My Little Ventrue Pt. 09 Ch. 08

So Triss came at the project with low expectations. Julias was gone, she kept telling herself over and over. Julias was gone, Julias is gone, and she'd never see him again. This project of hers was just her... trial by fire, to becoming a proper witch. It'd fail, it'd scar her for eternity, and she would forever be a better witch for it. And her vow to be Black Blood's student would begin, following in Jacob's footsteps. Not that Jacob had ever been Black Blood's student, those two were partners, but close enough.

Christ, what if it did work? What if she had Julias back, and--

She killed the thought, killed it dead, instantly. She would not get her hopes up. She would not.

"Triss," Jen said, "you're doing it again."

"Eh?"

"Staring off, and--"

"Right, I know. I'm just thinking."

Jen slid in beside her, before setting an arm on Triss's opposite hip, arm hooked behind her. "Whatever happens, I'll be there."

Triss smiled and nudged her head into Jen's. Yeap, totally cheesy, and she didn't care.

"Let's go see Jack."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They knew Jack was home; Triss texted him. Othello whistled as they approached the mansion, and he spent more than a few seconds admiring some of the statues. For just a split second, Triss thought he might have had an eye for art. But, no, he was just admiring the statues that showed some boob.

He whistled again when they stopped at the enormous double doors, and Triss knocked. Big boom with the door knocker and everything, straight out of a movie.

Someone very much not Jack opened the door.

"Uh, hello?" Triss said, eying the maid up and down.

The maid was fucking hot. A short woman, curvy, with blue hair, and a button shirt that was pretty much completely unbuttoned, showing a very nice bra holding a pair of very large tits. The color scheme screamed maid, but the clothes were modern, suit shirt and tight skirt and whatnot.

The kine gasped, but after staring at Triss for a few seconds, let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Beatrice. I'm sorry, this is the first time I've seen you face to face. I didn't... I apologize."

"Apologize? Oh, right." Triss touched her extra teeth, and dragged a claw along them, earning some quiet rapid clicks. "Um, don't worry about it. Who are you?"

"I'm Veronica. The master's servant."

Oh, a thrall. Maybe a ghoul, but Triss didn't get that sense.

"Aren't you a pretty thing." Jennifer stepped forward, and Veronica stepped back, eyes going wide again. Yeap, she was new, and Jen's aggression scared her.

"Jen, don't wear out your welcome," Triss said. "Veronica, can you--"

"The master says you're welcome to come in; you have an open invitation. He's a little busy at the moment, but I'm sure he'll be with you soon." Too damn cute, the way she kept looking at them, then at the ground, then remembered her obvious instructions, tried to maintain eye contact, and kept failing. "In the mean time, I can take you to--"

"I've seen the inside of this mansion a million times, Veronica."

"Oh... right. I'm sorry."

Ah shit, now Triss felt bad. Sure, having another women tell her where she could and couldn't go in her dead boyfriend's mansion struck a nerve, but Veronica didn't know better. And it was Triss's problem anyway.

"Forget about it," Triss said. "Can you take us to the... fuck, I don't know what it's called. The room with red couches? Over there." She gestured down the hall.

Veronica nodded, and after taking a quick peek at Othello, twice, she guided them through the halls. Aaron and Othello both looked around with wide, curious eyes, and Triss had to fight to keep from laughing or teasing them. For dudes like them, money like this just didn't make sense. Why build a fancy place like this that'd only attract attention? Witches hid, because it made sense to. Not like most people could appreciate or understand crúac rituals and the other shenanigans she knew Jacob got up to. Invictus, on the other hand, fucking loved to posture, pose, fluff up, and show their tail feathers.

Veronica opened the door, and let them go in first. God damn, she really was doing the whole servant shtick. Did Jack like that? Probably not; he had that in common with Julias. But then again, Julias rarely acquired thralls, and had no ghouls, while Jack was only a few years embraced and had a thrall already. Maybe the kid had a desire to be in charge Julias didn't?

"Do you... need anything?" Veronica asked, smiling at each of them in turn.

"Uh, yeah," Triss said, sitting on the couch with Jen. "How'd you know who I was? Jack describe me?"

The boys took a different couch, a wall of old wood behind them, smoothed and carved and decorated with red curtains. Of course they admired it, the guest room's walls, the candle holders on the walls and the fake candles in them; Julias had replaced Viktor's real candles with fake ones. The room and everything in it just reeked of wasted money, but the boys were hypnotized by it anyway. Sluts.

