Dreamleaf Blues (The Book Wielder Saga)

by Sean Davies

  “None that I want to discuss,” he said back angrily. “Ferals hardly pop up anymore so it ain’t worth talking about.”

  Genevieve nodded slowly. “So back to the gang-stuff, then. I take it you have rivals, like Big Dave… and those others?”

  Seth scoffed. “I didn’t consider those humans to be rivals. They were just in my way, and this restaurant was a nice place to set up shop. You see, there’s two main gangs battling it out from Tidussex in the west to the Capital: the slimy pricks in the Triumvir of Sorrow, and the snobby cunts in the Shadow Circle. The Circle have got an outpost here in Woodsholme, the Open Vein club on the west side of town, and we’ve just muscled in on the east, so that should be fun. Also, from the east end of Imperia, settled in and around Gaelliard City, are a bunch of tattooed morons that call themselves The Morriganigh. They’ve got a wide reach, but we’ve found they’re not as well defended as the gangs in the west. So, we’re keeping our foothold in Woodsholme, and letting the Triumvir and the Circle kill each other over on the other side of Rura, while we nick all the ripe territories belonging to The Morriganigh. We’re also mopping up the last remains of any old human gangs, as you’ve seen first-hand, but that’s mostly for shits and giggles,” he said, laughing.

  Everything that Seth had been saying was important to Genevieve, as it was her only information on the secret society of Supernaturals that she’d been unwillingly dragged into, but she felt that the most relevant part of the conversation was finally beginning.

  “You smashed my head against a door,” Genevieve said angrily. “You made me into a Vampire Nightclaw, trashed my apartment, went through my private belongings, threatened my loved ones, left me so long I almost turned Feral… and what was it that you and those two bozos expected when you came to get me?” she asked moodily, even though she already had a very good idea of what they wanted in exchange for the blood.

  Seth shrugged nonchalantly. “It was like an induction. You’re a college chick, think of it like hazing. Congrats, you passed with flying colours. A-Star. Now where were you going with all that?”

  Genie sighed aggressively. She was even angrier knowing that he felt no remorse whatsoever for what he’d put her through. “What do you want from me?” she asked bluntly.

  Seth looked confused, and slightly amused. “Ain’t you supposed to be brainy? I want you to fight for me, for the Golden Fangs, obvs…”

  Genie sighed and shook her head slowly. “I’m a literature student, or at least I was,” she added, acknowledging that her old life was as good as gone. “I’m no killer.”

  Seth’s face creased up for a moment, and then he smiled and leaned across the table. “I want to play nice, really I do, Genevieve, but you’re kinda pissing me off here.”

  Genevieve tensed up and said nothing in reply.

  After an awkward pause, Seth continued speaking in a calm yet clearly aggravated tone. “Now, I know where you live, where your mum and dad live, and where your friend’s parents live too… nice and convenient for me that they’re neighbours… but I don’t want it to be like this for us, Genevieve.”

  “How do you want it to be then, Seth?” she asked fiercely.

  “See, that’s what I’m talking about!” Seth said more cheerfully. “You’ve got an attitude, and smarts, and the skills to hit it big with me and my gang. Why would you force me to get all nasty on you like that?”

  Genevieve scowled critically. “I didn’t force you to do anything. You could’ve just not smashed my head in and left me to it. Or you could have let me run off like Eryn did.”

  “And how would that help you find Annabelle, huh?” Seth smiled. “Now, I’ll admit that I was a bit of a bastard, but the way I see it is that I’ve helped you in the long run. How were you going to survive snooping around drug gangs as a weak and flimsy human? How were you going to force the info you want out of the chumps that cross you? How were you going to get revenge? Hell, she might even be a Supernatural now. She had to have been working for one of the other Supernatural gangs to be dealing in that much high grade Dreamleaf.”

  “What are you suggesting, then?” Genevieve said through gritted teeth. He had her by her biggest weakness, and he knew it.

  “Work for me, put those natural talents of yours to good use,” Seth began with a wide grin. “I’ll pay your rent and bills, make sure your fridge is stocked with fresh blood, and… I’ll help you track down your good friend.”

