by Jen Pretty
“Superb, I have a party planned for this evening, I hope you will not be too weary from your travels,” Lord Mackreth replied.
“We welcome a party after such a long time in the carriage. Thank you.” My father could be gracious. I saw it when he spoke to other men. Particularly those who could bolster his political ambitions.
When I saw the woman who sat beside me in the church step into the carriage with Lord Mackreth, I smiled, knowing she would be there. Five days in a carriage with my father was too much. I needed better companionship. A young vampire like myself was the perfect remedy.
I watched the city go by out my window. The narrow streets gave way to the tall, imposing arched aqueduct. The horse’s shod hooves echoed on the stone as I peered out over the city and finally caught sight of the small lake of water diverted from the St. Clement spring. It was a marvel of construction. Bringing water from 14 km away, into the heart of the city. Humans would go to such great lengths to stay alive for such a fleeting moment. Their lives but a blink of time.
Our carriage pulled up to a castle-sized home. The female vampire I sat next to in church came bounding out of the first carriage smiling as if she hadn't a care in the world. She raced over and grabbed my hands.
“Lavinia, right?” She spoke in French.
She took my hand in hers and pulled me back into the castle as my father’s stern gaze warned me to behave.
“My name is Cosette. I have only been a vampire for a year and have been waiting for you to come since my Lord got word of your planned visit. We will have so much fun tonight at the ball. Hurry, we have to get ready!”
I laughed. It was still before noon, but Cosette’s enthusiasm was contagious. We spent the day together talking about men and clothes and hairstyles. All the most critical topics for spoiled wealthy vampires. The Ladies maids did our hair and tied us into our dresses.
We ran down the stairs giggling and holding hands. The large main floor was set up for the party. There were tables set with apples and cherries and wine glasses, filled to the brim. Dozens of vampires scattered about, but Cosette and I huddled together giggling at the tight breeches the men wore.
Cosette was turned into a vampire because she was pretty and vampires of the time enjoyed pretty things. We still enjoy pretty things, but there are more laws now about changing humans into vampires. The coven had taken her in when the vampire who turned her died during an ill-fated attempt on the life of the coven leader, Lord Mackreth.
One of the handsome vampire men we had giggled about, came over to speak to us.
“Hello,” he said bowing regally.
“Hello,” we repeated.
“Would you lovely women like to accompany me on a walk through the gardens?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Cosette and I agreed, and he led us through the door to the rose garden. Its fragrant blossoms scented the cool night air. We stopped in the center, and I tipped my head back to gaze upon the stars. Cosette and the handsome man were chatting animatedly about something or another. I considered the universe, standing there in the starlit garden. The earth and the moon were in perfect harmony as they spun through the dark sky like lovers in an endless dance.
“You are so beautiful,” the man whispered, suddenly in front of me. I tore my gaze from the stars, and he peeled back his lips in a silent hiss, displaying his fangs. It was against the laws for a vampire to feed on another, but I was becoming as rebellious as France, so I tipped my head. One of his arms wrapped around my waist and another around the back of my neck as he held me in place. I caught Cosette’s longing gaze over his shoulder and beckoned her forward.
As I had hoped, she came to us and rose to her toes so she could reach the man’s neck. I watched her dainty, white teeth sink into his skin as his fangs pierced mine. The euphoria washed over me, weakening my knees. It was short-lived though.
“What’s this!” My father's harsh voice cut through the night like a knife.
A guard ripped away the vampire who had been drinking from my neck. More guards filled the area, stomping on the blooming roses. The coven leader stood behind my father.
“Is this how your household runs?” he demanded of the Lord Mackreth. The Lord’s accusing eyes bore into mine, though I knew he wouldn’t speak out against my father.
“It most certainly is not.” The vampire Lord waved at one of the guards and pointed to the man. The guard then staked him, with no mercy. The air rushed out of my lungs.
“Father! That isn’t necessary!”
“It most certainly is! These two attacked you!” He yelled though I was quite sure he knew the truth. No vampire stands still and lets someone drink their blood.
“Please, Father.” A scream cut the night air, and before I could stop him, another guard had staked Cosette. Her scream cut short as she collapsed to the ground. Her face, that had been full of joy and life, was now slack and empty.
Dead.
“That is the punishment to fit that crime,” my father said, staring into my eyes. A warning. Not my first, nor my last, but one of the most memorable.
—
I shook the memory away and stuck to thoughts of the present for the rest of the trip.
CHAPTER NINE
Finally, Jenkins drove into the city that never sleeps. It was an oasis for vampires. Most of my kind dined every night. I found no value in dining more than once a week, but gluttony wasn't solely a human trait.
Jenkins pulled up to a modern hotel-casino called Red Oasis. The outside lights were all red, giving the building an atmospheric glow. There was a steady flow of people going in and out the front doors; they all looked happy and eager to throw their money away. The sheer volume of people startled me after the last decade in a small city.
