My Little Ventrue Pt. 04 Ch. 06

"I um... you ok with that?" Natasha said, and she reached out to poke Jessy in the side. "I s-suppose so."

"Course I'm ok with it. They're my ghouls, not my lovers."

Jack shrugged, and motioned with his hand to some of the Daeva out in the crowd. "Daeva might disagree. And, I think it could be kind of sweet, a vampire falling in love with their ghoul. Bit of a Gothic vibe too, right?"

Jessy and Jennifer looked at him like he was nuts, but Natasha nodded, as did Fiona, nearly falling over in the process. The werewolves on the other hand, were too busy looking around at the feast that had begun. The three of them were obviously having trouble not staring at the half-naked woman in front of them, but the sound of moans and the trickling of blood down people's chests and breasts drew their eyes eventually. So wasteful, spilling blood like that, so decadent, so utterly fitting the extravagance of the party.

"Don't suppose you three fancy sharing some of your blood?" Jennifer said, and she stepped in a little closer toward Matt. "I can only imagine how a werewolf tastes."

"N-No!" Natasha flailed one of her hands a bit, and reached out for Matthew to pull him closer. Painfully adorable, and Jack couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the tiny woman pulling the big man behind her. Such a little thing, hogging two massive beasts.

"Relax, Natasha Vola, I'd never force. I'm only asking. And besides, there's Clara here. And I hear a wolf named Mason has been enjoying the touch of a Kindred. Perhaps he'll share?"

Clara didn't look convinced. "Mason's been having it kind of rough since Stephanie died. I'd give him his space. Besides, this girl he's been seeing has been good for him, and I wouldn't want to ruin that. But, David's single, if you don't mind putting up with a little crazy."

The four Kindred raised a brow. "Crazy?" they said.

"Mmhmm. He's Ithaeur. And... and none of you know what that means. He's a bit more exposed to the spirit side, so he sees or hears some weird shit sometimes. Bit young though."

Jennifer raised a brow, and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I—"

"Now presenting, sheriff to the Prince of Dolareido, Daniel Smith, and companion Athalia."

Wait, what?

Everyone in the party had the same look on their face, and the whole room turned to see the sheriff walking down the stairs, with a woman on his arm. Daniel was dressed in something close to a tuxedo, if perhaps a bit more plain; typical of the man, as Antoinette was no doubt thinking. What wasn't typical was the beautiful woman on his arm, Athalia. Maybe she wasn't always mean? His one encounter with her had been a pretty poor first impression, and maybe it was accurate, but she didn't look mean as she walked down the stairs, and faced the crowd.

Ok, maybe a little mean.

Dark skin contrasted beautifully against the blue dress, and like most of the other women, it was quite form fitting, with plunging cleavage, sleeves, and a long skirt that split on the hip. Her hair was loose, but it had something done to it, something that made it more wavy than he remembered when he saw her in the tunnels. Her face looked soft, at odds with her somewhat tall, thin frame, and practically on the wrong body compared to her steel gaze. Scary eyes. Scary woman.

He knew she was a Begotten, everyone knew, and everyone could feel it as the ancient vampire escorted the lovely woman down to join them. Like Fiona, but not. From Fiona, everyone could feel a strange aura of power, and of a duality from her of something grand and hidden in the dark. From Athalia though, if there was a duality, he couldn't sense it, as if this woman was far closer, far more in tune with the horror inside her. Far more at home.

"I didn't think she'd come," he said.

"Aye, but ah convinced her. An' Beatrice told me the lass has a history wi' the sheriff, so ah went askin'." Fiona shrugged, took another sip, and walked over to Jack to lean against him.

"Wait, you just asked? Who'd you ask?"

"Th' Prince o' course."

"... how did you arrange that?"

"Arrange?" She shrugged again, and poked him in the shoulder. "I'm friends wi' her lover! Ah walked in th' front door, and asked to see 'er. Ah can be very convincin'... and that jimmy behind th' coonter isn't exactly th' smartest man."

Yeah, Chunk wasn't. Not sure why Antoinette kept him around.

