jenny374

"Do you hear them?" "Hear who?" "The crows. The crows are calling. They're saying your words." She woke with a gasp. Air caught in her throat, forcing a ragged cough as she sat up from the bed. There was sweat running down her chest and, from the sudden chill on her back, a damp imprint against the bed. She groaned, calling out for some water as she swung shaky legs over one side of the bed. Dawn was not yet breaking the horizon and she had only a few hours of sleep under her sweaty belt. She rubbed her face, jolting when her lady touched her shoulder and proffered the requested water. Taking it into her hand, she could feel the concern ra

Chapter 22: Reunion (snippet only) Sébastien LaCroix rubbed his temple as the wheels bounced him and his companion around his carriage. An invitation to a Parisian gathering of Ventrue lay on the seat beside him. He found the invitation both curious and inconvenient since French Ventrue had gathered earlier that year. LaCroix saw no purpose behind calling a second gathering when the first forum had concluded any plausible unfinished business. The requirement of mandatory attendance irritated him in the same manner the highly successful sugar trading company did every so often. Sébastien had finances to reap and a court position

Chapter 21: Sabbat Gawain's childe returned to Dijon two nights later and his Sire lifted the embargo he had placed on Devereux. Louisé didn't go back to Devereux's house until then, until she was sure there was a buffer between her and his anger. He was gone when she returned home and that suited her just fine. She soaked her aching body in a hot bath and pondered over her first year as a vampire. She had been bitten, beaten, shackled, threatened, armed a war, ended a war, and spoke to a king. She was amazed she'd survived this long. She wasn't naïve enough to believe it got better from here but hopefully, it would become easier

Chapter 20: Bound (small, small snippet) Power is everything to Kindred who have earned the right to wield it. Power comes by many roads: wealth, age, ability, generation and charisma. It is easy to gain power when you can make people fall in love with you on the honeysuckle promises dripping off your tongue. It is not, however, easy to maintain power when the foundation of your throne is the good opinions of a race constituting self-servants, degenerates, sycophants. Moths looking for the brightest flame. Devereux used to be that flame. His strut, with confidence in spades, captured the attention of many while his wealth and pomp held their

Chapter 19: Betrayal (snippet) It was a bad night. It was a mosaic of events that on their own, were nothing but a drop in the bucket, but put together designed an evening of fresh hell for Louisé. Her favorite gown was mysteriously stained with either blood or wine. It didn't really matter since it rendered the dress unsalvageable and her out a bit of money to replace it. She found a Lyonian refugee dining on the favorite of her herd and entered into a deliriously exhausting battle of words with the Gangrel. When words failed, she bared her fangs, snarled and dominated him out of her domain. She carried her irritation and mildly sati

Chapter 18: Bartholomew (snippet only) She rounded a corner and there was a gang of them. Ten or so, cloaks and daggers, standing around a home that looked familiar. Louisé couldn't place it with incompletely satisfied hunger booming in her head. All she noted was the group of men. They reminded her of a pack of street dogs and she was surprised they were baring fangs of their own. She hadn't attracted their attention yet, but she didn't care. They were in her way and that's what she cared about. There was enough tension in the air that she knew if she walked that way, they would want explanations. Always uphold the Masquerade, Childe

Chapter 17: Cervantes (snippet only) "These people are insipid and absurd!" she retorted through a fake smile. Once the dance ended, she marched toward the cluster of Ventrue. Devereux followed right behind her. Louisé scratched at her neck where dyed feathers tickled and irritated her skin. A costume ball of all thing. A masquerade for the Masquerade. How truly unimaginative it was for a clan so self-secure in their own artistic ability. All around her paraded flamboyant costumes attempting to capture the nature and visage of wild animals, mythological figures and chivalric heroes with their distressed damsels. Louisé has been

Chapter 16: Baiser (very short snippet only) A juvenile craving rumbled in her belly. Kiss him…a brutish voice commanded from deep within. She took a step forward. No one would know. It was only a kiss. Only one kiss. She circulated a number of similar excuses in her head. His hand was on her shoulder, sliding up her neck and cupping her cheek. Cold fingers were stroking her skin. Her insides buzzed and whirred like a thousand tiny bees. He was lowering his head and in that moment, her Ventrue brain shocked the rest of her body into submission. Don't you dare! It hissed. Her stomach sickened at how suspiciously similar this voice was

Chapter 14: Initiative (snippet only) "I told you, I'm not a whore," Louisé pressed. He smirked at her, "My dear, we are all whores for somebody. How do you think we get anywhere in this life? By pleasing someone else with whatever we have that they want. I'm not asking you to sell yourself, but I am asking you to create the illusion that you would for the right price. Your price just happens to be valuable information. Consider yourself your own procurer, or auctioneer, if it pleases you. Make them bid for you," he took a sip from his glass. Louisé licked her lips. "You mean my body," her displeasure was rife at the concept. "