The only sounds as Esadora and Holly trudged through Astrington were birds squawking overhead and the girls’ own footsteps. The clear sky allowed the sun to grin down at them, the lack of cover leaving the two completely vulnerable to its heat.

Esadora sighed, wiping the sweat off of her face once again. She had long since removed her cloak, contemplating more than once about taking off her shirt. Under no circumstances would she actually do it, even if Holly weren’t with her, but she was so hot! Her shirt clung uncomfortably to her figure, and her pants, which had already been tight, just felt strange around her legs. All in all, she really wanted to strip down.

She glanced at Holly. Sweat dripped down her face, her neck, and her shirt had several wet spots. The girl herself was hunched over, eyes barely open. She was muttering something. Esadora stepped closer to hear.

“I want to die. Why is it so hot out here? Can I please die now? Ugh, my stomach…” she trailed off, then muttered another thing Esadora couldn’t hear.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Holly straightened up and looked at her. “I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“We can stop if you want.”

“No, it’s—”

But Esadora was already plodding to a nearby building, dropping herself onto the ground and leaning against the wall. Holly soon sat next to her. From the angle they were at, the building cast a shadow over them, and the girls sighed in relief at the same time. They looked at each other for a second, then broke down in wobbly laughter.

Holly laid her body out on the ground, chest rising and dropping quickly. Esadora was tempted to do the same, but was too worried she wouldn’t get back up if she did.

“Hey,” came Holly’s voice from the ground. “I probably should’ve asked this earlier, but where are you—we—going, exactly?”

Esadora opened her mouth, then closed it again. She wasn’t sure how Holly would react when she told her where she planned on going, and she sure as hell wasn’t excited to tell her, but if they were going to be together for the duration of the trip, she would have to tell her. “The… Vampire Belt.”

For a few moments, Holly’s only reaction was a furrowing of her eyebrows. Then her eyes widened. “The Vampire Belt? As in, where vampires live?”

Esadora squinted at her. “What else would I be talking about?”

Holly sat up, tilting her head this way and that. “Right. But why are we going there?”

“Reasons,” she snapped, surprising herself with her harsh tone.

The dark-skinned girl froze. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry.”

Esadora knew her tone wasn’t warranted, but she didn’t appreciate Holly’s sarcastic voice. But she held her tongue. Nothing good would come out of picking a fight with her. She pursed her lips as Holly turned away, wondering if she should apologize, even if she didn’t really understand why she was upset.

Before she could say anything at all, though, Holly stood up. “We should get going.”

Esadora gazed up at her for a minute, studying her expression, then concluded that she wasn’t mad anymore, and rose along with her. “Yeah.”

When they reached the Vampire Belt, Esadora couldn’t tell where they were. They’d just left Astrington about a dozen meters back and she could tell they were in front of something, but she would’ve never guessed the Vampire Belt, though, in hindsight, she really should’ve.

As she glared at the great wall of dark magic, she couldn’t help but want to turn and walk straight back. Her heart thudded in her chest, hands suddenly clammy. And the sun’s heat on her back, though less than earlier, was not helping. She felt Holly shift closer.

“I don’t… know why you felt the need to come here, but, uh, you shouldn’t be scared. ‘Cuz I’m here.”

Esadora opened her mouth to ask why, exactly, she should feel safe with her presence, when Holly pulled out a wand and a gun from seemingly nowhere.

She waved them in front of her. “Or more accurately, because I’m a wizard, and I know how to use a gun.”

The witch could only nod, mouth going dry, as Holly smirked and stepped up to the dark magic, putting away her gun and twirling her wand. She tapped her wand against it, flinching when her wand rebounded against it. “Warlocks, huh? Somehow I’m not surprised.”

She tapped her wand against her chin, cocking her head. Esadora glanced at her warily. What was she going to do?

Then Holly gripped her wand tighter and stabbed it into the barrier. Esadora almost laughed.

What even—?

But it was working, the dark boundary beginning to disintegrate from where Holly had stabbed it. Esadora almost smiled, but realized something: What if it completely disappeared? Then the vampires would be able to roam free—she couldn't subject other people to that kind of terror! She stomped up to Holly and, without thinking very much, gripped her shoulders.

"Hey, stop! What if the whole thing disappears?"

Holly turned her face slightly to look at her. "Calm down - I have a plan." She opened her satchel and pulled out a small, thick book.

Esadora raised an eyebrow but let go of her. "And what are you going to do with that?"

"Ssssshhhhhh, I’m searching for a charm."

“What? Why?”

“I know you're a witch and all, but you do know how wizard magic works, right?”

It took everything in Esadora not to flinch when she said “witch”. “Um… no?”

“What do they even teach you in school?” Holly muttered, shaking her head.

She gazed at the book for another moment before dropping it and pointing her wand at the barrier. “Lachen!”

Esadora's eyes widened as the barrier stopped disappearing, the opening becoming a long door shape. “What did you do?”

“I cast a spell. Duh.”

“But you said something, and it definitely wasn't English. What was it?”

“Wait.” Holly reached into her satchel again and pulled out a hard looking piece of paper. She slapped it onto the barrier.

“Why’d you do that?” Esadora asked hesitantly, feeling a little stupid.

Holly sighed. “They really don't teach you anything about wizards, do they? Strange people. Anyway, do you know what my wand is made out of?”

Esadora shook her head.

“Well, wizard wands are made from the Tree of Mahiru. Unlike you, we need wands, because our magic won't respond to us otherwise,” she said. “The paper I had is also made from the Tree of Mahiru, and I used it to keep my magic in one place, which is something I can't do otherwise. And my magic gets all whack when I don’t use the Old Language, so that’s why I said that word: Lachin. It means latch, or lock.”

