[Scarlet, Our Little Fang!]

  Scarlet didn’t like where things were heading as Rachel moved closer, and Illa latched onto her arm, trembling as if she’d been whipped. Most of the looks directed at them from below were hungry, yet a few voices rang out, refraining from the event.

  “I will be observing with my friend from China,” Nosferatu chuckled, standing beside a stiff Asian woman who wore a paper talisman on her forehead, a place cut out of her mask for it. Scarlet instantly knew who her myth was from anime: she was a Jiangshi—a hopping vampire. “I’d love to make wagers if any are interested in joining us.”

  He laughed, several others moving to join them, including the Vorcaloac Twins. A few human hunters entered their own room, whispering to one another, and each of the barons and baronesses rose to the 3rd level to take their own private areas. Anthony was carried away with the giggling winged vampiress to continue their conversation.

  Something didn’t feel right to Scarlet as she absently brushed off the scared redhead to kneel down beside Cássia. Her heart went out to the girl; she could feel her heartache and self-disgust as if it were herself—the feelings she’d had before taking that mind elixir.

  “I know you’re hurting so much right now, Cássia.” She was somewhat surprised that she was blowing off Rachel’s prompt to take them below, but the hare seemed to be accommodating her as she leveled with the teary-eyed 13-year-old vampire. “I know everything is falling apart for you, but I’m still on your side, okay? We’re not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

  Cássia’s frame shook with pained laughter as she stared into her reflection on the bloody floor, her breaking body struggling to keep itself alive with the support the castle subtly weaved into her. “I wish you could protect me from myself…but it’s already done. I guess I have to try, though…”

  She dislodged her fingers and rubbed her tears away before shakily rising to her feet. “I hate who I am,” she mumbled, biting her lower lip and making Scarlet’s nose burn as she empathized. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way… This isn’t me. None of it was supposed to be this way.”

  Scarlet pulled her into a hug. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

  Illa was now sniffling and joined them. “Yeah, we’ll all be okay. We’re not monsters—we’re just…unlucky girls. Right? We can be good. We’re not scary monsters inside; we’re totally normal girls… Totally normal…”

  Knowing they were on a clock and a dangerous one, Scarlet looked through the floor as Rachel put a hand on her shoulder. It was difficult to see through the mass of blood, but she managed to get a blurry outline of the unicorn. Shadows embraced them, carrying them into the private room.

  Rachel didn’t waste a second as they appeared, disengaging to address the saint, unicorn, and fairy while she guided Cássia and Illa to a couch before they both collapsed. However, all of them froze when the hare plucked out a seed that formed from the flower on her chest and dropped it on the floor.

  “Maria, your group will be tasked with protecting Cássia. Take her out and through the West Wing. I don’t care where. A part of the group will come after you, so be prepared to flee; we’ll try to make it look like a botched escape.”

  “Aye! Aye, chica!” Maria cried, backing into a bookshelf as the seed’s roots dug into the floor and rapidly matured into a colossal flower. “What the hell are you playing at? Yo, this feels a lot stronger than the shit in the air!”

  A puff of crimson smoke exploded from the bulbing flower, making everyone cough and cover their noses as it dissipated, almost as if it never existed at all. In its place was a blinking and confused clone of herself, well, sort of.

  “Is that…a clone? Shit! Two Rachels?”

  “Huh?” Fiona swiftly shook her head. “No, no—it’s a clone of Cássia—a decoy! Nice, Rach!”

  Catherine hesitantly shook her head and moved closer. “Not…correct from my eyes. Is this…an illusion?”

  Maria snorted, rubbing her nose and coughing a bit. “Hell no; it’s an airborne pathogen that manipulates the senses… That moon outside gave you this shit?”

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  Rachel sighed as she looked at her maroon skin and scarlet veins, beginning to recede now that she was outside of the light, yet her clone remained. “We don’t have a lot of time. The second ten minutes are up, and only those who are actively participating in the hunt are left in the hall, our trap is going to be sprung.

  “At that point, no one should be able to tell which group is which. Splitting up their parties is our only way of fighting them. Nia and I will be taking out as many as possible. Coral will stick with you, Scarlet; she’ll be able to pass us along information through our connection if needed. All you need to do is run away as far as you can…”

  Scarlet rubbed her arm as she saw Rachel’s serious look. Through her emotional perception of those around her, she got an unsettling gut impression from the lunar hare; she felt like she was in a losing battle and needed to tilt the odds in their favor.

  Why am I so useless! I want to help… She’s always doing everything.

  “What’s wrong, Rachel?”

