At the bar, Leverett chuckled at his comrade's problems. After the confused and irritated manager retreated to the office to access applications. Julian sat down next to Leverett, a french man born and raised in Calais. " You should hire locals," Julian glared at the frenchman for stating the obvious.
" Let's not pretend that they too won't disappear," Julian muttered under his breath. The vampire houses, particularly Armaya, are well aware of the organization that kidnapped tourists, sold off rights to kill said tourists, and then disposed of the bodies. Vampires sometimes sold their familiars into the organization instead of murdering them outright. " Why are you here?"
Leverett slid a picture across the bar top. " Spider produced this. His name is Yamamoto Haruki. He launders for House of Chthon. Turns out he's responsible for helping Erebus balance their finances despite the governments in our pockets," Julian slipped the picture into his suit pocket. " No action today?"
" We're still setting up the club. The help we hired was supposed to be part of the opening in a week, despite the fact that they're newly blooded. Breasts are more important to them, and they think they can outsmart known killers, Running this house like a business is harder than seducing Dinosaur to produce results,"
" We have to try," Leverett opened his can of cloned blood and let it sit. " At least we know who to shake down for the account numbers, not that he'll tell us, and if he does, he likely won't see freedom for quite some time given Chthon will be busy trying to kill him and his family,"
There are days that Julian hated his new life and then there are days that he hates it with a passion. Going after possibly 'innocent' people tugged at his moral fibers. It happened to most everyone that joined them, with the exception of Fergall Murphy and his ilk. Emery started to slip into the neutral zone, no longer completely against using real blood and choosing to indulge Drake in his abusiveness time to time.
" Have you talked to our fearless leader as of late?" Julian glanced over at him. " She's overworked,"
Playing a game of solitaire on his phone, Leverett shrugged. " Having a sense of structure among newly introduced is more beneficial than madness. But you aren't wrong about her attitude of late," He auto-finished the game and started another. " Gained a new sense of perspective, almost as if she conferenced with Sun Tzu," He never glanced up, even while drinking the canned blood.
Modernity and cell phones created what Julian considered a social disease, and he especially wanted the young french man to act more maturely. " It isn't Sun Tzu's tactics being put to action. I'm not sure who she's emulating, but it isn't Drake," He let out a sigh and checked the time. " I have a meeting with vendors to set up shipments for drink of choice. Bottled, canned, or raw. Don't linger long unless you want hired on,"
The young man pocketed his phone. " Don't worry. I have to go to your homeland and meet with O'Sullivan. He's planning an economical attack against Erebus and won't give me details unless I physically visit him," Checking his wallet, he wandered toward the main entrance without a sense of urgency.
Business shaped Julian's day, removing him from his past as a private tutor and forced him into another discipline entirely. Leverett's short flight to England and arranged meeting with Darren O'Sullivan occupied the young man for three days until his return to Paris. At that point in time, Emery implemented more rules and 'suggestions' if one wished to elevate themselves above others. Drake's non-reactions to her assertiveness convinced those close to her that the godlike being waited for the moment to strike and lead.
Days blended into one another, Dagon slowly turning from rabble rousing upstarts with a dream to a legitimate challenger of the weaker houses.
Slipping out one night with no warning to Drake, Emery caught a private flight to Russia and landed in Yekaterinburg, Russia five hours later. She called Drake after landing in Russia to inform him of her intent to meet personally with Russian based pureblood. For extra measure she recruited an interpreter although she planned to conduct the meeting in the vampire tongue. Funny thing was the vampire tongue originated from a now dead language not recorded in history.
The private airport met Emery and her team with an escort in black non-descript vehicles. To be honest she hadn't thought this through entirely but the familiars exchanged information and skype with Leichen's lieutenants assured Emery this 'could' work. What she harbored as a hope, if hope transformed into disaster, her blood might save her. While she still lacked the ability to shift to Drake's form, she gained a grander, more in-depth primal dominance that separated the human mind and vampiric mind into almost competing entities. Some days one side almost conquered the other. Other days they agreed to a truce for the sake of survival.
