My Little Ventrue Pt. 05 Ch. 14

"Not comfortable with me being around while you sleep?"

"What? That's not what I meant. Just, after what you just did for me, I figured I should ask if you wanted to stay the night."

Laughing, she tapped her phone against her forehead a few times, and smiled at him. "You mean in bed with you."

"Yeah."

"I'm Kindred. I go comatose when I sleep, and I sleep during the day. And unless those curtains you got are sealed to the walls to not let in a single crack of light, I'll turn into kindling come sunrise."

"Those... are legitimate points."

"That said." Shrugging, she climbed onto the bed with him. Still in her jeans and shirt, but at least no shoes, she lay on top of the covers. "Don't think I've ever lain in bed with a man, and not had sex."

"Heh, how about a woman?"

"Only Tash, and without sexual context. Tried to get Tash into bed a few times, for a proper fucking, but she didn't really pick up the signals. And I don't think she's into women, which makes me all sorts of sad." Smirking, Jessy turned on her side to face him, head propped up on a palm, elbow to the bed. "Got her into bed with my ghouls a few times though. You should have seen it, that tight little pussy spread open on a cock. Bet I could barely fit a finger inside her."

Ok, yeah, this woman was a sexual animal. He could feel the blood start to work its way down to his cock again, the pulses of his heart each pumping a wave of blood into the member. But he took a deep breath, and forced his body to calm. You need some more sleep. Get some more sleep.

Except, he wasn't tired. He was exhausted, and weak, and feeling dizzy and tender, but not tired. The weight of his eyelids never grew, and his body didn't sink into his blankets.

"I think sleeping most of the day has fucked my sleep schedule," he said. "I doubt I'll be able to sleep."

"Bleh, you're going to need to feel better though."

"Wh—oh, because you think hunters are going to try and do to me, what they did to Jack."

"Yeap. Got Kindred watching the place right now. And right now, I'm texting Damien and Jack about the weird dream you had." She stared into the glow of her phone, but she had trouble texting with the speed of the typical phone user. It made sense, he supposed. She was born before cell-phones existed, let alone texting. "It's why I'm dressed. Otherwise I'd be under the blankets with you. Way to a man's heart is his cock."

"Stomach."

"Cock."

"I'm pretty sure it's stomach."

"I've been embraced for over fifty years, dumbass. I've seduced hundreds of men, turned dozens into doting sex slaves. Even turned some of them into ghouls, if they proved themselves capable in and out of bed. Never cooked a damn meal in my life."

He laughed, and looked up at the ceiling as he smiled. "You're confusing men, with boys."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. When the sex is over, and the heat has died down for the moment, is where the difference becomes apparent." And where he and Sheryl never really connected on anything, unless money was involved. "If you fill a man's stomach, that's where infatuation turns to love."

"I see." She nodded, checked her phone a few times more, and turned over onto her back next to him. "I suppose you'd know more about this, despite the age diff. Married and divorced, I imagine you have wisdom to share."

Wisdom to share about his failed marriage, and painful divorce. All the bitterness and constant thoughts about it running through his head, summarized in a word he didn't expect: wisdom.

"You know? I just might."

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~~Julias~~

He was tempted to call Triss, and see if she had something to contribute. But he knew it'd be a bad idea. Much as he wanted to confide in her all the details of what was happening involving the hunters, at a certain point it crossed into needless, and potentially disastrous information overshare. If they got involved, they might trip over what the Invictus were doing, or give something up to the Carthians.

Was that a bad thing? Now that Garry was taking a more active role in fucking with the Invictus, Julias found himself hesitant to let him in on the details of Invictus movements against the hunters.

He sighed from behind his desk in the Xnomina HQ, and watched the video feed from a dozen thralls stationed around Carlava Villa. Snipers on rooftops, eyes in parked cars, and more than a few Kindred about, doubled up, each paired with at least one member that was good at the cloak of night. No one was getting into the building that didn't belong there.

~Just jacked Eric off a couple times. Now we're gonna take a nap on his bed.~

Julias looked at the text, tied into the network for the Right Hands. God damn it, Jessy. That woman, what the hell. Young kindred often let their sex drives get the better of them, until they were older, but Jessy was plenty old at this point. He figured she'd have calmed down by now. Well, at least she said she jacked him off, not fucked him; that'd be a hard position to jump out of and prepare to defend herself, if someone attacked.

