The three fresh, unopened bottles which Serenity presented to Raina were brands and types of absinthe which she had never before seen – one labeled in French, one in Czech, and one bearing the endorsement of a celebrity gothic shock-rocker in its name. Raina asked her to pour whichever of the three she preferred, and so Serenity unwrapped and uncorked the beautifully-decorated bottle of French absinthe. She offered Raina the cork. Oddly, the stuff smelled almost like some brand of men’s cologne with only a hint of anise in it. Figuring it would probably taste better than it smelled, or at least it would change a bit when mixed, she handed back the cork with a nod. Serenity poured a measure approximately equal to a shot and a half into each of the glasses, and then re-corked the bottle before Lord Gerald laid a special slotted metal spoon across the top of Raina’s glass. He turned and went back into the kitchen for just a moment before returning with a small bowl of sugar cubes and a glass carafe filled with chilled water. As he set the items down upon the table, Serenity silently intervened to take over his beverage duties, smiling warmly to Raina.
“I would not want to miss this opportunity to personally serve our most distinguished guest of honor,” Serenity said as she knelt before the table with inhumanly fluid grace.
She uncovered the decoratively-engraved bowl of sugar cubes and withdrew a single cube to place upon the slotted spoon before taking up the carafe. Though she was very slow and very careful with the pouring, as was necessary to properly melt a sugar cube on a spoon – it helped with the flavor by more completely dissolving the sugar – her eyes remained fixed upon Raina’s for a great deal of the process. Her smile and the sentiment that Raina sensed from her was unmistakably that of attraction.
Raina found this surprising in that Serenity had never once seemed to exhibit such feelings towards her during their prior traveling and close proximity. Perhaps it was the comfort of a familiar setting that had caused her to suddenly open up, or perhaps the realization that she now had Raina quite isolated from the world and, almost unsettlingly, at her whim. Even though they shared a relatively common geographical origin in Arizona, Raina was undeniably on Serenity’s turf now. She had the home court advantage, so to speak. And if it turned out that the Elder had any unsavory intentions, Raina only had her two companions, Thomas and Sophie, and her sword to rely upon for defense. And, come to think of it, the key to open her encased sword was still inside of the briefcase that held her laptop, which was … well … not exactly within her reach.
“Why so tense, your grace?” Serenity asked as she was nearly finished pouring. “Have I done poorly to set you at ease?”
Raina snapped out of her slight daze of worried thought. “I’m just … I’m still a little on edge, I guess. I mean … y’know, it’s only been a little over a day since someone last tried to kill me.”
“Do you fear that they will try again so soon?” She finished pouring the water, having turned the unusually sapphire-green liqueur into a more milky greenish-white color as the absinthe louched. Serenity lifted the spoon and stirred the drink briefly, lightly. “I must insist that you are quite safe here, your grace. The men that drove us here are professional security specialists. They are highly trained and well-armed. And this home is equipped quite well with an electronic security system. I dare say you are perhaps safer here than even at the Fallamhain Estate.”
Raina waved it off gently. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. I just … need to unwind a little.”
“Well then,” she said, lifting the glass to present it to her, “perhaps this will help get you back on track.”
Considering how weak Serenity seemed to have mixed the drink, Raina commented with a smile, “Maybe after three or four of these.”
“I’m sure you’ll find one will be an adequate start,” Serenity replied with a nod and a smile.
Raina gave the drink a light, quick sniff while Serenity began to pour some straight shots for Sophie and Thomas. Absinthe always had a very strong alcoholic content, especially the way Raina tended to mix her preferred brand. She was not so much attempting to gauge its potency as she was forming a second opinion of it. It smelled much like it did before, albeit a bit smoother and much sweeter now. The similarity to men’s cologne was still very much there, and some lewd part of Raina’s psyche offered up a momentary fantasy of “accidentally” spilling some of the drink upon Thomas’s chest … and then licking it off.
Rather thoughtlessly, Raina brought the glass to her lips, tilted it back, and took a rather recklessly long sip of the drink. She left a dark mark of lipstick upon the rim of the glass. In the first instant, she was amazed by the potency of the drink’s anise flavor. It was like a liquid form of black licorice, the texture very smooth and thick. But a moment later, as she began to swallow that first measure of the drink, she felt its true power already beginning to leech into her tongue and cheeks. She swallowed, and there was first a very cold chill that spilled down her throat and filled her mouth as she exhaled, followed immediately after by a sudden wash of fire-like burn as she inhaled. The alcoholic vapors caused her to nearly choke, and she had to hold the glass away carefully as she cleared her throat. The burn made her eyes water enough that she had to carefully blink back the tears that would have ruined her eye makeup.
“Good?” Thomas asked her with a smile.
Finally able to breathe clearly again after a moment, Raina stared at Serenity with wide eyes. “Holy hell! What is this, lighter fluid?”
Serenity discretely covered her grin with her fingertips as she giggled, replying, “I’m sorry. It’s a rather strong brand.”
“That’s an understatement,” Raina replied as she eyed the contents of the glass with a newfound respect. “What’s the alcohol content in this?”
“Sixty-nine percent.”
