Author's Note: Ok first of all, I want to apologize to my fans for this chapter that was significantly delayed. I got sick yet again (a popular trend with my body sadly), I had to remodel a bedroom, and I had a trip half way across the state I had to take. Needless to say, all of the above plus more is what prevented me from finishing this chapter that mainly focuses on a lot of interaction between LaCroix and Valeska. Not much more to say other than that, enjoy!
Special Thanks: Thank you very much to Haruhana for faving my story and to Paranoidgirl for following it! I'm also very appreciative to the reviews of the last chapter who are Lucius's Mistress, MischievousEnigma, Topgallant, Sasha Naruto, aberdeenkev, Haruhana, and Wollerosekaufn. Your support is what keeps me going! =)
Responses: To Lucius's Mistress: Glad that you liked John, and look no further than this chapter to find out how LaCroix reacts to her disheveled appearance!
To MischievousEnigma: You have indeed reviewed before, but I'm happy to see you return as well as your love for my recent chapters. I'm always worried that my pacing is too slow, that my character portrayals are off, and that Valeska is uninteresting, but hearing that it is just right is awesome news indeed!
To Topgallant: I really liked the past chapter too, because writing in an action scene along with mystery and implied statements is always fun. In the beginning I had intended to make Valeska a bit colder personality wise, but decided that giving her some positive traits would make her more likeable as well as believable. After all, it's very rare for someone to be 100% evil or 100% good; everyone has conflict of some kind inside of them and I try to use that for every character. Same goes for her skill set, which I'm pleased to know is believable. Good job on solving part of the anagram by the way!
To Sasha Naruto: Glad to hear you approved of John, because quite a bit of thought went into his character. I look forward to your next review as Authoress!
To aberdeenkev: Indeed Val does want answers, but she won't get anything concrete until she meets with Maximillian Strauss again later on.
To Haruhana: Yay a new reviewer! Welcome to the chaos, and thank you for your review! I'm very pleased to hear that you consider this one of the greatest fanfics you've found and that I'm keeping everyone in character. There are quite a few very good stories on , and if you're looking for some good ones on VTMB you should check out the community dedicated to the game on this site! =)
To Wollerosekaufn: Two new reviewers in one chapter, this must be my lucky day! I'm glad to make your acquaintance, and am even happier to hear you love my story. I'll try not to delay the chapters as long as they have been lately as so not to keep you on edge too much. Enjoy the new chapter!
Chapter 27 Emotional Motions
"Miss Latimer?" came a male voice. Valeska knew right away that the voice belonged to LaCroix, but she was much too comfortable snoozing in her seat to be bothered with opening her eyes. "Valeska!" The ghoul's eyes shot open, not only because it hurt like a bitch when the Prince had taken to shaking her roughly by her injured arm, but because he had addressed her by her first name with a tinge of unexpected panic in his voice.
"I'm awake, I'm awake…" she murmured groggily, as she sat up from her slouched position. Her head was pounding from where it had been slammed into the wall, and pressing in on it with her index finger revealed a small bump on her left temple. Her arms felt like they were on fire, her leg still ached horribly, and her mouth tasted of the dried blood from her split lip. Glancing out the window, she saw that the car had at some point been started up by the Prince's chauffer who was presumably headed to Venture Tower.
"Look at me, Valeska," LaCroix ordered. Doing as she was told, Valeska turned to her boss and saw a great deal of concern and perhaps even fear in his pale blue eyes that studied her own face carefully. It was so odd to see someone as influential as a Ventrue Prince displaying such emotions over a lowly ghoul, but here one was, sitting in front of her and doing that exact thing. Without warning he brought his pale wrist to his mouth and bit down hard with his fangs, leaving a few flecks of blood on his upper lip. Then, with the most serious expression he offered his wrist to Valeska, dripping with blood and all. "Drink before the wound closes."
"No thank you, sir," Valeska said, gently pushing away his icy hand, "I'll be fine."
"Did I ask whether or not you would be fine?" he demanded with narrowed eyes, "I don't believe I did, so again, I am ordering you to drink." Despite his outward anger, it seemed to be more based on the desire to help her rather than hurt or enslave her. It was an action that would be considered unbecoming of the personality she had grown used to dealing with over the past few weeks, but she appreciated the fact that he didn't seem to be trying to manipulate her for once.
