Chapter 81

~~Jack~~

Waking up beside Antoinette was a good way to start the night, normally. Waking up next to the beautiful seductress should have been the best thing ever, like usual. Not this night.

He sat up, as did she, and the two of them looked at each other for a little while before she nodded, and got dressed. A perfect opportunity to watch the busty demoness move around naked, normally. He didn’t watch. Couldn’t get into the mood, couldn’t find himself wanting to do anything, except check the latest news.

He put on his suit, as did she, and the two of them walked to a neighboring room, smaller, an office environment with a few chairs and a desk where the Prince had a laptop. She probably had a dozen laptops, now that he thought about it. If you had the money to waste, luxuries became the norm.

Come on, don’t look for reasons to be upset. Sit down, shut the fuck up, and wait for her to tell you what the latest news is on your mother.

“No change,” she said. Straight to the point, thank god. “Do you wish to see?”

“ ... yeah.” It might make it a bit easier to swallow, if he was looking at a computer screen instead of seeing it in the flesh.

Sighing with every step, he walked around the desk of wood, and stood beside the Prince. His mom was on the screen, deathly still, tube still jammed into her throat, needle still jammed into her arm, same as it was when he saw her last night.

“It is a miracle she is alive, my love,” the Prince said.

“Yeah, it is. Stabbed a ... a fucking ridiculous amount of times.” Easier to say that, than to say the name of the person responsible. “I ... I think I’ll do another sweep with the team, then visit her again, later tonight.”

“I see.” Antoinette leaned back in her fancy chair, and sighed, combing her hair over her chest in that cute way she did. No matter how dire the situation, he supposed he couldn’t help but notice things like that about her. It made the current situation bearable, if only just.

“I still ... still don’t know if ... if I can ... if I can even ask...” Groaning louder, he walked back around the desk and sat in one of the chairs. He wheeled it in close, and put both his palms onto the hard desk. If he could look her in the eye, maybe he could say the words. “I...” Nope, fail. He lowered his head and set his forehead to the cold surface.

“Are you worried about how she would respond, if she discovered her daughter was dead? That, her Requiem would be nothing but pain, and lead to a short second life at her own hand?”

He winced, loudly, as she tore the band-aid off with speed, but it took all his arm hair with it. It was awesome that she knew to be so direct with him, that she didn’t let her desire to coddle him stop her from treating him like an adult, and a fellow Kindred, but damn. “I ... I don’t know. Mary’s dead, and that ... that’s going to kill her. It’s really going to fucking kill her. Far as I could tell from my visits, those two were really becoming a pair.”

“Mother and daughter share a unique bond. I have known many, even some who were both Kindred, mother siring daughter.”

“Really?”

“Oui. The mother could not bear to part with her daughter, and sired her once she had several years of a second life to her name.”

“That sounds sweet ... there’s a but coming, isn’t there.”

“In a manner of speaking. Gloria’s sire stayed with her for a decade, but with time, decided to leave for a different city.”

“Oh, Gloria. Oh ... I had no idea. Must have been a pretty huge fallout between those two, for her mom to risk leaving Dolareido.” Leaving a city was a terrifying prospect.

Nodding, Antoinette closed the laptop, and stood. He followed after her, and when she held out her hand for him, he took it. Holding hands. It used to feel naughty, like a precursor to sex. Tonight, it felt like a lifeline stopping him from drowning in the shit show. So fucking sick and tired of shit shows.

“People change when they are embraced, and become Kindred. You have changed. Your mother would change. And, as you know, each blood clan would affect her in different ways. One of the many reasons Kindred spend time with a potential childe, groom them, learn about them to discover how they would respond to a second life. We have none of that with your mother.”

“I know, I know. And ... fuck, I know. It’s a horrible thing to request, but ... but...”

“Who would you ask?”

“To sire her? I ... fuck, I don’t know.” He wanted to say her, and their conversation had already implied it, but asking that felt so wrong.

“You have made many friends, my love, many who would say they owe you much. Consider who you ask, and consider carefully. Were you ... to ask me, to sire her, I would be terribly tempted. It has been centuries since I have sired anyone, and I am more than capable. But she would be my childe, and all the things that includes; a dangerous life for anyone.”

