Blood & Lust [Book Two of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

2.2: Refocus

"Miss Viviana Renata and Miss Thana Quill. Please open the door."

An unfamiliar voice had filtered through the front door with authoritative concern and managed to awaken me. I had lived here long enough to know exactly what the tone meant, even in my half conscious state and jolted from a dreamless slumber.

I heard two pairs of footsteps pacing back and forth on the other side of the door and soon realised this isn't something I could put off. Each step against the tile became more apparent as the seconds passed. I drag myself from the couch that I seemed to have just reached the night before. I was still wearing the dress from my night out that had been torn in places, showing more flesh than it had when I first left in it.

I quickly pick up one of the robes that was flung on the back of the couch when we'd left last night and wrap it around me, clinging to the fabric as a chill rises from my core. I rubbed at my face harshly, trying as best as I could to remove at least one layer of makeup from my eyes before a person laid their own on me.

I had taken the latch off before opening the door slightly to take in the sight of two men in the district's police uniform, standing tall. As soon as my eyes met with one of theirs they'd formed slight smiles, and tipped their heads.

They both seemed to be pushing thirty years old, with muscular builds and faces emotionless. The first man was thinner than his partner, ghostly pale with dark hair. He had all the makings of a handsome man. The second had a face of life covered in laughter lines and not an inch of him rugged - even his jaw had been cut smooth with a freshly shave. Even his hair screamed that he enjoyed a good time; his curly locks were tainted by a blue line of hair dye on the left side. He gave me a sense of comfort simply because this man seemed like he had to be more human than the job implied.

"We apologise for the early morning awakening, Miss Renata," The second man had spoken, breathing out each word like he was singing a song - far too energetically after the night I'd just experienced. I offer a lopsided nod, resting my head against the door I was lightly tapping my foot against, "We'd just like you to answer a few questions; formalities, you see."

He'd clearly taken on a good cop role in this scenario, because the first man had gazed at me with a cold, irritated expression and then, quick as he could manage as the second finished, asked, "Where is Miss Thana Quill, Miss Renata?"

He'd said it like he wasn't really expecting an answer that would please him, looking down at a notepad in his hands with mild intrigue. My thoughts were scattered and disconnected; my own name was barely resonating with me, so a question like that I could barely register.

I held the edge of the door in the palm of my hand, my head disengaged enough to spend several moments thinking. This left a pause in the conversation that the two officers found uncomfortable. That was the impression I got anyway, as the two officers had pushed the door open from the side I wasn't occupying. Their heads had swept the room in seconds; noting the lack of Thana.