After Cosima, Felix went back inside, his buzz completely gone and nagged by his old friend's words. He's thoughtful when he sits down, and the young man who so willingly provided his earlier meal leans back against him, a hand slipping up Felix's thigh in an attempt to arouse his attention again. But the vampire is not in the mood and, with a swat of his wrist, pulls the hand away. The boy easily bends to his will, but continues to support himself against the lean body. Felix tries to recover his previous disposition, but can't, the conversation with Cosima replaying in his head doesn't allow him to relax and enjoy the rest of the night.
Frustrated, he gives up, leaving his companions and his meal behind without so much as a word. By the usual standards, Felix has already earned the right to be rude when he wants. Approaching a century of existence, there aren't many he feels obligated to treat with reverence. Most vampires don't make it past the first twenty years, and he probably wouldn't have. If not for Cosima, he would have found a way to die in his first five. The transformation brings an unimaginable power and, when one is young and stupid enough, it can so bring a false sense of security, the belief of invincibility. In many ways life is more dangerous right after the transformation, and instead of extending the life span, it tends to shorten it dramatically for many.
Shay found Felix roaming the dark streets of London in the early twenties of the previous century, but Cosima was his real sire. She was the one who showed him the ins and outs of his new existence; keeping him from running wild as a young vampire, consumed by the bloodlust and captive by the intensity the feeding provides. She taught him how to feed without taking a life and the importance of living among humans without raising suspicion. That life is better without leaving a trail of bodies in his awake. That his charm is enough to score a voluntary meal instead of using his newly gained strength. Meanwhile, Shay ran the coven with an iron fist, disguised as family love.
When Cosima left them, Felix was tempted to go with her, but perhaps she had done too good a job in introducing him to this life. Truth is, he loved it too much and was reluctant to leave it behind in favor of an uncertain and much less exciting existence. Add Shay's loud disapproval of the change, and he had chosen to remain.
For the first two years Felix thought he had made the right decision. With Cosima gone, he had taken her place at Shay's side. Even if he knew he could never fill Cosima's shoes, he believed he had been doing well enough. But five months ago, that all changed. Shay was slowly casting him aside and is surrounding herself with new and inexperienced vampires. Gradually he has been left out of important decisions and no longer had his place at the main table. Despite his loss of importance, Felix had maintained the same amount of obligations, such as babysitting the new arrivals like the two he just left at the bar.
Felix is highly discontented with this new arrangement, and that's probably why he's second guessing himself and the choice he made.
At the gate of the large townhouse, the two guards hardly look at him. Felix is well known even if he barely recognizes anyone anymore. The house is almost empty, save for a couple of inhabitants casually hanging out in the great living room. The night is young after all, and the hunting ground is at its best when the club's start to throw out the drunken patrons onto the street and straight into the expectant arms of hungry creatures. Besides, it's a new moon and highly unlikely to find any sort of competition in the few werewolves that still look for prey.
At least their species have been adjusting much better to this new world than the lycans, whose presence in the night has been increasingly lower, their numbers visibly thinning. Felix had mentioned this as an afterthought to Shay, but she had dismissed him quickly: "better for us", she had said and that was the end of the conversation.
She seems to be out, the door to her office left ajar and he stops to look inside, tempted to go in and ease his curiosity, but ultimately decides against it. The two vampires in the great hall eye him suspiciously and he knows he couldn't make it without it coming to Shay's attention.
Still, the idea is there. Cosima had always been great in planting the seed of curiosity in his mind, make him think and question his certainties. A plan starts to form.
Cosima never thought she'd regret her decision and, in fact, it's not the decision of leaving she regrets, but all the doors it has shut. Apparently, what some consider turning her back on her people is not a good step if one needs information. All her attempts to get in touch with her former contacts were met with nothing but silence. For the past week she has been trying to collect information about the unusual maneuvers of the vampire elders, but has been wholly unsuccessful. The problem with this, aside from the obvious, is that Cosima doesn't even know why she has been shut down: is it only because of her downgraded status, or because whatever is going on is so secretive that no one dares to whisper a word about it.
She could certainly pursue the information with a more... aggressive approach, but that's not the best way to get information without attracting unwanted attention to her activities. And yet, despite knowing this, she's on the brink of resorting to such methods. The silence is leaving her uneasy, the feeling that something is terribly wrong mounts inside her and she's unable to shake it off.