" Welcome to Russia, the motherland of Winter," The dark haired male greeted Emery in a rough accent that hurt her ears. " You are most dressed for the occasion,"
Clothed in a fur lined leather coat, a white blouse, and black jeans, Emery resembled a fashion model more than queen of a progenitor. Her signa ring of Drake's house sign stood out as interesting but not overly expensive. " I wasn't born in a winter wonderland. Born in Florida and then lived in Alabama and Maryland for a few years before Mom and Dad settled in Colorado," She smiled and held out her hand. " You are?"
" Fyodor Konovalov, we spoke through email," He shook her hand, two pumps before letting go. " Your translator is broken,"
She laughed. Stupid translators, enemies of all respectable communication. " Google can be misleading at times," A quick glance toward her phone promptly put her back on course. " Shall we call your superiors and start the proper negotiations?"
Her awkwardness pinched even her escort's trust this would end well. Emery's mentally berated herself for not better preparing herself for this encounter. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.
Mr. Konovalov offered her his arm. " We have our finest selection of cloned wine," Emery wrapped her arm through his and walked the short distance to the SUV that transport them to the safe house.
Her two guards tried to follow, the reluctant translator dragging his feet as well, all three directed to the following car. It crossed Emery's mind that they might kill her and her escort, and in defense against this paranoid rogue thought she also hoped her show of trust lead to their show of trust. The trip through the city pulled her attention away from the cloned blood to the new city she had yet to explore. Unable to read, write, or speak Russian, her eyes feasted on the architecture with a reverent respect only an outsider wanting to explore could express.
The Leichen escort permit her the freedom to ask questions about their home city and in turn answered in earnest as a local may. The chronologically older Mr. Konovalov enjoyed her youthful energy and fresh eyes, stating so once their main safehouse appeared in view. The car pulled into an underground garage structure of a residential high rise building. Emery tensed up, and then glanced over at the familiar, Mr. Konovalov. The high rise defied her expectations from the start.
The underground parking garage lead to another garage adjacent to a neoclassical facade and grander 'older' structure. In that garage, they parked and gathered together to advance to the house's main quarters and operations. Her escort flanked her left and right while the translator spoke fluent Russian to Mr. Konovalov in front. The rest of the Leichen's escort flanked Emery's guards. The steps to the basement level of the building offered little buffer for Emery's anxiety. She noted the exemplary stone and iron working true masterful building.
" It is a beautiful home, is it not?" The escort from the rear addressed her in the vampire tongue. " The residential skyscraper is an insult to this haven,"
Emery slowed enough to annoy her guards. It'd be rude to not at least look towards the speaker. She noted it to be a woman of darker skin, and from the looks of it, a muslim who believed in covering her hair. " It is. I traveled a lot through Europe. I'm not religious myself, but most religious architecture is beautiful. Even the gothic structures. Modern structures lack a certain authenticity at times," She crested the top of the steps and entered a guarded entrance with the rest of her escort.
The armed humans checked them all and became frustrated with Emery's lack of tattoo. Emery turned to Mr. Konovalov who handed over the identification badge for her and visitor badges for her guards and translator.
" Drake declares that ridiculous method of identification. Besides, why should I make it easier for vampire hunters to know who they're trying to kill?" She snapped back defensively. " Moving on?" She swept her arm forward in aggressive suggestion. Tattoos for identification are over-rated, just like giant crosses, " I Love Mom", and people SO's names.
The double doors open for them and exposed more armed guards. Emery smelled the difference in these guards, everyone within these walls vampire.
" Is it true you are the only one who has turned members of your house?" The same woman asked peculiarly.
" Yes," She answered distracted by the distinctly neoclassical interior recreated down to the fine details.
The woman now moved forward and Mr. Konovalov drifted back to converse with the translator, a native of Moscow. " That is an interesting choice,"
Emery tore her eyes away from a beautifully sculpted head on a half column. " Drake is an interesting person. There is no other description fit to describe him," Truly there wasn't. He committed acts of assault against her and others with little provocation, worshipped her genetics, and proceeded to teach her the meaning of never ending pain and pleasure. A monster and man mashed into one horrifying body that permitted him all the advantages of vampirism and none of its weaknesses.
" And you've no objection?"