The following texts about Eric's dream, were not so silly. Talk of a monster was understandable, dreams were weird. But the specific mention of Jeremiah seemed out of place. Combined with Eric's exhaustion despite his Uratha physicality, it was too much of a coincidence for Julias to pass it off as a meaningless dream.

Dreams were the purview of the Begotten. He was tempted to try and contact Azamel; easier said than done, with no actual way to message her, except maybe send a runner into the old tunnels.

The others should be here, but they weren't. MacDonald was off with a crew, investigating potential Terra Den issues; whatever that meant. Turio was doing something, by herself, about something she didn't want to talk about. In the past, he'd have chalked it up to Maria being Maria, pursuing whatever sort of creepy shit a devout person like her did. Why she never left the Invictus to join the Sanctified, he'd never understand.

That wasn't fair. Maria was a far more reliable council member than Michael was. She put her foot down and got things done, without putting the Invictus, or Xnomina, in harm's way. Usually. There was Antoinette's warning about her, and there was a buzz going around that Maria was dipping her toes into dangerous, nondescript things. What those things were, no one knew, but he didn't put it above Maria to pursue the strange sorceries Lucas was supposedly capable of. Jack confirmed that Lucas had actually cast a bolt of lightning, and hurt the Prince, preventing her from using her majesty discipline. Theban sorcery, supposedly. It was one possibility of what Maria was up to. He didn't want to consider others, not yet.

He held down the 1 key on the keyboard. "Jack, any sightings?"

"No."

2 key. "Mister Burksen?"

"No."

3 key. "Madam Lauevion?"

"No sir."

He went through a few more, and sighed with each one. No point in asking, they'd report in any sightings the moment they had any, but he was growing impatient. He hated that he was growing impatient. Impatience was not a good trait for any Ventrue, and it wasn't one he ever wanted to learn, before or after his embrace. The issue was, this was possibly pointless. Eric's dream, if it was an attack of some kind, was a giveaway, which meant the hunters knew Eric knew, and that the Kindred probably knew; assuming they knew Eric was working with the Kindred. Another maybe.

Considering the ritual was of his face, there was no way the dream was just happenstance. It had to be real, had to be something, had to mean the hunters were going to come for Eric. How. How was the problem. Would the hunters come in through the front door, or chopper in, or something ludicrous? The Kindred had every inch of the building's exterior monitored, under the assumption the hunters would come for Eric. There was just no way it was going to go the way their plan thought it might.

He looked at his phone, at another text from Jessy, this one for him specifically.

~Eric says the way to a man's heart is his stomach, not his dick. Thoughts?~

Sometimes, Julias forgot that he and Jessy had worked side by side for decades. To Jessy, that meant every detail of her personal life she felt sharing, was up for him to learn, whether he wanted to or not.

He facepalmed, before he texted back. ~A boy, a young man, can't think past their own dick. A man is capable of appreciating more. You could consider that to be a metaphor for the stomach, yes.~

~That's basically what he said!~

~Sounds like you got your work cut out for you, if you're trying to break this man.~

~Bah.~

He laughed, and put the phone back down. Break was the wrong word, but it was probably how Jessy was thinking about it. She had to break the man of course, not enjoy a growing romance like an adult, no no. To Jessy, he was a challenge to overcome, and puzzle to figure out.

Jack had told Julias that he was sure Eric and Jessy were interested in each other, and it was good to see his childe noticing details. A little tidbit of information could turn into a vital puzzle piece for a key issue, or valuable ammo in war. He was catching on quick. Poor Antoinette, forced to watch her lover become more and more of a schemer and typical Ventrue with each passing night. Julias was proud, but he had to admit, it was a little sad, seeing the kid's innocence melt away.

The Carlava Villa wasn't the only thing Julias was monitoring. There were thralls keeping an eye on the Mirrden District, in case Garry made a push for it. There were Kindred roaming South Side in pairs or triplets, hunting, keeping an eye open for anything and everything that might have been involved with the hunters. MacDonald had a bunch of Kindred keeping an eye on the Carthians, wasting time and man power over Tones's stupid crap. If the two damn dogs could stop fighting for one—his phone buzzed.