  Illa bounced up with a short squeak out of nowhere. “Eek! Eh, no—sorry, just a little freaked out—what is wrong?! I am so freaking out right now! Selene died to an iron maiden—like in my dream! Was that real? I don’t have that kind of power, right—I’m not a visionary!”

  Scarlet ignored the girl, more focused on the claw-gripping sensation she got from Rachel. “Sure, you’re excited to fight, like always, but none of these guys should cause you this much anxiety after everything you’ve gone through. So what aren’t you telling us?”

  Rachel swallowed a lump in her throat as Nia slipped inside, losing her own reddish skin. “It’s done?”

  “All ready to go,” Nia replied, holding up a thumb as Coral phased through the door with a wicked grin. “We have to make it look believable. We’re copying everyone, right? The seeds aren’t strong enough to deal with Legends and Myths.”

  “No,” Rachel agreed, walking over to check on her blank, unresponsive clone, “I can’t operate them if I’m not under the Crimson Moon… Shit. I was afraid of that. Umm. No, it is bad, Scarlet, but give me a minute to get everything I need set in motion.”

  Cássia’s brow set as she tried to clean up her puffy and red face. “What do I need to do? I can open up a hole in the wall to allow us to escape into the rooms beyond.”

  “Not needed,” Rachel bluntly stated, shutting down the girl and making her hands tighten in her lap, feeling useless. “Scarlet needs to make a show about teleporting you out, allowing us to make it seem like we could be anywhere. What you’re really going to do is lead Scarlet to your mother’s office.”

  “H-Huh?!” The brunette’s eyes flew open. “Why? Do…we have to see her? It’s too dangerous to interrupt her! Especially for Scarlet. She…isn’t herself,” she winced, losing much of her noble facade. “Others could be aiming to attack her, as well.”

  “Exactly,” Rachel said with a strained laugh as she turned to the stiff ginger. “Illa, who did you see in that dream vision—who used the Iron Maiden to kill Selene and set all of this off?”

  Maria gave the petrified girl a serious stare. “Looks like the hare saw my reaction, chica—Rach is sharp like that. We know you were lying your ass off about not seeing who it was. Spill the beans, Pumpkin. Nosotras no tenemos todo el día!”

  Illa’s frame began to quake, breathing harder as everyone set their gaze on her. “I-It was just a, hehe, a dream, guys! I, uh—I was so drunk on that stuff—I could totally have just been seeing shit, ya know? It can’t be real! Cássia, tell them the stuff is stupid powerful, a-and makes you see things! I don’t understand what I saw, okay; it was all a super weird dream about a girl I wouldn’t even call a 10! I mean, if she wanted to make out, then I mean, eh—no, it’s just—I’m wrong! Okay? I’m wrong!”

  Not getting why she was freaking out so much and knowing what everyone was expecting the answer to be, Scarlet sat beside her. “It’s okay, Illa. Just tell us what you saw.”

  Cássia’s hands pressed against her belly, not able to look at her. “Why can’t you tell us? Iron maidens are…pretty rare.”

  Catherine sighed. “Can we just say that it was Elizabeth already? It was her mother, wasn’t it? She’s been plotting this whole thing from the start.”

  Illa gulped, closed her eyes, and said, “It was…me.”

  “Exactly,” Rachel nodded, “it was Elizabeth who—wait… You?”

  A short stillness came over the room as all eyes fixed on the trembling ginger.

  “…Damn,” Maria mumbled, scratching her neck before glancing at Rachel. “I didn’t expect that twist. Shit. You were wrong, Rach?”

  Rachel opened her mouth, taking a step back as if dazed, eyes narrowing and falling to the floor. “You…used the iron maiden in the dream…to kill Selene?”

  “I-I don’t know if it was me!” Illa stammered, rising to her feet and clutching at her breast as her unusually active heart for a vampire raced. “It was like…a twin—umm, like…me, but it wasn’t me! She had this cold…sadistic smile, and, and she told me I wasn’t even the real me! I don’t even know, okay?! Everything is just…insane. I’m not bad or evil! I’m a normal girl…a good girl. M-Maybe a little deviant—sure, b-but I’m a good girl. I promise, Scarlet!”

  Scarlet looked to Rachel, utterly lost again. “What does that mean?”

  Rachel’s tight eyes drifted to Cássia. “It means…we shelf that issue for now. My concern is that I don’t expect Baroness Audrey to play by the rules and sit this out—at least, misfortune is tilting in that direction…and I doubt the others will, either.

  “They may be playing by the rules because of one another, but ultimately, they don’t see Elizabeth as an actual noble, and once that facade breaks down…they’ll make their move. I don’t think this Legend Quest will last the week we have to complete it. The bulk of it will end tonight.”

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