Valen’s fist relaxed into an open palm. Instead of hitting the little human girl, he shoved his open hand in front of her folding knife before it could reach his body.

The steel tip pierced through his thin leather glove and into the meat of his palm, but stopped just short of his bone when he grabbed the entire blade and yanked it out of her grip.

The girl took too long to let go and lost her footing trying to hang onto the knife. She fell forward, releasing her grip to brace herself for impact with the hard concrete.

Louise grabbed her by the collar of her ragged brown dress before she could fall and lifted her up, dangling her feet an inch above the sidewalk.

“Why you little!” She shook the girl in the air, eyes fixed on her with snarling teeth. “You one of Cyril’s lackeys?! I ain’t afraid to yeet a kid!”

The terror in her blue eyes was her only answer.

“Calm down!” said Keiko in a harsh whisper, her eyes darting between the people around them. “You’ll cause a scene!”

People who had previously been occupied ogling the working girls and bar hopping stopped what they were doing to look at Louise, who looked prepared to throw the child into the next block.

In a nearby alleyway, a homeless man in an oversized green parka noticed the commotion and emerged from his hovel to check what was going on.

“What’s going on there?” He asked, not quite sure what he was seeing. “Is everything alright?”

“It is,” said Valen, hiding his knife-skewered hand behind his back under his coat. “My friend here just had a little overreaction to a pickpocket.”

“What?” Louise looked at him, confused but still dangling the defenceless child in the air.

Valen exhaled through his nostrils as he secretly pulled the knife from his palm before folding it closed and sliding it into his back pocket.

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me,” he said, “but this is going a bit too far for trying to pinch a few pennies, isn’t it?”

Lousie, still not taking the hint, didn’t release her grip on the child.

To speed things along, Enid shot a tiny spark of almost imperceptible electricity from a single finger which lashed at Louise’s arm. Not enough to hurt her, but sudden enough and unpleasant enough to force her to let go of the child.

The girl dropped to the ground, landing on her feet but quickly crumpling to her knees shortly after. The adrenaline which allowed her to try an ill-advised public assassination must’ve worn off. Now she was processing exactly what she'd just tried and failed to do.

“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely audible from the fear smothering it.

“It’s quite alright,” said Valen. “But do be careful who you try to pick from next time.”

“R-right.” The girl’s ragged breathing slowed when she realised he was giving her a free out for her massive fuck-up. “I…I’m sorry.”

Apparently satisfied with the explanation of a pickpocket and an overprotective “friend”, the people around them went back to worrying about their own business. 

All except the homeless man, whose eyes drifted to the half-unconscious streamer named Andrew currently cradling his crotch on the ground with the remnants of his destroyed phone still fixed on the selfie stick beside him.

“What about that guy?” he asked.

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” said Louise. “He had it coming.”

On the ground, Andrew eked out a shaky response that sounded like a mouse’s squeak.“What’d I do?”

“You were a right bloody prick, that’s what.” Louise spat at him, her saliva landing right on his fluffy blond hair. “That’ll teach you to mind your own damn business.”

“You bitch!” Andrew screamed in his still high-pitched voice before quickly scrambling to his feet.

The pissed off streamer lunged at Louise with a reeled back fist, ready to pay her back for his broken family jewels-or at least try to.

Louise, having sensed his killing intent long before he decided to act on it, easily stepped to one side to avoid him.

Andrew crashed onto the ground fist-first, the bones of his fragile human hand clacking against the hard concrete.

Without missing a beat, Louise kicked him again, this time straight in the stomach. Her wolven feet stabbed into his gut. Her claws would’ve eviscerated him right then and there had she not made a point to keep them away by curling her toes.

Louise grabbed Andrew by the collar of his preppy pink polo shirt. 

“Looks like someone needs another lesson,” she said before proceeding to toss the man into the alleyway right past the horrified homeless man who was no doubt regretting his curiosity now.

The people around them didn’t bother to do anything. They were willing to spare some concern when it looked like a child was in danger, but some random bloke getting chucked into an alleyway by a 4 '7 werewolf was none of their problem.

Louise sprinted into the alleyway after Andrew, reaching him just as he crashed into the side of a leaky dumpster.

She kicked him in the side with enough force to throw him against the alleyway wall. 

Andrew gasped for air, strands of saliva sticking between his wide-opened lips. But before he could take a breath, Louise stomped on his chest to force the air out of his lungs.

