Page 18 of Loreblood

“Right, yeah, sir. I looks up the wall of the alley. His boots kicked and then he was over the lip of the roof and just . . .poof! Gone!” She frantically pointed over at a skinny boy. “Taclo’s got his boot, he does! Yeah, Tac? It fells off Lay’s foot as he was lifted, sir!”

The boy named Taclo reached into a sack on his shoulder and produced the raggedy leather boot, lifting it into the air like an artifact of great import.

The entire audience of Diplomats let out a singular “Ohh” sound of worried surprise.

Dimmon pulled at his bushy beard. He paced, even as Jinneth helped Jeffrith get to his feet. She patted the taller boy on the back. When they stood next to each other I noticed their similarity.

Jeffrith grabbed at his stomach where Dimmon had kicked him when he was down, hunching over to shoot Jinneth a tiny smile. “Thanks, sis.”

My eyes narrowed. Besides their likeness in name, they had a likeness in stature: skinny, gaunt, shaggy brown hair. Clearly, Jinneth was Jeffrith’s blood-sister, which made my stomach knot.

It would be harder to hate Jeffrith now, knowing he had a sister to look after. There was a distinct possibility Jeffrith was only part of the Diplomatsbecausehe had a sister to look after.Damn the True,I thought with a sigh, trying to summon my rage.

Dimmon stopped pacing and punched his fist into his open palm. “Fuckingbloodies!” He raised a finger into the sky before anyone could react. “Round up, curs! We’re goin’ scouring!”

The dumping grounds became a commotion of movement after that—tents opening, creaky hovel doors swinging and shutting, feet pounding the muddy street. People threw on backpacks. I noticed a few glinting sheens stashed on their persons.Daggers. Knives. Clubs.The Diplomats were arming themselves.

Baylen ran up to me from his tent. He reached behind him, pulled out a dagger, and handed it to me handle-first. “Here.”

I’d never held a dagger in my life. “What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, shocked.

“Stick someone with it if the job goes awry, Seph.”

I gulped. “Thejob, Bay?”

“Dimmon thinks a bloody took Lay, so we’re going bloodsucker-hunting.”

Fear gripped me from the inside, clamping on my veins. “There are fullbloodshere, in Nuhav?”

He nodded grimly. “Plenty of ‘em, Seph. That noble life up in Olhav ain’t for everyone. Outcast vamps, masterless thralls, you name it. They been haunting our streets long as Nuhav’s been around.” When I remained speechless and stunned, he gave me a smug smile. “Bet the House never taught youthat, eh?”

My jaw clenched. I slowly shook my head.

And I wrapped my fingers around the leather handle of the dagger he offered me.

Chapter 6

In the wee hours of the morning, I staked off with the Diplomats on my first vampire-hunting mission.

With sunlight still two hours away, Dimmon was in a rush to find the bloodsucker and make him pay before dawn approached.

Baylen explained the vampire would go hiding in some dark cave once sunlight hit Nuhav, and he’d be lost to us forever. “We have to find him now, before he can get away—hopefully while he’s still hunting for warm bodies to drain.”

I had never seen a fullblooded vampire. Not many people had, I reckoned, and if you did, it would be thelasttime you saw one. Grayskins were uncommon but not unheard of, but noble-bornvampiresin Nuhav?

The thought chilled my blood.

As we ran with the pack of rabid younglings led by Dimmon Plank, Baylen explained, “These aren’t the noble-born though, y’see? They’re the ones cut off from higher society up in Olhav. Savage, desperate,hungry.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to scare me, Bay.”

“Good. These fuckers are terrifying.”

“You’ve seen one?”

He looked down at the ground to kick some refuse out of the way before continuing on with a small, morose nod. He said nothing more on the topic.

Just whathaveyou seen in the years we’ve been separated, my friend?