"I'm not going," Victoria said, despite the fact she was already dressed and all made up. I rolled my eyes and tugged at one of her crossed arms. It hadn't been until we were both ready-and Kelsey too, I imagined-that Victoria began to protest. "I'm not going anywhere with her."
"You know she can hear you, right?" The thick walled and grand hotel was no match for vampire hearing, especially not that of the Family. In such a crowded place it was easy to let all the noise drown out but I suspected Kelsey would be listening in purposefully. My own listening for Kelsey and Erek in their room pretty much confirmed it.
Victoria huffed and sat down on her bed. She looked so much like the bratty young orphan I'd met so many years ago that I almost had to laugh. "I don't care."
"Kelsey isn't so bad once you get to know her. Just give her a chance." I tugged at her am one last time, harder than before, just to prove that I could make her move if I wanted to before giving up and sliding over to the mirror to slip in my earrings.
"I don't think anyone can be that great that you have to get to know them to, you know, not hate them," Victoria mused softly though clearly well aware that Kelsey, as well as her siblings, could hear. That was a risky thing to do and I had to wonder how aware Victoria was of their power. She'd grown far to brave being surrounded by myself and other elder vampires and the powerful witches of London.
Not even, I realised, with talk about the French witches was she worried. Far, far too much bravery. Too much considering how far her own powers had declined over the years and how much of her bravery relied on the presence of others.
Perhaps that wasn't the great witchy influence Autumn needed-perhaps a bit of time with Tanya and Mia would be better. It would be good, too, if she spent some time with wolves as well and with the new council representatives clearly no older than their early twenties...Hopefully spending time with both witches and wolves closer to her age would help the girl relax and except her heritage.
"Just-today, for example, how she was talking to that couple. I hate it. You know I do. That seductive cruel hunting thing you do. And I think perhaps females do it more." I couldn't help bursting into laughter as Victoria spoke. Immediately my mind went to Kare who she'd been flirting with and how seductive and cruel he could be. I didn't dare mention it though, a few spirts of laughter throughout the hotel informing me that Kelsey wasn't the only one listening.
"You've only known a few male vampires-you've only really new a few vampires across gender. Isaac and Edmund don't represent a male populace. Thomas was a dick and nearly every other male you've met you've flirted with. You think they all do that for your lovely personality?" Victoria shrugged taken no obvious notice of her ex-fiancé and glanced at her watch. "It's just the way we hunt."
"You need to go soon."
"Yes, we do," I agreed, opening the door and glancing back at her. "Besides, 'seductive cruelty' was the only power us girls had for a long time. You'd curse us for that?"
"I wouldn't," Victoria said standing up despite herself and heading for the door. "I just think your friend is...like, such a snobby cruel little bitch and-"
"And I've had that exact insult thrown at me." I stepped into the hallway and saw Kelsey walking around the corner towards us. She had that slightly amused and smug grin on her face-a common expression amongst all the Family.
She wrapped one arm around my shoulders and the other around Victoria's pulling her out into the hall, once she was close enough. "We shall have the grandest night, you'll see. And, Victoria haven't you heard how rude it is to judge?"
The last part was whispered harshly into Victoria's ear and I pushed Kelsey away in response. Her laughter was almost instant and contagious as it was I had to join in as she stepped to my side and linked my arm in hers. Victoria let out a small huff, barely audible to her, I might've imagined, but certainly plenty loud enough for Kelsey and myself.
"Well, I for one, am excited." With the revival issue slightly set into action, and a slight pushing at the back of my mind-which I suspected was my darling Leif trying to get through-telling me to relax. Besides, I always loved a bit of gossip and Kelsey had never once failed me in that regard.
Kelsey was dressed in the short, girly pink lace dress that anyone would suspect her to wear upon meeting her. She had fake tan on, not an obnoxious amount but a noticeable one compared to the pale colour her skin had been upon turning. Her hair was still cut short, a decision made a few hundred years ago in rebellion, then kept or at least returned to ever since.
Whereas Victoria aimed for the 'bitchy blonde' look but was always far too good and kind to pull it off, Kelsey had probably been one of the people to upset a writer or director enough to get the trope off the ground.
Victoria had aimed for a simply and modest black dress with a keyhole neck. A deliberate act, it looked like, to oppose both mine and Kelsey's garish tastes. My own dress was a mess of blues and purples in a somewhat Grecian style-far shorter, of course, and with a top that was wrapped as to show a good portion of my torso.
