Of Fangs & Fins ✔

5. I want to make sure you're okay

Song Recommendation: Cigarette Daydreams - Cage the Elephant 

five.

Eryn.

"That was way too fucking risky," Arlo shook his head, "firstly, I can't believe you couldn't pick up on her being a merperson."

I shrugged, acting as if it didn't bother me. But it did bother me. A lot. I would've picked up on her scent. Her and all her friends. The second that they walked into the club I would've known.

I would've known if I wasn't only on animal blood.

"And now the Seattle clan vampires are looking for you? You're in such a mess," Arlo muttered, taking clean glasses and putting them under the shelves.

I had my fair share of clans and I was better off by myself. I was no stranger to Seattle's quaestor, and I had no intention to see that woman again any time soon.

My sire always said vampires in large numbers started to become violent after a while. Vampires had a god complex, so imagine a room full of every who had a god complex. It never ended well.

I still stood by what Sybil thought, drifting in between cities from time to time. For a couple of hundred years, it will be Seattle. I liked to be a part of everything at some point in my life. Perhaps someone will see me appear in one too many photos an make some sort of connection.

"Have you seen her since that night?" Arlo questioned. He stopped tidying up the counter and straightened, the dish rag swinging in his fingers as he waited for my answer.

"No, I haven't," I snapped.

I mostly kept away from human life, but things like the club I owned was something that connected me to society. I needed to see humans grow, how they changed and stayed the same. It's something that's amused me. Some humans approached me and I tried not to encourage it. Other nights, I felt daring.

Marina managed to catch me on one of my daring nights, and I couldn't seem to get her out of my head ever since. I never meant someone who was so quickly accepting of what I was. A mermaid, no less.

I knew she was the sun and I was Icarus, getting too eager with my makeshift wings around my arms. In reality, she was Icarus and I was the ground. I wasn't going to be the one to cause her demise.

I refused.

"What about Lucinda's goons?" Arlo didn't dampen the judgmental tone he wore. He finished wiping down the counter and poured a glass of whiskey for himself.

My mind wandered to Lucinda. The new quaestor of Seattle, Lucinda Adams-Price, was a woman that I had no intention of being affiliated with. She was an unruly heathen with no sense to stay under the radar. When it was time to clean up her sloppy mistakes, she'd just flee to the next city. If her vampire clan kept at it, they were going to draw the attention of the Demon Consul.

"I'm sure they came for a friendly visit. I haven't seen them either."

"I wouldn't count that out yet. You know they're patient."

"Why do you care so much anyway?" I hissed, leaning over slightly. I grabbed a bottle of faerie mead and didn't bother reading the label. It was written in the language of the Fae, and my brain could never comprehend its letters. To the human eye, it seemed like it was written in kanji. I poured the gold glittery liquid until it reached the rim of my glass.

"Because Lucinda is using her new status to try to get us to register as a clan. If she hasn't gotten your attention, she'll try to go to me, or even Sagan."