Interlude

(The events in this story take place during Bloody Bones,
towards the end of the book, and lead up to the events in The Killing Dance.)

Darkness had come at last, settling over the city of St. Louis like a weary lover returning to the embrace of her beloved. The city lights were beginning to snap on, each blink of tiny brightness doing its part to push away the shadows and to give some reassurance of safety within the night.

But he knew that the safety was an illusion. After all, he lurked in the shadows.

He stood quietly against the building, maintaining that calm stillness that only the long undead can achieve when they wish it - a marble statue, once a study of perfection, now a mockery of that once angelic visage. His hood draped over his face, casting half of his features into a murky grayness which no eye could discern. Only his eyes, pale and sharp yet oddly luminescent, shone from that darkened portal and these were focused on the building across the street.

The Lunatic Café glowed with neon signs, the false lights gleaming wetly against the inky darkness that threatened to encroach and envelop. Various couples and groups entered and exited the edifice with little care that death was observing them from a distance. Their lives were like fiery beacons to him, the smell of fresh blood pumping beneath their skins an enticing temptation. But he refrained from giving in to his baser desires. Not for any noble reason, mind you, but for the simple fact that cloaking his presence from the Master of the City was an exacting demand on his considerable powers, and one taste of that crimson elixir now would shatter that iron control with no difficulty at all. And if there was one thing Asher needed to do, it was to hide his presence from Jean-Claude until the time to reveal his presence was required. And that time was not yet at hand.

To an onlooker, he appeared to glide across the street, his movements fluid and utterly beautiful to behold, as if one were audience to the dance of a feather upon the wind - delicate, and graceful. His cloak flowed after his body, swirling about his frame lightly but never revealing too much of the figure that was hidden beneath. Despite this vision of ethereal motion, there was something about his presence that caused a sense of unease to generate amongst the thronging college students that frequented the place. Their eyes would flicker to his approaching form, and then quickly slide away, not understanding the sense of dread that at once enveloped their minds. He ignored their anxiety and strode up to one of the young women by the door. Her hand was being held by a young man but the moment Asher stepped closer, her attention was riveted. Those piercing husky eyes captured her gaze as he inquired quite innocuously, “Can anyone just go in?”

The girl blinked once, trying to break Asher’s hold on her mind. But, being weaker than he, was unable to do so. Her voice was breathy… expectant… as if she could see the darkness he took such pains to hide, and desired it above all else. “Of course you can. Just come on inside” she invited, nearly abandoning her date for the mysterious man in front of her. Immediately, she was gifted by his soft laughter, a sound that slid over her skin like raw silk, enticing her senses and making her lean forward, her eyes gleaming and her bared neck exposed for his kiss without realizing what she was offering him. Asher’s smile was dark.

"I shall," he replied. And then without another glance, he entered the café.

She knew the moment he entered her presence. Since it was a weekday, most of the wolves who would have been on duty here were enjoying their day off. Normal humans, who knew nothing about the lycanthropes, were working in their place. Amber eyes tracked in the subdued light of the room as she took in his approach. To her left, one of the only weres that was present was beginning to make his way towards the stranger, intent upon interception before he got too far.

"Alfred," she spoke softly, staying his confrontation. The tall, dark haired man hesitated at her voice like the well-trained dog that he was. This last thought caused a rather unfriendly grin to curl on her lips, white teeth flashing in the semi-darkness. “I’ll take care of it.” Alfred glanced her way, rubbing thoughtfully at his goatee, and then nodded his acquiescence before moving away to tend to some of the other customers.

Raina took a quick sniff of the air, cataloging the variety of scents that came off the stranger, and allowing some of her aura to build, using it to get a sense of the manner of vampire that had dared to breach her domain.

Old... very old, she decided, not quite intimidated by him yet. Interestingly enough, there was no scent of fresh blood on him. There was a hint of blood, though, but it smelled days old, as if he’d purposefully refrained from feeding in St. Louis. So he was not one of Jean-Claude’s get. Interesting…

Leaning over the bar, she made no pretense of hiding her observation, watching as he examined his surroundings slowly, taking his time in his perusal. When his gaze met hers, it held. Neither became discomfited by the other, their mutual examination of one another silent and exacting. Momentarily, he was approaching her.

She was quite lovely, this lycanthrope that he now approached. Cascading auburn hair framed a triangular face with eyes that were slightly further apart than normal. Loupe, he surmised in his mind, for she had the look of a vixen about her. Asher was hardly made anxious by her direct stare, and was in fact quite amused by her forwardness. His cloak floated lightly behind him as he glided past a few of the other patrons before reaching the bar and reaching her.

