Veridian Shores

Chapter 25 - Where Loyalty Lies

She'd never been happier to see the Glaive mansion.

When she and Capper finally stepped through the doors she felt a curtain of security wash over her. They'd done it – robbed the largest clan in the city right under their noses and gotten out unscathed. Elation coursed through her like adrenaline as she thought of her own Clan, her own Elders back in Iron Hollow. They would never ask her for anything again after this venture. She would have single-handedly tipped the balance of power in the world.

The mood among the Glaive Elder-Bloods was difficult to gauge, even with her carefully honed skills, but they seemed less tense than when they'd left. The declaration of the Baelock Elder that had put an end to the mad rabble of the assembly seemed to suggest some common ground could be found, but personally, she doubted it. Everything about the Synod left a bitter taste in her mouth – the ceremony and bureaucracy of it was everything wrong with the vampires of this city. They'd lost their roots. They'd lost what in meant to be guided by instinct.

While she had gotten some superficial satisfaction at dressing in the glamorous fashion of the clans, deep down she knew it was a way of existence she could never adapt to. With so many rules and regulations, social obligations to other vampires – it all pushed against the feral, natural way they were supposed to operate. In Iron Hollow her Elders knew that, and had planned to bring back the old days. Soon the day would come when the clans no longer hid in the shadows from the human denizens of the land. They would be the overlords and their prey would return to the vassal status they'd once held.

Her thoughts then turned to the old vampire, the cleric who had come oh so close to undoing everything. Had she not stopped him he might have given everything away to Capper. A hollowness ached in her chest when she thought of him, the one vampire who hadn't treated her with distrust and hatred, and was being rewarded by being used as a pawn in a much greater game than he knew.

Damn it all.

She liked him, there was no use denying it, but no matter her personal feelings this was bigger than her. With the Keystone in hand she needed to leave Veridian Shores, and soon. It was a quandary she had been wrestling with for days now, and she had come to an unpalatable solution. There was only one way to create a diversion large enough to allow her safe passage off the grounds and out of the city, and it would be bloody.

Entering her room, she gratefully shed the ornate garb of the Synod, gulping in a huge lungful of cool air. She stood there in nothing but her undergarments for a couple of minutes, letting the tightness ease away from her limbs and the cold air scour across her, as though it could wipe away all trace of being inside the snake pit of the Baelock mansion.

At length, she opened her bag, the same dark leather specimen that had accompanied her all the way from Iron Hollow, and tugged out a fresh set of normal clothes; a high-necked black tank-top, grey jeans and her heavy boots. Feeling considerably more at ease, she sat down at the small desk that was tucked into one corner of the room. Capper still had the Keystone, but that didn't concern her unduly. She would have plenty of time to find him and get it back after she did what had to be done. So she closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts and quieting her mind.

Gliss could feel the movement in the Glaive hallways; feel guards and Elder-Bloods mingling together in an agitated whirlpool. Unfocusable voices eddied through her like phantoms from another world. She exhaled, feeling the breath leave her body. Then she moved from the chair, sitting down in the centre of the room and crossing her legs.

She closed her eyes.

First, forgive me for what's about to happen, Gliss thought, a hollow feeling settling in her stomach. Baring her fangs, she pressed the underside of her thumb against one of them, just hard enough to break the skin. Then she placed the pinprick of blood against her tongue and started the Blood Call. This time was very different, however. Instead of flinging her other self out to the north, and home, she twisted the essence and rode the mental highway over the blazing metropolis of Veridian Shores.