This annoys her immensely and it's not just the lack of information. She had abandoned her family and never looked back for a reason. Shay's constant demands had been wearing her down, and the feelings Cosima once held for her sire had long vanished, the luster evaporating in the span of a mere decade. Looking back, Cosima is actually surprised it lasted that long. Perhaps it's the hold a sire always has on its creation, or the novelty of it all, or the appreciation for the life Shay had given her. Cosima probably would've ended up hanged in her early thirties if it wasn't for Shay. If she weren't caught for her professional activities, her personal life would've guided her to the gallows to put a noose around her little neck. For whatever reason, Cosima stayed until she could no longer breath freely, her only solace the family she found along the way.
However, when she decided to leave it was an irreversible decision. She wanted to get away from Shay, yes, but also from the politics involved in the community. Cosima's age had granted her an authority she'd never wanted and didn't feel comfortable with. To find herself in a web of politics she hated so much and not be able to wiggle her way out of it is highly discouraging.
This is why Cosima is seriously considering taking more drastic measures when help knocks on her door.
"Go away, Alison!" She says loudly, assuming her neighbor had returned with another batch of her lasagna.
"Who the fuck is Alison?!"
The male voice launches her from the couch where she was stretched with a forgotten book in her hands, heading quickly to the door.
"Felix! What the hell are you doing here?!" She asks completely baffled.
"It's your fault for getting me to think about the shit that's going on," he comments, stepping inside and immediately sitting on the couch.
"Terribly sorry about that," Cosima says sarcastically, shutting the door and turning to face him.
"You don't happen to have anything to drink in this hole of yours, would you?" He asks, scanning the small apartment with an expression of slight disdain.
Cosima frowns, but goes to the kitchen counter to procure a bottle of red wine that she opens and pours into two glasses.
"I meant something strong!" Felix points out, glaring at the glass extended his way.
Cosima doesn't respond, only gives him an exasperated look that the younger vampire knows too well. He twists his lips but take the glass and Cosima sits next to him, patiently waiting until Felix downs the entire content and shakes the glass in his hand, asking for a refill. With his wish granted, he takes a much smaller sip this time and relaxes against the soft cushions.
"Here's the thing," he starts, eyes straight ahead, looking at nothing in specific. "I think you had the right idea when you got worried about what I told you."
"Obviously!" Cosima sits next to him again and takes a small sip of her glass.
"Yeah... right." Felix smiles and looks at her. "So, I thought about what I can do to help."
"Help with what?" Cosima replies. "I never asked you for anything."
She's annoyed, feeling herself being sucked into something she didn't ask for. She's worried about it, yes, but that doesn't mean she wants to be involved in it; she just wants to know what is going on, that's all.
"You think whatever is happening won't affect you!" Felix grows serious, seemingly reading Cosima's mind. "Just because you said you don't want to be part of the family you think you're safe?"
"There's no reason why that shouldn't be true," she remarks. "I'm out! Why should I want to get involved in all this mess?"
"And you think she'll let you?" The young vampire counters. "After what happened to your lady doctor?"
Cosima shifts uncomfortably on the couch, her friend's words stir something inside her that feels vaguely like anger and the beast inside snarls at the memory. Felix smirks, Cosima's reaction doesn't go unnoticed and he knows he's on the right track.
"If Shay wants you in the fold she'll get you... one way or another." He starts with confidence. "You think she'll stop at that if she doesn't get what she wants? Her first attempt to get you back didn't work, so she's giving up? You know her better than that!" He pushes his argument, leaned on the couch facing her, the hand holding the glass resting on the headrest, while he gesticulates with the other in energetic movements that remind Cosima how much of herself she can see in him if she bothers to look. "What she did to the doctor is nothing compared to what she can actually do if she puts her mind to it."
"You think I don't know that?" Cosima snaps. "I know how she is... better than you, better than anyone I imagine. Why do you think I want nothing to do with Shay?"
"She'll force your hand if she has to, Cosima," Felix says in a softer tone. "Do you really want to find out how far she's willing to go?"
