Dimitri gave Sonya and me a once-over, double-checking for injuries despite our protests. He reached out and gently held my chin, turning my non-tattooed cheek toward him. “A little scraped,” he said. “Not serious, but you should clean it.” I touched the spot he’d indicated and was astonished to see blood on my fingers. I didn’t even remember getting hurt but supposed it had come from the brick wall.

Sonya had no physical marks but admitted to having a pretty bad headache from where she’d hit the ground.

“What happened?” Adrian asked again.

Dimitri held up the sword he’d retrieved from the scene. “Something a little more serious than a mugging, I think.”

“I’d say so,” said Sonya, sitting on the couch. Her attitude was amazingly calm for what we’d just endured. She touched the back of her head and winced. “Particularly since they called me a creature of evil before you showed up.”

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. “They did?”

I hadn’t moved once I’d reached the living room. I simply stood there with my arms wrapped around myself, feeling numbed. Movement seemed too difficult. Thinking seemed too difficult. As Dimitri examined the sword, however, something caught my eye and made my sluggish brain slowly begin to function again.

Seeing my interest, he held the sword out to me. I took it, careful of the blade, and examined the hilt. It was covered with engravings.

“Do those mean something to you?” he asked.

My mind was still cloudy with fear and adrenaline, but I ignored it and tried to dredge up some facts. “These are old alchemy symbols,” I said. “From the Middle Ages, back when our group was just a bunch of medieval scientists trying to turn lead into gold.”

That was all the history books knew about my society. That, and we’d eventually given up on gold. The organization had later found more sophisticated compounds, including vampire blood. Interacting with vampires had eventually evolved into our current cause, as ancient Alchemists realized the terrible and dark temptations vampires represented. Our cause became a holy one. The chemistry and formulas my society had once worked on for personal gain became the tools needed to hide the existence of vampires, tools we now supplemented with technology.

I tapped the largest symbol, a circle with a dot in the center. “This is actually the symbol for gold. This other one is silver. These four triangle things are the basic elements—earth, air, water, and fire. And these… Mars and Jupiter, which tie into iron and tin. Maybe the sword’s composition?” I frowned and studied the rest of the metal. “No gold or silver actually in it, though. Their symbols can also refer to the sun and moon. Maybe these aren’t physical at all. I don’t know.”

I handed the sword back to Dimitri. Sonya took it from him, studying what I’d pointed out. “So, are you saying this is an Alchemist weapon?”

I shook my head. “Alchemists would never use something like this. Guns are easier. And the symbols are archaic. We use the periodic table now. Easier to write ‘Au’ for gold instead of drawing that sun symbol.”