A message from Triss. ~Hey Superman. Jacob says you guys are doing a stakeout on Eric?~

Of course Jacob knew. No Invictus had told him, but at this point, it was expected the old man would find out what the Invictus were up to, except for the most private, and well-kept secrets.

~Sorry Triss, Invictus business.~

~Thought hunter business was for everyone?~

~It is, but coordinating with the other covenants makes things difficult.~

~True, I suppose.~

The Prince was the exception, of course. In matters dealing with the hunters, he kept her up to date. Unfortunately, she couldn't be bothered to deal with this matter personally. She had some thralls watching, he was sure, but she herself was attending to 'Princely' affairs; which likely meant putting counter measures in place against both the hunters, and the Begotten, Uratha, and even the covenants. She always did think ahead. The sheriff was off pursuing some mysterious agenda no one really understood, but at this point, Julias was sure he was doing something involving handling the new threats of the city. The man was a mystery.

~Guess what I'm doing?~ the phone said. Another text from Triss.

He was almost tempted to text her, and say he'd have to get back to her. The night was proving uneventful though, and with as many eyes as he had watching the tower, he didn't need to be watching the video feeds himself. It wouldn't be so bad, to text her back.

~What?~

~Got my hands all covered in kine blood, and I'm drawing patterns on Jen's big tits.~

~...what?~

~Ha, kidding. But we are doing some crúac shit. Jacob's showing me some rituals.~

~And you're texting me while doing this?~

~We're on the way. I'll send you a juicy picture if we get naked and rub blood on each other, or something. ttyl~~

Julias rolled his eyes and set the phone back down. He didn't mind the idea of Jen and Triss being naked around Jacob; he doubted the old man gave a shit about naked girls, at this point. There was concern about the dark and dangerous road the two witches were going down, though. Triss had awakened to a new level of confidence, since she started wearing that necklace, and watching her put her own blood around his door frame was an odd sort of thrilling.

He was in love with a witch, a practitioner of the dark arts, and an all around badass woman. Two, sort of, with Jen attaching as a friend.

He smirked, leaned back in his grand chair, and took stock of his second life. Dating an amazing woman, her friend too, he was now on the council for the Invictus of Dolareido, his childe was performing above all expectations, and Lucas, Viktor, and Tony were all dead. Everything should be better, but they weren't, not with the hunters, werewolves, and the damn monsters ruining everything.

Groaning, he buried his forehead in his palm. The Begotten were not the problem, not the way his reflex insisted they were. Hunters in the city, here to kill Azamel, were a problem, but as much as he'd like to blame Azamel, hunters were a problem all paranormals had to face. It was her fault, but at the same time, it was hard to blame her for simply existing. Not all paranormals were lucky enough to live in a city like Dolareido.

His phone buzzed again. He checked it, and chuckled at the picture. Triss, doing a stereotypical selfie for her phone, with her free hand lifting her tank top so he could see her breasts and nipple piercings. Jen was behind her, kissing her neck, and grinning at the phone as she did. The beast within would normally dodge or blur such photos instinctively, but with a little mental effort, a Kindred could pose for a camera.

Where were they? Looked like a cemetery. Probably the Three Kings Cemetery. He knew Jacob performed a lot of his extracurricular activities in that area, but he wasn't in the picture. Either he was not in camera shot, or not around. Julias hoped he wasn't around, but he got the feeling the two witches were growing comfortable enough to not give a shit about posing for Julias, even with Jacob around. Not because they didn't respect the old man, but they were catching on that Jacob was happiest when people treated him like the asshole that he was; in this case, ignoring him to pose for the phone.

Another picture came in, this time with Jen's hands groping Triss's breasts, still suckling on her neck. Then another, groping her breasts still, but now kissing her.

~Evil.~ He texted before he rolled his eyes, again, and took a couple seconds longer looking at the picture, before setting the phone down. She knew she was torturing him. He'd have to repay her and Jen next time he saw them.

He looked back to the video feed. Carlava Villa was a fairly tall building, with many floors. It had to be tall, to justify the large size of the apartments. Most of the floors had eight, but the top few with the grand suites had only four, giant apartments worthy of millionaires and presidents fucking prostitutes in secret. Three were being taken up by Uratha now.