Dangerous, and straight up twisted and weird, he was sure. Antoinette was a dragon, a powerful member of an extremely secretive covenant, who researched things that’d make anyone’s skin crawl. Having his mom pulled into that world would be horrible. Julias had been upfront with Jack about what sort of life he was asking of him, even if he didn’t get the chance to explain it. Not a life of sunshine and rainbows, in the Invictus, and he bet being a dragon was harder.

“I ... don’t know what to do, Antoinette.”

“Neither do I, my love.”

Groaning, he walked toward the door. “I’m out to do another sweep.”

“Take care, little Ventrue, but come to a decision quickly. We do not know how long your mother will survive.”

A time limit on everything he did. Lovely.

~~Julias~~

He held Triss close, and squeezed.

“Ah! Hey, gonna pop, here.”

The three of them were in his bunker, deep underneath his mansion. They hadn’t had much time to talk, the night before. He’d come out of his planning meeting with Maria and Michael pretty damn late, and Triss showed up with Jen not long after. They had a total of twenty minutes before sunset, and they spent it summarizing the night’s events.

But this time, they had thirty minutes before they had to resume their tasks. Enough time to enjoy themselves a little, before they let the weary shit of the world start to ruin their night, as it inevitably would.

He squeezed her closer, spooned her, pressed her tight to his body until he couldn’t get any closer, and he nuzzled his head onto hers, against her hair, his cheek to her forehead. Never going to let her go. And with how big his arm was compared to her, he could squeeze a lot of her, pressing against her whole torso until she was wriggling, pinned.

“Looking to fuck?” she said. “Jen, get the lube. I think we got time for a quickie.”

“Nope, not looking for sex.”

The Nosferatu groaned, and tried to wriggle away. He didn’t let her.

“You sure? Feels like you do.”

“Nope, just looking to hold the woman I love more than anything, as tight as I can.”

Jen sat up, and watched with big, puppy-dog eyes as she got dressed. Not a word, though. Sometimes his fellow Ventrue preferred to stay quiet and listen to their dumb pillow talk. He appreciated it.

“Yeah, I can see that, ya dumbass.” But, much as she talked like she didn’t like it, she gave up eventually, and pressed her back into him. “You just going to stand there and watch? Help me out, Jen!”

“Nope. Too cute.” Once she had her suit pants on, Jen sat down on the bed, and continued watching, topless. Far be it from her to pass up an opportunity to show off how good she looked wearing pants and nothing but.

He didn’t plan on having sex, but, with Jen there, watching, warm smile on her face, and heavy breasts hanging underneath her chest with her forward lean, he might just.

Except, not. Much as he kind of wanted to have sex with his lover, as he often did at the crack of dusk, last night’s bullshit was too heavy a wet blanket.

“What’re you gonna do?” Triss said, reading his mind. Or, more likely, he wore his moroseness on his face.

“About Jack?”

“Yeah. Kid must be hurting like crazy.”

“Still don’t know. It might be best for everyone if she dies.” A fucking horrible way to look at it, but the sooner Jack lost his ties to his first life, the sooner he could obtain safety and distance from it. “He can’t sire her, too young to handle the strain; it’d break him. And I’d rather not, not after having sired Jack not so long ago.” Siring wasn’t only draining, it was taxing on the soul, or whatever it was inside a Kindred that kept the Beast under control.

“Yeah. Understandable.”

Jen climbed back across the bed, and lay where she’d been a few minutes ago. “I suppose it would all depend on how his mom would react to it. Losing her daughter would be devastating. But, knowing she might be able to get revenge? More of a dad trait than a mom one, but, I wouldn’t put it past a mom to want some good old, classic vengeance.” Nodding, she sat cross legged beside Triss, smiling down at her. Putting on pants was probably her way of saying she wasn’t going to have sex, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try and instigate it between him and Triss.

“Don’t think most women are capable of revenge?” Triss scoffed, and tried sit up, but he didn’t let her, forcing a squeak out of her as he squeezed her tight to his chest. “I would totally fuck someone up if they wronged me.”

“Yes, but you’re a tomboy. A proper lady doesn’t get her hands dirty.” Laughing, Jen reached out, and flicked Triss in the nose. Julias squeezed with both arms around the Nos preemptively, knowing Triss would try and leap out to tackle Jen. That she did, and almost took him with her, strong as she was. But the odd angle, them on their sides on the bed, prevented the attack.

