By the time I went to open the door, JJ was already in the store hall, leaning on the counter. I noticed he liked that a lot, leaning. Relaxing. There was something from a cat in him, definitely. And his eyes. I was too busy to take notice before, but I think his pupils were a little oval-shaped. I wouldn’t be too surprised.

“I hope this isn’t debt collectors again.” I sighed. For a moment I considered pretending that no one was home, but the doorbell buzzed again and I gave up on it and unlocked the door.

Instead of Baldy, Scar, or any of their colleagues, there stood a woman. She was tall and covered from top to bottom in cyan. Elegant cyan hat, thick cyan veil on her face that hid even her eyes, cyan scarf, cyan gloves, form-fitting cyan dress that went to the ground and her cyan shoes.

It could’ve been monotone and boring, but the different shades and textures of fabric made it all just match. The only clearly not cyan thing on the woman was her hair, wavy, chestnut and falling to her shoulders.

Besides taste, Cyan—this woman—certainly had money. I could tell her clothes were expensive. And she also had a bodyguard behind her shoulder. He had a telling square stature and an unfriendly face of one, as well as black suit and a visible earpiece.

“Hello, can I help you?” I asked Cyan with raising hope. Maybe she was a rich and eccentric customer who didn’t hear about my dad’s death. Maybe she came to buy a lot of things and give me a lot of money.

“Let me in, girl,” Cyan said. I couldn’t see where exactly she was looking, but I felt like she wasn’t sparing me a glance.

‘Rich, eccentric customers,’ I reminded myself to not scowl at her. Instead, I stepped aside and said, “Welcome to my shop, lady. We are currently temporarily closed, but since you went through such trouble to come, I will, of course, make an exception for you.”

Cyan walked in, her bodyguard two steps back and one to the side, both ignoring my words completely. When the door closed behind them, Cyan lifted her veil, tucking it under her hat, and I saw her face.

She had slanted brown eyes, full red lips and sharp cheekbones. There was some pink blush on her cheeks, but I immediately understood that it was all cosmetics. Even with all the makeup, I could see the paleness of her skin. She could’ve been an albino, if not for her thin slit pupils.

My eyes darted to JJ. He wasn’t leaning anymore—he stood straight now, his hands crossed on his chest, his eyes narrowed and glued to Cyan’s. I looked back at her—she was staring back at him and stood just as tense.

I frowned. How was it I never met a vampire in my life until yesterday, and now they come here in flocks?

“So you are the insolent fellow who drained and hypnotised my men? Who are you, what are you doing in my territory, and why shouldn’t I kill you?”

This wasn’t going great at all. I nonchalantly put my hands in my pants pockets. One of them held a silver butter knife, and as long as I didn’t sit down, I could hide its pocking out handle under my blouse. If these two really started to fight…

I blinked. ‘Wait, HER men? How… why loan sharks work for a vampire?’

JJ didn’t cove under the coldness of Cyan’s stare. Instead, he smiled, flashing his fangs at her in an implicit threat. “I apologise for an intrusion…”

“Avarice.”

I raised my brows at the name. With a name like that (and what a telling one), Avarice didn’t even need a nickname.

“Avarice. My name is Jean-Jacques.” He performed an elegant, but shallow, bow. “I plead ignorance. I was brought there by accident, and wasn’t aware that this place was already taken.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t aware either!” I just realised that if Avarice was the loan shark’s boss, then I had a unique opportunity to speak with their manager. “How the hell me owing you money turned into you owning this place?”

Avarice threw me a dark, heavy look. “Stop with your barking, girl.”

“No way! Just yesterday you sent your goons to demolish my shop! What do you expect me to do, not protest about it?”

Avarice paused in visible confusion, and JJ chose that moment to come up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. Like that last time he touched me, it was icy, chilling me even through my clothes. It was as unnatural as vampires themselves.

“And this, Avarice, is my associate, Diana. As you can see, she is a Bearer of the True Vision, so you probably should avoid angering her too much.”

I gave him a look of complete befuddlement, and he responded with a conspiratorial smile. Still befuddled, I played along. The silver knife was an option for the very last moment.

“Exactly, Avarice,” I said, lifting my chin up and channelling self-assurance I didn’t have. “You can’t just bully me.”

She frowned. “A witch, hum?.. Well, this is unexpected, I admit.” She paused for a moment, eyeing me and JJ contemplatively. Finally, she reached some conclusion and nodded to herself.

“Witch or not, girl, you shouldn’t interfere in vampire matters. You have your own debt to pay.” She dismissed me with a wave of her hand and turned to JJ. I scowled at her, but their following dialogue was too interesting to interrupt.

“Don’t think I didn’t hear about you, Dragonslayer. Everyone told you were dead. I wonder, if they hear the truth, how many will want to change this state of affairs?”

JJ tensed, his grip on my shoulder strengthening. His smile turned into a baring of his teeth. “Well, isn’t that arrogant of you to assume that you will be able to bring this information anywhere? There’s barely any sun outside, and yet you need to wrap yourself up in all these clothes. How old are you, fifty years? Twenty?”

Avarice snorted, giving JJ a smug smirk. “And how long did you lie without a drop of blood on your tongue? You are skin and bones now. Not to mention not letting me go—if we fought, I might even win.”

JJ stood silently for a long moment. “Well, this is equally problematic for both of us, isn’t it? I assume you want a compensation for trespassing.”

“Yes, I do.” Avarice’s red lips stretched into an evil smile. “Two hundred thousands will be enough.”

“Rubles?” JJ asked, and when Avarice nodded in response, narrowed his eyes. “You don’t think that this place should be Diana’s territory, by her right of inheritance, and not yours?”

Avarice snorted. “If this was a coven’s territory, I’d know. Don’t try to avoid paying, Dragonslayer. Not to me.”