Balance (The Divine, Book One)

by M. R. Forbes

  The limo driver looked from me, to the Belmont, and then back. I had changed my appearance, going for more of a Brad Pitt, Interview With a Vampire look, complete with a set of small fangs that would only be apparent if I smiled fully.

  “No sir,” he said. He ushered me in and closed the door. “Frickin’ drug dealers,” I heard him mutter. “Just drive ‘em up, drop ‘em off, get the hell outta there.”

  The limo ride was short, but I took the opportunity to enjoy it. I hadn’t been in a limo since my high school prom. Carly Lane. The name made me shake my head and smile at the same time. I hadn’t thought about her in years. I was her first crush, an awkward computer nerd who looked at women and saw only distraction. She had asked me to the Prom, and against my better judgment, I had accepted. It had never occurred to me then, but she had been really pretty. What would she say if she could see me now? The date hadn’t gone so well, but we had stayed friends for the remainder of High School. I bet she was married and had a few kids. She always had been the motherly type.

  The driver’s voice snapped my out of my reminiscing. “Here you are sir,” he said as the limo glided to a halt.

  I turned my head to look out the window while I waited for him to come around and get the door. The building was huge, at least fifty stories or more, all glass and steel. It just oozed power and money. There was a doorman waiting by the huge revolving door, and just inside I could see about half a dozen vampires standing in a line. My heart leapt to my throat as the slide into panic started. If they were able to see through my glamour, I would be dead before I got across the street. I was beginning to regret my current course of action. The door opened.

  I took one more deep breath and stepped out of the limo. I handed the driver the cash plus a generous tip.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He was halfway to the driver’s seat before the ‘you’ made it out of my mouth. My senses were getting a little crazy with the number of Divine gathering in the building. I could feel the combined energy of the masses. It didn’t help my nerves any.

  I slipped through the revolving door, and was approached by the first vampire in the line. He was well-dressed, well kept, and well-built, equal parts class and muscle.

  “I’m here for the Solen birthday party,” I said, trying to stay calm even though my chest felt like it was about to give birth to something nasty. “My name is Stefano Giovanni.”

  The vampire took his time looking me over, but it was his nose I was worried about. I had done my best to mimic the smell that I associated with Rebecca, because she was the only good example I had of how a vampire should smell. I had toned down the floweriness of her perfume, but maintained the musky iron and mixed it with Drakkar.

  I waited; internally tense enough to break a board, externally playing it cool. He completed his sniff test, took a step back and smiled, his fangs betraying him for the first time.

  “Mr. Solen has directed me to cater to your every whim,” he said. “He is very eager to speak with you regarding the Italian markets. This way, Mr. Giovanni.”

  He bowed and put out his arm to direct me to the elevator. I didn’t look at him, or respond. I just started walking like the stuck up evil prick I was supposed to be.

  We stepped into the elevator, and he hit the only button in it. Private. Impressive.

  “What’s your name?” I asked. My voice sounded normal to me, but I was projecting it to him with a soft Italian accent.

  “Tarly, sir,” he replied.

  He waited for me to speak again. I decided against it, leaving him to deal with the awkward moment. The elevator had us up to the penthouse in no time.

  Obi had warned me about what to expect at a vampire-organized event. Even so, it was a challenge to hide my reaction as the elevator doors slid open and Tarly and I stepped out into the apartment.

  The living space was huge, bigger than anything I could have imagined. The elevator let out on a large balcony that overlooked the main living area, where I could see about a hundred guests had already gathered. To the right were the rest of the smaller rooms, to the left and front nothing but a wall of twenty-foot tall floor-to-ceiling windows that exposed an incredible view of the city. The balcony fed down into the party through a pair of matching marble staircases, which were lined with a menagerie of antiques that I was sure cost a fortune. The front corner by the windows held a more typical interior decoration, with a sofa and loveseat caddy cornered in front of a free standing fireplace, enabling their inhabitants to get the best view of the city below. Hanging from the ceiling over the furniture was a huge canvas banner that read ‘Happy Birthday Reyka!’.