  “What if she’s been harmed?” Genie said, fighting away the tears that line of thinking always brought on.

  “I’ll tear them in half, just for you,” Seth replied earnestly.

  “And what if it turns out that it was some of your people who were responsible?” Genevieve said fatally.

  “I don’t think any of my lot would waste such a beaut’…” Seth said cheekily.

  “Seth, I’m serious.” Genevieve continued. “What happens then?”

  “Heads on plates, burnt alive, et cetera,” Seth promised eagerly. “The finest, most painful executions, hand delivered by me to you.”

  Genevieve sighed. “Fine, you win. I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

  “Well, you do,” Seth smirked. “One gets you what you want, and the other ends up with you and your loved ones in a shallow grave.”

  “I get the picture,” she groaned. “But I want my apartment fixed up.”

  “Done.” He clapped his hands together in celebration.

  “And I want a computer,” Genie added, trying her luck. “Consider it asshole tax.”

  “Done and done,” Seth replied. “Only the best for my prize recruit!”

  They reached across the table and shook hands.

  “Welcome to the Golden Fangs,” Seth cheered.

  “Thanks…” Genie replied with a forced smile.

  They finished their meal and headed back to Seth’s luxury jeep. Genevieve staggered sleepily, and Seth had to help her along.

  “When did you last sleep?” he asked.

  “Vampires sleep?” she murmured drearily.

  “Yep,” he chuckled. “Not as much as humans need to though, unless we’re feeling extra lazy.”

  “I haven’t slept since all that agony knocked me out,” Genevieve explained.

  Seth tutted. “That don’t count. You can sleep in the back of my motor. Just don’t dribble on the seats.”

  “Gee, thanks,” she replied sarcastically, “but we’re right near my place. I’ll sleep there.”

  Seth shook his head. “We’re not going back to your place. We’re going to the fort to start your training.”

  Chapter 3

  Basic Training

  Genevieve reluctantly stirred from her snooze, but kept her eyes closed in the hopes of returning to her sweet dreams of Annabelle. The bed she was laying on was so comfortable, and she felt as though she could stay resting there forever. Genie didn’t want to deal with Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, and whatever Book Wielders were. She just wanted to fall back into the peaceful embrace of her slumber.

  “You’re finally up,” a sweet female voice said caringly, over the sound of excited moans. “Here, have a drink.”

  A warm, inviting wrist was placed in front of Genevieve’s lips, and without thinking she held the arm tightly and bit tenderly into the soft perfumed flesh. Hot blood filled her mouth and it tasted sweet but with an unfamiliar tang that Genie couldn’t place. Her weary mind started to kick into action.

  “Ow, ow, lick it shut sweetie!” the voice said urgently.

  Genevieve did as she was bid, and finally opened her heavy eyelids. The lightly tanned arm in front of her slowly healed up, and Genie looked up to see where she was.

  She was lying on a big bed with thick pink sheets, which were clean but had many questionable stains, in a small dimly lit room with old stone walls decorated with pink and purple drapes. Apart from a large purple recliner and chest of drawers, the rest of the room was bare, and there was an open modern door which led to another room just
big enough to house a toilet and simple shower. The opposite wall was comprised of iron bars, with a partially drawn curtain running along it. On the opposite side of the bars, Genevieve could see another room with an identical layout, except that the drapes were black and red. A skinny Vampire girl, with tanned skin and long sleek black hair, was straddling a very pleased man on a red silky bed. The way she moved and swayed her lithe body up, down, and against his erect manhood was so tantalising it could’ve been considered an art form.

  “Quite the looker, isn’t she?” the sweet voice behind her said. “That’s Tanesha, and I’m Kaylie.”

  Genevieve pulled herself up and turned to face the woman. She had brown hair in cute long pigtails, sweet purple eyes, and glittery purple makeup on her heart-shaped face. All that covered her busty body was a see-through purple negligée and thong.

  Genevieve found it hard to look away from the half-naked Mage. “I’m Genevieve. People call me Genie for short, though. Where the hell am I, Kaylie?”