"The master showed me a picture of you and his sire."

"Picture? I--oh my god." She laughed and buried half her face in her hand. "That brings back... memories."

Veronica squirmed a little. Yeap, she'd just tripped over a shitty situation without realizing it, until now.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have--"

"Jesus girl, relax." Triss shook her head and waved a hand. "It's ok. It was a long... it was a time ago." Not that long, Triss.

"Still, I... um..." Poor girl was going to shatter. She'd tried to be all proper and shit at the door, like a good servant, but apparently being around four vamps was a bit much for her.

"We're not going to bite," Othello said, and he smiled at the girl as he leaned back on the couch beside Aaron. "Unless of course your master lets us."

Triss promptly kicked the table between them, a small wooden thing with a red cloth over it, right at the asshole's shins. A good thunk and a surprised grunt from Othello announced success.

"Dude. Keep it in your pants. And trust me, you don't want to get on Jack's bad side."

"It's ok," Veronica said, squirming a little more and blushing a lot more. "The master has... warned me, about certain vampires." Despite herself, the thrall managed a sheepish smile for Othello, before she nodded her head to the rest of them.

Jennifer laughed. "Considering it's Jack, I imagine Veronica has been thoroughly seduced and ravaged by two very powerful Kindred besides Jack, no? And routinely, I imagine."

Oh god. Triss hid half her face in her hand again, but watched as the tasty thrall squirmed and blushed even harder.

"The master has a... pretty amazing sex life, I admit."

Antoinette, Elaine, the Prince's two ghouls, and now Veronica. Dude was getting five pussies on the reg. As amazing as that sounded, Triss knew some vamps who pushed it a lot further.

"If I know Jack," Jennifer said, evil gleam in her eyes, "and I think I do, at least a little, I suspect you'll have more legs in your bed with time. I imagine the boy will build a harem, something to be a symbol of his power, a source of food, but also, something to protect and cherish."

"I can see it," Triss said. Jack and Julias had a lot in common, but not everything. Veronica was proof.

Jennifer grinned. "And his mother will, too. I see the desire in her eyes."

Triss and Othello, even Aaron laughed at that. Veronica stared at them like they'd spoken mysterious, powerful words, which had them all laughing again. If only the thrall knew how big Samantha's sexual appetite was.

"I haven't spoken with Samantha yet," Veronica said. "She's very pretty." From the way she said it, Triss could see she was stepping out of her comfort zone, and probably into territory she considered dangerous, talking about her master's mom.

Jennifer's grin erupted into something Triss had seen far too often.

"Pretty, yes, and absolutely sala--"

Triss put a hand over her friend's dumb mouth and shook her head, hers and Jen's. "We're not gonna talk about Samantha, not like that, not in her kid's mansion." And honestly, a part of her didn't like the idea of pissing Jack off. Sure, the kid's personality basically rendered him harmless for stupid shit like social gossip, but the thing inside him, Triss wasn't so sure. If the Ripper flipped out and decided to rip off some heads cause someone insulted his mom, it wouldn't surprise her.

Jen sighed and nodded, and Triss let her go.

Veronica put a hand up to her mouth, glanced at the door, and closed it, while staying inside the room. Then, with wide, hungry eyes, she stepped closer to Triss.

"Is it true the Circle does, like, witchy stuff? Sacrifices, orgies under the fool moon, that kinda stuff?"

Oh good god, it was too fucking precious. The thrall was hungry for tidbits, and looking at the four of them like they were special, like they were gods or something. No wonder vampires often got themselves a thrall or three. What an ego stroke.

"Who told you that?"

"Jack and the Prince kinda mentioned it. Ashley and Julee said more, but I don't think they know as much."

"There are certainly orgies," Othello said. Veronica blushed horribly when she looked back at him, but her eyes came back to Triss with more curiosity.

Triss rolled her eyes. "Yes, there are orgies, or at least the Circle does that sorta stuff. We don't, not really, but we could, sure. Jacob probably did, hundreds of years ago, orgies under the full moon, complete with a fresh goat's skull, covered in blood, hung around his neck."

"Whoa."

Whoa, yeah. That shit was fascinating, and terrifying. But it sent giddy jolts through Triss, to see a young woman, a kine no less, think that shit was neat. Lots of women and teenage girls went through a witch phase, and delved into occult stuff. But lots of women were also obsessed with murder documentaries and stalker podcasts. That didn't mean they all wanted to be detectives.