She proceeded to grab his throat with one hand while pummelling him in the face with the other. Heavy thuds echoed off the alleyway walls each time she brought her furry fist made contact. Again and again she rained punch after vicious punch on the poor bastard, leaving a new bruise or scar every time she did.

“Who’s the bitch now?!” shouted Louise, sounding much larger than she really was. “I said who’s the fucking bitch now?!”

Andrew tried to choke out a response. He only managed to wheeze out what sounded like pitiful ‘Please’ with Louise’s hand wrapped around his throat. 

Judging by the wide grin on her face, Louise either didn’t hear him or didn’t care.

‘That can’t be good,’ Valen thought before rushing into the alleyway that was about to become a crime scene.

An equally concerned Keiko ran after him, followed by a mildly interested Enid at a leisurely pace.

Bloody specks now stained the white fur on Louise’s knuckles. She didn’t seem to care, and kept battering away at the bloody mass of bruised swollen flesh that used to be a face.

“Answer me, cocksucker!” Louise finally let go of Andrew’s throat just as his face was turning blue, but she wasn’t quite done with him yet. “Are you a bitch or not?!”

Louise started stomping down on Andrew’s thigh, her short stature towering over the crumpled man who remained barely conscious enough to feel the pain she wanted him to feel.

This wasn’t about self-defence anymore. This wasn’t even about killing him.

If Louise wanted to, she could’ve slit Andrew’s throat with her claws from the very beginning. 

No, this was about proving that she was stronger than the person that tried to hurt her. In her mind, any attempt to harm her was a personal challenge to her toughness that she was all too glad to answer.

It didn’t matter that Andrew failed to actually hurt her. The fact that he even tried in the first place was enough of a reason for her to show him why that was a terrible idea in the most excruciating way possible. If that meant she had to hold back her full strength with every strike to make sure that he could feel pain instead of dying, then so be it.

Valen grabbed Louise by the shoulders from behind and gently pulled her away from Andrew.

“Easy there, Lou,” he whispered softly straight into her ear. “The poor sod’s had enough.”

Louise’s ears reddened upon feeling Valen’s breath against her ear. She reluctantly stopped wailing on Andrew and crossed her arms. 

“He started it,” she mumbled.

“And you did a fine job finishing it,” said Valen. “Now come on. A mighty wolf like you need not bother hunting this little mouse.”

Louise snickered and lightly elbowed him in the rib. “Well aren’t you a sweet talker?”

Keiko let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the situation settled. 

“I should probably report this but since I’m off-duty I’ll let it slide.” She looked down at Andrew, who laid curled on his side in a foetal position. “Is that guy going to be okay though?”

“Eh, in about a week give or take,” said Louise. “I made sure not to hit the little bitch boy too hard.”

“What about his pride?” Enid asked dryly. “How long before that heals?”

Louise scoffed.

“Oh, please, he’s an online influencer chasing clout with other peoples’ drama. He has no pride to begin with.”

Keiko nodded in agreement.

“Fair point.”

“Can’t argue with that,” added Enid.

“Hold on a moment.” Valen looked between Enid and Louise. “If you two are here, who’s with the girl?”

The homeless man whose alleyway they’d intruded upon spoke up.

“She ran off while you were busy beating the poor bastard.” He stared out at the scarlet-lit streets, his scraggly grey beard doing little to hide the melancholic look on his face. “Probably long gone by now.”

“Good riddance,” said Louise, walking out of the alleyway and picking up Keiko’s luggage off the sidewalk. “We got our own shit to worry about right now.”

“Is she going to be alright?” Valen asked.

The homeless man sat back down on the flattened cardboard box he was using for a bed.

“Probably not,” he said. “But then again, no one who lives here is.”

Valen felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Keiko looking at him with sadness in her coffee brown eyes.

“There’s nothing we could’ve for her anyways,” said Keiko.

“I…don’t know.” Valen looked down at his right hand, where the little girl had stabbed him. His healing factor had already regenerated his pierced flesh, but the hole she’d made in his glove remained to remind him of what happened. “I feel like we could’ve at least tried to help her.”

Enid wrapped her hands around his arm and pressed her shoulder against his.

“No point worrying about it now,” she said softly. “Let’s just go. This place isn’t good for us.”

The homeless man let out a rueful chuckle.

“This place isn’t good for anyone, lady,” he said. “But most of us have no choice but to stay anyway.”

