Chapter 2

Fenris stepped out of the elevator that led back into the Asylum Nightclub in Santa Monica. After her little meeting with Therese, she had an overwhelming need to get the hell out of there. Just the same, she took a moment to scan the Club. It was unlikely that any threats would exist here; the Asylum was named one of the sites for Elysium by Keeper VV, after all, but there was no point in taking anything for granted. Besides, she might get lucky, remove an immediate threat against her Majesty, and subsequently be released from that stupid boon.

No such luck tonight. One thing she had to admit, though; ever since VV took on the role of Keeper of Elysium, the sites marked as Elysium had gotten noticeably cleaner. This place was especially noticeable. There was still a faint stench of lingering madness, but Fenris expected that there was nothing to be done about that, given the place was owned by a couple of Malks. The other smells that once seemed almost part of the Club were virtually unnoticeable now, and that helped. What made things even better was the choices VV made to clean up with; not anything perfumed, which only masked odors, but product that actually neutralized odors. The closest thing to perfume her other than whatever the guests were wearing was that peppermint smell that lingered around the Vooreman sisters. Speaking of which, Fenris couldn't see Jeanette anywhere in the Club. Not that that meant much; it was crowded, and she could be obfuscated for some reason.

Satisfied there were no immediate risks to Therese here tonight, Fenris made haste to get out of the Club and into the night air of Santa Monica. She barely got the alley beside the club, the one that would lead to Vandal's Blood Bank if you went in the right direction when she caught the unmistakable and welcome scent of a campfire.

"I kind of figured you'd be here." Just Mike said as he stepped out of the shadows.

For crying out loud; that sounds like yet another assignment coming up! How the hell did I become everyone's go-to girl?

Since Therese became Prince, it seemed to her that whenever something needed doing, she got called in. Not only was she responsible for her highness's personal security, Therese had her monitoring Damsel, and scouting the old LaCroix building. On top of that, Cammie pulled her aside at Kaila's party. He had something for her, too. It was presented to her in the form of a deal; he wanted her help to find a specific article, and in exchanged he offered to buy the boon she owed the Prince, and then declare that boon paid in full. In short, if she could find his missing heart, he would set her free. That sounded like a sweet deal, and she didn't doubt that Cameron would honor it; he might be a scumbag, but he wasn't the type to break a deal. The problem was there was no guarantee that Therese would sell the boon. Cammie might think he has that sale arranged, but the Prince was highly unstable; and she was getting worse steadily. Now it was starting to look like the Gangrel Primogen was calling on her for something else. She wanted to tell Mike to give it to someone else, but this was a Clan thing.

"Hey, Mike" she did her best to smile. "To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?" She could just hope her sarcasm came off as playful flippancy.

"I know you've got a lot on your plate already, Fenris." He said, ignoring her tone completely. "If it made sense to hand this to anyone else I would, but you've got the mouth closest to Therese's ear. The Clan has picked up the scent of what might be an unacknowledged lick moving into town."

Fenris sighed, exasperated. "Does the Sheriff know about this?" She asked.

"Not yet" Mike replied. "I wanna make sure we're right first. She's got enough going on with the feds right now."

"Fine; tell me what you've got."

"On the far end of the beach," Mike answered, "on the edge of town, we have a Carnival setting up. Some of the Carnies smell like ghouls. It might just be bad hygiene, or it could be the owner of the Carnival in Kindred."

"I'll check it out, and if it is a lick, I'll bring him in." Fenris agreed; this was an easy enough job.

"I knew I could count on you." Mike said; it was the closest the Primogen ever got to saying thanks. "The Gangrels will be close by if you need us."

Just Mike turned down the alley and walked off. Fenris thought about catching a cab to get downtown, and then decided that she could trust Damsel to be on the level. Therese and her paranoia could wait for now; this might be something real. She headed for the beach access route in the public parking garage instead.