CONFESSIONS OF A VAMPIRE PRIEST

Liana returns!

"I didn't think I would run into you guys again so soon," and entering the scene was Liana Dunthatch. She was in civilian clothing, a well-fitted shirt that flaunted her figure and a matching set of trousers that hugged her frame perfectly. Her eyes were fixated yet distant, deep in contemplation while still holding the present world before her. "How have you all been?" and she glanced at everyone excluding Eldaren.

"You look well Daal Wan," she didn't even acknowledge Eldaren's existence. In her eyes, he was space occupying hers. He wasn't perceived as a person. It was brave, understandable, and a little foolish. As warranted as her treatment of Eldaren was, she still could have been executed for what she did. "As do the rest of you," and with that, she took a seat between Chance and Daal Wan.

"It's good to see you," Daal Wan said. "Can I offer you a drink? The coffee here is really nice."

I appreciate the offer," but she waved her hand, dismissing his offer with, "But I'll have to decline. I've already had lunch not too long ago. Thank you though."

"Very well," Daal Wan said. "So, miss Liana, what brings you here today?"

And I took that moment to look at the way Daal Wan looked at Liana, and I looked at the way everyone else looked at the way Daal Wan looked at Liana, and then I looked at Daal Wan and Liana and I could see the chemistry building. There was none on Liana's part; she liked Daal Wan, but not in the way in which a woman would want another to embrace her in their arms, to passionately lay upon each other in the middle of the night, the beginning of the day and whenever possible between, but as someone to be admired nonetheless. Daal Wan, on the other hand, held her in higher regard; it was both respect and infatuation. He respected the way she held herself, the way she had no fear against the backlash from a noble child; the way she faced danger without backing down; the way she refused to be bound to a direction of life that wasn't suiting her. He was also infatuated with her curves, the smooth features of her face, and the sound of her voice, the ambidexterity of intensity and softness in her eyes. Oh I knew that look too well. The spark was so obvious that I could feel it in the air, a low but warm heat, like a freshly lit fire taking bloom.

"I've been put on another contract here in the city," she leaned forward, shoulders relaxed. "So far the nobles I'm serving under aren't pompous jackasses who disregard the wellbeing of others and foolishly rush into danger thinking that whipping their inflated ego will solve all of their problems," her tangent held no subtlety. She continued to address Eldaren without addressing him at all. "You know I'm really grateful for that. People who try to have a dick measuring contest at the expense of others and thinking that such behavior will impress anyone, when really all it shows is how fragile their masculinity is, really get on my nerves."

"Dunthatch I'm—"

"—better yet," her voice was laced venom. "I would have to say the icing on the cake of desirable qualities would be the refusal to adhere to any counsel whatsoever; it really goes to show how much that person gives a damn about other people. I just love it. It's my favorite thing in the world, really. I should write a book on it. I'll title it: the best features a man could have. The opening lines will be everything I've just said. It'll be a best-seller. College girls will rave about it for as long as they're alive. It'll become a cult hit, a cultural classic. It'll redefine what it means to be a desirable human being long after I'm gone."

If Eldaren's self-confidence had a physical form, it would have looked rather mutilated at this point. Liana Duntatch had words that were as sharp as cut glass, each of them held with the precision of a surgeon. There wasn't a hint of apology in her form; there was no sign of mercy to be held.

"But enough rambling from my end," her voice taking on a smoother approach. "What have you all been up to? It's been quite some time since our last encounter."