Moon's Rite

Alliance

By the time they had caught each other up on their respective missions and compared notes, the dry cycle on the clothes dryer had buzzed. Tony was happy enough in the oversized sweatshirt she had found. The black leggings had been a bit of a surprise, but they fit just fine. She drew her legs up to cross them on the couch while Alistair left to retrieve his clothes and redress. The only things in the place that might have fit him were moth eaten.

Tony thought the robe wasn't a half bad look on him but it obviously made him uncomfortable. She refocused on the notes she had been compiling, looking for the common threads. Propping her elbow on her knee, she reached across the coffee table and shuffled a couple papers aside. Then shoved the sleeves up past her elbows when it snagged on papers on the way back.

Alister strode back into the living room, wearing his own jeans and soft grey Henley. He scooped back his foremost dreads and pushed them out of his face, securing them behind his head. Potential obstructions gone, he leaned over the table and scooped up the hit list Tony had memorized at this point.

"Shouldn't we get the Royal family involved on this? They've got more resources than the two of us combined. And they're going to get their finest on this since you've warned them. Working over top of each other just seems like a waste of everyone's time."

Tony glanced up at Alistair, hiding a smile. It was becoming increasingly clear that the name 'Tony Moon' meant nothing to him. He apparently had no idea that Tony Moon and Princess Antoinette Le'Roy were one and the same and she loved it. It was going to provide innumerable opportunities for mischief and personal entertainment. She was going to love seeing just how long she could keep it secret.

"We don't know for sure that the Noble I'm chasing is the same one who was using Silence as leverage. Besides, if we can solve this thing before whoever the Royal family sends does, just think of the rewards that would come our way."

Alistair sighed, dropping down to sit on the floor across the table from Tony. He snagged the pen Tony had discarded earlier and tapped it against the list of nine potentials they had drafted. Nine that appeared on both Alistair's list of ten enemies to Sophia and Tony's list of forty-eight potential usurpers. Regardless, they both had their work cut out for them.

"And how are we supposed to cover this many people?" He frowned at Tony. "I know two of them personally. The others aren't going to willingly see me and answer my questions. I probably couldn't even get an appointment if I had the next decade to wait."

Tony shook her head, leaning across and taking the pen back. She underlined three of the names. "We're going to cover these three today. And then these..." she went down her list, making marks next to most of the names. "Will most likely be at the Samhain Festival the day after tomorrow. We can mingle and cover as many as possible then."

"We don't need an invitation?"

Tony grinned. "Just a wicked good outfit." She scooped up her phone when it chimed and read the text that had come in. A gleeful cheer escaped her as she launched off the couch and went to get dressed. "Grab your shit! I just got an invite to the first name on the agenda for today and he's not a patient man!"

Truthfully, James Garret Anthony Harrison III was a bit more pretentious than Tony preferred. Nice enough guy, but overly concerned with his public image. Then again, Tony might be a little biased. After all, she and her sisters had blatantly ignored acting for the sake of appearance from a very young age. Most of the time, any public fall out could be charmed out of or threatened away. The Harrisons had to hold onto their power a little more tightly, or else have it stolen away.

Or maybe he had more layers than she had ever had the chance to peel back.

They met in a night club that was closed for the day. It was approaching noon at this point after all. Most Vampires were asleep, but some liked to keep a few Human hours for the company. James invited them into the back office and offered a hand to shake. Tony shook with him, then managed to keep the surprise off her face when he shook with Alistair too.