"And I'm saying no," his ghoul argued defiantly, "I was careless tonight, and being cautious is a lesson I'm not going to learn unless I have glaring evidence to remind me of my painful mistakes. Besides, I don't want to have to rely on your blood every time I get in a mild scuffle." Her lie sounded believable even to her, and if she were lucky it might have even been enough to convince the Prince to back down. However, all it did was make him glare daggers in her direction.
"Admirable, but I refuse to sit idly by while my ghoul bleeds out all over my vehicle's leather upholstery," the Ventrue snapped.
"Damn it all…" Valeska exhaled with mild irritation, after seeing that the blood from one of her arms had trickled onto her seat. "I swear that was not my intention at all, sir. I was extremely careful in entering your car because I had wanted to prevent staining your seats in the first place. Looks like my efforts were in vain though…"
"I appreciate your apparent concern for my material possessions, but that was not the point I was attempting to make," the Ventrue vampire declared, before patting away the blood on his lips with his pocket square. She was desperately trying to remind herself that tonight would be the last night she would be in the Prince's employ, but the intrusive and highly unwanted thought of licking his lips clean of the crimson drops entered her mind anyway.
"Then what point were you trying to make, sir?" the ghoul challenged, trying to keep her eyes off his lips. Her statement was a dangerous thing to say to someone who she was supposed to be trying to keep happy, but she honestly had no clue as to what he was insinuating.
"That you're being an extraordinarily foolish woman by negating an offer of assistance, and then blatantly lying about your reasoning for doing so," her boss retorted calmly, staring directly into her eyes. Valeska had to resist on letting out an exasperated sigh, because she was so certain she had succeeded in misleading him earlier. It would seem that no matter who she had managed to deceive in her past though, the two hundred year old vampire sitting next to her was not an easy opponent to contend in verbal battle with.
"Fine, so I'm a foolish woman! What else do you want from me?" she exclaimed, averting her gaze from his that never seemed to falter. She swore that those damn eyes of his could probably stare a hole in a solid brick wall if he chose to do so.
"I want to know what happened in Grout's mansion, and why your behavior is so skittish regarding my blood," LaCroix answered, "But more importantly, I have no wish to see you suffer in unremitting physical pain from a task that I specifically commanded you to complete." Surprised by how genuine his words actually sounded, she looked back up to see a facial expression that appeared just as sympathetic. She absolutely despised herself for considering it, but part of her somehow believed that he wasn't trying to manipulate her at all. Of course this was a ridiculous contemplation that ran through her mind, and all she could do was try to convince herself that it was only his blood that made her feel the way she did. Yet at the same time even this notion seemed implausible, and she found herself stuck between two ideas that she believed and disbelieved in equally. Oh what she wouldn't have given to have someone bash her head repeatedly into a concrete wall right then and there.
"Why do you even care about what happens to me anyway? It's not like I'm dying or anything, I've just got a few bumps and bruises for god's sakes," Valeska muttered, trying not to wince as she shifted her legs in order to get more comfortable. At the same time she was attempting to remain as polite as possible, but unfortunately she was still coming across as unintentionally hostile.
"Miss Latimer, despite your current attitude I am going to do something that I normally don't do for my employees: I'm going to offer you a choice of whether or not you will allow me to heal your wounds," the pale Prince offered, still staring her down with eyes she would have loved to gauge out.
"What? Why?" Valeska questioned with bewilderment and suspicion as she attempted to read LaCroix's blank expression. At this point she wasn't sure if her boss was giving her an actual choice, or if he was just giving her the illusion of one. Naturally she hoped it was the former, but one could never tell with someone as untrustworthy as the Prince of LA.
"Well, I'm not typically one to carelessly place faith in vague suppositions, but simply put, I believe you may have encountered something in the Primogen's estate that has put you off entirely from partaking of vampire vitae," he explained casually. "Or am I wrong in this assumption?" Valeska had hoped she might be quicker in responding to his query, but due to the fog of exhaustion that polluted her mind, she found herself remaining silent for a moment longer than intended. "Hm, just as I expected then."
"Now wait just a minute!" the ghoul began, annoyed by the smug satisfaction her boss currently wore on his face. "Ever since you hired me, I wasn't too keen on the consumption of vampire blood. The entire idea makes me sick to my stomach, and I'm pretty sure I made that perfectly clear to you when you first ordered me to drink your blood."
"That may be, but it remains quite an unusual statement to be heard coming from a ghoul nevertheless," the Ventrue vampire pointed out. The pair was silent for a moment, as LaCroix glanced thoughtfully out his window. "If you wish to remain in the great deal of pain that you appear to be in, then that is your choice. However, know that I do not offer my Ventrue blood to others lightly or very often for that matter either."