  “You’re at Fort Dominia, in the southeast of Imperia,” Kaylie explained. “This is the ground floor brothel. There’s also a couple of bars, VIP lounges, and the gang’s security section.”

  “I’m in a brothel… inside of Fort Dominia?” Genevieve slurred.

  “Yeah, pretty kinky, right?” Kaylie replied with a coy smile. “The Golden Fangs robbed this place from the Archivists, or at least the historical society that was secretly funded by the Archivists-”

  “Sorry, I’m still new to all this; what’s an Archivist?” Genie interrupted. She sat herself up on the bed and tried to focus her dreary mind.

  “Oh right, of course, silly me!” Kaylie said cheerfully. “Archivists are like nerdy Supernatural bookworms. They’re really into history and writing books about us Supernaturals, and recently they’ve started to take on the upkeep of historical sites. I bet you they’re really pissed after the gang renovated this place with all the mod cons.”

  Genevieve raised an eyebrow. They sounded like her kind of people. “So, Seth just rolled in and claimed this place from them?”

  Kaylie nodded. “Then after the dust had settled, him and his boys gathered us girls up and here we are!”

  “What did you do before you were gathered up?” Genevieve asked quietly. She wondered if Seth had blackmailed them, too.

  “Well, most of us were working girls beforehand, just operating on the streets or from our own pads,” Kaylie explained. “We have to give the Golden Fangs quite a big cut of the action, and freebies too, but it’s worth it for the security and regular income. There’s lots of people, including the normal humans who know about our kind, who love a good Supernatural lay,” she added, pouting sexily.

  “And the Golden Fangs are okay with people entering their HQ?” Genevieve asked.

  “As long as they’ve got the cash and keep their mouths shut. The boys are pretty confident with their security. You haven’t seen the rest of this place yet, but it’s locked up tight,” Kaylie replied.

  “So… what am I doing here?” Genie asked, looking around at the decorated dungeon cell and wondering if she was a guest or a prisoner.

  “Oh, Seth brought you here after you passed out, and told me to take care of you,” Kaylie explained cheerfully. “He carried you here in his arms last night, it was so romantic! I’ve never seen him be so chivalrous before, he’s usually a bit hands-on.”

  Genie wasn’t sure why, but she blushed heavily. The thought of an actual human being beneath the gold-encrusted thug made her feel uneasy.

  “If you’re a Mage,” Genevieve said, changing the subject, “then why aren’t you out doing… spells, or something?”

  Kaylie shrugged. “Never been into magic, to be honest.” She held out her hand and made tiny pink fireworks shoot out from her palm. They exploded in small puffs of glitter before vanishing completely. “I like making pretty colours but that’s about it.”

  Genevieve gave the stunning brunette a confused look. “Then why did you become a Mage?!”

  Kaylie chuckled sweetly. “Well, it was one night, a few hundred years ago, and I was scouting for business inside the Scurvy Squid tavern that used to be in Galleon Anchorage. There was this one gentleman…” She paused to brush her bare thighs excitedly. “He was so handsome, so tall and refined, and young despite his snowy locks. He offered to pay for my services with eternal life. I thought he was just spinning some line, but I was so infatuated by him I would’ve screwed him anyway. He touched me in ways I’d never been touched before…” Kaylie closed her eyes and bit her lip as she savoured the memory.

  Genevieve clenched her legs together as she studied Kaylie’s body. Everything the woman said and did bled pure seduction, and Genie licked her fangs as she remembered the taste of her sweet blood. The vigorous action across the hall only added to her animalistic desire.

  ‘I thought you had better taste than that…’ Annabelle’s voice echoed through her mind and broke Genie free of her passionate trance.

  “And then he turned you, right?” Genevieve asked, in an attempt to steer the conversation away from sex.

  Kaylie’s eyes shot open and she nodded with a pained expression on her sweet face. “After we’d finished I could barely move, except for the shake. Then he cut himself and fed me his blood. I thought it was weird and that he was up to something kinky, but I didn’t care. At that point I would’ve done just about anything to please him… and then came the pain.”

  Genevieve shuddered at her own recent experience of the transition from human to Supernatural.