  All of this was impressive, but not out of place for the rich. What gave the affair away as being oh-so-not-normal was the open area that had been created by removing a bunch of the ancillary furniture. Sitting in the middle of it was a huge classic roman fountain, but instead of spouting water it was circulating blood, tossing it up into the air and dribbling it over the sides into the main pool. The guests around it would dip a finger in from time to time to get a quick taste, then resume whatever conversation they were having. It was gross, but not completely stomach churning as long as you tried not to think of where the blood had come from.

  That prize went to the fringe of the open area, near the southern wall of glass, where they had set up about half a dozen beds. On the beds were women, human women, unclothed, tied up, and drugged. They weren’t alone on the beds, the guests were free to step right up and have a taste.

  I was nearing the breaking point of my ability to contain my disgust, repulsion, and anger when Tarly stepped in front of me.

  “Mr. Giovanni,” he said.

  I must have given him a look of death, because he stooped over and looked up at me like a beaten animal.

  “I’m sorry sir, but Mr. Solen requested that I bring you over to him. If you’ll follow me?”

  Making a scene about the ‘Fresh Fleshette’, as Obi had told me the vamps called it, would have blown my disguise in about point oh one seconds. As much as it pained me to have to ignore it, failing to find the Chalice was going to cost a heck of a lot more.

  “Lead the way,” I said, maintaining the assertive posture that was causing Tarly to stoop like Quasimodo.

  He straightened up, but not too much, and started walking down the southern staircase. Great, now I had to get even closer to it.

  Closer would have been a bonus. As it turned out, Merov Solen was just finishing up with a taste of his own. There was nothing frightening or imposing about the vampire who was considered the most powerful in the Americas. He was small, maybe a couple of inches over five feet, with a bald head and a plentiful gut. His eyes were large and blue, his clothes a simple pair of corduroys and a plaid button-down shirt that made him conspicuously out of place amidst the rest of the partygoers in their black ties and gowns.

  When he saw me approaching, he gave me a car salesman smile, and then licked away a bit of blood that had coagulated in the corner of his mouth. I glanced over at the girl on the bed. At least she had no idea where she was or what was happening to her. If I had a chance to get her out, I would. If not, I would avenge her somehow.

  “Care for a small bite?” he asked. “There’s nothing quite like a virgin to get the old heart pumping again, is there?”

  I bit my tongue, almost hard enough to get a taste of my own blood. “Personally, I prefer pure. I find the alterations caused by external agents unpalatable.”

  Merov smiled and reached his arm up to put it around my shoulder. “A demon of exquisite taste and standards. I respect that. Between you and me, I wouldn’t have even bothered with the drugs, but this is my daughter’s birthday party and she’s going to be mad enough at me for providing the Fresh Fleshette at all. Sometimes I don’t know if she’s really mine, the way she carries on about drinking human blood. We’re vampires for Hell’s sake!”

  A vampiress after my own heart. I felt an instant unknown kinship with Merov’s da
ughter. We were both in a vast minority after all.

  “Is she here?” I asked him. “I’m most interested in learning more about her ideas for survival without our primary food source.”

  He laughed. “Do you have any idea how much of my money she’s sunk into researching vampire physiology, trying to figure out exactly what’s in human blood that we need to survive? She’s even had me try some of her sample synthetics. You could live on it, but it tastes like sewage. And that’s ignoring the fact that such a thing would put me out of business. Can you believe I’m financing my own destruction?”

  He started leading me through the throng, acknowledging all of the guests who noticed him. When they saw him coming, they would turn, fall to one knee, and bow their head.

  “Besides,” he continued, “humans are meant to be cattle to us. We’re superior in every way, am I right?”

  I wanted to crush his melon head between my hands. “Right,” I said instead.

