The city of London looked like a war zone from the air. There were fires, car-crashes, raging ghouls on the streets and not only them; as far as Robert could tell, vampires were out of control, too. He also saw things that were most likely a new generation of flesh golems, each one big and seemingly indestructible as Frederick was, the first golem they had met months ago. Kovach wasn't lying, then, Robert thought; he was The Priest all along. Only a necromancer could have done what was going on. 

Jenna was still unconscious, but she was breathing, however weakly. The bleeding didn't stop, but it slowed down, thanks to some spirit-magic Munin must have done back in the ballroom. Robert couldn't feel magic the same way as Jenna did, but Edyta showed him how to spot the signs, how to see things other people cannot see. 

Once his mind found the right way, flying was easy. He didn't move his whole living human body by the Name of Movement, that would have been very difficult, even dangerous. He pushed the ground away, and since he was the lighter, he just kind of levitated. Once he was in the air, all he had to do was to adjust the angle of the push, and he could go wherever he wanted. He was wondering if the fact that his totem animal was capable of flying helped him to understand how he could do the same. It certainly didn't feel like regular Rune-magic, at least, not exclusively. There was something else, something he explored while he killed the ghouls. It must have been how Jenna felt all the time: Robert didn't do things in the old way, knowing and calculating, but by letting his feelings take over, letting the magic flow through him. He remembered what Jenna said about this: she didn't have to know the exact Runes and methods, things just happened as she wanted them to happen. Only, in Robert's case, those things came from a different source, from the magic he still barely understood. He will have to ask Edyta about this if the shaman was even still alive. He imagined that someone this powerful could have been one of the primary targets of Kovach. The necromancer clearly wanted to take out everyone who could be dangerous for his insane plan, everyone at once. 

Jenna groaned and Robert's mind jumped back into the present. He looked around. Now that the flying part was taken care of, his biggest problem was to navigate. The city looked very different from up there and even though he knew where he was going, it was hard to find it from the new perspective. He didn't have much time, or more precisely, Jenna didn't have. He knew he was in the good neighbourhood, but he just couldn't spot the street he was looking for. Then he understood: Luther activated whatever defending spells he put on his pub. It was impossible to find, just like in the time when they were hiding, protecting good old Mr George. 

'Bloody hell…' Robert murmured, stopping mid-air. He didn't know what to do. If he could use the Rune of Mind, he could have reached out, to communicate with the fae telepathically but that wasn't an option. 

'Hold on, Jenna, okay? Just hold on. I will figure out something, in a minute.'

The girl didn't give any sign that she had heard him. He started to panic. 

'You human beings really cannot see what is in front of your eyes, can you?' asked Munin, flying by. His feathers were still bloodstained with Jenna's blood. 'Follow me.'

The raven started to descend and Robert followed suit. 

'But don't blame yourself,' added the bird. 'The old fae made his spells specifically against humans and dead things. I don't suppose he knows much about my kind, or that he cares for it. It's right there, see it?'

'No,' answered Robert, looking for the familiar building pointlessly. 

'Well borrow my eyes then, what are you waiting for? Your lady is getting weaker by the second, moron.'

'Borrow your… How am I supposed to do that?'

'Quickly, I'd say. We are about to die here.'

'We?' frowned Robert. 

'I made a bond, the girl is only alive because I am, but I cannot hold back death for a long time, I'm fading away, and with me, she is fading away, too.'

'Why would you do that?' asked Robert surprised. 'You don't even like her.'

'Not even a little, but that doesn't mean I don't love her. Gods, it is annoying how little you know about how the world works. You and I have a connection that affects both of us. I love her because you do. Now do what I said, idiot!'

Robert closed his eyes and he heard drums from the distance, only those drums were in his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw everything, he saw magic floating in the air, he saw himself, enveloped in pale, tired lights, and he saw Jenna, too, barely alive, whatever lights or aura or something she had, was almost entirely gone. And he saw the pub, surrounded by so much magic he couldn't see the building itself under them. He went down and landed right in front of it. 

Two ghouls were scouting in the street a little further, but Munin took care of them. Robert closed Munin's eyes and opened his own ones. The lights, magic and the pub disappeared, but he knew where it was now.     

