She undressed while she waited for her bath to be ready, and looked at herself in the bedroom mirror. Her head ached. Meetings, conflicts, anxieties, disruptions, expectations and responsibilities. These were the things that made up her life now. She had a troubled frown on her face. There was a small, invisible sigil by her left eye. Her fingertip grazed it lightly, and it glowed, and a feeling of slow warmth spread through her, cancelling out the ache and returning her forehead to its usual frown-free perfection.

Her pretty little assistant stood at the entrance to the bathroom. China removed a delicate bracelet and her necklace, placing them carefully on the dresser. There was a knock on the door, and the frown reappeared.

Her assistant rushed to fetch a bathrobe, but China strode across the room before she could find it and pulled the door open.

Tipstaff faltered midway into the first word of whatever he’d intended to say. Behind him, seven people stood calmly.

“Thank you, Tipstaff,” China said, curtly. “That will be all.”

Tipstaff bowed, his face flushed, and removed himself from her presence, leaving the seven visitors standing there. China addressed the black-haired man with the single scar marring his beauty.

“I don’t like vampires, Mr Dusk.”

He inclined his head ever so slightly. “I am aware of that.”

“And yet you have still brought six of them to my private chambers. It’s been a long day and it will be a long night. If Tipstaff brought you here, you have something of value to say, so out with it.”

“We represent the Exiled,” Dusk said, “vampires who have broken the most sacred of our codes.”

“You’ve all killed other vampires.”

Again, an almost imperceptible nod. “Because of this we’ve been cast out. It’s not … easy, for a vampire to be alone. It’s not safe – for us, or anyone else.”

China graced them with a smile. “If you’ve all come here to be put down, I’m sure I can accommodate you.”

“Put down like animals, you mean? I’m going to credit you with the intelligence I know you possess, Grand Mage, and choose to believe that you don’t really think of us in those terms. You may not like our kind—”

“I despise your kind,” China said. “So please, get to the point. I’m getting cold.”

“We come to Roarhaven to request asylum.”

“Request denied.”

“You haven’t heard us out.”

“Mr Dusk, a burgeoning city like Roarhaven cannot have vampires within its walls.”

“You have sorcerers here who’ve done far worse than any vampire has ever managed,” Dusk said.

“And yet I would still prefer all of them to call round for afternoon tea instead of even one of you.”

“Provided we have serum,” said Dusk, “vampires can operate in a civilised society.”

“The problem is nobody likes vampires, Mr Dusk. You unnerve people.”

“Some people could do with a little unnerving.”