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

1.8: Revelation

I resigned myself to the fact I didn't want to make the trip back to Seventeen. Needless to say, I wasn't jumping up and down at the prospect of having any conversations with Adrienne or Kara right now. The guilt trip they'd try to afford me would exceed my current threshold.

This led me to find my way to the doors of the club I didn't frequent often. It was a building that neither one had entered into recently, where I could hopefully avoid both of them. I'd made my way to the bar on arrival, eager to consume the concoctions that'd be served to me in their various forms; the line of shots that were set on fire, the rainbow spectrum of cocktails, or even just plain all vodka - any arrangement would be savoured.

The bartender, Aria, had known me for a few months and had already placed three glasses in front of me by the time I was comfortable on the stool. I didn't approach Regulus on a consistent basis; it was well known for being one of the more 'sketchy' clubs, where humans were far more than likely to disappear than get back home - I'd go as far as saying it was the least regulated club in the entire district.

She flashed a wide grin as she filled each of them with a liquid from the shaker. I had offered a smile back but didn't start a conversation, my attention refused to linger on her for too long tonight - she was surely tired of hearing the tales that often flew out of my mouth, and wouldn't give me anything other than alcohol. Her eyes had already drifted from mine, trailing down the bar left and right to make sure future customers hadn't turned up, and the ones that were already there weren't causing a scene.

It was the conversation happening several stools down the bar that had grabbed my attention instead. Two vampires with dark expressions, drunken sways and annoyance in their eyes. They were both staring at a group of humans, hidden in the corner of the room in a dark booth - whispering to each other, just quietly enough that even I couldn't hear them. That was surprising enough; most humans that did end up in here were riding solo, and completely unaware of what they were walking into - but this group came here purposely, maybe waiting for the show that was bound to occur.

"They're going to get us back one day," The first had muttered, his eyes going back to his friend who was chugging down his drink quickly. The liquid in the cup was yellow based with a slight tint of blood; Aria was keeping them as happy as she could muster - high alcohol levels and a tipsy sensation from an unwanted blood type.

"One day?" The second had said while leaning on to the bar, his hair was long enough to flow just past his shoulder, and he'd swung it as he called Aria over with a weak finger. His drink was slightly more red-tinted than his friend so I had to presume he was the rowdier of the two, "You mean any day now, right?"

"It won't be anytime soon Romero," The first had said, shaking his head in bemusement. There was an element of false confidence in his voice that didn't seem real to me; as though he didn't believe his own words that were dripping from his mouth.

"You haven't heard them talk then, have you?" The second had scoffed, his eyes had gone back to the humans in the corner. Aria, who was standing meekly beside them, pouring their several glasses with whiskey, was eyeing the group up too. There was a concern in her eyes that I didn't often see - as a member of the second bloodline she had heightened empathy which came with the original she was sired with. This made her far warier of what actions were taken to humans within the Eastern Zone, and this conversation seemed like it'd be a cauldron of unease for her.