'Ah, you could only be Nikolai. I've had the pleasure of meeting your father already. Please, do come in.' Max stepped aside, bowing his head slightly as he made way for the younger, smiling man.
'Niko, please,' Niko insisted, resting a hand on his broad chest as he turned back to Max. 'And you are Max. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Max.' Niko's even white teeth flashed briefly in his tanned face as he took the proffered hand to shake before following through the richly decorated hall and into the spacious lounge. 'You have a nice place here, very comfortable.'
'Thank you, I'm glad you approve,' Max said amenably, flashing his all-American grin in return as he headed to his walnut drinks cabinet. 'I hope your accommodation is satisfactory? I hear you're doing some pretty good business.'
'We are used to much more – extravagant- surroundings, as I'm sure you're aware. We come from a great bloodline furnished by many centuries of old money. But in our circumstances, beggars cannot be choosers as I believe the saying goes?' Niko chuckled, a deep, throaty sound, as he folded his long legs easily into one of the soft leather armchairs.
'That is true,' Max agreed, passing Niko a tumbler of warm amber liquid. Niko tilted his head back and swallowed the whiskey with barely a grimace.
'Anything stronger?' he asked, brown eyes twinkling. 'I do think the blood here is quite exquisite. It must be the West Coast sunshine, no?'
Max laughed and brought a decanter to the glass topped table nestled low in the midst of the leather suite.
'Help yourself,' Max offered and sat down as Niko poured them both a glass with his eyes closed and nostrils flared for a moment, murmuring his appreciation. 'I can't help but think that you've come here to discuss something other than the quality of our blood, Niko?' Max sat back in his chair, fingertips steepled below his chin as he observed the younger man, his eyes shrewd and wary behind his glasses. Niko savoured his drink, taking a slow sip.
'That is true I am afraid. It is your colony I have come to discuss. Your boy, David, in particular. Let's just say we haven't exactly received a warm welcome.'
'I'm sorry for that,' Max said, contemplating the thick red liquid in his glass. 'David is very territorial, he always has been. Even in his previous life. Santa Carla is in his blood. I'd go so far as to say it is his blood.'
'I'm sorry to hear that, but it may make the next few hundred years awkward if he cannot learn to share.'
'I was under the impression from your father that this was just a stop gap for you until you move on to something a little more permanent?' Max leant forward, twitching at the perfect creases in his jeans. Niko grinned again, wiping a long finger over his lip to catch any blood that may have strayed.
'Ah, yes. That was until we discovered how lucrative Santa Carla could be. We are waiting now on the rest of our colony. We have been chased out of our home country of Italy, hounded from Spain and France, Greece and England. Europe hasn't been kind to us so we are going to put down fresh roots in America. It is my father's wishes.'
Max filled Niko's glass and drained his own as though trying to settle his nerves.
'My only concern is the amount you are consuming and the methods which you are using. Swift and clean is how I've taught my boys. If more of your colony settle here in Santa Carla we're going to be leaving behind a lot of corpses that are difficult to explain. David and I are onto a good thing, in that we carefully select those we feed from – the undesirables, shall we say, for want of a more fitting phrase? People whose disappearance won't raise any eyebrows but may even attract a collective sigh of relief from society.'
'You see, this is exactly why we should work together,' Niko explained enthusiastically, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, his brown eyes bright and animated. 'We could open our own feeding hub and with our methods, keeping just a few alive at a time for as long as we need, we won't be leaving too much mess in our wake. You point us in the right direction, we sustain them long enough to sustain us all. It's the perfect solution to both our problems I believe, and so does my father.'
'You have spoken to Franco about this?' Max lifted his glass to his lips before realising it was empty. Niko chuckled and lifted the decanter and filled it.
'It was my father's idea! We have room enough in the restaurant to cater for both our colonies if you want to savour the flavour as we do, so to speak. If we can be civil and come to an arrangement then no one need worry. Except these –' Niko waved his empty hand, trying to grasp the correct term Max had used earlier. '-unmissables you send our way.' Niko topped up his own glass, a self-assured smile flickering around the corners of his lips as he watched the proposal whirl around Max's mind. He could see the sparks of his calculating deep in the other man's eyes – how would this benefit his colony? What would the risks be? What would David think? Max knew David was already so set against Niko and his feeding methods, would he be willing to compromise? They had hunted the dark side of Santa Carla for so long, which Max knew was David's way of trying to make amends for the terror he'd wrought on the streets in his previous life. Would he change now?
Max's wire-framed glasses caught the low overhead light as he stretched out his legs and sighed.
'It is something I will need to discuss with my colony,' he finally said, contemplating the dark blood in his glass. 'I don't think it is something they will agree to immediately.'
