For two whole weeks of her final summer before senior year, seventeen-year-old Lika was forced to crash with her older brother, Gera, out in the middle of nowhere. To be exact, they were stuck on a homestead with the ridiculous name of Pyatiizbyanka. Lika was dying of boredom and utterly convinced her brother had lost his marbles with his endless, stupid rules. But then the truth came out. Gera wasn’t just some controlling neat freak; he was a sorcerer, officially appointed to keep the local supernatural entities in check. Once Lika found out—and especially after she met Gera’s partner, Vasily—everything changed. Boredom was officially a thing of the past. Lika was thrilled that Gera had finally given her permission to go out in the evenings—and, more importantly—ta-da!—after sunset. Sure, he still tried to herd her back inside by midnight, but if he was around or if Vasily was hanging out at their place, she could easily stretch her curfew. It was all because just the day before, Gera had loaded her up with a ridiculous amount of protective charms. He hung a bunch of stone and wooden pendants on leather cords around her neck, and slapped three braided friendship bracelets on each wrist. To top it off, he added an ancient silver cross, giving her strict orders never to take any of it off. Not even when she went for a swim. All these wards made Lika feel like a low-budget witch, but since they looked cool and unusual, she didn't argue. The previous evening, while walking back from the local grocery shack, Lika ran into a cute guy who introduced himself as Valery. He was average height, looked about sixteen, and had messy dark hair and deep brown eyes. He was a bit too pale and skinny, but these days, that’s pretty standard for guys who spend their entire lives glued to video games. He seemed completely harmless and actually made a pretty good impression. So, Lika graciously allowed him to tag along for the remaining three hundred yards between the store and Gera’s gate. Swinging her grocery bag, Lika talked his ear off. "Yeah, I’m just crashing at my bro’s place. The rents bailed to Egypt. Without me, can you believe it? They wouldn't even trust me to stay home by myself. So now I’m stuck hanging out in the boonies." "On vacation?" her new acquaintance asked, listening intently. "Yep, the last summer of freedom. Then it’s finals, cramming, and peace out, high school!" "Where are you from?" "Volgograd." "Oh, no way, same here!" Valery said, lighting up. "Though I dropped out of school last year. I’m at the con now, studying music." "Wow! What's your major?" "Piano." "Cool! Seriously! My mom finished music school too, but now she totally freezes up if you ask her to play. I’m fine just listening, though. I managed to dodge that bullet entirely." Chatting about nothing, they reached the front yard. Lika walked through the gate while Valera stayed out on the street. She fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously, while Valera’s gaze drifted thoughtfully over her face, eventually settling on her neck. "You’ve got a little spider crawling through your hair," he noted casually. "Eek! Get it off!" Lika squealed, jumping back. "Get it off me!" Valera reached out, brushing a stray strand as if flicking something away. He blew into his empty palm, then reached for her neck again, his fingertips tracing the skin right over her carotid artery. Lika shivered at his touch—it felt like a sudden prickle of tiny needles. Leaning his forearms against the wooden gate, he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Why don’t you invite me inside?" Lika hesitated. Technically, Gera might blow a fuse. He had warned her about all kinds of sketchy characters... but Valera wasn't like that, right? He was looking at her so intensely that despite her doubts, she decided to go for it. She opened her mouth to invite him in, but right then, something whizzed past her ear, and a ripe tomato smacked her new admirer square in the forehead. Tomato juice and pulp exploded everywhere, staining Valera’s crisp white T-shirt a messy, bright crimson. "Gera, what the heck?! Are you out of your mind?" Lika spun around to face her brother. "Just in time!" Gera said, calmly tossing a second tomato in his palm. "Alright, Valera! Pick up your jaw and pull those fangs back in. Have you completely lost your nerve? Do you have any idea whose sister you're drooling over?" "Alright, alright, boss! Message received, I get it!" Valera raised his hands in instant surrender. "I’m already gone!" The guy turned on his heel and practically sprinted down the dirt road. "Gera! What on earth was that? Care to explain?" "Lika! How many times do I have to tell you that things aren’t always what they seem? You can’t just let anyone cross the threshold," Gera said, putting his hands on his hips and towering over his sister. "What’s the big deal?" she asked, staring at him blankly. "What did Valera even do to you?" "He’s a vampire—that’s what," Gera dropped the bombshell. "A real one. And it looks like he wasn't hitting on you for your charming personality." "No way!" Lika gasped. "A vampire?! It’s the middle of the day. The sun hasn't even gone down yet." "It doesn’t need to be pitch black. The sun dipped behind White Mountain, and that's enough—the shadow stretches all the way to the Don River," Gera nodded. "Vampires only burn in direct sunlight, not daylight in general. Valera is perfectly safe in the shade, which is why he crawled out. To hunt." "So... he wanted to bite me?" Lika went as pale as the vampire himself. "He wouldn't have drained you, and he wouldn't risk turning you. He’d be too scared of breaking the local supernatural treaties. But he absolutely could have stolen a few sips," her brother explained. "That’s why he was begging you to invite him into the yard. A bloodsucker can’t cross the property line without an explicit invitation. So watch who you let in." "Holy crap!" Lika managed to choke out, totally stunned. "How am I supposed to live with this now?" "You’ll be fine, sis!" Gera threw an arm around her shoulders. "I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll provide all the magical protection I can muster."