'Luther!' he said, raising his voice. 'Open up! I'm here to get even, fea! It's time to pay your debt!' 

For a moment, nothing happened, then a door opened in the air, seemingly out of nowhere. Robert saw the interior of the Broken Shield through the doorway, even though there wasn't supposed to be enough space for the pub behind the place where the door appeared. Luther was standing on the threshold. He looked angry, but only for a second, then he saw the blood and Jenna, and his face changed. 

'Come on in,' he said and stepped out of the way. Robert passed the door carefully, then put Jenna down onto the first table that was big enough. He was soaked in the woman's blood by now and he realised that he was shaking from exhaustion.

'Help her,' he said. His voice wasn't trembling.

'I told you last time, I'm not a healer, you should have brought her to your new teacher…'

'Edyta is human, her knowledge is massive, but she cannot do miracles. You can,' said Robert.

'Look, young Montgomery, I understand that from your point of view my magic can seem like…'

'Cut the crap, Luther!' said Robert and the old parquette cracked as his anger exploded into magic. A few chairs fell over, too. 'You owe me, so help her! I don't care how, open up your precious doors and get a fea healer, sell your soul to the devil, sell mine, sacrifice a virgin, I don't care! Do whatever you have to do, but help her, now!'

For a moment they stared into each other's eyes, then Luther sighed.

'There is a way…'

'Do it.'

'Let me finish… There is a way, maybe. It's an old fea trick and I'm not sure if it will work perfectly with a human. Her body will change somewhat, it can affect her lifespan, her shoulder might not work properly anymore, she will be in pain, a lot of pain and it's not gonna be pretty. She will carry the memento of this night for the rest of her life.'

'Will she remain the same person?' asked Robert. Luther nodded. 'Will she be able to use magic?' Another nod. 'Then do it.'  

Robert kissed Jenna's forehead, wiped a drop of blood off her cheek and turned away. He aimed for the door.

'You should stay here,' said Luther to his back. 'It's safe.'

'My friends are out there. My brother too. I have to go,' Robert reached out, towards the tree that once was his cane. He said the Name of the Rune of Change out loud. He couldn't turn the tree back last time he tried, but it happened now: the tree tore itself out of the floor, darkened and shrunk and by the time it hit his palm, it was the silver-headed black walking stick again. Not exactly the same as what Marcus gave him, it had lines all over its surface, some forming Runes, some forming words in languages Robert couldn't recognise. The hidden sword was still inside, though, and the cane pulsed with strange magic.

'I will be back soon,' Robert said, gave one last look to Jenna and left.

Leaving the ground behind was even easier the second time, maybe because the magic of his old-new cane helped him, like a talisman would. Munin joined him as soon as he emerged above the roofs. He was almost gone, Robert could see through him.

'She is hanging in there,' the bird said. 'She is strong. You know, for a human.'

'Thank you, Munin,' said Robert so quietly the wind almost stole his words. 'Now let her go. She is going to be alright,' he really wanted to believe in what he just said.

The raven kind of nodded, as much as a bird could.

'I will need to go back to my world,' he said. 'I used up most of my essence. I need to rest.'

'Go and rest, my friend.'

Munin became more and more transparent, then he was gone and Robert was alone up in the cold sky. 

First, he wanted to go home. In the trunk of his car, there were still weapons he bought weeks ago and he wanted to grab some clothes, too. It was clear that they cannot live there anymore, they needed something much more secure now that they were on The Priest's death list. 

The Priest… How? That was something Robert did not let his mind wander about, not yet, at least. He needed to concentrate on more important matters. 

He landed in the little old cemetery next to his building, in the darkness. The area looked calm from the air and he knew for a fact that this graveyard wasn't home for any ghouls. He passed by the clock tower and left the cemetery to cross the road for the little parking lot where he left his car. He went to the party using a cab because he knew he would drink alcohol. 

Robert didn't have his keys, they were in the coat he left the party's cloakroom, alongside his phone. But he knew how these kinds of locks worked, so it wasn't hard for him to open the trunk using the Name of Movement. He put down his cane to free up both of his hands. 