Esadora frowned. “Wizard magic must be a pain to deal with.”

“You can say that again.” She sighed and stepped closer to the barrier. “Shouldn't we go in?”

Esadora nodded but didn't move, feet stuck in place. She could feel Holly staring at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to take s single step forward. Her heart screamed at her with a fast pace, stomach churning up a storm. Heat spread down her body, adding to the already painful stare of the sun. Every time she so much as looked at the doorway in the barrier, her heart pounded a painful tempo. She simply couldn’t go inside there.

“Hey,” Holly said. “I know it’s hard, but it’ll probably get easier when you go inside.”

Sure. Let’s just say that for now.

Esadora shook her head but smiled. At least she tried. She glanced at Holly for a minute, then grabbed her hand. “Let’s go!”

It was hard to ignore the dread that swirled around in her stomach, and her heart, which threatened to pound itself right out of her mouth, but she only had to look at Holly, and it all disappeared. The girl seemed way too excited for her own good, and it drew a laugh out of Esadora.

Holly furrowed her eyebrows at her but didn’t say anything as they stepped through the barrier. Esadora shivered, the distinct feeling of something being wrong passing through her. She shook it off, finding her footing on withered grass on the other side of the barrier. Her eyes stayed stuck on her boots for a few seconds before a nudge from Holly forced her to look up.

Esadora wasn’t quite sure what she’d been expecting upon arriving in the Vampire Belt, but it sure as hell wasn’t what she saw.

They were in a dim and tiny alleyway between low buildings, short grass surrounding them. Though she could only see a small portion of it, there seemed to be a street in front of the buildings, full of bustling people.

No—vampires.

After staring at the vampires for a few moments, she noticed glimpses of yellow among them, which were their eyes. Seeing so many of them at once made her want to turn tail and run, but she stilled herself. She’d already come so far—how could she turn back now?

She nodded to Holly, and they went on.

Of course, they didn’t get very far. When the first few vampires caught sight of them out of the alleyway, their gazes slid right past Esadora and stuck on Holly. Some hurried on, others stopped and stared, and Esadora could feel Holly tense.

“Why are they staring at you?” she whispered to the wizard.

“Maybe because I’m a wizard. But even then, aren’t they supposed to only smell witch blood?”

Esadora gave a helpless shrug, heart rate slowing down. As far as she could see, the vampires were acting very normal… just like witches, in fact. They were going about their own business (even though some of them were staring at them). She honestly wasn’t sure what she’d expected. They were stuck in this place with no witches, so of course there was no blood for them to suck. But she couldn’t imagine them just being normal, even if they were right in front of her.

The staring was troubling, however. Did Holly look strange somehow? She glanced at her but found nothing on her that would give her identity as a wizard away.

Before she could do anything, a pair of soldier-looking vampires were up in their faces and grabbing Holly.

“Stop! What are you doing?” Esadora cried, gripping Holly’s arm.

One of the soldiers glared at her but said, “Can’t you smell it? She’s clearly a wizard. We’re taking her to the Veharics.”

Esadora was about to ask who the Veharics were but stopped herself. She couldn’t blow whatever cover she had left. “Then… take me with her!”

The soldiers exchanged puzzled looks. “Alright, ma’am,” one of them said. “But stay behind us.”

They didn’t move immediately, however, setting Holly down. “Spread your arms out, feet apart. If you try anything, you’ll have plenty of officers on you in a second.”

Holly narrowed her eyes but did as they asked. When the soldier who’d spoken began patting her down, Esadora repressed the urge to sock him in the face.

It must be protocol, she thought. Calm down.

He removed her satchel and checked its content, then passed it to the other soldier, who stood behind her. The soldier behind her nodded and pushed her forward, the other soldier gripping her elbow.

They began to move forward, and Esadora shuffled along, hoping that wherever they went, Holly wouldn’t be hurt.

Where they stopped at was probably the tallest building in the Vampire Belt by a landslide. It was long and burgundy, with only two windows at the front, as far as Esadora could see. She winced as one of the soldiers pushed Holly again.

“Keep up!” he said.

Esadora couldn’t see her expression, but she guessed that she was angry by the way her shoulders were shaking. She wished she could do something about it.

When the reached the mahogany door, the soldier at the front let go of Holly’s arm and turned toward them. “I hope this goes without saying, but don’t speak unless spoken to, wizard. The Veharics are a very important family and have no time for your squabble and excuses.”

Esadora flinched at his harsh tone. Did he really hate wizards that much? But why would he?

Her line of thought immediately disappeared as he knocked on the door. It was instantly opened by a young boy in a white button up shirt tucked into slacks.

The soldier didn’t wait for the boy to say anything before speaking. “I’ve come to deliver a wizard to the Veharics. She somehow got through the barrier.”

The boy briefly scanned all of them, then nodded. “Very well. Follow me. They’re expecting you.” He opened the door completely, and they entered.

Esadora’s eyes widened at how grand the interior appeared. There were pillars close to every corner, a copper carpet in the middle. The chestnut wood ground seemed so clean that Esadora could see their muddled reflections. The walls were only a shade lighter than the ground, two long windows covered in pastel pink curtains.

They strode up the swirling staircase, Esadora’s heart thumping louder with every step. She rubbed her hands together and stayed close to the banister to keep her balance. Who exactly were the Veharics that they lived in such a place? Were they like the Chamber in Esmeralda? But this was a family. What would lead them to hold all of this power in the Vampire Belt?

She grimaced as they reached the top of the staircase, right up to a grand set of doors and two pathways. The young boy hurried to the door, and glanced at the soldier. The soldier nodded, and the boy knocked.

“Come in,” came a deep voice.

The servant opened the door.

Esadora’s stomach dropped.