Jack's redemption

gle-breasted with no tie, he felt the little Ventrue would be better off with something a tad bit more professional. First impress

dy lined up for Jack. Only

him. Besides being in a suit despite the cold, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and looked almost like a hit man. He knew it too. Th

one of the founding members of Dolareido, and has been here fo

ar

treets weren't entirely empty, but good enough to talk about things quietly. "The clans. I should

guy always did have an interest in things mos

hey are obsessive, materialistic, and concerned only with grat

ke a su

allel. Be especially careful with

Prince earlie

city's night. She says w

ry.

er neutral title

O

now you, Jack. Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You have to learn that quickly, because Kindred a

very s

y see everything and can hide anywhere.

They sound l

.. beast-like." Julias sighed with his words; he couldn't keep the harsh tone out of them. His di

interest in the dangerous things, this kid had. He'd have

s pointed to his temple. "They'll fuck your head from the shadows, and a

's classic tragic. I

es. The others are wolves in sheep's clothing." Julias brought a hand up to his chi

feratu, Daeva, a

w Jack a smile, and caught a glimpse of surprise in his childe. Jack had never thought of himself as a leader, Julias knew, but t

e Invictus. We are the larg

enan

going to see Viktor, Maria and Michael, who are the heads of the Invictus. There are also the Carthians, the Circle of the Crone, the Ordo Dracul,

tire political party? I

k brood. He'd seen too many freshly embraced brood themselves into suicide. No, this was better. Don't let him think about how he'd just lost his entire life and now he was going to have to spend immortality never feeling the sun anymo

? Why all t

y, territorial predators forced to share th

ess,

u got the

h more complicat

his smile. He knew Jack would be frowning at him, but that only made him laugh h

get it," Jack said b

as I. Some far more so. They dig their fingers into people and spin webs of deceit so large, no one can track it an

down its length, while gentle white lights bathed it just enough to be visible in the night. The entrance wa

spoken to, and address members of

assive corporation, Julias! From softwar

ped up to the front of the building and opened the door. He'd normally open

t, the quiet librarian type too, complete with glasses, short black hair, and eyes hard-locked on her laptop. Attractive, but timid. The

aster Jack Terry, my childe, in the system." J

ous grin as she typed his name. Predictable. Julias was a tall and built man, and his friend was ...

k on Jack, but he knew Jack would be frowning and glaring dagger

east to its kine employees. Come nightfall, the building was empty save for the Invictus that ha

, there was a single elevator marked with Xnomin

we're go

es

floor of X

es

fuckin

s well aware of the danger, even if Jack thought he was just nervous. He'd have to exp

if they ask for you to. Be pith

two stepped in, and a button press and quiet elevator ride

know fear

. The ceiling was raised high with an array of LEDs in ornamental patterns, and the floor was the same black marble as

and pictures of people and things. On the walls, TVs fed streams of data, statistics and telemetry. Some he recognized as stocks and other economic angles, some as c

him were the p

l before me' on its breast. Viktor, Jack guessed. His black hair was tied into a ponytail behind his head, and his face was clearly from an

rather mafia-esque, with a blazer suit, open neck, and a piercing that connected nose to ea

t. With her white dress that seemed almost dead to the eye, she looked like a ghost. When she turned to face Jack, he found himself quaking. She didn't just look at

s Nosf

gle of foreign accents, but every syllable was pronounced cleanly. An expert in communications and, by proxy, manipu

inside him was ho

I present Master

arted to walk toward the small Ventrue. Jack did not look him in the eye, a

ents, and I was forced to embra

s spine when her hoarse, raspy voice hit him. If someone had been thrown into a basement and

id. Funny, Jack thought he could hear a mo