He frowned, and watched Damien's high perch camera feed. Through the curtains of the building, he could see the silhouettes of some entities on various floors. One of them was Clara, the werewolf who had an interest in Jack. It was a good thing Jack hadn't given into Clara's flirtations, but Jack had expressed some sadness over being unable to reciprocate. He liked Clara, he told Julias as much, and he seemed to think highly of her, but felt bad about not being able to return her interest. Poor kid probably didn't realize that it'd offend Clara if she realized she was being pitied.

The silhouette of Clara was alone, sitting on a couch. Watching TV, or streaming a movie, perhaps. He could find out, if he wanted, bring up the Xnomina monitoring program, then use his Invictus passcode to get access to the private information. No reason to spy on what she was watching though, except to maybe piss her off later with the knowledge. No reason to do that either.

He set his curiosity aside, and moved his eyes to another video feed. Hella Vendram was watching from the street view, a distant position a good couple blocks away from Carlava Villa. Isabella didn't get her crew involved unless directly ordered, and even when ordered, she was hesitant to throw them into the direct line of fire. He could appreciate that; but it was also why she wasn't a Right Hand, and Jack was. Where Jack was both accomplished and trustworthy, Isabella was as well. The difference was Jack's ability and desire to get things done; case in point, he was sitting in a car with Natasha at this very moment, hidden in her cloak of night, almost directly outside Carlava Villa. Natasha could keep him hidden, barring some ridiculous counter card the hunters hadn't played yet.

And that was a possibility.

Julias sighed, and looked for that joy he had a moment ago, when Triss texted him. Gone. He grumbled, and dragged his fingers down his face. Being stuck behind a desk was man's version of hell. He thought things would be better as a council member, but having to be hands off with everything, so he could provide macro support and keep people aligned on objectives, was both infuriating and nauseating. No wonder CEO was considered one of the most stressful jobs on the planet; no amount of money can justify dying young to a stomach ulcer. Unfortunately, Kindred didn't have to deal with stomach ulcers, so nothing existed to end this strange misery he'd found himself in.

He wanted to be out there, with Tash and Jessy, with Jack, getting his hands dirty. The oldest, strongest ancilla in the city, and he was trapped behind a desk. No, that wasn't true. He could go out there if he wanted. The problem was he knew it wasn't a good investment of his time, or a good use of his managing skills. From here he could give orders while monitoring the situation; maybe he should get a proper monitoring van set up, like a police crew?

If the hunters showed up and caused a ruckus, Carlava was only a five minute run away. But even in that circumstance, it was probably better to stay here and monitor the situation on the dozen video feeds. Viktor would say it was the responsibility of underlings to do the heavy lifting, and die, while it was the duty of leaders to oversee how. Grim, but true, unfortunately.

He leaned back in his seat, and checked Damien's feed again. The man was a stone, unmoving, and silent. Fifty years of sneaking, hiding, observing, learning the sword, learning to use guns, learning his disciplines. The man was basically a self-taught assassin, and had insisted on doing his stakeout alone.

And, no matter how much Julias found the man unnerving, he was proving to be both trustworthy, and a damn valuable Right Hand.

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~~Damien~~

Damien took a slow, deep breath. Pointless. He didn't breathe, no Kindred did, and the act had lost its value even as a nervous tick, long ago. Now, he was doing it to check if his hearing was still adjusted. If the breath was quiet, his ears weren't adjusted enough. If the breath sounded loud, they were.

The other Kindred weren't used sitting and watching silently. They were taught to be more proactive in their pursuits, to engage, that the best defense was a good offense. It was true, he supposed. In the modern world, with technology at hand, being passive meant losing engagements. He who struck first, won. This was especially true when using explosives.

But when it came to doing a stakeout, and waiting for an enemy to expose themselves, patience was required. The younger Kindred, and those his age, were spoiled by Dolareido. They had no patience. They wanted to run in, convinced they could take on any threat.

That was slowly changing though, as the new threats made it apparent how deadly they were. The Kindred were starting to understand that the Uratha, and the Begotten, were stronger than them. Only the ancilla and elders were strong enough to stand up to them, and the overwhelming majority of Kindred in Dolareido were neonates. Kindred ruled the city, but before the terrifying power of werewolves, or the sheer alien nature of the monsters, most vampires were weak and vulnerable.