  “Then poof, I’m a Mage!” Kaylie said, returning to her sweet carefree demeanour. “Took some getting used to, but it did wonders for my looks, and staying young forever is pretty awesome. Only downside is the need for Vitality potions… oh, and the hair. After the first fifty or so decades it started greying and going white, so I have it dyed pretty regularly at a twenty-four-hour salon in Taynulia, and the owner is a natural when it comes to Supernatural haircare!” Kaylie leaned closer to Genie and held out one of her own pigtails for her to inspect. “Seriously, how good is this colouring? Can you tell it’s fake?”

  Annabelle or not, Genevieve craved Kaylie badly, and she gawped at her with hungry eyes. Then she realised that it wasn’t necessarily the prostitute’s body that had her giddy, but the blood flowing within it.

  “Oh! You’re hungry again, sweetie, aren’t you?” Kaylie said, repositioning herself on the bed. “Neck or wrist?”

  “Wrist…” Genie forced herself to say.

  Kaylie once again offered her wrist to the hungry young Vampire, and Genevieve drank until her craving was satisfied. She remembered to lick the wound shut.

  “Thanks. Does that work for all wounds?” Genie asked, mesmerised.

  Kaylie shook her head. “No, only surface wounds. It’s meant to help keep you Vamps hidden, I think.”

  Genevieve studied Kaylie again and was pleased to find that her uncontrollable urges had abated, although she was still more attracted to the Mage than she would’ve preferred. She felt a pang of guilt, as though she was cheating on Anna.

  “Will I always be this hungry?” Genie asked in a worried tone.

  “Oh no, it’s just because you’re newly turned. It’ll level off soon,” Kaylie said reassuringly.

  A thought popped into Genevieve’s head. “How is it that I can drink Mage blood? Don’t I need the normal human stuff?”

  “Well, Mages and Werewolves have enough normal blood to share, so you can get what you need from us. Wouldn’t get much of what you need from another Vampire though, but there’s no harm in it if you’re into biting…” Kaylie purred playfully.

  Genie let out an excited sigh and desperately tried to change the subject again. “Seth brought me in last night, so I guess it’s the next morning then.”

  “Nope,” Kaylie shook her head and giggled. “It’s six in the evening, you were flat out like a log!”

  “Six in the evening?!” Genevieve gasped.
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  “Yeah, I was supposed to take you to the training room up on the first floor as soon as you woke up, but I figured you could use some time to get yourself together,” she replied kindly. “I remember how confusing it all is at first, but you adapt quicker than you think.”

  “Thanks, Kaylie,” Genie said from the heart. It felt good to have at least one Supernatural acquaintance who was nice.

  “So, I told my story,” the busty girl began, “now tell me yours. What brings the cutie-pie Genie into the ranks of the Supernaturals?”

  “I was looking for my friend,” Genie said over the passionate yells from across the hall; the skinny Vampire girl had almost brought her session to a close. “She went missing a few weeks back, I think she was dealing at the time.”

  “And you followed the trail into our secret little set-up?” Kaylie guessed correctly. “I’m sorry about your friend, if there’s anything me or the girls can do to help you let us know!”

  “I have a picture of her actually, if you could have a look?” Genevieve said as she looked around for her belongings.

  “Sure thing.” Kaylie bounced over to the chest of drawers and pulled out Genie’s coat and handbag, and then passed them over.

  Genevieve thanked her and dug out the picture from her purse. “This is her: Annabelle Jones.”

  Kaylie whistled. “Hello, beautiful… sorry, I haven’t seen her, and I definitely would’ve remembered a looker like her.”

  “Thanks anyway,” Genie mumbled, and acknowledged that it was a long shot.

  “If I see or hear anything I’ll let you know, sweetie,” Kaylie said as she rubbed Genie’s arm sympathetically.

  Tanesha strolled over, naked except for a fluffy white towel around her shoulders, and slid the iron bar door open. “Is it cool to come in?”

  “Sure thing, hun!” Kaylie said, waving her colleague over.

  The slender Vampire entered and began dabbing her tanned skin dry. “Well, he was a lot better than I was expecting.”