."

"Yes," Sekhmet answered.

Mira looked at the two guards.

"Should we kill them?"

Both men heard her.

One of them nearly stepped backward.

Sekhmet walked past them.

"Not unless they move."

The guards remained completely still.

Lily followed Sekhmet through the gate, but her eyes stayed on the men until they were behind her. Vera and Vela entered next. Mira came last, briefly glancing up at the walls before stepping into the estate.

The main gate remained open behind them.

That was another sign.

A defensive house would have closed it immediately, trapping the attackers inside and cutting them off from reinforcements. Iron House did not. The guards simply stood beside it as if they were afraid to touch anything without another order.

The inner courtyard stretched between the gate and mansion entrance. A stone path ran through the middle. Dry fountains stood on both sides. Several old iron statues showed warriors in heavy armour holding swords against their chests.

Sekhmet felt no attack coming from the courtyard.

The silence pressed too heavily around the place.

Lily looked toward one of the side buildings.

"Where is everyone?"

Mira answered before Sekhmet did.

"Inside, hiding, or already gone."

A servant appeared near the mansion steps.

He was an older man wearing Iron House colours, though the clothes had not been arranged properly. His collar sat unevenly. Sweat covered his face despite the cool wind. He stared at Sekhmet and the women behind him for several seconds before forcing himself to bow.

"Lord Sekhmet."

Sekhmet stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"Where is Dickoff?"

The servant hesitated only briefly.

"He is waiting inside."

Mira’s eyes narrowed.

"He is waiting?"

The servant realised too late how strange the answer sounded.

"Yes, my lady."

"Where?"

"The central receiving hall."

Sekhmet looked at the large doors behind him.

No one who feared death normally waited in a receiving hall. Dickoff had hidden in the underground treasure room the night before. Now he had placed himself in one of the widest rooms in the mansion and ordered the guards to let Sekhmet enter without resistance.

Something had changed.

Sekhmet already knew that.

The servant stepped aside.

"Lord Dickoff ordered that you be allowed to enter."

Vela looked at Sekhmet. "He wants you inside the hall."

"Yes."

Lily moved a little closer. "Then we should not enter through the front."

Sekhmet looked at her.

She continued with a serious expression. "If he prepared a trap for the front entrance, we could break through the wall."

Mira nodded slightly. "That would remove whatever welcome he arranged."

It was a sensible suggestion.

Sekhmet looked at the mansion again.

He could summon Sofia and Natasha at any moment if necessary. Bat Bat, Auri, the six new Bat Harpies, Leaf, her ten spirits, and the rest of his hidden forces were all inside the Void Land. Raka’s lesser vampires surrounded the estate from outside.

He had not come without preparation.

Still, walking directly into a trap because he had more power hidden behind him would be arrogance.

Sekhmet turned toward the servant.

"How many people are in the central hall?"

The man’s fear deepened.

"I do not know."

"You were sent from there."

"Yes, lord."

"Then you saw it."

The servant lowered his head.

"Master Dickoff was alone when I left."

Mira looked toward the doors.

"Alone in a hall large enough for a hundred people!"

Vera asked, "Was there anything else inside?"

The servant froze. That reaction answered before his mouth did.

Sekhmet stepped closer to him.

"What was there?"

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