11
Inside, the brothel was dark, grim and grimy. The bottom floor was a mix between a bar and a strip club. Slow and dark music pulsated from a speaker somewhere in the back of the room. Emaciated looking girls swung around on poles languidly, dark circles under their eyes, dead expressions on their faces. The patrons looked just as catatonic, hunched over tables with their heads hung low.
“This place is like a living graveyard.” Kat whispered to Ansel as they followed Eric and Veronica to the bar at the back. Ansel seemed on high alert, his eyes darting about the room. “Stay close, these guys are wasted, and I don’t like the vibe in this place.”
She squeezed his arm tight, Kat didn’t like it either. It wasn’t just the brothel and the club, the whole place was uncomfortable. The vampires here had hate, malice and opportunistic wrath glinting behind their dull red eyes. She wondered how long a girl like her would last here if she didn’t have Ansel on the end of her arm.
“I want to speak to Zora.” Veronica said to the vampire standing behind the bar. The barkeep was a young girl with dark hair that faded into white at the ends. Apart from a black choker around her neck, there was little else covering her body.
“Veronica Belmont.” The girl sneered while pushing a rag into a glass. “I’m surprised they let you back in here, Carlos is blind in one eye now.”
“He deserved it and the bouncers made an exception for my present company.” Veronica shifted her head in Eric’s direction. The girl behind the bar nearly dropped the glass in her hands.
“Fuck! Eric Belmont!”
Eric stepped forward and placed a fist on the bar. “Zora. Now.”
The girl nodded quickly, disappearing into the back of the bar somewhere. Two minutes rolled by before she returned, accompanied by a female vampire with spiky black hair. Unlike the other vampires in the joint, this one had the bright red eyes of a super. She wore tall red heels, tight leather pants, a white vest top and a long leather jacket. Upon seeing Veronica and Eric, the woman’s face turned grave immediately.
“Hello Zora.” Veronica chirped. “Do you mind if we talk for five minutes?”
“You better have a damn good reason for being here. Vampires come here to get away from ‘nobility’ like you. Get in the back before you scare away more customers.”
Zora led the group into a grimy looking office at the back of the brothel, sunk into a chair behind a desk covered in empty bottles and placed her feet on the mess strewn table top. Everyone else remained standing.
“Carlos is blind now, thanks to your behavior last time.” She said, staring at Veronica.
“Pass on my condolences will you?”
Zora shook her head and looked at Eric. “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re lucky Tito and Sebastian are out of town, if either of them got wind you were here Eric, they’d—”
“Do what?” He walked forward. “They’re both welcome to challenge me if they want. They've always failed in the past, however. Enough with the empty threats.”
“Enough with the mystery then. What the fuck are you doing here and what do you want?”
“A shifter pack attacked your town a few months ago, but you drove them back. How?”
“I’m merely the owner of this shit stain brothel. You really think I had anything to do with that?”
“Everyone knows you’re the person running this town, so you clearly had a part in driving the shifters away. Start talking.”
“Blessed silver,” she said. “We got our hands on a good supply. It’s harmful to the wolves, but we can handle it without too much trouble.” Zora paused, pulled her feet from off the table and pushed her chair back. “Just what is it you’re asking?”
“You must have heard what happened with Castle York?” Eric said. “Taken over by a rogue shifter pack, with the help of the Order. They’ve got the prisoners hidden somewhere in the forest. We plan on finding them and fighting back.”
“Shit.” Zora laughed. “You’re crazier than I thought. We’ve got blessed silver in bulk, but why should I help you? What’s in it for us? We’ve got our own troubles.”
“Troubles?” Veronica asked.
“Yeah, between the fucking mutant Order and the plague…”
“The plague?” Eric asked. “It’s spread here too?”
“I thought you'd know, being the cunt in the tower that likes to control everything. Tito and Sebastian aren’t even hunting humans anymore, it’s too risky. Kara’s dead, so is Wyatt. Half my guys got Black Fang. We’re dying out here Belmont. What gives? This all because of this fucking prophecy you’ve brought down on us?”