Raina looked to her again with her lips parted in shock. “You’re kidding.”
“It’s not the highest content I’ve tried, but I’ll admit, it is quite strong,” she said, holding up the bottle for Raina to examine. “If it’s too much, I can…”
“No, no,” Raina said quickly, “this’ll work just fine. Just caught me off guard a little, that’s all.” She turned toward Thomas. “You sure you don’t want yours mixed?”
He lifted his glass after Serenity poured it for him and he held it up to examine in the soft glow of the overhead lighting. A moment later, he put it to his lips, tilted it back, and downed the whole thing in one shot. He set down the glass immediately afterward and wiped his pencil-thin moustache with one hand, staring straight at the floor for a few moments. He suddenly gave a visible shudder and shook his head quickly before raising his eyebrows and looking back to Raina with a smile. He was just showing off. Raina clearly could sense his restrained discomfort, and it took him several seconds to find his voice before he finally spoke again.
“Oh yeah,” he told her with a strained voice that was nearly a whisper, “that’s good.”
Raina looked to Sophie, who was still holding her glass almost timidly. She smiled rather nervously to Raina.
“I’m, ah … suddenly not so sure about this,” she told her. “Is it bad?”
“Not bad at all,” Raina assured her.
She tipped it back and took just a small sip of her straight absinthe, barely even leaving a mark upon the edge of the glass. She winced at first and then fully cringed, putting the glass down rather quickly before fanning her hands at her face and coughing slightly.
“Could you, ah…?”
“Of course, dear,” Serenity replied with a smile, laying the slotted spoon across her glass and preparing her drink similarly to Raina’s. Glancing over her shoulder to look back at her consorts, who stood patiently in waiting, she said, “Perhaps some music, some better lighting…?”
“Right away,” Lord Gerald responded with a nod as he and Lord Redhorn both went into action. Again, acting as though they were following a rehearsed script – as was the norm for all associates of High Court vampires, it often seemed – one
set about lighting candles throughout the living room and dimming the electric overhead lighting while the other selected a particular disc of music and loaded it into the disc player. The music that began playing was, as Raina somehow expected, of the soft, ambient, soothing New Age variety – nothing offensive or annoying, but something that could easily put her to sleep.
Serenity finished mixing Sophie’s drink, poured another for Thomas, and then arose to stand. Redhorn had disappeared into the kitchen and returned with another glass. He quickly went about the task of pouring and mixing a drink for his mistress from the same bottle of absinthe as she settled upon the sofa opposite the one in which Raina and her companions sat.
“So, ah … what can you tell me about my future bloodspawn?” Raina finally asked before taking another sip of her drink.
Serenity shrugged lightly. “Not much, I am afraid.”
Raina narrowed her eyes slightly. “I thought you said you’ve known her for a long time before this…?”
“I have,” she confirmed with a nod, “but not personally. We’ve been in communication on the Internet for quite a long time.”
There was a long, awkward pause. “Excuse me?”
“She is a moderator for an online message forum that I frequent under a pseudonym,” she explained calmly. “Only she knows who I truly am, and she has been very discreet about her knowledge of my identity. Over time, she has proven herself to be very trustworthy and loyal.”
“So, you’re telling me you trust this person just because, as far as you know, she never told anyone your online screen name?” Raina asked, incredulous.
“Yes, well … that, and other reasons.”
“Do you even know what this person looks like?”
Serenity hesitated. “I chose to respect her wish to also remain anonymous. Like me, she also is in a position where she would prefer to maintain her anonymity.”
Already frowning, Raina set down her drink slowly and carefully. Quite suddenly, she was already beginning to regret having agreed to this little vacation. She said nothing, allowing her facial expression and Serenity’s High Court sensitivities to convey her disapproval.
“I know, it probably sounds ridiculous,” Serenity said, “but I can assure you with the utmost certainty that she is a trustworthy individual.”
“Because she kept your screen name a secret?”
“We’ve had many, many very in-depth discussions over the years. As you surely know, people will open themselves up far more completely in online discussions than they ever would dare to when conversing with someone in person,” she explained. “We may have never met face-to-face, but we know one another completely. In fact, more than once, I have offered to become her Maker in the past, but she has declined only because of her personal situation.”
“You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little less than enthusiastic about this whole thing now,” Raina said, folding her arms.
Serenity looked at her directly with a worried sigh. “Would it be of any help if I told you that she personally knew Brenna?” Raina glared at her, and she clearly sensed her sudden flare of anger, raising a hand before she could speak. “I swear it, your grace, she knew her quite well in the past.”
“How?” Raina asked simply.
“Well … she didn’t exactly explain it in detail. Really, she only alluded to it, but given Mistress Monsoon’s online persona, it seemed rather obvious to me. They were both … well … I’m not sure how best to say this…”
“Just say it.”
“They were both part of a business of which I’m sure you did not fully approve.”
“Stripping?”