Valeska didn't even have to look into her boss's eyes to know that he was trying to manipulate her. His concern for her health had seemingly vanished almost entirely, but perhaps this was because she had been well enough to hold her own against his demands. Now he was trying to make it seem like his "quality" blood was oh so special, and that offering it to her was a generous or once in a life time opportunity. It wasn't that she was unappreciative, but while his actions may have been motivated by kindness before, it was obvious he was currently more interested in succeeding in the hidden motive of controlling her. Additionally, it almost seemed that behind his words was the subtle promise that if she turned him down now, then he would not assist her in the future should she really need it. Not that this really mattered anyway, seeing as how she would be done with this job after tonight.
"I appreciate your generous offer, but I'll have to decline," she said, placing emphasis on a few select words in order to please her boss. He didn't seem too happy about her decision, but neither did he explode in a fit of rage because of it. Instead he simply let out a sigh of what seemed like disappointment as he turned away from her entirely.
"So be it then. We shall be arriving at Venture Tower shortly, but you will have to enter through the building's back entrance. As a Prince I can't tolerate a grungy employee being openly seen by the public that so does love to use any piece of adverse evidence against me that they can acquire," LaCroix informed his ghoul, making her feel oddly guilty. "There are no stairs leading up to the penthouse, but I'm certain you have no issue with taking the elevator…right?"
The ghoul shot an anxious glance at her boss to see the small smirk he wore on his moonlit face. There was no doubt in her mind that he was taunting her, and it made her realize that even though she had been offered a choice, there were consequences to her decision. In this case it was insulting Valeska and placing her in a situation that would make her feel highly uncomfortable. As upsetting as this was to deal with, what was truly unsettling at that moment was that he had knowledge of a phobia that she had yet to share with anyone in her new life besides Mercurio. Considering that she could more or less handle her phobias, it wasn't that big of a deal that the Prince knew about this weakness of hers. Still, if Mercurio really had been the one to tell LaCroix about her fears, it made her wonder what else he might have divulged. She didn't really want to believe that her only friend would betray her, but when she ruled out every improbable cause, he was the only one left that she could point the finger at.
"Not at all, sir," the ghoul commented coolly. From the corner of her eye she noticed the Prince raise an eyebrow at her statement.
"Is there a reason you're throwing sass in my direction, Miss Latimer?" her boss requested. Was he serious or just stupid? She would never outright ask the Prince that question, but if he truly had no idea why she was upset, then perhaps she was wrong in assuming he had a high level of intelligence. More than likely her boss was immaturely toying with his ghoul in order to provoke or annoy her, but the worst part about that was that it was working. Knowing that blowing up in his face wouldn't solve anything, Valeska simply bit back a witty response and thought up a quick lie.
"No, sir. I was just curious as to how you knew about my elevator phobia," Valeska answered, hoping she might be able to fish for some information. "It's not something that I trust many people with, so if I may ask, how did you know?"
"I didn't until now," the pale Prince responded with a smile he could barely restrain. "I had presumed that because your heart rate is elevated whenever you exit an elevator, then the only cause would be that they make you uneasy. Thank you for making this theory of mine concrete." Valeska clenched her fists in slight annoyance at his conceited words, but she relaxed them immediately in an attempt to control her anger. There was one good thing that came from her rage though, and that was that it was temporarily canceling out the physical pain she was experiencing. Before the pain had been just enough to make her want to drink LaCroix's blood just to stop her aching soreness, but luckily logic had kicked in just in time to stop her from making a decision she would regret. Besides being angry she also felt rather stupid for accidently confirming the Prince's suspicions of her phobia, but at least she knew now that Mercurio wasn't to be blamed for his knowledge.
"You can actually hear my heartbeat?" she asked in partial disbelief. She knew vampire hearing was very good, but just the thought of her boss being aware of when her pulse levels was enough to put her heart into overdrive due to her nerves.
"Why of course, Miss Latimer. I make it a healthy habit to keep an eye on my human employee's vital signs, as it makes it substantially easier to tell when I'm being deceived," her boss implied, tilting his head slightly. Valeska hadn't realized that such a seemingly self-centered individual would be so attentive to those around him, but it was an impressive and unexpected feat nonetheless. It also allowed her to make sense of why he could always tell when she was being dishonest, because the man was practically a living, breathing lie detector…so to speak.
"Oh, well I can see the logic behind that," Valeska confessed, trying to sound oblivious of his indirect accusations, "So how can you tell when vampires are lying to you?"