Enid reached into her pocket and tossed a couple of hundred-draco notes into the homeless man’s begging cup.

“Sorry for littering in your place.” She glanced at the unconscious Andrew still slumped against the wall. “Actually, you might want to leave before he wakes up.”

The homeless man reached into his begging cup for the notes Enid gave him. His eyes widened the moment he realised how much it was worth.

“Of course!” He immediately scrambled to his feet gripping the money Enid gave him. “Thank you, miss!”

Enid didn’t say a word as the homeless man proceeded to bolt away from the alleyway with a spring in his step. She just walked out of the alleyway, dragging Valen along with her while Keiko followed.

Louise had already finished packing Keiko’s luggage into the back of the car when they got to it.

“Come on,” she said before closing the trunk. “Let’s get the hell out of here before one of Andrew’s stream snipers show up.”

“Oh, right, that’s a thing,” Keiko mumbled under her breath. “People are damn weird sometimes.”

Valen sat in the shotgun seat. Enid scooted to her corner of the car where her half-eaten mountain of a sandwich was still waiting for her to finish it. Keiko climbed in the back seat with her, though she made sure to avoid sitting on the trash she left there.

Louise strapped herself in the driver’s seat and adjusted the cushion under her bum that allowed her to see above the steering wheel.

“Right!” she wiggled her fingers on the steering wheel. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Valen continued to stare down at the hole in his glove.

“Do you think Cyril sent that girl?” he asked. “Sending a child to kill someone just seems impractical, don’t you think?”

“Perhaps,” said Enid. “But why else would a random girl try to stab you?”

Louise eased the car out of its tight parking spot and into the busy road.

“Plus, there’s the look in her eyes when I brought up Cyril,” she said. “The girl knows about the Primordial Church. That much I’m certain.”

“Still, something just doesn’t sit right with me.” Valen looked out the window hoping to find some trace of the girl still wandering amongst the revelling crowd. “I didn’t see any children back at the cafe.”

“Maybe you just missed her,” said Keiko. “A lot of things were happening all at once.”

“Possible, but…” Valen let out a dejected sigh. “I don’t know. I just can’t help but feel sorry for the girl.”

“The best we can do is try to stop the Primordial Church,” said Keiko. “Keep more children like her from falling into its trap.”

“I suppose so.” Valen squirmed in his seat to make himself comfortable when a bump in his back pocket reminded him of something. “Wait a minute.”

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small folding knife with a chipped wooden handle worn from years of use.

Enid squinted at the thing, her non-nocturnal eyes having a hard time seeing within the darkness of the car. “What is that?”

Keiko, whose fox-like eyes were made for hunting prey in the dark, had no trouble making out what it was.

“That’s the girl’s knife, isn’t it?” she asked. “The one she stabbed your hand with?”

“Hmph.” Louise only spared the knife a split second glance before returning her eyes to the road out of Reveller’s Row. “Not sure how much use you’ll get out of that thing when you already got Johan’s knives.”

“I’m not planning to use it,” said Valen, and though she could not see his face while driving, Louise felt them boring into her like a puppy pleading for a treat “Louise, you can get her scent from this and track her with it, right?”

Louise gritted her teeth.

“I could,” she admitted. “But why would I want to do that? Or you for that matter?”

“Because she’s a lost and confused little girl who just so happened to get involved with the wrong crowd,” said Valen, staring straight at her face. “Sound familiar?”

Silence fell between them, punctuated only by the drunken revelry outside. It was broken a moment later by an exasperated sigh.

“I liked you better as a sweet-talker,” said Louise before snatching the folding knife from Valen. She took two quick sniffs from the handle, wrinkled her nose, and tossed the folding knife back to him. “Got the scent, but we’re staying in the bloody car until we find her. I don’t want anyone else recognising your pretty arse.”

Valen smiled, showing Louise his pearly white teeth though she wasn’t looking.

“Thank you, Lou.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Louise proceeded to slightly roll down all the windows to better track the scent of her quarry. “You owe another bloody sandwich when we get back home.”

In the backseat, Keiko gave Valen a concerned look that he could see in the rearview mirror.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked. “The cultists are still looking for you in the area. They’ll attack you on sight.”

Beside her, Enid gulped down the last remnants of her cheesy chicken sandwich and let out a soft burp.