Eric raised a brow. “You're aware of the prophecy? How?”
“Rumor travels fast honey.” Zora smirked. “We’ve all heard of it, can’t say any of us believed it until all this weird shit happened. Shifters, super humans, plagues. Fuck… what have we got to do to take the heat off us?”
“Find the other breeders. There are two more of them out there. Girls with spiral marks on their backs. Have you heard anything about that?”
Zora shook her head. “If there were any other breeders around here, I’d know about it. There aren’t any apart from the girl you’re carrying there.” Zora nodded her head over at Kat, and everyone glanced back at her.
“Wh-what?” Kat asked, breaking the silence with her stutter.
Zora, bemused, turned her head and looked around at the faces of the group. “Are you fucking kidding me? You didn’t know this girl was a breeder?”
“What are you talking about?” Ansel stepped forward, his voice flaring with anger.
“Shit you really are serious!” Zora pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “That girl is a fucking breeder, I could tell the second I laid eyes on her. You guys really can’t tell?”
Everyone stared at Kat like she were some alien laid out on display at a zoo. Eric seemed to be the first to realize it.
“Wait…” He turned to face Kat fully and took a step toward her. “I can sense it now, I hadn’t noticed it before, but I can see it now, it was the same when I first found Claire. Kat’s a breeder, she can—” he raised a hand out, but a snarl came from the side of her, and Ansel stepped between them.
“That’s close enough.” Ansel said with a throaty growl. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but Zora is right. Something has changed in Kat…” He turned to Kat and held her head in his hands, his eyes flicking over her in wonder.
“Kat, what the heck happened?”
What happened? Kat had no idea. She didn’t even understand what was happening right now.
“Sorry.” Eric said raising his hands and taking a step back. “I wasn’t making a move or anything Ansel, it’s just… this is most unusual.”
Ansel placed his hand on Kat's shoulders and circled around so he was facing the group once more. “It’s okay, sorry for the outburst Eric. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Shit, I do.” Veronica huffed. “You’re fucking territorial. Kat is a breeder and you’re her mate. You’ll feel an impulse to tear the hand off any vampire that tries to get too close. Eric was the same with Claire, he nearly killed Wraith over it.”
“I’m a breeder?” Kat stammered.
“Guess you didn’t see that one coming Cognizant girl.” Veronica sneered.
“You are a breeder.” Zora stood and looked at Kat. “Not long, very new.”
“I don’t understand,” Ansel said. “How could you tell?”
“Female vampires can always usually tell first, but super scent is a power of mine. Breeders have a different aroma. It’s intoxicating.” Zora looked at Kat almost sexually. “You smell fantastic darling, and soon enough, your man here won’t be able to keep his hands off you. Your body is just starting to change.”
Kat didn’t know what to feel. She was a breeder? None of this made any sense. Inside, she noticed a small burning sensation, pricking its way across every inch of her flesh. She looked at Ansel and absolute carnal want flared inside of her. It was as if everything else pushed to the side. Ruth, the prophecy, helping save the vampires, none of it mattered. The only thing she wanted was to mount Ansel in a dark room and ride him until he burst. Ansel's bright red eyes flushed with black, suggesting he wanted the same thing.
Zora laughed once more, shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the situation. “Well it looks like you’ve found one of the daughters.”
“No.” Kat said. “I haven’t got the mark, I’m not one of them.” She looked at Eric for confirmation. “Right?”
Eric nodded. “As far as I can tell. It might be worth double checking with Rubago though. Four breeders in one century… I don't think it's ever happened before now. It's amazing.”
“Amazingly stupid to bring her here.” Zora offered. “Get out of town before the other vampires notice.”
“Duly noted.” Eric said. “But what about this blessed silver? We need it.”
“You can have it.” Zora said. “We’re leaving soon, anyway. Between the plague and the attacks, we’re finding that the valley isn’t such a good home anymore. We’re heading south. The whole gang is moving on to pastures new.”