Cosima sits very still, considering her options, only to realize she doesn't have a choice at all. Her old friend is right: if Shay wants her, nothing will stop her. And if the first try at getting Cosima back is anything to go by, then it won't be Cosima who will suffer the consequences of her refusal. Despite not knowing how far she can trust Delphine - or if she can trust her at all - it wouldn't be fair to the young doctor to be used as leverage between Cosima and her sire. Especially when Delphine did nothing to find herself in that position, it was all Cosima's doing. She's the one responsible for it so, naturally, she's the one who has to fix it.
"Fine!" Cosima hesitantly concedes. "What do you have in mind?"
Felix's smile returns, his fangs showing just barely their full potential. "I thought about getting some information from Shay's office, but I couldn't get in without raising suspension," he says. "But I know there's a meeting tonight and I thought we could follow them."
"And what will that tells us?" Cosima looks dubiously at him. "We don't need to know where they're meeting; we need to know what's going on inside the meetings. What are they discussing? What the hell is going on that has everyone so nervous?"
Felix scolds. "Well... do you have a better idea?"
Cosima smirks. "As a matter of fact..."
"I'm not sure about this," the nervous vampire whispers.
The three of them are inside the car, Cosima at the steering wheel, even if the car belongs to Alison, who reluctantly agreed to come with them and is currently a heap of nerves staring at the door of the townhouse at the end of the street. It's a massive corner building, in the old part of town, constructed soon after the end of the Civil War when New York started to attract big investments. Shay likes her houses with history and when money is no object, she's free to indulge in the good things life has to offer.
Cosima knows the great house well, having lived there for almost twenty years when the family left Europe. She knows the art pieces that decorate the walls, the rich furniture that was shipped from all over the world to satisfy her sire's expensive taste. Mostly Cosima remembers how she felt confined during the second leg of her stay in the great mansion, how stifling every day was to her.
"I'm with her on this," Felix offers from the front seat, next to her. "No way she's gonna make it." He jams his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the woman in the back seat.
"She's the only one who can get close without being recognized," Cosima says to Felix before she takes her eyes off the building and turns around in her seat. "You can do it, Alison. You just need to stay calm." Cosima tries to assure her. "We'll be watching your every move."
"And if they decide to attack that's all you'll be able to do; watch!" Alison replies, her uneasy stare not leaving the black, wooden door. "Even if you were able to get to me in time, what can you do? There's only two of you and... how many of them?" Finally looks at Felix.
"Not many actually," the man answers. "Shay never takes a big party with her, three maybe four."
Cosima hums and nods. "She doesn't want to attract much attention to her," she comments. "Besides, they're young, right?" She asks, looking for Felix's confirmation, which comes nearly instantly. "You can either be safe or you can be discreet. Shay choose the latter, which is another reason why I don't like this in the least."
"And yet you don't hesitate to throw me to the wolves," Alison protests, crossing her arms over the chest and leaning heavily against the seat.
"I'm not..." Cosima huffs, and takes a deep calming breath. "Listen, you just go as far as you're comfortable. If anything starts to feel wrong, you get out, okay?"
"Great!" Felix throws his arms in the air dramatically. "That way she won't leave the damn car."
Alison gives him an ugly look but ignores his words. "And how do you expect me to convince them to take me inside?"
Cosima smirks. "You're a beautiful woman," she notes to Alison's disbelief. "I'm sure you can find a way in."
Felix's laugh fills the small car and Alison's face contorts with indignation.
"You don't expect me to..." She starts to protest again, but goes silent when her eyes catch the movement down the street.
"Look at these fools!" Felix says, watching three big men step outside, followed by Shay. "Getting out before the car is even there."
Cosima agrees with his assessment but remains quiet. An anger burns in her chest at the sight of her sire, waiting on the sidewalk as a big, shining, black SUV turns the corner and stops in front of them. She starts the engine but doesn't turn on the headlights, instead she waits for them to enter the big car; one of them opens the back door, looking around and waiting for Shay to step inside before he follows her, the other two go in the front.
Cosima can feel the tension in the car as if it had gained a corporeal form. Her eyes are steady on the car rolling at a moderated speed ahead, mindful about keeping a good distance but not so much as to lose sight of them. No one says a word during the twenty minute drive and when Cosima cuts the engine at the end of the block where the SUV has parked no one makes a move.
