Jane and the others stared at the severed head in horror.
'Eddy—' Doctor Porter began.
That was as far as she got before the vampire erupted from the shadows on the stairs. It was a woman Jane had never seen before. Her eyes were red, and she was covered in blood and grime and sewer muck.
She crashed into them, and they went down in an untidy pile on the stairs. Porter's gun went off, but it fired into the ceiling. Max tried to come to her rescue. He started dragging the creature off her, but it slammed a fist backwards into his face, knocking him flying into his changing room.
Eddy produced a bottle of liquid. It was the same liquid the doctor had used back in the cemetery. He splashed it into the vampire's face, and it snarled and hissed as if acid had been applied.
Smearing the liquid away, the creature gnashed at them like a rabid dog. Its jaw opened wide, and Jane caught sight of its jagged, long fangs. If the creature had launched itself at her, Jane knew there was nothing she could have done.
Then Eddy tossed the bottle. It was a lucky throw, landing straight into the mouth of the creature. The sudden shock of the intrusion caused the vampire to clamp down. It recoiled and let out a hideous guttural scream as the searing liquid burned out the interior. Doctor Porter, still on the ground, raised her weapon. She fired two barrels into the creature's chest, blasting it onto the stairs.
'Quickly!' Porter urged.
Max had staggered from his room, wiping blood from his mouth, and pointed to the other end of the darkened hallway.
'That way!' he said, grabbing up an oil lantern. 'Will there be others?'
'Undoubtedly,' Porter said.
Max Filador led them down the narrow corridor with Doctor Porter at the rear. The doctor quickly reloaded her guns as they ran. A snarl came from the darkness behind them, and she fired off another round.
Reaching a door at the end, they burst out into an alleyway, and Jane heaved in great lungfuls of air. The stairwell had been stiflingly claustrophobic, almost like being in a tomb. Porter tried to slam the door shut, but the vampire made the mistake of sticking its head through the gap. The doctor produced her blade and removed the head in a single cut of the weapon.
'Hungry little monsters,' she said. 'Now, let's make haste.'
They sprinted back to the Fruitful Vine. Eddy took the reins while the rest of them dived into the coach. Porter issued an address to Eddy, and then they were off, rattling through the labyrinthine streets of London.
Max Filador grabbed Doctor Porter's arm. 'Will,' he said sternly. 'You've done me a great disservice.'
'What do you mean?'
'You've cost that young woman her life.'
Porter was grim. 'That dear girl's death was not my fault. That was Dracula and his converts.'
'Dracula? Is that his name?'
'I believe him to be one of the world's most deadly vampires. He needs to be stopped. We need your help if we're to stand any chance of defeating him.'
Max Filador sighed. 'I suppose I owe it to dear Lilian,' he said, shaking his head. 'I will help you, but then I must resume my life.'
'Of course.'
Clattering through the darkened streets, Jane was suddenly struck by a bout of tiredness. It had been a strange day, and they had not made any headway in tracking down Cassandra.
'Doctor,' she said to the woman opposite. 'How has any of this helped us find Cassandra?'
'I have a method, but you must trust me. We're going into war, and we must be prepared, or we will not survive.'
They continued until they reached the docks near the river. Disembarking, they followed Max to the doors of a nearby warehouse. He opened a great lock, pushed the door across, and went in to light a lamp. The others followed him inside as the interior blossomed to life.
Jane expected him to light another lamp, but almost by magic, another distant lamp came to life. It was followed by another, and then another. Within a minute, a dozen lamps were illuminating the cavernous room. The light they provided was brighter than anything Jane had ever seen.
'They're Argand lamps,' Max explained. 'Invented by a Frenchman. I simply found a way to connect them in tandem.'
The light impressed Jane, but not as much as the contents of the warehouse.
'My goodness,' she breathed.
The warehouse contained a workshop with an industrial forge, an anvil, and other pieces of metal shaping equipment. A dozen different types of machines and devices lay about, many of which Jane could not guess their purpose. Something hung from the ceiling that looked like the pair of wings that da Vinci had designed for flying. There was a broad workbench covered in pieces of leather and cutting tools.
'This is where the magic happens,' Doctor Porter said to Jane.
'This is where the science happens,' Max corrected her. 'My father was an amateur inventor himself, but still succeeded in building a career in the navy. More than I've done with magic and illusion.'
'You had me fooled,' Jane said.
He smiled gently. 'Then my task is complete. Now, I'll make tea, and you take some seats.'
'I'll make tea,' Eddy said. 'You get to work.'
As Eddy headed off to boil water, Max turned to the ladies. 'Then I'd best begin by taking some measurements,' he said. 'Doctor Porter, your equipment is fully functional?'
'Yes,' Porter said, 'although my parts could use some lubrication.'
'I'm sure,' Max said and turned to Jane. 'May I take your measurements, Jane?'
'Miss Austen,' she corrected him. 'And what do you mean by measurements?'
Doctor Porter flicked out the ornate triple-barrelled guns that she kept under her cloak. Pulling back her sleeves, she revealed an intricate set of springs and an automatic reloading system.
'We're going to kit you up so you can fight vampires,' the doctor said.
Jane remembered the doctor had mentioned she had a friend who was an inventor. Max Filador must be him.
'So, we're going into battle against Dracula and his followers?' Jane said.
'Let Max take your measurements while I help Eddy with the tea. Then we'll talk.'
The doctor went to assist Eddy as Max unfurled a tape measure. He measured Jane's arms and her torso. She held her arms out while he wrapped the measure around her waist and bust line.
Jane felt her face flushing. She had been fitted for clothing before, but never by a man. Max Filador had a particular smell, a rather masculine odour that she found not entirely unpleasant. Following his instructions, she yielded to his measuring her thighs before he returned to her bust again.
'Is there any particular reason why you're paying so much attention to my bust?' she inquired.
'I was just curious about the size. It's much larger than I imagined.'
Jane aimed a sharp kick at his right ankle.
'Ow!'
'You deserve that, Mister Filador! Keep your eyes on the job!'
Eddy and Doctor Porter returned with tea. Max took a few more measurements before dashing over to another part of the workshop. He started up his machinery and set to grinding pipes and brass tubing while Jane and the others drank tea.
'You asked if we're going into battle?' Doctor Porter said. 'The answer is yes. Before doing that, you need to be fully armed, both with weapons and knowledge.'
'All right,' Jane said, evenly. 'What do I need to know?'