My Little Ventrue Pt. 04 Ch. 16

"Has she actively tried to sabotage your relationship?" Damien said.

"No. Just, made it very clear she likes me."

"You have a habit of making people like you."

"Somehow I don't think I managed to do that with Angela. And I get the impression Garry doesn't like me either."

Damien nodded, and opened the car door as it stopped before Julias's mansion. "He likes very few. But he's also on your list, isn't he? To be friends with."

"Like trying to become friends with a very angry bulldog."

The Mekhet laughed, or rather, chuckled louder than Damien normally ever did, and joined his side as the two of them walked up the grand walkway to Julias Mire's massive abode. "Then you need to find bacon."

Jack rolled his eyes, and knocked. Bacon was a halfway decent metaphor for getting some sort of treat for Garry, to get through that man's aggressive exterior, his utter hate for the Invictus, and what Jack had noticed was a general dislike for any sort of social posturing. Jack could appreciate that, but trying to sway him would require a lot more than an agreement on how annoying social machinations could be.

"Master Terry?" the doorman said.

"Yes, here to see my sire."

"Um, yes sir. He was not expecting you."

Jack shrugged, nodded, and followed the servant in, Damien behind him. "I felt this conversation was best done face-to-face, and with a little touch of surprise." Not that he could ever get Julias to be surprised, given the man's penchant for prediction, especially of Jack's actions. But he could try.

"Ha, yes, very good sir."

The three walked along one of the rustic hallways, until the servant opened the door to usher them into one of the mansion's many meeting rooms. Which was kind of weird, actually, considering Julias didn't usually—

Julias, Jennifer, and Beatrice all raised their heads as he stepped in. The three of them were sitting at a table, and playing poker, but for some reason Triss wasn't wearing her shoes, or her socks, or pants. A double take showed the Nosferatu was wearing nothing but a thong and a tank top. At least Julias and Jennifer were still clothed, other than suit jackets tossed aside, and Jennifer missing her shoes as well. She looked good in the skirt and white shirt though, especially with only the one button done so he could see her sternum, lack of bra, and inside contours of her large breasts. Damn she was sexy.

Damien stepped in, looked at three of them, and facepalmed. "Slut city," he whispered to Jack.

"I wasn't expecting you," Julias said, eyebrow raised. "Actually, I figured you'd be at the Prince's, enjoying your vacation." The man looked past Jack to the servant who let them in, frowned at him, and the kine hid a grin as he speed-walked away. Good relations with the boss, maybe?

"I wasn't expecting you to have company. Um, hello Jen, Triss."

"Hello little Ventrue." Jen grinned at him as she leaned onto her elbows, and set her chin onto the back of her hands. Flirtatious did not begin to describe the look she had in her eye. "And hello to you too Damien."

The Mekhet offered a slow nod. He wasn't as shy as Jack used to be, but the man was clearly uncomfortable with looking at Jen, and how her breasts were nearly hanging out. Beatrice's warrior ass in a thong didn't help either.

"God damn it Jack," Triss said, turned in her chair and elbow on its back. "Are you fucking Ventrue all experts at poker? This is fucking ridiculous. I can't get anywhere with these bastards."

He smirked at his sire, who returned the smirk. "I'm horrible at it. But, Julias is trying to teach me. I don't envy you, playing against him."

"Then maybe you and the Prince should play with us and take some of the heat off of me."

"Strip poker," he said, chuckling. They were playing strip poker. His sire, a hundred-year-old vampire, his lover, and his lover's friend, were playing strip poker. Hunters at the door, monsters and werewolves ready to turn the city upside down if it got in the way of their goals, the city nearly in a state of martial law for paranormals, and they were playing strip poker.

Part of him thought he should have been angry they weren't taking the threat more seriously. The threat had nearly killed him, killed Barry, and everything was going to cascade into a city version of a brushfire if they didn't keep it under control. And they were relaxing.

It was a good life lesson. Learn to relax every now and then, or the weight of everything was bound to crush you. At least he hoped that was the lesson.

"I wanted to talk about Angela," he said.