“Oh you bitch. Get your big tits over here so I can body slam you. I’m gonna ... gonna...” Her voice faded away, as Julias started to kiss her neck. He couldn’t risk releasing her from his embrace, but he was clear to lean down over her neck as he spooned her, and kiss her jawline, her neck, under her ear, and pluck at her many earrings a few times with his lips.

They were all feeling a little down, after hearing about Jack’s first family, but a little neck kissing and snuggling in bed could cure many wounds; at least for them, the spectators to Jack’s misery.

“Talk to Natasha yet?” Jen said as she lay back down on her side by Triss. Head propped up on a palm, elbow to the bed, she took advantage of her friend’s incapacitated state, and used her free hand to begin plucking at one of Triss’s nipple piercings.

“No, I haven’t,” he said. “I know I should, considering what you told me. It’s been ... weird, I suppose, between the three of us since the changes. I’m Jessy’s boss now, and we rarely talk outside official conversations. I almost never speak with Natasha.”

“You should, ass.” Triss elbowed him in the side, head turning to glare up at him. “Thought she was your friend?”

“She was. Is. It’s been difficult to step away from my position, and...”

The two girls glared at him. Apparently, he’d done something offensive.

Jen slid in closer, and closer, until she was pressing her body to Triss’s. “Natasha is nice. She deserves a good friend, so, be her friend.” She offered him the same nose flick, as well.

“In case you haven’t noticed, most of my free time is spent trying to satisfy two Kindred women who keep sleeping over.”

Jen laughed, and gave Triss’s nipple a hard enough pluck to both make her breast ripple when she let go, and also earn a feminine squeak from the trapped woman. “I’d say invite her over, but I think she’s getting more than she can handle with her two boyfriends.”

“They being too aggressive with her?” Julias said, eyes opening wider. Just like that, like someone pinged a tuning fork, he was ready to get involved if someone was hurting Tash.

Triss shook her head, hands reaching out to shove Jen away. “Nah. If anything, they’re bringing out a more confident side to her. She had no trouble hanging with the four of us.”

“That’s good. I’m happy she’s making progress in her new life.” As he said that, his eyes lowered a bit, and a hint of edge in his voice he didn’t plan to have there came out.

“You’re sad she’s gone, aren’t you?” Triss said.

He nodded, and set his cheek down on her head again. “Yeah. I understand why she left, since Maria betrayed her, but ... yeah.”

“I wonder about Garry sometimes. I left him high and dry.”

Growling, Julias set his lips onto her neck. Not a growl for sex, but a growl for frustration. “Your boss is far too sneaky. The Invictus know a lot about the Carthians, and we know Garry has dealings with Jacob, but ... well, I can’t talk too much about it, except to say, your boss is fucking sneaky as shit. I’m sure Garry only gave you up to pay off some hefty favors.”

“Ooh. I’m worth a lot?”

Nodding, he opened his mouth, and bit down on her neck, gently. No fangs of course, but it was enough to make her squeal, a sound she rarely made.

“A lot,” Jen said. Now that Triss was distracted, Jen slid in closer again, and set her lips onto the other side of Triss’s jaw.

“You talk to any of your old Carthian buds anymore?”

“No.” Triss tried pushing Jen away again, but the other Ventrue refused, sneaking her hands around Triss’s body and holding tight so she could squash herself to her. Nos squished between two Ventrue. “Didn’t have friends, not really. Garry himself was a bit of a friend, but even then, that wasn’t really ... friendship, I guess. I hung out in a fucking catacomb mostly, remember?”

Jen laughed, even as she nuzzled her lips into Triss’s neck, next to Julias’s. “I bet he misses you. If we’re going to nag at Julias to talk to Tash again, maybe you should do the same for Garry?”

“Maybe I should. Maybe I—Jen, the fuck, girl? The fuck did you put pants on for if you want to bone so badly?” Triss gave up on pushing Jen away, but did her best to throw her hands up in an exasperated ‘what the fuck’.

“Sorry. Just, the way you were bossing everyone around last night? Arg, so hot. If we had more time when we got back, I would have demanded sex.” Jen lifted her head enough to put a kiss on Julias’s cheek, winked at him, and set her lips onto Triss’s proper.