'I suggest you discuss it quickly,' Niko said softly. 'We won't leave this offer open too long. My father is not a man of great patience, mio amico. And I don't think there is enough room in Santa Carla to sustain both our families for a long period. We are a hungry bunch.'
'Leave it with me, I will see what I can do.' Max raised his glass with a nod to Niko.
'Salute!' grinned the Italian, feeling that if Max was on his side – and he was certain he was on his side – he had half won the battle.
The throb of the beat was a magnet for Star, pulling her deeper into the restless crowd and closer to the stage. The boards beneath her feet vibrated with each deep note, resonating somewhere in her soul. She couldn't make out the words the lead singer was crooning into the microphone, but that didn't seem important. All that mattered was that beat. Star could feel her hips swaying as the music carried through her, her muscles loose and responsive all at the same time. She grinned and shook her head in time to the tune which sent her long, untamed curls tumbling over her shoulders and down her back.
'Hey!' Marco called, pushing through the crush of sweaty, dancing bodies to where Star was slipping into a state of mesmerisation. 'David said I need to stay with you.'
'What did you say?' she yelled above the brass of the wild saxophone.
'David!' Marco yelled again, cupping his hand around his mouth in the hope it would help the sound carry. 'Said to stay with you!'
'Where?' Star questioned, spinning on the spot as though looking for David, glancing around even as her hips still swayed and her arms were raised high above her head. Marco grinned at her confusion and grabbed Star's hand, pulling her away from the booming speaker. Star followed reluctantly, threading her way between the press of dancing, weaving bodies.
Marco stopped in the narrow gap between Annie's Pretzel Palace and the hook-a-duck stall, spinning Star by the hand so she ended up against the wooden shack of Annie's with him leaning beside her so he could lower his face to her ear, his mop of blonde curls tickling her cheek.
'David told me to stay with you. Where you going, Star?'
'You pulled me all the way over here just to tell me that?! I was listening to that concert.'
'You could hear that concert all the way across the Point!' Marco complained with a wince.
'Take me on the seashells instead then,' Star compromised, drawing a roll of the eyes from Marco even though he grinned and took her hand to lead her back across the boardwalk, away from the concert and towards where a younger crowd flowed beneath the sparkling fairy lights that illuminated the night. Star followed Marco again, wondering if it was her imagination or if the crowd really did draw back from the two of them with nervous, wary glances, as if they knew he was someone to be feared. An image of his round boyish face, lengthened and snarling with animalistic rage, flashed through her mind for a moment, but it was a picture she pushed to the back of her thoughts as the everlasting carnival fever of the boardwalk caught her again.
'You really want to ride the seashells?' Marco questioned, the many tassels on his brightly patched jacket tickling Star's cheek as he pulled her closer with a smirk.
'Yes, why? Are you scared?' she teased.
'Pfft, girl, that's a kid's ride. I've torn the heads off of druggies that were scarier than that crappy ride!' Marco laughed out loud to see Star visibly wince at his analogy. 'Jeez, sorry. I forgot you're not quite one of us yet.'
'Yet? I don't think I ever will be if David has his way,' Star said with almost a pout. Marco clicked his teeth and guided them both into the line waiting for the garishly painted giant clam shells that would spin them in sickening circles.
'Don't sweat the small stuff, sweets. You'll be one of us soon enough. David thinks highly of you, like I said. If he didn't, you'd be long dead by now. He'd have let Paul at you.' Star pushed Marco away as he snapped and snarled playfully at her neck, making her laugh.
'But what if it all goes wrong? This thing with Niko he wants me to do… What if I don't make it?' She frowned, suddenly sobering as a flicker of fear passed over her pretty face.
'David – we – won't let anything happen to you, girl. I promise you that. Chill out, it's all good!' He grinned, blue eyes twinkling as he hooked an arm around Star's shoulders and pulled her to a bright pearl-green seashell seat as the operator lifted the rope to let the next flux of riders poured onto the platform. 'Now you need to promise me something,' Marco said, reaching up to pull the restraint bar down on them both.
'What's that?' Star asked, nervously nibbling her thumb nail, feeling a little soothed at Marco's surety.
'Ride the Rattler with me after this!' Star laughed, her head snapping back into the plush padded seat as their shell began to spin.
'It's a deal,' she squealed involuntarily between her giggles as the ride gathered speed, Marco's enthusiastic whoops resounding in her ears.
After that, the two of them rode Santa Carla's oldest and highest rollercoaster, the Bone Rattler, pounded each other on the bumper carts and crowed in delight as they wound along the bumpy track of the Sea Serpent runaway train. Star's cheeks hurt from smiling so much and her throat was raw and raspy from screaming and laughing most of the night. But she couldn't help feeling Marco was trying to keep her distracted from something.