  “Anyway, she hasn’t shown up yet. She doesn’t know about the party, so I’m hopeful that she’ll respect her father’s wishes for once. She’s a handful, but she’s my only child and I love her as much as my cold heart will allow.”

  He was taking me past the gathering, towards the more private living spaces on the northern end of the apartment.

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I have never had a desire for offspring.”

  He nodded at the two burly guards as he brought me past them and into a long hallway. Looking at them as I passed, I realized they weren’t vampires. I felt a small stirring in my soul. Weres.

  “I didn’t either,” Merov said. “Reyka’s mother was a Succubus. She tricked me into it. At first, I was so angry I almost had her killed. Then, I decided to wait until my little girl was born. I was curious about what kind of demon the union would produce. After I saw her, I claimed her as my own, and removed her mother’s head myself. I think that’s where she gets her soft spot for humans. Her mother always had a thing for them. She said they were most creative.”

  Merov stopped at a set of double-doors near the end of the long hallway, then fumbled around in his pants pockets, looking for the keys.

  “Anyway, enough about my daughter. If you’d like I can introduce you when she arrives. What I’d really like to speak with you about is my interest in working out a trade agreement. I have a number of parties interested in getting their fangs on a good European source. My servants have told me you have quite a reputation, and that you are a mystery to most.”

  “I try to keep a low profile,” I agreed. “The element of surprise can be quite powerful.”

  He finally found what he was looking for, a small coin that he pressed against a flat panel attached to one of the doors. It beeped, and the door unlocked.

  “That’s how I came to power here,” he said. “This apartment used to belong to another, before I claimed it and threw him from the roof. But not before I took this.”

  He held up the small coin. It wasn’t a coin after all, but a round piece of glass with the edge of a finger nestled inside. He needed the prior inhabitant’s fingerprint to get into the room.

  He was about to push the door open when one of the were guards stepped up to us. “Pardon me sirs,” he said. He sounded like he was chewing on gravel. “Mr. Solen, your daughter has arrived.”

  Merov sighed. “Perfect timing as usual,” he said, turning to me. “We will talk again later, after the party.”

  It wasn’t a suggestion, but a command. He didn’t wait for me to react. He turned and started walking back towards the elevators, leaving me standing there with the were. He ushered me back to the party.

  When I stepped back out into the main reception area I looked up to try to catch a glimpse of Merov’s daughter Reyka. I could see Merov making his way up the steps, but the angle was no good to see more than a few feet past the landing. Oh well, I could wait. Merov had said he would introduce us. I moved into the crowd, focusing my attention on the conversations swirling around me.

  “It’s just ridiculous,” one of the vampires was saying to a group of five or six. “The market is just flooded with poor quality. Every vampire who has ever hunted is trying to start their own exchange service, and they think that we can’t tell the difference between a debutante and a prostitute.”

  “Give me an angel any day,” his companion said. She looked like she was fifty or sixty years old, but solid as a rock. “I still remember the last time I had an angel. It cost me a fortune, but it was so worth it.”

  “I heard the Masters have a new weapon in the war,” said a third. This one got my attention. “Some kind of amulet that makes the wearer completely indestructible.”

  The others expressed their shock and awe. “Where did they get it from?” asked the older vampire woman.

  I didn’t get to hear the response. An immediate hush fell over the whole crowd, and they turned as one to face the landing. I was the odd man out, not catching on to whatever invisible signal had been sent. I turned to look just as they all shouted, “Surprise!”

  It sure was a surprise. Reyka was Rebecca.

  She was stunning in a perfect little black dress and black pumps, her long black hair piled up on top of her head. The contrast of all of the black against her white skin accentuated everything about her perfect form, and it almost drove me to the point of distraction. I could tell by her reaction that she was less than pleased with the surprise. Not that any of the other attendees would have noticed, because she was an expert at faking the enthusiasm. I knew she was lying though, as she laughed and gave her father a big hug.