Emery blinked. " To him being interesting? Nothing I am able to object to. If he has not changed by now, he will never change. To being the mother of House of Dagon? Once again, I do not. I am not jaded by years of immortality or predispositioned to judge humanity or vampirism by anything other than my experiences thus far. I will say that it is exhausting,"
They stopped at a set of red and black doors with depictions of Mother Russia's past battles. To Emery it made no sense other than a pretty decoration to lay one's eyes on it. The translator stopped to admire its story spread across panels, hustled along by Mr. Konovalov.
They split at a T intersection. " Step this way," Mr. Konovalov directed her escort and russian interpreter to a separate area of the tall, expansive building that managed to cram untold numbers of vampires in it.
" Who are you again?" Emery asked the woman. She counted the windows in the corridor as they walked. " You may call me Ms. Nowakowski or Emery. Titles at this point is boasting of a respect I am not yet certain is established," The woman refused to directly respond to the question despite Emery's politeness and repetitive question.
Finally they entered a gated portion of the building. At the gated portion only Emery and the woman were permitted through. The private wing included a small library, high tech boardroom, two guest suites, and 'wine' cellar that chilled the cloned blood. Another deeper section housed the purebloods and elder members who obtained their rank long before now. Settled into one of the guest suites, Emery deflected all attempts to make her comfortable until she spoke to the council. " It is most unfortunate they are not available at this hour, Ms. Nowakowski but if you wish we may schedule the negotiations for tomorrow,"
" And what of my escort?" She demanded of the woman, who she now suspected to hold a position of authority. " My luggage-"
"-will be brought to your room shortly, I assure you. Your escort is housed with our lesser members. Rest assured you are protected and this house will defend it with their honor and very lives,"
Deciding to not argue about it, Emery cocked her head. " What time tomorrow?" She needed to learn to control her emotions before they booted her to the enemy. They agreed upon at the start of the 'day' after the shutters opened and departed company.
Exploring her surroundings, Emery lost herself in the library complete with copies of vampire fairy tales, a translated vampire bible, and classical works. She sunk into the vampire bible with burning curiosity to how it compared to her interactions with the progenitors. Much to her dissatisfaction, it lacked any consistency with the progenitor's understanding of history. She started at a hand on her shoulder and almost dropped the book to the floor. " Do you require little sleep?" A deep voice familiar to her yanked her back into responsiveness.
" Yes, and a shower," She hastily closed the book after bookmarking a page she left off on. " Excuse me,"
The man offered her a hand, and for a second she played with the idea of rejecting his offer. Once he secured her hand, she climbed to her feet carefully. The cloned blood provided less energy, but it still allowed her human side to remain in control. " Pictures don't do you justice,"
" You are too kind," She murmured in embarrassment. The man who held her hand appeared no older than 18 or 19, yet he smelled of old blood. Apparently the woman believed the purebloods disinterested, and there was still at least one curious being. It frightened her more than anything else. " Do you mind if I ask your name?"
His defined cheekbone structure and long nose complimented the angular chin and jawline. Rich brown hair rolled to his shoulders in waves a hair commercial pined for. If it weren't for her perverse attraction to Drake she may have fainted in his arms.
He kissed her knuckles. " I am Vsevolod, and you are the queen to the king of vampires, Emery Nowakowski," His eyes peered seemingly straight to her soul in what had to be a practiced stare.
" It is my pleasure, Vsevolod," She managed to reply before directing their path toward the suite. " Are you here to introduce yourself or discover who I am? I'm afraid one meeting alone won't do for a likeness of character reading,"
His never shifting smile unnerved her. " I sought to ensure our honored guest is comfortable. The queen of the progenitor, willing to respect our beliefs. Embracing non-violence to humans. Extending a truce to all houses. Bold moves," She swallowed hard, grateful to be undead.
The door of the suite eased open at his touch and he walked her into the luxuriously decorated and furnished space. She put the bible on the chair by the bed and removed her boots. " I wish you a pleasant rest, Vsevolod, for tomorrow will be an interesting day," She glanced up to see him watching her.
" What are you?"
" What do you mean?" She draped her coat over the chair back.
He walked towards her. " You are of new blood, not of Daywalker nor of turnblood strains. What are you?"
" You forget Drake turned me," She answered quietly. " And he is the progenitor," Vsevolod stood less than an inch from her, his hand about to touch her cheek before he retreated. She dropped onto the bed in relief praying the negotiations fared better.
Gods help her.