They had wandered down to the beachfront after Marco had bought Star a taco, and were sat upon a smooth, weathered driftwood log, watching the waves rolling in and out.
'Where are the others?' she asked.
'Hunting,' Marco replied, tossing the pebbles at the surf that he'd collected on the way down. 'We'll swap soon, Dwayne or Paul'll be on babysitting duty and I'll go hunt too.' He paused from his pebble throwing long enough to raise a cocky eyebrow at her, knowing Star would hate that comment. She gave him a hard shove, unable to express her anger with a mouthful of food. Marco looked wounded.
'Not that I don't enjoy your company, of course. But being so close to you all this time is hard for me. Every inch of me wants to rip your throat out.' Star choked on her taco as he held a hand up quickly, looking mortified by his choice of words. 'Not that I would! But it's what I do, ya know? Instinct…' Brushing her fingers off and swallowing the last tasty bite, Star nodded in understanding.
'I'm sorry. I didn't ask for a babysitter.' Marco nudged her with his shoulder, that easy boyish grin on his cute face again.
'You can't be trusted to keep out of trouble, I guess.'
'No, you can't,' drawled David from behind, making both of them spin around in surprise.
'Marco. Job well done, I'll take it from here. Go feed, before you rip someone's throat out.' The younger boy laughed good-naturedly and stood up, flexing his fingerless gloves as he flipped the blonde curls from his eyes.
'Well, it's been fun, girl. Stay safe, catch ya on the down low.' Star blinked as he seemed to disappear into thin air, there one second and gone the next.
'Hey,' Star greeted David, suddenly feeling a little awkward and self-conscious. She tugged gently at the glittering gypsy skirt she wore, her thin shoulders drawing up a little at the slight chill in the air that she hadn't noticed until then.
'Are you cold? Here,' David slipped his long, black wool coat around her, his leather gloved hands resting lightly on her shoulders for a moment longer than necessary and she smiled.
'Thank you.' He nodded and sat beside her.
'I don't have any more information yet about how or when we're going to do this thing with Niko,' he said, icy blue eyes fixed on a point beyond the shore in front. 'But know that whatever happens, I'll be there to make sure you aren't put in any unnecessary danger. Niko and his father are strong, they're old blood, but we have numbers on our side. When it's over, you'll be mine.'
'I want to be yours now,' Star found herself whispering to the sand, her head bowed. But David caught every word. He smirked.
'I know.' His long finger found her chin and tilted her face up towards his, the leather cold on her skin. Star's bright dark eyes were wide but focused and David smiled beautifully at her. 'I want you, too. But I cannot turn you until this is over.'
'What's it like? When you turn… does it hurt?'
'I could never hurt you,' David murmured, his whole hand cupping her chin now. 'It's like the cool waves of an ocean lapping over your burning skin when you're feverish, the softest touch of a feather dragging from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. But, like I said before, it's a cursed way of life. We've found a way of making it bearable. It's my atonement, if you will. We're the dark avengers, keeping the Murder Capital of the World as safe as it can be by murdering those who would prey on the weak.' He laughed but the sound was almost bitter and mirthless. Star edged a little closer to him and David slipped his arm around her shoulders to pull her in close, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. He chuckled, watching her eyes droop sleepily. 'Don't worry, you'll soon fall in with our body clocks. Sleep all day, party all night. Never grow old.'
David easily scooped Star up, but he sat a little longer, watching the silver moon travelling slowly on its night time arc across the sky.
High above Santa Carla, surveying the rolling, rocky landscape below, the tall, powerfully built man turned from the plate glass window.
'You boys are the best bet we have right now. I'm not sure his plan is going to work so we have to be a little sly about this. I hate to do this, more than anything keeping things from him is not what I want to do.' With a sad shake of the head, he turned back to where the lights of the boardwalk could be seen, twinkling like so many multi-coloured jewels scattered on a velvet cloth. 'But we have to think of what's best for us all. It's about survival, do you understand? I hope that you do. But more than anything, I hope he'll come to see that in the end, however painful this lesson might be for him.'
Paul and Marco exchanged a look, but raised their glasses when Max turned to toast their agreement. He was the head of their colony, how could they refuse? The plan didn't sit right with either of them, Marco especially felt a knot of anxiousness twist around whatever was left of his immortal heart. The fact that both David and Dwayne were missing from this meeting spoke volumes.
'Remember, boys, you must say nothing about this to anyone. Guard your thoughts, especially around David. If he stops what you put in motion it will be detrimental to us all and it will spark a war I'm sure we will not recover from.'