  He turned her and faced her back out to the gathering below, and they applauded her. Stealing glances, I saw the feeling was mutual. The crowd wasn’t cheering for Rebecca. They were cheering because Merov expected them to cheer. To them, Rebecca was every bit the outcast she had explained herself to be. I could guess why she had given me an alternate name.

  After a satisfactory length of applause, Merov raised his hand to quiet the gathering. Once he had achieved silence, he took Rebecca by the hands and spoke to her loudly enough for everyone to hear.

  “My dearest daughter,” he said. “Every year as this day comes I am so very grateful that you were brought into my world. You’re smile is the blood on which I thrive.”

  Merov motioned with his head, and Tarly stepped over, holding a small gilded box. Merov let go of his daughter’s hands and took the box from the servant, holding it out to her and opening it. I couldn’t see the contents, so I watched her reaction instead - surprise, confusion, and a hint of disgust? Those were her real feelings. To her father, she showed only joy.

  Merov reached into the box with one hand and withdrew a long silver necklace, at the end of which hung a crystal. It looked red from the distance, but I knew the crystal was clear. The red came from the blood trapped inside. Just for confirmation, I reached into my tuxedo pocket and withdrew the business end of the necklace I had taken from Ulnyx. It was a near perfect match.

  “May you always stay safe from harm,” he said as he placed it over her head. “Happy birthday dear.”

  The applause started up again and I could almost feel Rebecca cringing at the pomp of it all. She turned and waved at the crowd, holding up the crystal for them all to get a better look at her gift. That was when I felt her eyes meet mine, and my heart fell out of my chest. She recognized me.

  I had an option to either be bold or submissive. I went for bold, keeping my eyes locked on hers, letting them tell her that I knew that she knew it was me. I saw a slight smile crease the corner of her lip, so I winked at her. She winked back, then turned and gave her father a big hug. They talked privately for a minute, and then started down the steps. On the way, Rebecca not-too-subtly pointed at me and asked him who I was. I gave them my best bow.

  “Stefan,” Merov said as he reached the bottom of the stairs, Rebecca on his arm. “I’d like you to meet my daughter, Reyka.”

  Rebecca unhooked herself and
held her hand forward. I dropped to my knee and kissed it, dizzied by the smell of her.

  “A pleasure,” I said as I rose back to somewhat shaky feet. She was smiling, a beautiful, honest smile. She really was happy to see me.

  “Sir Giovanni,” she said with a hint of playfulness. “You are too kind.”

  “Nonsense,” Merov said. “You are always a pleasure my dear. If you don’t mind, I have some other people I need to speak with. Stefan, take good care of my daughter.” Again with the command.

  “As you wish, Sir Solen,” I replied. Merov leaned up to kiss Rebecca on the cheek, and then wandered off to speak with some of the other guests. “What’s with that?” I whispered to her as soon as he was out of range.

  She leaned in close so we could speak without being overheard. Her proximity was intoxicating. Half-succubus, I remembered. “He’s trying to Command you,” she said. “He doesn’t know you’re resistant to demonic possession.”

  There went the half-succubus excuse. She was giving me heart palpitations on her own merit. It had to be the perfume.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Do you know what will happen if anyone figures out who or what you are?”

  “Your necklace,” I said.

  She looked down at it. “What about it?”

  “That’s what I’m doing here. I’d tell you more, but you aren’t on my side. Needless to say, it’s worth the risk to me. Finding you here is an unexpected bonus.”

  I hadn’t intended to say the last part out loud, but it found its way through my lips of its own accord. Rebecca’s face flushed.

  “Your father was very eager to have us meet,” I said, loud enough for those nearby to hear. I didn’t want anyone to suspect we already knew one another.

  “My father is trying to find me a suitable mate,” she said. There went my heart again, right into my throat. “He knows none of the meat around here can control me.”