The Prince got a parting nod to the latest Kindred she was speaking with — some of the younger Carthians — and moved over to stand with her friend Daniel Smith. Fake last name if Jack had ever heard one. Athalia stood her ground, and looked the extremely tall woman up and down a few times with a raised brow. Probably wasn't expecting so much skin.

After a few words, the Prince raised a hand, and motioned for Jack to come closer. He nodded, smiled, but didn't move at first. Took a moment to get his legs going, and walk over. Athalia was not a woman he liked, and judging from the small sneer she showed him as he approached, she didn't like him either. Seemed she didn't like vampires in general, which made her arrival very strange.

"My love, I believe you have already met Athalia." Antoinette reached out for him, and slipped her arm around his shoulders once he was in close. He was short enough to fit snug against her side, and, as he got in close, he could feel the Prince's hug tightening. Protective.

"Jack Terry," the monster said. "It's good to see you survived."

"Y-Yeah, thanks." The most disingenuous 'happy you're alive' he'd ever heard. Not that you hear that line very often, but the annoyance on the girl's face was only thinly veiled. His presence bothered her. Antoinette's presence bothered her. How the fuck did Daniel convince her to come? Why did he? Was that actually what happened? Mental note: ask Natasha later.

Daniel's face was blank, and he adjusted his glasses with a finger against the bridge. "Sorry I wasn't there to help." Daniel, talking to him. This was rare.

"We did go down there without permission," he said. "Maybe not the brightest move on our part."

"You saved my new subordinate from an uncertain fate, my love." Again, Antoinette hugged him to her side, tighter than usual. Something about Athalia was putting her on edge, cause it wasn't jealousy he saw on the Prince's face, it was worry. Subtle, just a single line, a tiny crease on her brow. If her attitude toward Athalia was any indication, no wonder she wasn't excited to have Fiona enter her city. Big of Antoinette to help Fiona with this whole situation then; at least, if Athalia had actually wanted to come.

"I do owe you a favor," Daniel said. "You and your friends, for risking that to save Natasha."

Jack's smile forced its way onto his face. "Well, I mean, we wanted to prove Fiona was innocent too."

A quiet grumble caught his ear, and he looked to Athalia. Woman was looking toward the werewolves and vampires grouping in the back, and Jack could tell she was trying hard to cover a scowl.

What was up with this woman? Exact opposite of Fiona. The redhead was bubbling with happiness and couldn't wait to socialize with other 'monsters' like Kindred or Uratha. Athalia was mean. Not even, mean wasn't a good enough word. Hateful, like she genuinely hated them for no reason. And Daniel wasn't exempt. Poor guy looked utterly unphased by the girl's rudeness, but Jack could see Athalia wasn't too happy about having him on her arm.

"... sorry," she said, once she caught Jack's eyes. Shit, he must have been showing his own annoyance.

"W-What? No, um, it's ok. Just... you don't really look like you want to be here."

Antoinette brought over her other hand, and gave him a small flick on the nose. "Jack, do not insult the guests."

"He's right." Shrugging, Athalia gestured to the room. "Only reason I'm here is because Daniel says it'll do some good, for Begotten relations. Azamel agreed."

Don't ask her why she hates vampires, don't ask her why she hates vampires. Control your tongue before you lose it.

"I am sure it will." Antoinette mimicked her gesture, catching Jacob and Othello in the wake of her hand. "And, please, understand that the Invictus did what they did only in pursuit of maintaining peace."

"Yes. I'm sure." Another scowl from the monster, but not as cruel as the others at least. "Know that Azamel, angry as all hell, will continue to do what she was doing, as she was doing it. Quietly, without intent to interfere."

"Then I am pleased," Antoinette lied. "It is best for everyone that we get along."

If there was anyone in the room who couldn't do politics, he'd thought it'd be Jessy. But this Athalia woman looked like she was ready to start arguing the moment someone said something she disagreed with. Kindred learned to dance around the truth, lie, manipulate, but, this girl was probably honest to a fault. He could appreciate that. And, she had said sorry, about the scowling.

"Jack," Athalia said. "May I speak to you in private?"

God damn it.