Blood & Power [Book One of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

1.9: Encounter

Kara and I had walked through the doors of the seventeen while it was still comfortably dark outside. The moment I'd walked through the door, and she was muttering grievances, I knew I'd find myself going back out. I slid back onto the couch as Kara had run off, grabbing the bottle of vodka from the table in front of me. Adrienne had come back into the room, exiting the room left of the lobby and looked on at me as I unscrewed the cap and downed a quarter of the bottle in a single swing.

Adrienne had shaken her head and begun to walk towards where the girl had disappeared to, but I had grabbed onto her arm and stepped closer to clear the gap. She'd whipped her head back and met my gaze with a questioning look; one that was underlined with slight fear. I graciously let her arm go before I spoke softly, "Can you do me a favour and make sure she stays here Adrienne," She had rolled her eyes and took a step back from me, placing the book she had in her hand on the hallway cabinet.

"You're going back out?" She asked pointedly, obviously not fond of the idea. I had looked at the grandfather clock that sat beside the cabinet and noted it was barely four in the morning, which left plenty of dark wintery hours of fun to be had. I stepped back onto the red-stained hallway rug.

I had opted to respond with a grin, stretching my arms out and stepping back into the cold from the door I had left open, before shouting back at her, "Isn't that obvious," I didn't give her time to respond, but did overhear her muttering grievances before running back to Ruby.

The clubs were just as busy now as they had been when I'd dragged an unwilling Kara out the doors of Regulus - the streets covered in both humans and vampires alike. The patrons here were still primarily human, who didn't often opt to leave until around five in the morning, as their 'permission slips' tended to run out at half-past five. From what I'd heard they tended to enjoy every drop of time they could manage here, as permission slips were difficult to obtain and often far between.

In comparison, the vampires in Ruby tended to stay until seven during the winter season, leaving with the sun peeking its head on the horizon.

The club I'd chosen for the evening, which was often my favourite, Giorti, was filled with moving bodies, but despite that, there was one human that had grasped my interest. A girl that had sullenly walked out from the back of the club from the stairways - only used by the dancers, staff and special visitors. The girl was rubbing the single tear that was slowly dripping down her cheek as she sat down at the bar; the chirpy bartender Avery had placed a green liquid in front of her at the same moment she'd gotten comfortable on the stool.

"Hi there," I greeted her while I found a place on the stool beside her. The girl had blatantly ignored my introduction and kept her gaze on the green drink. I twisted my lips and raised a hand at Avery, who upon looking at me had begun to prepare my regular drink. Something was charming about the way she looked; the smeared makeup hinted she was here often and for a long time, enjoying herself and getting into trouble. Even the clothing choices she'd made; green leather jacket and short multi-coloured dress implied a fun sense of style but odd practicality that you'd only gain by coming here a few times and knowing that sometimes, running was your best option.