"A combination of trustworthy sources of information and years of practice," the Ventrue vampire replied, "Now if your curiosity is sated, and you are finished with your endless inquiries, I am still waiting to hear what evidence, if any, that you found to implicate Aleister Grout."
"Uhm, right, about that…" she slowly began before completely freezing up. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods, but no matter how she looked at it, she didn't really have any other choice than to tell her boss that she hadn't found anything other than blackmail.
"Well?" LaCroix impatiently demanded, drumming his fingers lightly on his armrest. Valeska took a deep breath and simply let the words tumble from her mouth.
"I regret to inform you, that I found nothing substantially incriminating in Grout's mansion," she reported before quickly continuing so that she would not be interrupted. "But I did find some possible blackmail that you might find useful!"
"Which is?" he asked, sighing with minor irritation in his voice. For something so important, he certainly seemed to care very little about what she was saying, but maybe that was simply due to his overabundance of arrogance.
"Well, I started my search upstairs, but found nothing more than a few recordings about him missing insane asylums and what he had accomplished so far on his treatment of the vampire condition," the ghoul clarified.
"A cure for vampirism? You must be joking," the pale Prince scoffed, "Only a Malkavian psychiatrist would think of something so ridiculously insurmountable. How amusing though that an individual who was educated on obtaining a PhD to better the human mind, would choose to devote his time in struggling to understand the biological side of life."
"Actually sir, it's a common mistake, but psychiatrists usually have an MD or medical degree rather than psychologists who have a PhD. This means that psychiatrists can prescribe medical prescriptions because they're meant to understand how the human body functions and how medications interact with it," Valeska corrected, "Aleister Grout probably has a higher understanding of biology than most people would be lead to believe or even give him credit for."
The Prince just stared at his ghoul with an expression that looked torn between angrily snapping at her, and wondering how she even knew so much about the two professions. Instead he just remained silent and scowled at her as though she had overstepped some invisible boundary by rectifying his previous statement. Clearing her throat, Valeska decided to change the topic back to her findings.
"So uhm anyway…there really wasn't too much upstairs, so I snuck down to what must have been the doctor's basement at some point," she continued, "It turns out he literally has his very own insane asylum down there, complete with about a dozen suffering ghouls that I got tons of pictures of. There were a pair of red headed twins that were acting more like dogs, some kid that couldn't have been older than sixteen drawing in his own blood, a bald gu-".
"Miss Latimer, did you not just state that you obtained pictures of the individuals you saw? Certainly there is no need to waste my valuable time by elucidating every single detail of your task," her boss interrupted while Valeska blinked a few times.
"Yes, sir," she acknowledged, trying not to be too annoyed with her superior's lack of manners. She should have been used to this with him by now, but apparently that wasn't the case. "I acquired the chance to go through some of his medical notes, which I also got pictures of, and one book in particular depicted all of his research on the vampire condition so far. For his experiments he's been using his ghoul patients, though as of late his mental state has deteriorated to the point where he is just flat out torturing them for his own amusement. I can only assume these tests often result in death too, seeing as how I ran into a body being eaten by rats."
"Disgusting and unfortunate," the Ventrue vampire stated nonchalantly, with his head resting in one of his hands, "Anything else?"
"Uhm…not really. Just grim experiments, dead bodies, a lot of blood, and a crazy ghoul that as you can see did quite the number on me," Valeska responded.
"I shall have to go over the photos you've obtained, but as of right now your information is entirely useless," Prince LA sighed, sounding disappointed.
"Wait, what?" the ghoul questioned, feeling slightly offended and also confused. "I know I didn't find any evidence to condemn Grout, but surely the material I have is enough to execute him or at least put him away for good…right?"
"Camarilla law primarily focuses around the concealment of our true natures, so no, not really," LaCroix replied, the tone of irritation returning to his voice.
"But sir, the things I saw there were absolutely horrifying and beyond inhumane. I consider myself to be relatively detached from things like that, but when I heard and saw that one of the patients literally gnawed off his own arm to escape, I knew deep in my heart that Grout needed to be stopped no matter what," she explained, hoping that her words might motivate the Prince to do something. Instead he simply sat there, completely silent while he continued to stare out his window. "You're the Prince aren't you? Isn't there anything you can do?" At this, LaCroix's head practically snapped in her direction with a rage filled expression.
