1. Macabre Marmalade (COMPLETED; EDITING)

XLV (19.3)

They walked slowly as they approached the mouth of the entrance. The smell of sulfur wafting from spent ammo and coppery smell of blood mixed in a foul way that made Todor dizzy for a brief second. Ezezu droned in his mind as if she was a living war drum that gave rhythm to his steps and movement. The ghost didn't speak but he could feel her anticipation and her will to fight. The closer they came to the large double doors the faster his heart went. The world gained the red filter as if everything suddenly gained a thin covering of red paint, or blood.

Todor blinked few times to set his railgun to the lowest setting possible and he motioned Hillard to come closer.

"Here, take this," he said to the agent shaking the weapon in his direction. "You will need this more than me."

"Can I even use that in close quoter's?" The lanky man eyed the gun warily.

"I set it to lowest setting. You have around seventy shots before both battery and orb will be out of juice. Make them count."

Hillard nodded and grasped the weapon.

"Thanks. And constable? If I don't survive this ..." The agent stopped glancing towards the casino as if in any moment hordes of vampires will come charging from there. Which wasn't unlikely at all, Todor mused.

"Yeah, yeah. It was an honor and all that," Todor said with a grin.

"No. Well yes, that too. But ... take care of the Sea Pit for me, will you?"

"Sure thing, mate. But don't think you can weasel out of your obligations just by dying. If you kick the bucket I will reanimate your corpse and make it my personal servant. So you better live through this."

Todor didn't know if he could any such thing. But it sounded like something that could motivate the young agent.

"I'll try to avoid that. It sounds rather unpleasant," Hillard said with a smirk. "So let's go get your girl back."

Todor chuckled brandishing his sword. "I thought storming a castle to rescue a princess from evil overlord was such a fairy tale cliche."

"Life imitates art. Midnight Breeze wanted to take you out of the picture. And when his goons couldn't find you at home he did what any evil megalomaniac would do, make sure you would come to him."

"So, it's a trap," Todor said what he knew from the start.

"It sure is," Hillard agreed.

They entered the lobby of the gambling establishment not hearing or seeing anyone. The large hall was littered with slot machines, blackjack tables, roulette wheels and all other fortune seeking scams invented. Bellow the main floor were stairs that lead upward to the middle floor that looked down on the machines and common vice practitioners. There VIP rooms and suits for costumers with deeper pockets and needs for privacy resided.

"It's empty," Hillard said looking around nervously.

"Or so it seems," Todor responded. He summoned Ezezu, the book appearing in front of him in the air where it floated. "I guess this one worked last time," he murmured before clearing his throat. "Harsag Zalazalag!"

Mana burned his eyes forcing him to blink a few times before he could look around the large space. Now he could see webs of different colors crisscrossing entire hall. He didn't know what these magical wards were but he couldn't chance it. There were twenty different types and he could stay here the entire day, looking through Ezezu's memory for their function. But Cassandra was somewhere in there and he clenched his fingers on the hilt of his sword. Can we dispel this? He asked Ezezu directly. The ghost sent a notion of looking for it. Then the pages fluttered stopping at one incantation.