His face remained within the confines of the hood, only his blue eyes glinting brightly at the woman. He could detect no fear from her, and this surprised him for a moment. There was the flare of her power, held tightly in check now that he was upon her, but Asher could still taste its potency on his tongue. It would be glorious to taste one such as her, but he refrained from that thought in order to attend to the business at hand.

"Good evening," he greeted her first, his voice soft and cultured but carrying a definite edge in its timbre. A ripple of power danced along the words as his voice gave them strength. It was a seductive voice, a sound meant to tempt and ravish until the listener was completely in his thrall and unable to break free. "Let us dispense of the formalities and get to the point. I need to see your Ulfric. Tonight."

The voice enticed, Raina would be a fool not to notice its effect on her person. But she was also not some weak-minded simpleton to easily fall prey to his power. Not when she had a strength of her own to tap into. The lupa listened to his ‘command’ and gave the matter a little thought before she offered him a wicked smile and said, “I have no idea who you are talking about.” And then proceeded to reach for a glass, as if to clean it and dismiss the vampire from her mind.

But Asher was not to be thwarted and with preternatural speed, he snapped his gloved hand out to grasp her wrist - not hard enough to harm the woman, but certainly strong enough to prevent her from pulling away. “You don’t seem to understand the nature of my urgency,” he murmured in that same tone of voice again. Only this time, there was more than just an edge to it. His power fairly crackled about the words, as if each one could slash with just a little more force applied behind them. Raina visibly flinched, some of her earlier aplomb dissipating into a more alert and much more tensed state. And the beginning of something menacing on her part as well.

"Let go of my hand," she replied to him with a hiss, her eyes flashing with sparks of amber as she allowed the anger to flare through her aura. As Asher continued to grasp her wrist, he began to notice something else. The sharp angles of her face were softening, as if another face were hiding beneath the one she currently sported. Very interesting… His own face remained passive, as if he weren’t holding on to a raging lycanthrope with only one hand.

"Your Ulfric, ma belle loupe," he murmured in a gentle, but authoritative voice. Ice blue eyes locked with flaming brandy shaded ones and something passed between them. A moment of recognition and perhaps mutual respect. But in the very next moment, Asher noted the presence of another and a gravelly but equally authoritative voice spoke up from behind.

"Raina?" Only her name was spoken, but there were multiple layers of meaning within that one word. Multiple questions were being asked with the single inflection. Raina continued to stare at Asher, her attention focused solely on the vampire as she slowly shook her head.

"Give me one more minute, Alfred,  before I kill him for being such an asshole." For the first time, there was a reaction on that lovely face, half shadowed within the cloak. Surprise of his own. Despite his attempt to hide it, Raina could see it. It had happened the moment their eyes had met, as if his dark soul had communed a moment with her own black one. A wicked smile had curled upon her lips as she considered the man before her. She was going to enjoy toying with him. "You are persistent for someone who has not even had the decency to introduce himself. Give me your name and I might allow you to see my Ulfric." An answering smile suddenly changed the vampire’s face as he too acknowledged the tentative bond that had been formed between them. As well as the implicit challenge that had been made.

"I am Asher, from the vampire council. And you will let me see your Ulfric before the sun rises. Just after midnight." No ultimatum was given, and the sheer arrogance of his attitude intrigued Raina. As did the action he took next, which was to reverse his hold on her wrist so that he was gently holding the palm of her hand up for his perusal. A kiss was then placed against her skin before his grip was removed. "Until later, ma belle loupe."

Like the proverbial Bela Lugosi, he turned on his heel, swirling his cape behind him as he strode out of the café. Raina watched him depart, a crafty light reflecting in her eyes. Alfred came up behind her, an obviously worried expression on his face.

"The vampire council? This sounds serious, Raina... are we going to tell Marcus?"

"Of course not, Alfred," was Raina’s instant reply, a disdainful expression coloring her face. She turned the full effect of her scorn on the lesser wolf and he had the grace to look abashed. "He is certainly a powerful master vampire, and possibly representing this council... but we are the Thronos Rokke Clan. And this is our city." Though she never raised her voice, the air became electrified by her very presence, ionizing the air particles into crackling intensity. Soft laughter began to fill the void left by Asher as Raina regarded the space that he had just vacated. "He will learn that he cannot dictate to us, nor to me. Come..." and she gestured to him with a wave of her hand. "We only have a few hours before he returns..."

Continued in the Second Movement - Galliard