"Human law is not like vampire law, Miss Latimer," the pale Prince sneered angrily, "He has not violated the Masquerade seeing as how he is incredibly cautious with the individuals he uses for his experiments, he has not sired a progeny without permission of the city's Prince, and he has not destroyed any of his own kind when a blood hunt has not been issued! Therefore, nightmarish experimentations or not, as LA's Prince I cannot act against him when I have no solid evidence of his treason against the Camarilla. Or perhaps you have already forgotten the ancient traditions by which this organization continues to thrive and survive by in modern times?"
"No, sir, I-" Valeska began in an attempt to defend herself. She had seen the Prince angry before, but she was still very surprised by the amount of fury in which he addressed her in. It made her wonder just what it was that she had said that had set him off.
"Furthermore, I would very much so appreciate if you never questioned my authority in the future again," he interjected, continuing his rant, "Failure to do so may result in your permanent termination, so I urge you to keep this in mind."
"But I wasn't questioni-," the ghoul started, once again hoping she might be able to get a few words in edge wise. Sadly this was simply not meant to be.
"Do NOT attempt to elicit an argument with me by challenging my previous statement, ghoul!" her boss shouted furiously, as he resorted to using her current nature as an insult. Right as it looked like he might start up again with more yelling and insults, Valeska nodded quickly to show her submission. Thank goodness this caused the Prince to ultimately go back to staring out of his window, because she wasn't sure if her developing headache could tolerate any more shouting.
Looking out of her respective window, all the ghoul could feel was sadness. Some of this misery was because she had just been insulted, that she hadn't been able to successfully complete her assigned job, and because she was still aching physically from some of her wounds. Most of it however, was sadly due to LaCroix being so emotionally dissatisfied at the lack of evidence against Grout. Understandably this was why he had reacted so violently against her, and though they both knew that the Malkavian was probably plotting something against the Prince, there was absolutely nothing Valeska could do to prove this in order to please her boss.
She knew without a doubt that these feelings stemmed from LaCroix's blood, but this thought just made her want to flee back to her own safe haven even more than she already did. This desire was almost strong enough to make her want to avoid quitting her job all together, but she had to see this night through no matter what. If she didn't, her delay would give the Prince ample opportunity to manipulate her into staying by his side. Her emotions were already fragile enough with what she had been made to witness over the past few weeks, but tonight specifically had placed her on edge. Even if she weren't in the process of being bound to her boss by blood, this life simply wasn't for her.
At some point during her unorganized mental ramblings, the pair finally arrived at Venture Tower. Not even bothering to wait for his driver to open his door, Prince LA immediately exited the vehicle and stormed up the front steps of his building. All Valeska could think, was that she felt bad for whoever was on duty at the lobby desk tonight. A few minutes later, the chauffer had pulled into a dark alley next to the towering building, so that both Valeska and the Sheriff could enter through a hidden back entrance. Despite her obsession of entering the tower when she had been a mere human and not a ghoul, she had no idea that the door she walked through had even existed. In fact, she felt partially ashamed that she hadn't found it on her outside exploration of the building. Not that any of this really mattered anyhow, seeing as how secret entrances were meant to be well hidden and that she had already succeeded in her goal of entering Venture Tower (even if her first impression had been a negative one).
As Valeska followed the Sheriff down a dimly lit hallway, she was directed to probably the smallest elevator she had ever seen. While she should have been more curious about how the towering bodyguard before her was going to get up to LaCroix's penthouse, she was much more concerned on how she was going to survive the panic attack she was facing. As expected, right when she stepped into the claustrophobic box and the doors closed, her breathing became frantic while her heart took to beating wildly. The trip was short, but it felt like a lifetime for someone who was trying to remain in control of their body. Luckily her past experience of knowing to close her eyes and focus on happy thoughts helped her greatly, even if those thoughts seemed to inappropriately center on sexual encounters with the same man who had placed her in this situation.
When she exited the elevator, she was a bit confused on where to go seeing as how she had never been in this section of the penthouse before. Fortunately she encountered LaCroix's secretary, Katrina, and after reassuring her that she was perfectly fine health wise, she was directed to her boss's main office. Upon entering the large room, she saw the Prince seated at his desk with his hands folded over one another. Standing silently behind him was his loyal Sheriff, which shocked Valeska with the speed at which he was able to get back to his master. Obviously he hadn't taken the elevator like she had, which meant he would have been forced to take the stairs. She had no clue as to which clan he belonged to, so she couldn't rule out the possibility of him having the Celerity discipline, or super speed as she liked to call it. Either way, all she knew for certain was that the ashen skinned giant unnerved her and served as another reason she would be joyful over after quitting her job.