Jenkins stopped at the curb, and we both got out. He gave his key to the valet, and we entered the casino through one of several revolving doors. Inside, the sounds of coins clinking and electronic beeping filled the room with an atmosphere of wealth and high class. The humans lined up at slot machines and huddled around green, felt-covered tables, cheering and drinking. There were no windows once you walked through the revolving doors and into the casino. It was lit with a red filter, making it seem like sunset.
“Hello, you can follow me,” said a vampire dressed in a suit with a com in his ear. He was big and burly, obviously security.
Jenkins and I followed the man through a door into a corridor that wound around the casino floor, and then he took us up and escalator and to a door with the nameplate “Mr. Merewin” on it.
He knocked once and opened the door.
“She has arrived, sir,” said the security guard before ushering us in and closing the door behind us.
“Hello, Officer Jenkins,” The vampire behind the desk said as he stood and walked around the desk, his arm extended to shake Jenkins’ hand.
“Yes, good to meet you Mr. Merewin. Thank you for the escort. We would not have found you tucked away back here. You have a beautiful casino.” Jenkins was gushing. Weirdo.
“Thank you, please call me Matthew,” he said before his pale eyes turned my way. “You must be King Garth’s daughter. I’m happy to have you here,” he held out his hand for me to shake but I just looked at it. Of course, he would refer to me that way. The old boys club didn't change.
He dropped his hand. “What name are you going by?” he asked, pretending I hadn’t snubbed him in front of a human witness. He had game. I’d give him that.
“She decided on Ren in the car,” Jenkins supplied, helpfully.
“Ren it is. Welcome to the Red Oasis. I have a few rules. One— do not dine in my casino, tired people can’t spend money. Two—you must show up on time for your shifts. Three…”
I stopped listening. He had a bunch of rules and droned on forever. When he finally stopped talking, I didn’t reply. I had been coming up with fun ways to break his first two rules instead.
“Does she speak?” he asked Jenkins.
“
Yes, I speak. When I find someone worth talking to, Matthew.”
“Nia, be nice.”
“You mean Ren. Perhaps I should go by King Garth’s daughter for the rest of my life. That might save us all the trouble of remembering I am separate from him.”
“I apologize, I didn’t intend to offend you,” Matthew said, smoothing out his tie.
“Whatever,” I muttered. “I don’t work. I make my own money.”
“Ren, whatever you were doing before is off limits,” Jenkins said. “You can’t do anything to bring attention to yourself. Besides, I assume it was less than legal.”
“So, I’m supposed to work all the time? I might as well be a slave,” I said.
“Our employees only work forty hours a week, Ren. The shifts are negotiable. If you would like to work forty hours over two days or six hours a day, every day, I can arrange it. In return, I cover your housing and small pay for necessities.”
“I have nothing. Just the clothes on my back.” Jenkins had bought me an oversized shirt at a truck stop in Texas, so I wasn’t walking around in my bloody shirt anymore.
“I have set up an account for you at our boutique shop. Officer Jenkins informed me you would arrive with nothing. If you require anything else, you can simply let me know.”
I stared at him. I couldn’t explain why I needed a high-end laptop, so I didn’t ask. I would have to find another way.
He wanted something from me. He was being nice. I hated that I didn’t know what he wanted. This fake nice crap would not get him whatever it was he thought it would get him. Or whatever.
“Very well, perhaps you would like to see your room and get settled. I have you booked to train with Carson in the morning, but if you would like to dine and rest between now and then, that would be advisable.”
“I don’t eat till Saturday.”
He looked stunned for a moment and then straightened himself out and nodded. “Very well.”
He hit a button on his desk, and the burly security guard who had led us in opened the door and Jenkins and I followed him out. He took us down another corridor to a lobby and then we took the elevator all the way up. On the top floor, everything was quiet.
“Only vampires on this floor,” the security guard said then led us to a door at the end of the hall. He scanned a card on the door and pushed it open before handing me the card. I pocketed it and walked into the room. It was a typical hotel room but had plush living space and a separate bedroom. The living room had an overstuffed couch and chairs in front of a big screen TV which hung on the wall. It was the siren call of my people. Vamps and TV, it was a thing.
Blood red vertical blinds were bracketing the floor to ceiling window that looked out over the city. The lights flashed outside the window like a giant pinball machine.
“Thanks,” I said to the security guard as he turned and left.
“Well, Ren, what do you think of your new digs?” Jenkins asked from behind me.
I peeked into the bedroom. A King size bed sat in the middle of the room, and another door to one side I assumed was the bathroom.
“It’s fine,” I said, flopping onto the couch.
“All right, well, the force has booked me a room here for the night, but I am whipped, so I’m going to go check in. I leave in the morning. If you need anything between now and then, give me a shout.”
I nodded, and he walked out. I wondered if that was the last time I would see him. Humans were fragile.
I woke up so cold I couldn’t bend my arms or legs. Pushing off the couch, I staggered like a zombie to the bathroom where I turned the shower tap to hot. I struggled to get out of my clothes and stepped under the scalding water to wait for my body to heat up again. It took nearly half an hour before I could bend my knees.
In that time, I had formulated a plan. There were hackers in every city. I would have to find one and get some work done when I wasn’t working for stuffy Matthew. Matty, definitely Matty. I smiled to myself and got out of the shower. Putting my dirty clothes back on, I walked out of my new suite, pocketing my key card, and wandered down to the casino lobby.