Serenity shrugged again. “Among other things, yes … although, from what I gather, their chief association was through the roles that they played in … adult films … and online adult entertainment. She never specified which films or websites, in particular, otherwise I would know Mistress Monsoon’s face. But … well, I have seen Brenna’s work, and she did tend to specialize in girl-on-girl scenes, so…”
Raina had already heard all about Brenna’s “other life,” the adult entertainment career she’d been pursuing under her stage name, Raven Darkwater. Raina hadn’t known about it at all, however, until a few days after Brenna’s death. Brenna had deliberately done everything she could to keep her porn career a secret from Raina because, as she had been told, Brenna worried that Raina might think less of her if she found out. She had truly cared about how Raina had seen her, not only as a friend but also because of the feelings that Brenna had held for her for so long. Brenna had only reluctantly admitted to working as an exotic dancer several months after she’d first met Raina, having previously claimed to be a waitress. Raina had only learned of that much several months into their friendship when a pair of guys had approached Brenna in a bar and spoiled the secret while lewdly trying to proposition her.
There had already been pictures and videos circulating on the Internet for a couple of years, of course. When Brenna Douglass had become Lady Brenna Fallamhain and subsequently been killed by Countess Wilhelmina, her photos and films suddenly developed a macabre cult-like fan base. As of yet, Raina had refused to let her morbid curiosity get the better of her and had thus far refused to view a single picture or video clip from Brenna’s secret, sordid second (or perhaps third) life. She wanted to remember Brenna in her own way – the way Brenna, herself, had apparently wanted to be remembered. Besides, so many others had crudely offered up so many verbal details of Brenna’s past exploits that Raina figured she didn’t need to actually see any of that material, anyhow. Raina had a terribly vivid imagination. She could fill in the blanks quite well enough on her own.
It shouldn’t have been any surprise to Raina that Brenna had made some close friends over time in the adult entertainment industry. Not everyone in the business was a scumbag or a gold-digger. It would’ve been rather narcissistic to think that Raina was the only friend she would have had, especially considering that Brenna had been far more physically intimate with others before her. Quite possibly, the men and women with whom Brenna had worked perhaps knew her even better than Raina had ever known her. In fact, members of the media had sought out former colleagues of Brenna just as readily as they had searched for every co-worker, classmate, former date, and distant relative of Raina – not many had much to say of either, and thankfully no one had really dug up any serious “dirt” to catch anyone’s interest.
Nevertheless, Raina was caught off guard. Her first instinct was to accuse Duchess Serenity either of being a liar or, at the very least, of having been misled. It wasn’t the first time someone had claimed to have known Brenna or Raina personally, and a vast majority of the time it was proven that neither had met the person(s) in question. Raina had already lost count of how many men had come forward to speak with magazines and tabloids, or to post rumors on the Internet, claiming to have been one of her past boyfriends. The actual list was very, very short, and Raina had already publicly named each of them. But she knew a lie when she sensed it – well, usually, anyway – and she sensed nothing of the sort from Serenity. But then again … she was sitting a fair distance away…
“I don’t blame you for being suspicious,” Serenity said after a moment. “I keep current with the news, and I’ve seen many of the headlines. Sadly, people will say anything to have their fifteen minutes of fame. But I promise you, this is not such a case. This person is genuine. I would stake my reputation upon it.”
Raina tried not to let her surprise show. Serenity’s perception of Raina’s thoughts was bordering upon that of a true psychic.
“More than that,” Raina warned her after a moment’s hesitation, “you’re staking my life on this. What if it just turns out to be a set-up? People are trying to assassinate me, you know. It seems more than a little coincidental that this person just so happened to wait until immediately after someone tried to kill me before they decided to come forward. For all I know, this could be someone’s ‘Plan B’ effo
rt to get rid of me.”
“Again, I have known this person for a long time, your grace…”
“And again, I’m sorry if I sound mistrusting,” she reiterated, “but you have to understand the kind of situation I’m in. I’m not trying to be a coward, but I also don’t want to be foolish. I really don’t want to walk into a trap again and get anyone else killed.”
Serenity nodded and accepted her drink as it was handed to her. Pausing to gracefully sip at the absinthe, she got up from the sofa and began to walk about the room as she spoke. As always, her movements were fluid-like in their grace, much as was the norm amongst High Court vampires – a practiced mannerism that Olivia had been trying to teach Raina (with very limited success).
“I know that I cannot realistically offer any guarantee about this person’s identity that I should expect you to accept without hesitation. Just as well, I cannot say that I would not feel exactly the same if I were in your place. You have every reason to be wary of this situation,” Serenity told her as she moved over to one of the large candles in the room. Almost idly, she moved her fingers back and forth through the flame of a slender white candlestick, almost toying with it. “But you know the saying, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ I feel that this is one such risk that is well worth taking.”
Thomas was not gulping his drink down this time, instead choosing this time to sip very lightly at his second round. Sophie was being equally conservative with her drink. Apparently, neither of them were seasoned absinthe drinkers.
“So, you really think it’s worth me sticking my neck out to meet some total stranger, someone who you, yourself, have never even met in person?” Raina asked. “I really get the feeling I’m walking into a lion’s den with a steak tied around my neck.”
Serenity calmly removed her hand from the flame and turned to face her. “I feel that if you were not willing to take such a risk, you would not be here with me in Sedona right now.”
The Darkest Colors- Exsanguinations Page 25