"I took the liberty of assuming you would require a computer to upload your photos. It is a digital camera you possess, yes?" the Prince inquired. His attitude had done a complete 180, in that he was calm, even hopeful, as he acted as though nothing verbally vicious had just occurred between the two of them. Just as before when she had tripped and landed on top of him, it seemed that he was very good at focusing on his job while forgetting everything else that didn't matter.
"Yes, sir," Valeska acknowledged with a small nod, not wanting to say much more than what was absolutely necessary. She was directed over to the same sofa she had been sitting on when she had been forced to drink the Prince's blood, but this time around there was nothing but a sleek black laptop lying on it. Trying to ignore her memories of feeding from her boss's wrist which somehow always turned to the erotic, she picked up the laptop and sat down. After hooking up her camera, it only took a few short minutes of typing away at the computer's keys to upload all of her pictures and to deliver the device to LaCroix. It was then that she was forced to wait for what seemed like a very long and boring hour, as she had nothing to do but listen to the occasional clicking from the laptop while trying to ignore the Sheriff's unwavering blank stare.
"Any idea what this might be?" the pale Prince finally asked after quite some time. Standing up, Valeska crossed the distance of the room to look at whatever was on the screen that had been turned in her direction. On it was the anagram that she had solved, though if she told the Prince what it translated to, she had no idea how he would react. If she was lucky it might please him, but knowing how things had played out so far, it would more than likely result in more yelling. Still, it was better than nothing.
"Oh that. It's an anagram, sir," she replied, looking up into the Prince's eyes, "It translates to: Prince LaCroix lies, never trust him."
"And you only thought to tell me this now, rather than earlier, Miss Latimer?" her boss questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"It slipped my mind, sorry," the ghoul apologized, "And before you ask how I know it translates into that phrase, it's because I'm very good at puzzles and I do them fairly often." She was still trying to keep her words brief, not only because she didn't want to be snapped at again, but because she was so very tired, making it so she wanted to rush her resignation and leave the tower forever.
"Interesting, but unfortunately a mistrust of me is not enough to condemn the Malkavian Primogen," the Ventrue vampire stated, closing the laptop, "Nonetheless, you did quite well considering that you obtained all of this material and escaped mostly unscathed. I do wish that you wouldn't have been caught, but I suppose reality isn't as neat and organized as one would like."
"Do you mean by the ghoul that attacked me? John had already escaped and was living off the rats in the basement. He didn't really give me any other choice but to kill him, though I made sure to make it look like an accident. I doubt Grout will ever know anyone was there, so you can rest easy, sir" Valeska reassured.
"How may I ask, did you stage his death to appear as an accident?" the Prince enquired, leaning forward with interest.
"There was a hole in the ceiling that led up to the upper levels. I put his body under it, so it would look like he had fallen and broken his neck on one of the fallen grates," she replied with a shrug, "Simple."
"So it would seem…" he agreed slowly while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Although I did not take you as being capable of murder, I can sense that you are being truthful. Despite the lack of evidence that I was hoping for, you've done far better than I anticipated and as such will be rewarded accordingly." Reaching into his desk he pulled out an envelope and slid it across his desk, allowing Valeska to pick it up and examine the contents. As expected, there was a large wad of hundred dollar bills, which immediately put a smile on the ghoul's face.
"Thank you, sir!" she happily exclaimed, placing the envelope in her purse as LaCroix simply nodded.
"Now, as your supervisor I am ordering you to return to your apartment and rest for a few days. When your wounds have sufficiently healed, you may return for your next task. Am I understood?" the pale Prince requested as Valeska merely nodded. "Very well, then if that will be all I shall have my chauffer personally escort you home."
"Thank you again, sir, but there is something that I needed to talk with you about," the ghoul informed her boss as her levels of anxiety steadily began to increase.
"Oh? Your heart rate just increased, so this should be interesting," her boss revealed, causing Valeska to bite her lower lip nervously. Thinking about how an event would play out was so much easier than actually participating in it, so naturally it was taking every bit of courage she had to get her next set of words out.
Author's Note: So ya, sorry I had to cut this chapter short, but it's kind of a cliffhanger this way. The next chapter will be about Valeska quitting her job, or attempting to anyway. As I stated before, the Prince isn't going to let her go easily, so prepare yourself for more conflict between the two! I'm still deciding on how I want the plot to develop, but know that the main plot of VTMB will be approaching soon, along with a second meeting with Strauss which will ultimately reveal Valeska's true nature. Drop a review if you can, and as always, feel free to share any ideas if you have em'!