Veronica pouted. “Why do all the interesting ones have to leave?”
“Hey,” Zora shrugged, “If we stay here we’re as good as dead. I’d rather go south and take my chances down there.”
“You don’t have to run,” Eric said. “We’re trying to fight this thing. Your gang should stay and fight, you could help us too.”
Zora stared at Eric silently as if she was weighing something over in her mind. “No offense Eric, but most of the vampires in this town hate your fucking guts. They might listen but even I’ll have a hard time convincing them to fight alongside Eric Belmont.”
“Then tell them to fight alongside me.” Veronica said. “I’ve got my fair share of enemies in this town, it’s true, but at least the vampires here respect me.”
“True, but they're outlaws, and you know what they’re like—we're stubborn creatures. We’d rather die free than bend the knee.”
“If you run south, I guarantee you will die.” Eric said. “At least in the castle you’ll be safe.”
“Like the vampires in the Castle York were safe? Look what happened there. Shit.”
“That was different.” Eric said. “We have better defenses at our castle, and there are more of us now, if we all band together, we have a better chance to find these daughters, we can—”
“We ain’t doing shit Eric.” Zora said. “I’ve said you can have the silver, I told you that your girl there is a fucking breeder. What more do you want from me? We’re outlaws, we do what we want. If we want to die, then that is our choice.”
Eric had nothing else to say in response because there was nothing he could say.
“Fuck… she makes a compelling argument Eric.” Veronica said. “I’m half tempted to go with them.”
“You're exiled from this town Veronica Belmont.” Zora said, her voice flaring with anger. “The only reason you’re not dead is because of your name. Be grateful your brother is here with you.”
“Before we go.” Eric said, “Is there anything you know that might help us track these other girls?”
“Not the girls,” Zora said. “But I heard rumors the Order had a witch helping them. Apparently she’s holed up in some caves on the mountains by Culver city.”
“Culver city? Who told you that?”
“The Order. They attacked Tito and Sebastien on a blood run a few weeks ago and killed a few of our boys. After the attack, Tito followed them for a few hours, and he heard them mention something about a witch living out in Culver. Apparently Anderson and his junkies have to go back there often to get their power recharged. We'd go ourselves but… witches scare the shit out of me.” Zora shuddered.
She led them to the blessed silver, held in a store room at the back of the brothel.
“Forty cases of 9mm ammo,” she said while sorting through the crates, “And there are chains and swords too. This stuff was enough to help keep the packs away from our town.”
“Why run if you can fight the shifters?” Veronica asked.
“The shifters we can deal with, it’s the Order that are becoming real hard work. With the plague going around, we’re starving, we don’t have enough strength to fight back.” Her eyes wandered over to Kat’s throat momentarily and flushed with black. “We’re packing up the town as we speak, and we’ll be leaving in a week. If you want this stuff, I’ll keep it here for you. Just promise your people won’t give us any trouble while we’re leaving the valley.”
Eric nodded his head. Saying goodbye to Zora and her trouble making group of criminals was something he’d wanted for a long time. “My people won’t give you any trouble, as long as you follow the rules of the valley while you’re still here. My offer still stands if you change your mind, the Castle is safe. You are welcome to come there should you need shelter.”
They left the silver with Zora for the meanwhile, making arrangements for some of the servants within the castle to make a journey back and pick things up in a truck.
On the way back, Kat didn’t get any sense of danger, cutting time off the return trip. Tides of emotion clouded her mind. She was a breeder. It explained why she’d had so much trouble with Ansel when they’d first had sex. It took time for humans to breed with vampires, and they'd rushed right into things comparatively. The act was physically demanding, and it was best to approach full sex very carefully. Suspense, patience and tortuously slow pleasure were key. Kat held Ansel tight, breathing in his musk and wishing nothing more than to be alone with him right now. As soon as she got back to the castle, all she wanted to do was jump him. The fiery look in his eyes seemed to suggest that he felt the same.