Veridian Shores

Chapter 05 - Meet and Greet

The night rolled out over Veridian Shores, thick and warm. Gliss drank it in, glad to be out of the estate, even if she had to share it with Capper. Although there were a number of vampires that could have served as a guard, he wanted to be a guide. The task ahead would be easier if she relaxed in at least some capacity. He'd traded his shorts for a set of dark jeans and he now wore a thick brown leather jacket. Although he'd kept his beanie firmly jammed on his head he still looked a bit more ready for a night out in the city.

That being said, her chaperone didn't seem relaxed. He looked distracted, as though his mind was elsewhere and he spoke little. When she'd been summoned to her temporary accommodation within the Glaive estate Capper had quickly disappeared, but he still hadn't told her where and with whom. She hoped it didn't have anything to do with his high-class ball-and-chain, Brooke.

"Something wrong?" she said quietly as they walked.

"Oh, just politics." He shrugged. "Nothing you need to think about."

Well, he wasn't a much of a liar. Still she didn't see any need to dig for answers just yet, not when he was about to give her a window into the lifeblood of the Clans of Veridian Shores. So she changed the subject.

"So where are we going?"

"Just a place that sits right on the edge of our territory," he explained. "Tensions are running a little high right now so I like to do the rounds now and again – check that everything's the way it should be."

She raised an eyebrow, a small smile slipping across her face. "So it's all business?"

"Not exactly," he replied. "I need a drink."

"Then lead the way."

He didn't hesitate striding off down one of the broad streets leading off from the mansion, just beginning to hum with the flow of humans out for their weekend entertainment. Entertainment for them and prime hunting time for the Vampire Clans. Back in Iron Hollow Gliss learned quickly that alcohol and lack of self control bred easy targets.

They passed half a dozen places with music and conversation spilling out of them before Capper took a sharp turn to the right and they suddenly entered a darker, narrower section of the city. The buildings closed in and noise thundered from open windows. Voices coiled down into the streets like spectres and through the cacophony she could make out the faint, muted Aspects of scattered vampires.

She kept a sharp eye on her surroundings for any sign of disturbance, but if there were any troublemakers they were keeping to themselves. Beside her Capper looked at ease, his eyes flickering left and right in almost a pattern – from alley to window to rooftop and back again. She followed his track, searching for anything he might have missed. Something lurked right on the edge of her awareness, just out of reach, indefinable but definite. So far she'd seen little physical evidence of the feuding that seemed to stay on the minds of Clan Glaive, but the scant reports her Clan had provided suggest that tensions were on the rise. Right now she had the distinct impression that they were being watched.

Shunting her suspicions away for the time-being, she followed Capper as he took a left turn down another alley where the muffled noise of music and voices swelled like a carpet. A jutting crimson sign blazed above large door, with the letters VENICETO illuminating the side-street.

"That's the place?" Gliss asked dubiously.

"You won't find better refreshments." He shot her a dark smile. "In more ways than one."

She flashed her fangs approvingly. If nothing else, it seemed Capper knew how to mix business and pleasure. With a slight spring in her step, she walked side by side with him up to the door of the bar. The two hulking bouncers didn't even give them a second glance as Capper shoved the door open.