“Triss was the boss? I know you said you were looking for easy marks in Devil’s Corner, but I assumed Tash was in charge, or maybe Othello.”

“Mhmm!” Jen had to moan to get through Triss’s lips, before she pulled away. “All Triss. Othello’s just a dog, a lazy one at that, but at least he’s loyal. Aaron’s less lazy, quieter, but I half expect him to push back at some point, like any Gangrel. Tash is Tash. Everyone listened to Triss.”

That was impressive. Triss was strong for her age, thirty-years embraced or not, but to take charge of Tash, a very powerful Mekhet, and Othello, one of the few Kindred in Dolareido to near a hundred years of age? Very impressive.

“Well, I do ... really wanna find those hunters, you know?” Triss said. Much as Jen seemed intent on turning Triss on, the somber weight of present circumstance crushed that kindling fire. “Poor kid must be wrecked.”

Sighing, Julias sat up. Queue for the two of them to sit up as well.

“Yeah, he was. And like Jen said, if she’s sired, she might try and get revenge, maybe try a suicide mission. But assuming she doesn’t, she’s still down a child. Hard as it is to lose a parent, it’s a hundred times worse on a parent to lose a child. She might get Jack back I her life, but she still has to go through the grief of losing her daughter.”

Both women sighed and nodded. The oppressive atmosphere was perfect to get dressed in. Lovely.

A hundred Invictus Kindred, all in the Xnomina lower levels, all fetching pistols, knives — swords for the Mekhet — and some shotguns. No thralls or ghouls. As much as the Invictus had thralls, trained thralls, capable of managing heavy ordnance like fully automatic assault rifles, sniper rifles, and various handheld explosives, they were needed to guard Xnomina, while also patrolling the streets. And thralls would be a liability, when the bullets started flying.

A Gangrel transformation, or a Ventrue dominating enemy hunters, a Daeva or Nosferatu throwing punches that could puncture buildings, or a Mekhet moving at insane speeds while hidden in shadow, these were the tools needed to fight hunters, when going on the offense. On the defense? Then thralls or ghouls could help.

Some people disagreed with him on that, told him teams should bring thralls, like how he had when he visited Azamel. They didn’t understand how different it was, working with a small team of pros, versus a large team of, relative to Kindred, amateurs. Even the most experienced thralls were nothing compared to the Kindred sent on these sweep teams, each a minimum of twenty-years embraced. Even Gloria, assistant and inexperienced, had deadly skills with her use of Obfuscate, and speed.

They could bring the thralls and ghouls if they ever found the hunters, and it turned into a full-on street war. Until then, they had to be tactical, surgical, and use sweep teams. The sweep teams could become strike teams with a single, short order, or could on their own, if circumstances demanded it. They couldn’t switch tactics on a dime if they had to carry a bunch of humans with them.

Julias, Maria, and Michael were in an office that overhung the primary equipment room, with a glass wall that overlooked the many metal shelves. There were enough munitions here to launch a war, if they needed. Enough guns to arm a thousand thralls; more thralls than the Invictus had, but that number was always in flux. Far as Julias knew, they had almost five hundred thralls, and over a hundred ghouls these days. The Carthians didn’t have as many, but then again, maybe they were better at hiding it than the Invictus suspected they were.

“Are you sure you want your childe out there, Mister Mire?” Michael said, standing beside him and looking down at the many Kindred walking about, arming themselves.

“No.”

“Then tell him to stay. All other Kindred his age, and those well above, aren’t going out there.”

That was true, of course. Jack wasn’t even two years embraced, and that meant no one would judge him for staying out of these teams. But, then again. “He’s a Right Hand, and that means responsibility. He’s joining teams because he knows that, not because I told him to.”

Maria didn’t agree, shaking her head. “Or because he’s emotionally compromised.”

“If there’s anyone I trust to keep their head when things get heated, it’s Jack.” Or at least, that’s what he’d like to believe, but recent events had put a dent in that theory. Jack wasn’t as stable as he used to be, quick to anger, quick to argue, and now with his sister dead and mother not far behind, anyone would doubt him. Or, his willingness to be out there, hunting the hunters, despite his age and his predicament, would instill respect and renewed vigor in the other Kindred. Which way it swung would depend on the results.

