Veridian Shores

Chapter 02 - Home Sweet Home

Well, she was definitely lying about something, but that didn't surprise him. Nobody came to Veridian Shores without a good reason. He could wait to figure out hers. In the meantime, Capper reasoned, it couldn't hurt to have her somewhere secure until they got to the bottom of this newcomer's real purpose.

They walked side by side through the heaving dark streets of Veridian Shores, and he couldn't stop his eyes from flickering to look at her. Straight, jet black hair spilled down around her shoulders, and he couldn't fail to notice the streak of pure white that had been died through her fringe. Her skin was smooth and pale, like porcelain, accentuating the striking emerald green of her eyes. Despite the heavy-heeled boots (and he'd witnessed first hand the kind of damage she could do with them) she didn't quite reach his eye level, but there was a strong, determined Aspect there. She had a rare combination of youth and strength concealed in that diminutive frame.

Winding away from the clattering industrial hotspot of the docks, he led her into the body of the city, where the flow of humans never ceased. Music seeped through the walls of clubs and bars, the bass notes sending reverberations through the concrete pavement. Cars trundled by, their exhaust pipes vomiting smoke into the air, drivers and passengers alike leaning out of windows, whooping and screeching.

Capper glanced at his new companion and found her gazing at it all with a calculating curiosity. A lot of people were overwhelmed by their first exposure to the coastal hub's seething, dark night life, but Gliss didn't look overwhelmed. She looked intrigued.

That meant one of two things: either she'd been to the city before, or she was very hard to impress. He'd never met anyone from Iron Hollow before, but he knew something of the city from his histories. It was a rough, lawless place; a dark, granite-hewn mire compared to the heat and allure of Veridian Shores.

He led her through the throng of human party goers, past scantly clad women and braying, cologne drenched men, all of them ripe and ready, completely oblivious to the killers that walked among them. She caught his eye and a feline smile slid across her face. He suspected she was thinking the same thing. Her display on the docks certainly proved she was no stranger to the hunt, whatever her background.

It took several minutes for them to clear the river of humans. It occurred to Capper that he could have taken a speedier route, through the back alleys or over the roofs. But he wanted time to gauge this newcomer; study her reactions when exposed to the realities of Veridian Shores. So far she wasn't giving much away and that in itself kept him interested.

"You've never been here before?" he asked once they'd turned onto a quieter stretch of road.

"Never."

"You handle it well."

She winked at him. "I like it. It feels big."

"Bigger than home?"

"Much."

He smiled thinly. "I've never been to Iron Hollow. What's it like?"

"Colder."

Capper looked at her but she simply held his gaze, a mischievous glint in her eye. Okay, he thought. I can wait.

The pair turned another corner, now reaching a neighbourhood of tall, gleaming houses with railed balconies and huge, shining windows. He could still hear music ebbing gently from the high-class cocktail bars scattered up and down the open road, but everything about it was more restrained. The people that trickled up and down the pavements glittered with jewellery and money, and the smell of their well fed blood filled Capper's senses as they passed. He could tell from the hungry expression on Gliss's face that she could sense it too. Every now and again he treated himself, but the Clans couldn't operate openly here.