The trunk was chaotic. Jenna tended to put things there then forget about them. Robert put every remaining weapon he found into a backpack that belonged to the girl. His mind was so preoccupied or simply just tired that when the lock on the car door clicked, he didn't even realise the meaning of it until it was too late. The strong hands ripped the backpack out of his hands and before he could have even reacted, his back collapsed with the car next to his. 

Magda was still wearing the ugly grey trousers and T-shirt that she got in prison. Vampires didn't feel temperature the same way as humans did, so Robert knew that she wasn't bothered by the cold. She drew the sword out of Robert's cane and looked at it with a little smile.

'It's ridiculous and very old fashioned,' she said. She still had her strong Eastern-European accent. 'Just like you. Don't understand why Jenna likes you.'

'Some would say I'm sort of handsome,' said Robert. The woman scoffed. 'Listen to me. This doesn't have to end badly. Put down the sword and walk away, I swear I won't tell anyone I saw you. This is your chance to start a new life.'

'I want old life,' Magda said angrily. 'With my Jenna.'

'She was never yours,' shook his head Robert. 'She isn't mine either. You can't just "have" a woman like her.'

'Maybe right,' shrugged the vampire. 'Maybe not. My chances will be better if you out of the picture anyway.' 

She moved faster than any human could have, but she wasn't old enough to actually know how to use a sword properly, so Robert could easily dodge her first attack. He couldn't avoid the slap of her other hand, though, and it was strong enough to send him flying. He landed in the middle of the road and the air went out of his lungs. 

'Please stop,' Robert said coughing. 'I don't want to hurt you.'

'Hurt me?' laughed Magda. 'Masked man told me you cannot do magic, how you hurt me?' 

Robert gave her a taste, just a little push with the Name of Movement. Magda fell into the opened door of Robert's car and it broke, hanging on one hinge. The vampire looked surprised. Then she ripped off the door entirely and threw it at Robert, who had to roll on the ground to avoid it. Before he could have got up, Magda leapt towards him, raising the blade. It went through Robert's left arm, just under his shoulder and he let out a painful cry. Magda was so strong that the sword penetrated the concrete, too, pinning Robert to the road. 

The vampire's eyes opened wide and her nostrils widened too as she saw and smelled the fresh blood. She let go of the sword and would have sunken her teeth into Robert's throat but he threw a handful of flames right in the middle of her chest. Vampires, not unlike ghouls, hated fire because it was one of the few things that could easily destroy them. 

Magda stepped back unwillingly, hitting the burning clothes on her chest. Robert used this time to grab the handle of his sword and pull it out, but he couldn't do it by hand. He decided to use magic, just when Magda decided to end the fight, moving faster than thought and the whole thing was just a fragment of a second, Robert wasn't even thinking, he was still in an agony of the pain as the sword left his flesh and he saw the bloody blade turning, and then it was over. Magda once again looked very surprised as the sword ran into her heart, she looked at it, then looked at Robert, then her legs gave up and she went down with a dull thud. 

Not every vampire could be killed by destroying their heart, Robert knew that much. The older ones could develop healing abilities over the centuries that allowed them to survive being stabbed through the heart. But Magda wasn't that old. In fact, looking up the cloudy, dark sky with her empty eyes, she seemed younger than ever. Robert couldn't look at her face. He staggered to his car and sat down in the trunk, then he leaned forward and threw up.

When he finished, his whole body was trembling. His arm ached and his stomach felt heavy and he just wanted to close his eyes and rest a little.

But of course, he couldn't. He needed to change. He needed to take care of his wound. He needed to find Benjamin, find the others, but above all, he needed to get back to Jenna. 

Jenna.

Robert got up, picked up the backpack and threw it over his shoulder. Then he walked up to Magda's body. Vampires started to age in the moment of their dead and soon enough they looked like they actually should have. Some of them quickly became dust, but Magda just looked like an older lady, maybe mid-fifties. Robert took the handle of his cane and pulled it out of the dead body, fighting the urge of vomiting again, as he heard the wet noise the blade made. He cleaned it on his pants as much as he could and put the blade back into the cane, then slowly, once almost tripping over his own foot, he walked up the building he lived in.