The point I'd attempted to make to her still stood seductiveness and control over our bodies had given plenty of female vampires-and shifters and wolves, for that matter-power and with power came respect amongst our kind. It had been that way for centuries. And in the modern age Victoria's, often conservative, views on sex had no place, as I'd often tried to tell her.
"Erek said," Kelsey murmured once we were out of the hotel and down the street a bit. "That you've been able to, err, talk to him? In your dreams or whatever?"
"That would be true." The pressure at the back of my head that I'd been feeling all day increased. Another sign that pointed towards Leif.
"What has he said?" Kelsey asked, eyes wide and watery. "Anything about me? About Erek? Finnr and Brandr? Loke? Rana? Kare? Why do you think he can do it? Because you're his fledgling? His first, at that. Or because of more emotional things? Or like, because you inherited his talents most and those are so...of the mind? Or, you did do a lot of those love rituals when those were the fashion? I mean those already had so many...effects."
"Love rituals?" Victoria asked, her voice full of distaste. Her feelings on romance were vocalised often, especially those that pertained to the vampiristic take on romance.
"Oh, they were all the rage from like the eleven hundred to the fourteen hundred. Blood sharing and all sorts of dark magik. All the preternaturals were in on it. They were meant to make you more connected to your partner," I explained. "Some worked more than others."
"And our dear Sine and my beloved brother tried almost everyone. Left them with all sorts of abilities." Kelsey piped in. She went to continue but I figured, for Victoria's sake, I should explain a little more. She was already feeling so out of place that I didn't think it would be good to leave her out any more.
"Telepathy. Empathy. That sort of thing." I paused. What good had empathy been in the war? Even if Leif had been across oceans he must've either felt it or cut the ties. I certainly hadn't been able to feel him. I turned my attention to Kelsey at the thought. "But I think those were broken. We went through some troubles after you left and he had no reaction. Even if-"
"I know about the war. Leif knew about the war. He was Under Rest. I think it was Erek. Or Kare. But I'm sure if he wasn't he would've been there." Kelsey's statement and her conviction sent a wave of relief through me. A grudge I'd held against Leif for over two hundred years dropped in an instant.
"Under Rest?" Victoria piped in. The practise had been outlawed in the Reformation by the vampire sector so I didn't suspect Victoria had ever heard the term.
It was Kelsey who clarified then in a hurried and somewhat exasperated voice, "It's a charm vampires sometimes use on one another to but the other in a semi-permanent sleeping state. They can't wake up until who ever charmed them wants. It's not too common given how difficult and draining it is to pull off."
"Look, I don't know how it's done or why," I cut in, when I saw Kelsey prepare to launch into questions again. "And we've only done it a few short times so there hasn't been much casual conversation."
Kelsey mumbled that it was hardly casual conversation to mention your siblings in death but then shut up leaving us in an awkward silence until we arrived at the nightclub.
It was the exact sort of place I expected Kelsey to hang out in, in the modern world. Flashy, expensive and exclusive. Of course, nearly all vampire run nightclubs were like that and as soon as we stepped inside I realised that was what the place was. It wasn't unexpected knowing Kelsey but it was unexpected knowing how many restrictions were placed upon French vampires.
I instantly relaxed, and grinned, at realising what the place was and Victoria stiffened as soon as the same though dawned on her. Not wanting to be out of the loop she always accompanied Isaac, Edmund, our other vampire friends and I too the nightclubs in London but every time she would act so miserable about it.
Likely she had expected it more than I, no exactly being well versed on world politics for my kind and-along with her obvious distrust of Kelsey that explained her reluctance to come. I suspected it was her need to be involved that in turn led to her last minute change of mind.
"Kelsey!" A male vampire popped out from the dancing crowd and kissed her on the cheek. "Valeria!"
As he did the same to me I tried to recall who he was. Someone from far back, I imagined because I hadn't publicly gone under Valeria since early on. I'd only been called that by close vampire friends for the better part of my life and close friend this man was not.
"Could we have a private room?" Kelsey asked, clearly uninterested in maintaining any conversation with the fellow. "With a few bottles of Ambrosia? And a bottle of nice wine for the witch? Also, if a human couple comes in they were both Italian, I think...anyway if they come in, send them up? Will you?"
The man nodded curtly, probably offended, I imagined, that Kelsey hadn't wanted to stay and chat. He slipped her a red and gold key card with the number thirteen on it. Once she had a hold of the card Kelsey pushed through the crowd, headed for some stairs at the back of the room. There was nothing Victoria and I could do but follow. As we did I glanced back at the mystery man but still couldn't recall him and decided his identity ultimately didn't matter.