Julias stepped closer to the glass, and watched the boy check the available armaments. In the old days, Ventrue never did anything with their own hands, always using slaves, thralls, ghouls, and other Kindred to do their bidding. In the new world, guns were a great tool, one Ventrue could take advantage of while the other blood clans used their talents. Mekhet always used swords, due to their speed and stealth. Daeva had the same speed, but the strength of Nosferatu, and usually used their fists. Nosferatu did the same, with the stealth of the Mekhet and the strength of the Daeva. Gangrel were as hard to kill as Ventrue, but could transform in a myriad of ways to unleash chaos, and turn that defense into offense.

The other clans were meant for direct confrontation. The Ventrue were not. They used Dominate to turn unsuspecting victims into slaves, bodyguards, sometimes unwitting spies. That all changed with the invention of guns allowing Ventrue to engage at a distance. Anyone could do a lot of damage to a vampire with a shotgun, especially if they got their hands on acidic shells; the wonders of technology. And, of course, flamethrowers turned any Kindred into a harbinger of death.

Michael’s phone rang. “Hello? ... you serious? Hold on.” He covered the receiver, and looked to Maria and Julias. “Jessy’s in the lobby, says some of the dogs want to get a peek at what’s going on down here.”

Maria, growling like an angry badger, lowered her eyes to her tablet. “Why?”

“Jess says they want to know what sort of weaponry we have. A show of good faith.”

Julias groaned, not too far off from Maria’s noise. “What could they possibly gain by knowing what weapons we have?”

The big guy shrugged. “Probably want to confirm, make sure we’re not bluffing.”

It was just an armament room, meant for standard loadouts. Of all the things Kindred were capable of, of all the things the Invictus were capable of, this was hardly the most dangerous stuff. Secrets capable of toppling massive corporations, experimental weapon designs that incorporated Kindred abilities, potential plans for hostile and non-hostile takeovers of various parts of Dolareido, and many of Xnomina’s illegal activities, were found in different places in the building’s data centers. Then again, knowing Uratha, they didn’t have a hacker, or anyone who understood tech. The damn wolves understood violence, and only violence.

That was better than the Begotten understanding nothing but fear, he supposed.

“Let them in,” he said. It was a power play, Avery proving that she could get her way when she wanted, because they needed her. She was right.

Michael nodded. “Jessy, let them in. Keep an eye on them ... What? Why is he here? Fuck. Fine.”

~~Eric~~

The city waited to one side of him, the forest on the other. He sat upon a shore of pebbles of a small river, the same river where a monster had leapt from to attack him. Good enough reason to get away from the river, but instead, he sat there, and waited. It wasn’t safe there. The monster might come again. Or not, if Fiona was right, and the strange barriers they burrowed through to reach him were damaged and uncrossable in his area. But, when he was dreaming, was he still in that area, where his body was, in a bed? Was his mind, or soul, actually outside of his body, drifting around and pushing against the boundaries of their world?

He didn’t think so, before. In the past, he assumed dreams were just neurological hallucinations. Now, he was half convinced dreams were out-of-body experiences, reaching across ... something, to somewhere, somehow.

He howled at the moon, as any wolf did. If the monster came for him, this time he would be ready for battle. This time he’d summon the gift given to him, and bite into the creature of nightmares, until it was no more. Clara had hurt it, in its nightmare. Maybe he could hurt it here, in his dream.

I need to be able to dream without worry of nightmare invasions, right?

Indeed.

Oh, it’s you again. You vanished when a monster infiltrated my mind, my dreams. Left me to die.

I didn’t leave you. I will never leave my children. I was blocked by that monstrosity of the human mind.

Children?

Your understanding of the world is so small, Eric Tanverson. If only you knew about the places, the worlds beyond, the things between, the eyes and teeth waiting for anything that dares to step beyond their boundaries. The steps I take to keep it all from collapsing, this Fallen World that struggles to exist ... it is not important, not to you. But know that you are one of the Forsaken, Eric, as are your brothers and sisters. Do your duty, and keep balance between the Shadow and the Material.

You didn’t answer my question, and you only add more. Forsaken?

Do your duty, Eric, child. Your predecessors broke the world, and you inherit the sins of your ancestors. And when the fury, or pain, or oceans of misery overwhelm you, remember: breathe. Center yourself, and bathe in its strength. I have gifted you power, and you are to use it. Or don’t, and be lost to its madness.