The lobby itself sat adjacent to the casino, but you had to walk through the casino to get out of the building. On the other side of the lobby was a string of shops. From clothing to electronics to a pharmacy. You could live in this hotel and never leave. I assumed that was the point.
The casino was brimming with people. Old ladies sitting at slot machines, young guys huddled around card tables. The tinkling music of the games combined with the flashing lights to turn the room into a wonderland. I roamed around checking it all out until the security guard from the day before walked up.
“Follow me,” he said, his face a stern mask.
“Ok,” I replied laughing. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I followed anyway.
He led me back through the same halls as last time. The corridors echoed with our shoes on the cement floor. As we went up the escalator this time a line of men with briefcases handcuffed to their wrists came down the other side. I stared open-mouthed. If they were full of money that was a lot of money.
The security guard just kept walking as we got to the top of the escalator. I followed behind until we arrived at Matthew’s door.
He knocked, then opened the door and waved me in, closing it behind me again.
Inside it was more dimly lit this time than last, and Matthew was behind his desk, scribbling away on some papers.
I took the opportunity to look around. His floor to ceiling bookshelves had everything from novels to encyclopedia. Certificates and diplomas from various Ivy league schools decorated the walls. Law, business, medicine. Matthew was well and thoroughly educated.
“Find anything that interests you?” He asked, still looking at his papers.
“Why did you take so many fields of study?” I asked, inspecting his Harvard Law diploma to see if it was real. I would know, I had one the same with my name on it.
“Because I enjoy many things,” he said.
I rolled my eyes.
“I wanted to talk to you about my expectations.”
“You already gave me your rules,” I said.
“Yes, but I don’t think you follow the rules. In fact, I bet you have already planned which rule to break first.”
I hadn’t, but only because I couldn’t decide.
He smiled, and a dimple appeared on his left cheek. Oof. That was cute.
“Ren, I only want you to fit in here.”
“Why would you want that?”
He studied me for a second, and I looked back at the wall, uncomfortable with the assessing way he was looking at me. My eyes fell on a psychiatry diploma. I hoped he wasn’t trying to analyze me. Freaking psychobabble.
“You are part of my coven now.”
I snorted. I didn’t belong here. Hopefully, the Blood Guard would take care of Eddy soon, and I could go home. In the meantime, I had to pray Brian wouldn’t sell my car to pay for the parts. I was sure he wouldn’t. He was a stand-up guy. Probably.
Matthew sighed. “The ladies are waiting for you in the shop. They have your uniform for work but you can also pick out some things to try on so you can change out of that shirt.”
I was still wearing the Texas shirt. It had the state of Texas drawn with a mouth full of sharp teeth, eating the word Texas. The shirt had grown on me. It was all I had left of my last life.
“You can take those clothes to the laundry if you want to keep them.”
It was like he was reading my mind now and I was pretty uncomfortable. Luckily there was a knock at the door. A pretty, blond vampire sashayed up to Matthew’s desk in her short skirt and high heels. She set down some papers, bending at the waist, so she nearly popped out of her shirt. I laughed, turning back to the bookcase.
“Thank you, Stacy. Have you met Ren?”
Stacy looked me up and down with a fake smile on her fake face and then curled one side of her lip up. She popped out one hip and held her han
d out for me to shake.
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
I raised an eyebrow at her but kept my arms crossed, looking her in the eye. It became a stand-off. Finally, I looked past her shoulder to Matthew.
“Thank you, Stacy. That will be all.”
She scowled at me then turned on her heel and smiled sweetly at Matthew. Oh, the poor stupid bimbo.
Once she left, I turned back to the bookcase and pretended to read the novel spines.
“Are you always so anti-social?”
I turned back to look at him, and he was leaning back in his chair, his hands behind his head. His dress shirt stretched across his chest showed a hint of the muscle he was hiding underneath.
“Are you shrinking me?”
“How would you feel if I said yes?”
I flipped him the bird and went back to studying his book collection. He chuckled.
There was another knock on the door.
“Saved by the floor manager,” he said. A man walked in. He would have to have been in his late 50s when he became a vampire. “Ren, this is Carson. He runs the casino floor and trains the new employees. He is your go-to guy for everything work-related.”
“Good to meet you,” I said.
“Nice to meet you too. You ready to learn to deal cards?” he asked, clapping his hands.
“Ok,” I said.
“Great, I’ll show you the basics, and you can practice for a while before your shift,” he said, turning back towards the door. He opened the door and stepped out.
I waited.
He popped his head back in. “You coming?”
I walked after him without giving Matthew a second glance.
“So, have you ever dealt cards before, Ren?” Carson asked as we walked back down the halls.
“No, I like making bets though.” I remembered all the bets I had taken from Ray. He was a fun human.
“Well, you will take bets, but also, deal cards. There is a specific way you have to deal them, by the end of your first shift you will be a pro.”
He led me into a room covered in TV monitors, and six vampires were sitting in reclining chairs, watching the monitors.