Later that evening, Gera called Lika for dinner. He had set the table in the screened-in porch next to the summer kitchen. It was actually incredibly cozy. The traditional brick oven, which took up almost half the kitchen, was still radiating heat—which, to be honest, was the last thing they needed in the July heat. But the food cooked in it was so incredibly delicious that Lika was more than willing to put up with the sweat. Finding out that her big brother wasn't just a decent cook, but an absolute culinary wizard, was a fantastic surprise. She had already raved about his fresh bread that morning. It seemed like a basic loaf of white bread, but Gera’s version came out snowy white on the inside with a perfect golden crust, incredibly fluffy, and with a unique, mouth-watering aroma of wild hops. "It’s because of the sourdough starter; it's brewed with hops," her brother explained when Lika asked about the amazing smell. They had the same bread for dinner, and it hadn’t lost a bit of its freshness. Gera had also baked a few large crucian carp in rich sour cream, tossed a fresh tomato and cucumber salad generously loaded with green onions, basil, and parsley, and drizzled it with rich, bright yellow mustard oil. On top of that, he set down a massive bowl of boiled baby potatoes tossed with chopped dill, with thin pats of butter melting and pooling all over them. Lika’s mouth instantly watered at the sight of this feast. She washed her hands and sat down, a plate of perfectly browned fish appearing in front of her right away. "Help yourself!" Gera said. "Grab as many potatoes and salad as you want." Just then, Vasily walked onto the porch and plopped down on the bench right next to Lika. "Gera, you’re a sadist!" he announced. "I’m literally drowning in my own drool right now!" "Then eat," Gera snorted, sliding a plate with two whole fish over to him. "Dig in!" Taking his place at the head of the table, Gera served himself some fish and sides. "Oh my god! This absolutely slaps!" Lika groaned after her first bite. "I mean, it's delicious! A total calorie bomb, obviously..." "Hey, we can treat ourselves once in a while," Vasily said cheerfully, having already demolished almost an entire carp at lightning speed. "Like a certain famous chef used to say: the best food is fatty food. Especially if it’s smothered in mayo." "I prefer sour cream," Gera said with a shrug. "And I respect you for that!" Vasily said, saluting him with a potato speared on his fork. They were happily eating their dinner when the mosquito netting on the door parted, and the head of a young ram poked through the gap. "Baa-shka, what do you want?" Vasily asked. "Baaah!" the ram bleated, stepping onto the porch with a distinct click-clack of his hooves. Lika picked up a sprig of parsley from the table and held it out to him. Baa-shka sniffed it, curled his upper lip in utter disdain, and gave a loud snort. "Well, excuse you! He doesn't want it!" she said, playfully offended. "Picky, aren't we? How about a slice of cucumber?" "He’s craving something else entirely right now," Vasily chuckled. "Forget it!" Gera cut him off. "I just fed him that three days ago." With that, he tore the tail fin off his fish and held it out to the ram. "Here you go, you little glutton." The ram snapped up the treat, and Lika could swear she saw... fangs flash inside the animal's mouth. Crunching on the fried fish tail, Baa-shka trotted around the table and came up to Lika. "Gera, your ram is kind of creepy," she noted. "He eats fish. Does he seriously have fangs, or am I seeing things?" "Does anything even surprise you at this point?" Vasily laughed. "Honestly, I should probably just stop being surprised altogether," she said thoughtfully. "Good idea," Vasily agreed. "Since Gera finally decided to break his cover." "What choice did I have?" Gera shrugged. "If Lika knows what to expect, it’ll probably make things easier not just for her, but for the two of us as well." Vasily murmured something incoherent, his mouth full as he started working on his second carp. "Gera, where did you even get Baa-shka? Is he really a carnivore?" Lika asked, automatically scratching the ram’s forehead right between his horns. Baa-shka completely stopped chewing. His mouth fell slightly open, and his eyes glazed over in pure bliss. "I brought him back from my field assignment," Gera began. "Before our fifth year, we had to do a rural teaching term. Basically, students were required to spend a month working at a village school. But they arranged a parallel track for me." "At the Magic Academy," Vasily added secretively. "Seriously??" Lika’s eyes went wide. "Your brother is a bona fide sorcerer. But even he needs an education. To cast spells properly, among other things." Vasily, the Bayun cat-spirit Junior, looked back and forth between Lika and Gera. "Wait, you guys never told her anything at all?" "Mom preferred to keep it quiet. And Dad... I think he chose to just forget the whole thing," Gera said evasively. "Anyway, back to the story. So, we arrived at Mayorov settlement—me and Vasya. They sent both of us there. It was also a chance to study alternative life forms in the area." "Meaning vampires, field spirits, noon wraiths, and all that good stuff," Vasily chipped in. "On our very first evening, we went fishing, and we also planned to say hello to the local Vodyanoy—the water spirit—and give him a token of appreciation from our dean." "A water spirit? In the middle of the dry steppes? Do they even live here? For real?" Lika double-checked. "Why wouldn't they?" Vasily shrugged. "Besides