“We can take them if they do.” She took a second to lick the grease off her fingers before continuing. “But what exactly do you intend to do once you find the girl? Give her a slap on the wrist and lecture about not joining cults?”

“We also have to consider whether or not her family is part of the cult,” added Keiko. “She might not have wanted to kill you, but she might also not want to betray her family, deranged cultists or not.”

Valen couldn’t come up with an adequate response. She was right. If the girl didn’t want to accept their help, then there was nothing they could do short of locking her away against her will somewhere away from the Primordial Church, and at that point they’d be little better than the monsters she was already a part of.

“Still,” he said after a lengthy pause. “We have to try to help. Give her a choice in the matter. Let her know that leaving the cult behind is an option. Whether or not she takes it is up to her, but it’s up to us to offer it to her.”

Unbeknownst to him, Keiko was smiling at him.

“I see.” The bushy orange fox tail on her lap wagged a single time before she stroked it still with her dainty hands. “So that’s how you think.”

Beside her, Enid started snacking on some cheesy chips she’d bought alongside the sandwich.

“Still doesn’t answer my question though,” she said through a mouthful of cheese and potatoes. “Supposing she does accept our help, what could we even do for her?”

Louise shrugged in Valen’s stead.

“We could take her with us,” she suggested offhandedly. “Another girl to fill the growing collection, yeah?”

“She’s like twelve,” said Keiko, her attractive face scrunched up in disgust. “And that’s called kidnapping.”

“It’s just adoption with less paperwork.”

“Yeah. So kidnapping.”

Valen cleared his throat.

“I know a homeless shelter in Dragon's Head, near my university. She should be safe there.” Valen looked at Keiko via the rearview mirror. “I apologise, but it may take quite a few hours for us to get there. You’re going to have to stay in the car with us and a small child for quite some time”

“I don’t mind,” said Keiko. “A little impromptu road trip never hurt anyone.”

“Hmm.” Enid wiped her greasy hands with a dirty napkin which she then stuffed into her now empty doggy bag. “Dragon’s Head is a good place to dump her. She needs to be as far away from the Dragon’s Tail as possible.”

Louise stomped on the brakes at a red traffic light that she’d missed the chance to pass by a millisecond.

“What’s wrong with the Tail?” she asked casually, causing both Valen and Enid to stare at her like she had two heads. “...What?”

“The Primordial Church’s compound is in the Dragon’s Tail,” said Valen. “In a block of flats called Dawn Square.”

“Wait, really?! When’d you find that out?”

“Clarence told us,” said Enid. “Back in the nightclub where Valen got arrested? You were the one who tried to beat this info out of him.”

“Yeah,” said Keiko, recalling her conversation with Valen when she still thought he was insane. “Valen told me about this while I was interrogating him too.”

“Oh.” Louise’s face reddened slightly. “I must’ve forgotten about that.”

Enid scoffed. “How do you just forget something you beat a man half to death to learn?”

“I zoned out, okay?!” Louise made a right turn that took them out of neon lit Reveller’s Row and into a dilapidated grey street that was far more typical for the Nocturnal District. “My brain sort of tuned out when Valen was giving that cheesy speech about doing the right thing.”

Valen didn’t think it was that cheesy, but to each their own he supposed. “How close are we to the girl’s scent, Lou?”

“Close.” Louise pulled the car over near an empty intersection people only ever used to get into Reveller’s Row. “She's standing still in the street to our left but…”

Valen’s hand was already around the car's door handle but waited for her to finish.

“But…?”

“She’s not alone.” Louise wrinkled her nose. “There’s a couple of people with her, and they both smell like cold coffee.”

“Smells like a problem.” Keiko grimaced. “It could be the cultists from the cafe.”

Valen rolled down his window some more to poke his ear outside.

“Let me try listening to them first.”

He willed his hearing to sharpen into hypersensitivity, then honed it in on the street left to them.

“What are you doing here?!” shouted a surprised man’s voice, presumably at the girl.

“You should be back at the temple!” cried another man.

“I-I just wanted to help!” the girl cried, sounding like she was on the verge of a panic attack. “Our God-”

“Our God needs you back home!” interrupted the first man. “Come on, we have to get you back before-”

“Let me go!” The girl screamed so loudly that even Valen’s non-vampire friends heard it and shuddered.

“The fuck?” mumbled Louise. “Valen, was that-”

Valen threw open the car door before she could finish, both his butterfly swords already drawn.