"I do suggest," Aaron said, "that you tread carefully, Veronica. The four of us are pretty friendly, but Jacob guards his secrets and guards them well. He'd have no problem killing you if he thought you were being too nosy."

Veronica straightened with a gulp. "B-But... isn't the master's mom dating Jacob?"

"She is. But she's not involved in anything related to the Circle beyond that, and Samantha's smart enough to be careful with her questions."

"I see. I... I'll be careful."

Probably a good idea to scare the thrall some now, before it bit her in the ass later. Sure, Jacob wasn't as scary as people thought he was, but in some ways he was scarier.

The door opened, and in walked Jack. Everyone sat up straighter, and as much as none of them would say it, they all felt their Beasts recoil in the presence of the kid. Triss knew about the necklace he wore, and that it kept his Beast quiet and subdued, but that didn't mean they couldn't sense it, sense how massive it'd become. It was like someone had taken a tiger, already a damn strong Beast, and given it a bunch of steroids, too many, so it was bursting at the seams with strength to the point it was unnatural, and grotesque.

The kid looked good. He wore a damn nice suit, gray, something Julias would have worn, and he wore it well, good proud posture putting his chest and shoulders on display, and Triss bet he didn't even realize he was doing it anymore. Confidence came off him smoothly, naturally, so much like Julias it almost hurt. God damn, the difference three years and a mountain of bullshit falling on your lap can make. Anyone else probably would have broke, but not this damn kid.

And then there were the two crows. Mulder and Scully had been with Jack a long time, and everyone was used to seeing two black birds whenever Jack was around. Except this was different. This time, the two crows sat on his shoulders, and stayed there, instead of immediately finding perches overhead. And they didn't look right. They stood there, heads turning with almost mechanical precision, and every member of the Circle blinked as they noticed the birds were damaged. One of them had a broken neck and crooked head, the other a broken wing. Neither bird seemed to care, or even notice.

The two crows completed the image of one scary fucking Ventrue.

"Beatrice," he said, and he smiled. Not so scary to his friends. "Jennifer. Oh, Othello, Aaron, hey." He nodded to the boys, a half apology for not expecting them. "Thanks Veronica, you may go."

Veronica smiled, half bowed to him, and left, closing the door behind her.

"You have a type," Jennifer said, gesturing to the door, then down to her own bust and the suit shirt she wore. Like Veronica, she had plenty of her buttons undone. Unlike Veronica, she didn't bother with the bra.

"Ugh, don't start. It's Antoinette, she--"

"Delights in delighting you." The fellow Ventrue giggled and swooned. "Soon these walls will be bustling with a delightful harem of bare breasts, bouncing boobily along."

Past Jack would have squirmed at being called out. This Jack sighed, but smiled, and leaned back against the door, hands at his sides.

"I mean, yeah, once I accepted being a vampire, I did kinda envision growing up to have a harem I guess. Dracula's brides, right? Monica Bellucci." Everyone groaned with desire, in unison. "Then I met Antoinette, and didn't think it'd happen, and I didn't care. I love her, and she's already wearing me out with all the things she likes to try. But now she's also pushing me to get a harem, and... I should stop calling it a harem."

Jennifer shrugged. "It is what it is. Of everyone in this room, only Aaron and Beatrice do not have thralls and ghouls with the express purpose of being fed on and fucked."

"Cause Aaron and me are good people. The rest of you are going to Hell."

Jack laughed. "Yeah, I guess. And in this modern world, it's even worse, everyone trading sex tapes or putting on shows for each other with webcams."

Triss raised a brow, and looked at Jen. Jen looked at Aaron. Aaron looked at Othello. Othello grinned.

"You made a sex tape," the Daeva said.

"I... well, yeah. Hasn't everyone in this damn city?" Jack asked. Every witch and warlock shook their heads, and Jack threw up his hands. "What the fuck?"

"Witches are a little more hands on," Triss said, shrugging.

Jennifer's eyes positively gleamed. "I must have this tape."

Jack just rolled his eyes. "I can only take so much embarrassment. And from what I hear, you witches are all pretty cozy with each other, and my mom visits Jacob frequently. The last thing I want her to see, is me with five women, on tape."

Jennifer held out a single hand, palm up, and curled her fingers. Very evil sorceress vibes. "Give it to me."

Jack laughed and shook his head. "So anyway, why are you all here? Just visiting?"

"Kinda yeah," Triss said. "I was worried about you. Things are heating up pretty bad out there."

"You're telling me. Those two fucking assholes are going to get everyone killed."

"Two?"