the Don River, we have plenty of small streams and deep oases. That’s exactly where they hang out." "Is there one in our creek too?" Lika asked, looking a bit stunned. "In Lipovy Creek? What, do you want an introduction?" "Alright, no introductions without me!" Gera said, slapping his palm on the table. "Anyway, do you want to hear the rest of the story about Baa-shka or not?" "Yes!" Lika and Vasily blurted out in unison. "So, we’re walking along with all our fishing rods and crayfish traps, and a flock of sheep passes us. They go by, we keep walking. Then we spot a lamb lying in a ditch by the road. Barely breathing. We look closer, and his back leg is broken. Vasya, of course, wanted to eat him..." "Vasya!" Lika cried out, horrified. "Hey, what did Vasya do?! I was being humane! Just putting the poor thing out of its misery." "Well, I felt bad for him. Total bad luck since birth if the shepherds just abandoned him like that," Gera continued. "We patched him up and took him to the old lady’s house where we were renting rooms." "Could you have just brought him fishing with you?" Lika asked. "Oh sure, and then we’d have to explain to the water spirit that the lamb wasn’t a sacrifice for him," Vasily said, shaking his messy head. "Yeah, that would’ve just caused extra trouble. He might’ve taken offense," Gera agreed. "Anyway, we got the lamb healthy again. We kept him on a leash out in the yard to graze. And that’s where Valera bit him." "Valera?" Lika was surprised. "The skinny guy who tried to pick me up yesterday?" "The very same. He’s our resident vampire." "A half-baked one," Vasily muttered. "If that pickup artist tries anything with you again, I’ll knock his teeth down his throat!" "Oh, drop it! I already gave him a very detailed, very hands-on explanation," Gera waved it off. "The actual half-baked vampire around here is Baa-shka. Valera bit him, sure, but the turning process never fully finished. It’s actually not that simple. Not everyone who gets bitten by a vampire becomes a bloodsucker themselves. Valera is just a walking disaster, honestly. He got turned not too long ago himself—ran into some ancient, powerful vampire at a nightclub. And that was that. Once he figured out what was happening to him, he came to his grandmother’s house in the settlement, hoping to lay low and go cold turkey. He hoped he wouldn't turn into a monster, but it didn't work out. He started quietly catching livestock and draining just a little bit of blood. That was the only way he could manage to keep from attacking people. That's how he snuck up on Baa-shka." "Yeah, and I almost killed the little rat on the spot!" Vasily struck his fist into his palm. "I was just walking back from a village dance, and I see him holding the lamb's mouth shut so he can't cry out, while sinking his teeth right into his throat. I actually had to shift forms!" "Oh man, they got into a massive brawl! Howling, screaming, ginger fur and tufts of wool flying everywhere!" Gera chuckled. "I literally had to cast a Silence spell, otherwise they would’ve woken up half the settlement! It was a nightmare pulling them apart. Then I had to calm Vasya down, bring the vampire back to his senses, and deal with all the magical paperwork for him." "While all that was going on, we noticed Baa-shka’s fangs starting to grow," Vasily said, reaching for yet another fish. "And he stopped coming out of the barn during the day. We realized something was seriously wrong. So we took him to the regional superintendent. They confirmed the lamb wasn’t ordinary anymore." "Thanks to the local Vodyanoy, he personally dropped some Living Water into the lamb’s mouth and stopped the transformation. In the end, they let me keep him—Baa-shka, not Valera—so I could monitor him," Gera said, pouring Lika and himself some aromatic wild thyme tea. "He never grew into a full-sized ram. He doesn't attack people or animals. He gets by just fine on the cup of blood I save for him whenever I slaughter a chicken for soup. Otherwise, he eats grass in the garden at night, and hay and feed in the winter. But he won't set foot outside the barn during the day. And he can see in the dark like a cat, and he absolutely loves fish. So yeah, that’s our vampire ram." "Well, did you guys pass your internship?" Lika asked, taking a sip from her mug. "You bet we did!" Vasily puffed out his chest proudly. "First of all, we brought back a mountain of research data." He bent a finger down. "Second, we completed a full registry of the local supernatural population. Third, we brought the dean a whole crate of dried fish. And fourth, we successfully placed an unregistered vampire under official supervision." "And Baa-shka speaks for himself," Gera smiled. "Oh yeah, and our history professor’s school teaching stint went spectacularly well, too. The high school girls were practically loitering under his windows all through September." Lika gave her brother an appreciative look. Tall and lean, but with a great build, sharp features, jet-black hair, and striking blue eyes, he was genuinely gorgeous. If he weren't her brother, she would definitely have a massive crush on him. "They were loitering under my windows, while you were the one running after girls," Gera snorted. "Testing out your feline magic on them. Don't look at me—I could never compete with Vasya!" Vasily widened his eyes in mock terror, frantically signaling his friend with his eyebrows. He was desperately trying to get him not to blow his cover in front of Lika, but Gera pretended not to notice the cat-spirit’s wild facial expressions.