He snarled as he started to pace the river, looking down at the reflection of the moon upon its small waves. The moon was talking to him, and he was demanding the moon answer his questions. Pretty fucked up.

And if I want to use that power for whatever the fuck I want?

There will be consequences. But it is up to you, what you do with the power of the spirit I have placed within you. Be warned though, if you continue to resist my orders, if you continue to avoid the duty of the Forsaken, I will strip you of many things. The spirit of the wolf will remain, and so too the hunger for violence and flesh, but there will be no more words from me. Cahalith no more, you will be.

And ... if I want to use that power, to have strange sex with a real hot, fun vampire?

If a moon could laugh, it must have sounded like what filled his ears, and his dream. The wind spun around, the clouds whipped away, the river quivered, and the forest beside him twisted. The birds squawked and chirped, and the city beyond went silent, so the forest could make its sounds.

Be careful, Eric.

Yeah, I know. When I’m in that form, the urge to fight and feast is overwhelming, but channeling that into sex with Jessy is—

Be careful, Eric. This forest of metal and concrete will become a fissure, and things beyond reckoning will crawl up from the depths, clawing at the cracks opened for them. If that comes to pass, no words will be able to describe the hell wrought.

Yeah, his dreams were weird. He was talking to some sort of alien entity, except it was in his head, and their back and forth wasn’t words so much as intersecting thoughts. Forsaken? Children? The Fallen World? The fuck was any of that?

Groaning, he reached over for Kat, and stroked her around the ears. Purring like a motor in seconds.

“Kat, don’t ever ... get crazy on me, would you? I can only handle so much crazy right now.”

More purrs. If there was one thing he could trust in his life to be consistent, reliable, and loving, it was Kat.

As the sun started to set, he stepped into the shower. Another night at Bloodlust, another night wondering what the fuck he was doing with his life.

That kid, Jack. His mom was in the same hospital as Eric’s dad. Unlike his dad, she’d been put there for legit reasons. It almost made him feel embarrassed to visit his old man, when other people were dying in there because of real problems. Getting stabbed an absurd amount of times? A real problem. Refusing to take care of yourself and giving up on life? Not a real problem.

Christ, he needed to let this go. Course, doing that would be difficult while he put in the money to keep the old man alive.

He turned on the shower, took a breath, and let the hot water wash over him. No matter how many reassurances he was given that thralls were watching this building like a hawk, with snipers and multiple levels of digital surveillance, it was hard to feel completely comfortable. His territory was safe, but only relative to other places in Dolareido. Maybe he should find a hole in the ground to sleep in? Jessy said some Kindred did that, found random places to dig in and bunker down for the day.

Don’t do that. You don’t have any practice in that sort of shit. You’re a city boy, through and through. A forest of metal and concrete, right? More like a jungle.

Groaning louder, he set both palms to the wall, and let the water flow over his naked body. Jessy didn’t fuck him last night. First night in a while he didn’t have an orgasm. Honestly, he’d been happy for the break. Learning about the kid’s family had yanked the sex mood out of him, anyway.

Knocks at the apartment door. He stood up straight, but rolled his eyes as the door opened, hinges giving away how quickly, and how far; it was Jessy.

“Yo Eric!” she called out. “Ah, shower. Awesome.” And in to the massive bathroom she came, no hesitation, no warning.

It made him smile.

“Hey.”

“So, I’m heading out to do another sweep of North Side with Hella and Jonah. And I want you to come with.”

“Figured you might ask that.” Time to see how this relationship was going to work, when her vampire life started to affect his. “Why should I do that?”

“Oh, hardball? I get it.” Winking at him, she threw off her blouse, and Blushed Life as she took off her bra with all the grace of a bulldozer.

“Uh, not looking to trade work favors for sex favors.” God damn it, she knew his weakness. Not that it was a secret, that men had a second brain, one in their dick, and this brazen woman was going to delight in exploiting how stupid that second brain was. Lemming off a cliff.

“Not trading. This is gamesmanship.” She tossed aside her suit pants and underwear along with her socks, so she was completely naked. The abs, the large breasts, the curvy and muscular legs, tiny waist, the extreme hourglass figure of an athlete meets model, it was too much. And while some guys didn’t like muscle on their girls, to him, she looked fucking amazing.