"Garry and Michael." After a heavy sigh, Jack walked across the room and sat in an empty sofa chair. It was surprising the chair didn't break under the weight on his shoulders. The two birds cawed once each, and nudged their heads into his neck, earning some neck scratches from him in return. "Now that Amanda's dead, things aren't just heating up anymore. They're catching fire. Gloria is devastated. Four skirmishes in the week since her childe's supposed death, and a dozen Kindred have lost limbs."

"Supposedly?" Triss asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it until I know for sure." Poor kid. He leaned back in the sofa, and rubbed both temples with one hand as he looked up. "Those two idiots are gonna push the two covenants together harder and harder until there's a big fight. People are going to die. And I'm gonna be in the middle of it, trying to stop it."

"You could always just let them kill each other," Aaron said.

"I'm Invictus. I'm a part of this, even if I don't want to be."

Othello raised a hand. "I get the impression the Prince would prefer you stay out of it. Leave the Invictus, request sanctuary, and stay with her?"

Again, the kid shook his head, just like Triss knew he would.

"I'm not going to let people die cause these two assholes hate each other."

"A very un-vampire thing to say," Jennifer said.

Jack laughed. "Yeah, I know. But it is a Julias thing to say. Shit doesn't need to be like in other cities. And so help me god, if I have to break Garry and Michael in half to make it happen, I will."

"Or kill them," Aaron said.

"I... yeah, that. I don't want to do that. Garry doesn't deserve that, much as I can't stand his guts. And Michael... is quickly approaching the point I think he should die, but he's my boss."

"Would you kill him if you could?"

Jack eyed Aaron, suspicious. "Hard to answer that question. Sorry."

Aaron put up his hands. "No offense taken."

"Othello," Jack asked. "You know much about Garry and Michael? You're older than any of us."

"Sorry Jack. I keep my head down and stay out of everyone's affairs."

"Useless," Triss said, smiling at the dumb oaf. He returned it with a wink.

Though in retrospect, she should probably be careful teasing Othello, considering how much Samantha was into him. He could get at Jack through Samantha. But, nah, Othello wouldn't do that. Half because he was just too much of a lazy nice guy, but also cause he was just as afraid of Jack as everyone else. He'd been there, when Jack got revenge, after all.

"Ask your beloved," Jen said.

"Antoinette and I are pretty careful about what we tell each other. If Michael suspects Antoinette's been playing favorites and telling me shit she shouldn't, and vice versa, it'll cause problems. He's already annoyed that she and I are basically joined at the hip. I'm sleeping with the enemy."

Triss nodded. "Yeah. If the Prince was a Carthian, it wouldn't fly."

"Exactly."

"But, dude, I've seen that Ripper curse in full swing. I bet you could kill Michael."

"I don't want to kill Michael!" Jack sat up straight and slammed both palms on the arms of his chair. Everyone flinched, except the birds. The birds might as well have been statues on his shoulders. "He's not some colossal asshole like Viktor was, or Lucas. If Amanda isn't actually dead, if this is some big trick, then he's only a normal asshole, that doesn't necessarily deserve to die. And, he's an asshole with connections. Killing him could be a pain in my ass for decades after."

"Only if you get caught," Jennifer said, smile growing sly.

"At this point, I think everyone would turn their eyes to me if Michael vanished, with this curse rumor hounding me."

"True."

"I just... I know Garry and Michael hate each other, and I get that they've been fighting each other for a long time, but they really, really hate each other."

Aaron lifted a finger. "You grow to hate what you fight. History and psychology has taught us that quite well. Put two forces against each other long enough, and they'll eventually hate each other. They'll look for reasons to justify their conflict."

"Yeah, I guess. It still feels worse than that."

"Ask Maria?" Aaron said. "She might know more."

Triss winced. Aaron and Othello didn't know Jack avoided Maria because of what happened to Lucas, and she planned to keep it that way. To Jack's credit, he didn't flinch or anything.

"Maria and I aren't on the best of terms."

"So? If Kindred are going to die, it seems like something worth risking. Besides, you saved her from Avery, so she owes you, right?"

Jack looked down in thought. "Yeah, you're right. I should talk to her."

"Careful, Jack," Triss said. The others looked at her, eyebrows raised, but Triss ignored them. "She's a cold bitch."

"I will. Damien will be there. I might just ask him to ask her." Jack lifted his head, and his old smile came back. "The four of you really came over here just to help me out with Invictus Carthian problems?" They all nodded. "Uh huh. I'm naive, but not dumb, guys."