I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 92 - Hand Stuff

[You said you were willing to deal,] the boss leader gestured, toward Evangeline.

"The only reason I'm even here to negotiate anything with you, Lady Reverie, is because my employer owes you a favor and I'm more afraid of him than I am of you," he said a loud.

[Yes, service for freedom. And his pendant] Evangeline signaled back.

"Yes, your boss. Interesting man. Seems to have quite the thing for Phoenix and their eggs," Reverie said.

A realization shot through Evangeline as she heard that. Valerian's eyes flicked to her, indicating the same thought had crossed his own mind. The Phoenix egg. The boss she had made a deal with to acquire the egg for him. it was the same person. Everyone else in that room didn't know they were in a video game world, but Evangeline did.

Conservation of characters, Evangeline thought. Then she jerked a moment as a strange feeling brushed against her ears, like a bird had flown too close for a second.

"I don't know anything about that," the boss leader said. "And acquiring something like that would be outside my crews abilities."

Reverie rolled her eyes. "I am quite aware of that. It's not you I need, but your local information."

That cocked the boss leader's head to one side. "You didn't need to talk to me direct-like to get such information. You could have talked to any of my information brokers." He gestured for three miscreants sitting on top of barrels, one which gave a little wave.

Evangeline knew why, though. She had remembered this when she had burned a Meta point and why she didn't like this particular side quest.

But Valerian needed that pendant back.

[She wants a rubout,] Evangeline signaled to him.

"I don't talk to the trash, I talk to the trash collector," Reverie said. it was clearly meant to bait the boss leader, but he was too busy trying to carry on two conversations at once to fall for it.

[Who?] he signed.

"What kind?" he asked.

This was an important moment, Evangeline realized. She was about to give him some information for free, but the circumstance didn't leave a lot of time for negotiation.

[The queen,] Evangeline signaled. There were no precise signs for First Lady Enrichetta, but she was the highest ranking "queen" in their area. It also didn't help that the strange buzzing was back.

Sure enough, her information quirked one of his eyebrows.

[Give us the job. We want that pendant. Your people stay safe. Her favor from our boss is fulfilled.]

Thieves skills: Knowledge Underground. Success.

Really this sort of meeting hadn't required the whole den, but she knew that the only reason he had called them all together was to be a show of force against the vampiress he had known was coming. And the fact that their positions weren't reversed, that the vampire wasn't the one in control of the information in the city meant she hadn't been there long enough to take over his operations there for herself.

This was a very precarious meeting indeed.

[We'll see,] he responded.

"Fine, I'll fulfill the deal, give you the information myself. What is it you want to know?"

Reverie's smile sickened. "Hmm," she laughed dryly, as she handed him a piece of rolled paper, tied with a black ribbon.

The boss leader glanced inside the scroll. "Give us a day and we'll have what you want to know."

"You don't just have such information at your fingertips?" the vampiress chided.

"I'm a thief, ma'am. Not an architect," the boss leader responded.

There was that strange buzzing feeling at Evangeline's ears again, and then Reverie flounced away, taking the pendant with her. Valerian didn't say a thing, but his jaw worked back and forth, conveying his irritation.

"I look forward to hearing from you," the vampire waved airily as if they had all just had a pleasant visit. Her four bodyguards left with her in her wake.

It was only then the room seemed to drop all their shoulders and breathe a sigh of relief.

The boss leader threw the scroll at Evangeline.

Skill Dexterity. Success.

Which she barely managed to catch.

"There you are. Deals a deal. She's your problem now and if any of this trouble comes back on me or mine, I'll kill you. Deal?"

"Deal," Evangeline agreed. "On one condition, you don't tell anyone else that we were here."

"Fine by me. I don't need more trouble than I already got." The boss leader gestured away. "Now get. I'm done with you lot."

Valerian and Evangeline met eyes, and they turned to go, only to be pulled up short by their collars. Looking back, she realized that Artmond, Sigismund, and Hagor wasn't coming with them.

"You need to them up," Evangeline said to one of the other rogue's still holding a sword on Hagor.

"Oh, now wait, I do believe that would be another condition," the boss leader interjected. "And you said you only had one. I didn't agree to a second one. You want the rest of your friends, you're going to have to bargain."

"I thought you wanted this job done?" Evangeline lifted up the scroll. Then took a step back as hard as she could. Her collar began to strain on its invisible chain, lifting it up from her shirt so that the boss leader could see it. His eyes went wide. When she jerked back, Hagor, Artmond, and Sigismund all shifted. Valerian stood in the middle unaffected by the tension, and simply watched.

"What in Ripley's bag of crazy is this?" the boss leader exclaimed.

"As you can see, I can't go anywhere, nor take care of anything, unless I have those three with me. Not a choice, an unfortunate necessity," Evangeline said.

Social Skill: Persuasion. Success.

The boss leader sighed. "Well, that is just how this day is going isn't it," he exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "Fine, fine. Let'em all go. I don't need this headache any more."