The dark wooden stairs led to another floor, set out somewhat like hotel corridors, with numbered doors along the walls. Whatever glaring display of money there had been downstairs the private rooms would be at least triple it. Victoria never stuck around long enough to make it up to the rooms when we attended the clubs back home, she was only there long enough to see that no important matters were being discussed.
As Kelsey opened our door she grinned back at us, "Oh thirteen, how unlucky. How evil."
Victoria, as expected, didn't look too pleased at the black suede sofas. Nor the golden pole in the middle of the room. Nor the mahogany table. Nor the silky curtains on the wall. Nor the renaissance inspired statues. Not one part of it was too her taste at all.
Kelsey stood at the open door, waiting for the drinks but motioned us inside. As we each sat on a sofa Victoria turned to me, "Ambrosia?"
"Fucking hell, doesn't she know anything?" Kelsey hissed out with a poisonous glance at Victoria before returning to her watch of the hall.
"Lots of mixed spirits and blood. Alcohol is all well in good in vampirism but you don't really get the kick of it. So someone came up with bright idea of mixing it all together with blood and voila! We could all experience drunkenness again. Somewhat anyway. Once we commercialised some it was named Ambrosia-for what are we but gods?"
Victoria's face scrunched up but she didn't make any of her disgust known vocally.
"Oh bless!" Kelsey squealed suddenly to the human worker who appeared at the door with a tray of bottles. "Oh bless your soul, darling. Here's a little tip, do buy yourself something nice."
For all her niceness and sweet, melodic voice once Kelsey had taken the tray from the human she slammed the door right in his face. Victoria's face screwed up in displeasure again. The look was caught by Kelsey as she sat on the sofa beside me and across from Victoria. She didn't make another thinly veiled threat as I might've expected, instead only raised her eyebrows at me.
"Well this is charming." The awkward silence imposed from both Victoria and Kelsey was too unbearable for me not to speak.
Kelsey turned to me with a blinding smile, "It'll be even better once dinner serves itself up."
I didn't even need to look at Victoria to know her reaction. "Okay, Kels, we're here. You tell me what you wanted to tell me and you tell me what happened to him. If you don't spit it all out I might just abide Victoria and we'll walk out."
"No one meant anything of it," Kelsey said hurriedly. "You know how much we love each other, all of us. I know you do, even if Leif does not. He can blame us if he wishes but I swear to god no one meant anything of it. Erek and Kare only meant to frighten him some-they had no idea! He wanted to go to London, to see you, I suspect and they only meant to frighten-"
As she burst into sobs I felt my own tears in my eyes but the sadness was heavily outweighed by frustration. "What happened Kelsey? What the fuck did Erek and Kare do?"
"We'd heard word," Kelsey squeaked out through weak composure, wiping tears from her face, "Of a group of fanatics. They're based in Las Vegas ironically. They, ah, wanted to 'rid the world of evils'. Nothing we haven't dealt with before. He kept saying he wanted to leave and Erek told him, well Kare told him but it was Erek's idea that he could if he went and checked out the group."
She became silent again and even Victoria who had been staring about in bored discomfort was look at Kelsey intently all her distrust and dislike turning to a hard hatred. I was caught between anger-she never knew Leif, how dare she-and relief that she had my back. Mostly anger though, however misplaced.
"We never thought he would die. You must know that. We didn't even know it was possible. We all just knew they would be able to capture him, though they managed to convince him otherwise, and hurt him some. We never thought death."
I pulled back all my anger and any other negative feelings I was aware of before speaking. "Who knew, Kelsey? Where you all in on it? How did they do it? Once you tell me that I swear I won't ask anymore. Did you all know of the plan and how exactly was he killed?"
"We didn't think he'd die!" Tears were streaming down her face and though that hadn't specifically answered my question it clearly gave an answer. I swallowed her and gestured for her to continue. She stared at the ceiling in what looked like a silent prayer. "It was poison. A magik poison. One of them had their blood charmed and then they mixed it was all sorts of poison, natural, magik, not of this world-all of it and he was force fed that and injected with it."
Unconsciously I turned away from Kelsey and through a pained voice asked, "What was your news?"
"Oh, but you don't care now? Do you?" I didn't respond, couldn't bear to and I was suddenly dreading spending a whole night in this enclosed space with Kelsey. "I met someone and we're getting married. I was going to invite you to the wedding."
A knock at the door had her murmuring 'god bless' under her breath as she rushed to open it. It was the human couple, of course but with all things considered by excitement at the idea of them was gone.