Dawn Walker

Footsteps approached through the damaged passages of Iron House.

Vera and Vela appeared first from the right side of the receiving hall. Both twins still had their swords in their hands. Mira and Lily came through another passage only a few moments later. They looked around at the broken pillars, shattered floor, dead chaos stones, and the damage left behind by Dickoff’s temporary power.

Lily immediately looked at Sekhmet.

"Where is Dickoff?"

"Dead."

Mira glanced around the ruined hall.

"There was no explosion here."

"It happened inside the Void Land."

That answer made all four women look at him more carefully.

Vera glanced toward Sofia and Natasha. Both ancient vampires were still standing near Sekhmet with their full Half-God powers released. The pressure coming from them was far greater than what the twins had felt during the underground battle.

Sekhmet did not explain anything else about Dickoff.

There were more immediate things to do.

He looked at Mira, Lily, Vera, and Vela.

"Search the entire mansion."

Mira understood immediately.

"For survivors?"

"For everyone."

Sekhmet looked toward the damaged entrance of the hall.

"Find every member of Iron House who is still inside. Family members, servants who belong directly to the house, guards, managers, anyone important. Capture them alive unless they force you to kill them."

Lily frowned slightly.

"What about ordinary servants?"

"Separate them. We will decide what to do with them later."

Vera nodded.

"What about children?"

"Do not harm them."

That answer came immediately.

"Capture them with the others. No one leaves until I know exactly who is inside this house."

Vela returned her sword to its sheath.

"We will check the upper floors."

Mira looked toward Lily.

"We will take the lower rooms and the family wing."

Lily nodded.

The four women separated again.

Vera and Vela moved toward the main staircase. Mira and Lily went through one of the side corridors leading toward the inner living areas. There was no longer any reason for secrecy. Dickoff was dead, and whatever guards remained inside Iron House had already lost the person they were supposed to protect.

Sekhmet remained in the ruined central hall with Sofia and Natasha.

He could still feel their full Half-God strength.

Neither woman had moved away from him after returning from the Void Land. Neither had attempted to escape when the gateway opened. They had been given the best chance they were likely to receive, and both had returned exactly as they had promised.

Sekhmet noticed it.

He did not comment on it yet.

Outside the mansion, Raka had already changed the arrangement of his people.

Twenty lesser vampires were with him near one of Iron House’s hidden sewerage lines.

The old underground passage had originally been built for waste water and emergency drainage, but Raka knew noble houses too well to believe that was its only purpose. The tunnel was wide enough for people to move through if they crouched slightly, and the outer opening connected to an old channel several streets behind the mansion.

It was exactly the type of place frightened nobles would use when the front gate became impossible.

Raka stood near the mouth of the sewerage line with twenty lesser vampires spread around the nearby alleys and broken walls.

The remaining lesser vampires surrounded the rest of the Iron House estate.

Some watched the main road.

Others covered side gates.

Several remained on rooftops where they could see anyone climbing over the outer walls.

Raka had not needed Sekhmet to explain why every exit mattered.

A house this large always had people who believed escape routes were meant for them personally.

He waited.

At first, nothing came from the sewerage line.

Then one of the lesser vampires near the opening lifted his head.

"Someone is coming."

Raka raised one hand.

Everyone became quiet.

The sound was faint at first.

Feet touching wet stone.

Many feet.

Whispering.

Someone crying quietly.

Then a woman’s voice told someone to remain silent.

Raka smiled slightly and moved to the side of the tunnel entrance.

"Do not attack unless they attack first."

The vampires around him spread farther.

The first person appeared from the darkness a few moments later.

It was a woman.

She wore expensive clothes, but the lower part of the dress was wet and dirty from the sewer passage. Her hair had been tied back badly, and she carried a small bag against her chest.

She stopped the moment she saw Raka.

Her face lost all colour.

More people came out behind her.

Women.

Children.

Servants carrying bags.

Young girls holding the hands of older women.

Several boys who were old enough to understand that something had gone terribly wrong but too young to do anything about it.

The line continued.

Ten people.

Twenty.

Thirty.

Raka’s expression slowly changed as more kept coming.

"This house breeds faster than rats."

One of the lesser vampires beside him almost laughed but stopped when Raka glanced at him.

The people coming from the passage soon realized they were surrounded.

Some tried to turn around.

That only caused the people behind them to push forward.

"Keep moving," Raka ordered. "Anyone who runs will be caught."

A woman near the front stepped forward.

"You cannot treat us like this. Do you know who we are?"

Raka looked at her expensive clothes.

"No."

Her face tightened.

"I am one of Lord Dickoff’s wives."

Raka looked past her toward the growing crowd.

"That explains why there are so many of you."

The woman stared at him.

Raka did not care.

More people continued emerging from the tunnel until the number approached one hundred.

Most were women and children from the Iron House family quarters. Several were Dickoff’s wives and concubines. Others were daughters, younger relatives, personal maids, nurses, and children from different branches of the family.

Then another woman came out of the darkness.

She was older than most of the others and carried herself differently despite the filthy hem of her clothes. Two women stayed close beside her, helping her walk through the uneven sewer floor. Expensive jewelry still remained around her neck and wrists, and unlike the others, she did not immediately show panic when she saw Raka.

One of the captured women hurried toward her.

"Head wife."

Raka heard it.

He looked at the older woman more carefully.

Another woman whispered something behind her.

"Dickon’s mother..."

That made Raka’s attention sharpen.

So this was not simply another concubine.

She was Dickoff’s head wife and Dickon’s mother.

That made her valuable.

Raka took out the communication stone.

Sekhmet answered almost immediately.

"What?"

Raka looked at the crowd trapped around the sewerage line.

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