"Athalia's daughter." Triss got up, walked over to the couch in the very fancy, austere living room, grabbed her dark jeans, and slipped them on. Everyone in the room watched her force her toned, curvy, hard legs and ass into the jeans, but Jack noticed Jen staring a bit harder than the rest of them. Something happened there.

"Athalia mentioned you knew," he said.

"Yeah, Eric and I overheard when we were in that fucking nightmare world. How did you hear? I assume Julias told you."

"I had not, actually." Julias sighed, leaned back in his chair, and put the cards down. "I knew Athalia would tell him though."

Ah, yeah, that made sense. Man was good at predicting everything, damn it.

"Why didn't you mention something during the meeting, sire? Or, you know, before I went to visit Azamel?" Maybe calling him sire was a bit too formal, considering the company. And maybe it was a bad question to ask, considering the company.

"Should we go?" Jennifer said, reading his mind.

Julias shook his head. "No, we're all in this together, dealing with these hunters."

Jen nodded, but when Triss sat down on the couch, she came over to join her, making room for Damien and Jack to sit down in their places at the table with the man of the mansion. It also got Jen closer to Triss, a lot closer, legs touching. Something had definitely happened; he could ask about it later. For now, he took a seat at the table, and Damien followed.

"She's Athalia's daughter," Jack said again, "and everyone's convinced she's still alive, so I guess I should follow suit. And you guys... you didn't see how that conversation with Athalia went tonight. She doesn't want her daughter to die."

"She doesn't get a say in the matter." His sire steeled his face, a subtle frown not unlike Viktor's, and he leaned back in his chair as he netted his fingers together on his stomach. "Angela's not only a hunter, she's an adult. Spare her no mercy. Catch her unawares? Kill her. I didn't give you a heads up because Athalia's relation to or thoughts on the situation are irrelevant."

He winced, and shivered. "You haven't seen her, Julias. You haven't seen what Athalia is... like, a fucking..." How could he get across that monster? "Like an angel of fucking death, Julias. And she... she can get anywhere she wants to go. If we kill her daughter, and she can't handle it, she's going to take it out on us."

Triss clicked a claw against one of her crocodile teeth a couple times, loud enough for everyone to look her way. "Kid's right. I've seen all four of the Begotten, seen what those monsters look like, and Athalia? She's... like an angry dead god climbing out of a grave."

Jack nodded. That was as good a description as any. He could see it too, the enormous bones pulling the colossal skeleton torso out of the ground, leaving its legs behind. It didn't need them.

"Jeremiah stood his ground against them, and he's human." Julias did not look convinced.

"... Angela didn't feel entirely human." Sighing, Jack looked down at the table, and scratched his fingers along his scalp a few times. "I'm guessing Jeremiah is similar. Azamel thinks so too. Angela... she felt like something more than human."

"I'm less worried about Athalia though," Triss said, "than I am Azamel. Did you see her Jack?"

He twitched, and looked at Triss. She looked spooked. He must have looked terrified then, in comparison.

"Yeah... she was there... The meeting we had was in the nightmare."

"Then I don't envy you. I only got a glimpse of her monster, or horror or whatever, and... fucking hell."

"Then the question," Damien said, "if Azamel is our biggest concern, is if she'll go on the rampage for Athalia, if and when we kill Angela."

Jennifer raised a hand. "Um, correct me if I'm missing something, but aren't a bunch of you friends with Fiona? Why not convince her to help you?"

Jack, Triss, and Damien all winced.

"I... I'll... talk to her," Jack said. "Just... we—"

"Fiona is probably the nicest person in the city," Damien said. "We don't want to throw her under the bus."

"I remember when you brought her before the Primogen, Jack," Julias said. "And she did seem like a nice girl, a very nice girl. But, Jennifer's right. We need a way to deal with these Begotten that doesn't result in a repeat of last time, but we can't let Angela live if we get the chance to kill her." The strongest Ventrue in Dolareido leaned forward, set his elbows on the table, and looked at Jack and Damien with harder eyes than Jack was used to. "I trust you two and Jessy to handle the situation as you see fit, but you Jack, are to do everything you can to keep the peace between Begotten, Kindred, and Uratha. Understood?"

"Understood." If there was one way he was going to die... well, this dilemma had a million ways to get him killed. One was bound to get him.