"Shouldn't you park closer?" Alison says after a few minutes of silence where they watched Shay go inside with one of the men, while the other two stay by the car.
"I can't risk them spotting us," Cosima says, but at this point not even she's feeling very confident about this plan.
Apparently the meeting is being held at an hotel and this is something new. In Cosima's days, the families took turns hosting the meetings in their official residence. Besides this hotel is far from being a tourist reference, the place is a vampires' only business, like many across the city. Owned and operated by vampires with only vampires as guests. It's not unusual and, as far as she knows, it has always existed.
"It would be useful to know if the meetings are always held here or if they change venue every time," Cosima think aloud, in her mind a different plan starts to grow.
In a way it makes it easier, they don't need excuses to gain access into the building. Alison could easily pose as a customer, looking for a safe place to rest for the day. But, on the other hand, the level of danger increases. These sort of places are used by loners, vampires with no affiliation who roam from city to city with little or no respect for both human law and vampires customs.
With her hands gripping the wheel tightly, Cosima feels divided. It would be much easier to make a decision that wouldn't put others at risk, she'd go inside herself without hesitation, even Felix going in there would give her more comfort - she knows when needed he can hold his own, but that's out of the question. She or Felix would be instantly recognized, which only leaves Alison.
Cosima takes a deep breath and turns around to face the other woman. "You could get in and act like a guest," she starts slowly.
"I can do that," Alison answers, nodding her head a few times.
The older vampire smiles sadly, finding small consolation in the knowledge that, at least, Alison is willing to make an effort. Unfortunately Cosima can't accept it without giving her all the information she has on these sort of places.
"I won't lie to you, Alison, this is not like the Four Seasons," Cosima says and sees Alison's expression growing more concerned. "The type of clients these places attract aren't exactly recommended. They don't ask for ID, you know, the vampires who usually stay here… well, let's just say that given the opportunity and with the right incentive they'll snap anyone's neck."
"Holy shit, Cosima!" Felix interrupts loudly. "Do you want her to go in or not?"
"Of course I want her to get in, Felix!" Cosima rolls her eyes at her old friend. "But she has to know what she's getting herself into."
"Would you be waiting here until I come out?" Alison's question interrupts them.
"Yes!" Cosima's surprised by the other woman's readiness but doesn't hesitate. "You'd get in, get a room for the day and try to learn as much as possible without being too obvious."
"And how would she do that?" Felix asks, sounding calmer.
"Sit at the bar. My guess is that's where the guards will be." Cosima instructs, her stare steady on Alison. "But don't engage in any sort of conversation with anyone. Keep to yourself and if you so much as suspect someone is onto you, leave. Get in the room and call me. If nothing comes of this we can try next time." She stops and looks at Felix. "You'll tell us if you find out when is the next meeting, right?"
"May as well!" He agrees.
"Right!" Cosima repeats conclusively. "Next time we'll be better prepared."
"And you want me to stay all day?" Alison asks.
"It's better. We don't want you walking out in the middle of the day and have people asking questions."
"Little problem with your plan, Cosima," Felix cuts in. "You'll be sitting next to a fucking pile of ashes if I stay here with you."
"Shit!" The old vampire can't help the small smile. "Then I guess you should leave before sunrise."
"By foot?!" He raises his voice.
Cosima shrugs him off and returns her attention to the backseat. "You don't have to do this, Alison," she assures very slowly. "This is not your fight and I completely understand if you want to stay out of it."
Alison sits quiet for a long time, so long, in fact, that Cosima thinks she has lost her.
"I can do it!" Alison says with surprising determination. "You saved my life Cosima, if it wasn't for you I don't know what would've happened to me. I owe you this."
Even if Cosima wanted to try to change the younger vampire's mind, Alison never gives her the chance. After speaking the words, she leaves the car without warning, Cosima and Felix can only watch her walk down the sidewalk, steady strides, pulling the strap of her purse over her shoulder and with her head held high. The two astonished vampires in the car stare as Alison passes by the guards without missing a step, not even a glance their way and pushes the glass doors to disappear inside the building.
"This is going to be a disaster," Felix predicts rather somberly.
Cosima smirks. "She might surprise you."